E2 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks January 4, 2021 On behalf of New York’s 21st District, I est economy in the history of the world and for Finally, being white themselves, European would like to thank Joseph for his dedication many years was the world’s indispensable na- indentured servants could escape and blend to serving his community, and I congratulate tion and the example that all aspiring democ- into the general colonial population. him for reaching this significant milestone. racies wished to emulate. That is why the landowners set their sights f At the same time, this nation has also been on the western coast of Africa and its people. home to many searing instances of social un- That experiment in trafficking in persons INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 40, COM- rest resulting from racial injustices, as we are failed as well and culminated in a bloody Civil MISSION TO STUDY AND DE- now witnessing on the streets of big cities and War, but not before America profited hand- VELOP REPARATION PROPOSALS small towns in urban and rural communities. somely from what President Lincoln rightly FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS ACT We are seeing Americans, by the millions, characterized in his Second Inaugural as ‘‘the across the country, coming from all races and bondsmen’s two-hundred and fifty years of un- HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE ages, engaging in what the late John Lewis requited toil.’’ called ‘‘good trouble’’ by protesting and de- OF TEXAS Slavery helped make America an industrial manding an end to the systemic racial inequal- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES nation but at the cost of inflicting physical, ity in our criminal justice system that too often Monday, January 4, 2021 economic, social, psychological, and political victimizes and disproportionately treats black damage on Black Americans that despite the Americans worse, ceteris paribus, when it Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise progress that has been made continues to this comes to suspicion, apprehension, arrest, de- today to announce the reintroduction of H.R. day with stark racial disparities in health care, 40, the ‘‘Commission to Study and Develop tention, trial, sentencing, and incarceration. While the brutal deaths of George Floyd in employment, housing, food, education, and in- Reparation proposals for African Americans deed nearly every aspect of American life and Act,’’ legislation which was cosponsored by Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville shocked the conscience of the nation, most death. 173 Members in the 116th Congress and Madam Speaker, official slavery ended with today is being reintroduced with more than black Americans will tell you what they experi- enced is not new, but has been occurring for the Civil War and ratification of the Thirteenth 100 original cosponsors. Amendment. This legislation was first introduced in 1989 generations, if not centuries. What is critically important to understand is But unofficial slavery was continued with the by the late and beloved Congressman John that the instances of brutal and unfair treat- new institution of sharecrop farming, a criminal Conyers of Michigan, the former chairman of ment the nation has witnessed this year can- justice system that would press convicts into the Committee on the Judiciary, and is in- not be attributed to the proverbial few ‘‘bad work once done by slaves, and labor policies tended to examine the institution of slavery in apples in the bushel’’ but is instead the fore- that dictated income for work done based the colonies and the United States from 1619 seeable consequence of systemic racism and upon skin color. to the present, and, further, to recommend ap- racial inequality in the system. And, of course, all of this was reinforced by propriate remedies. Not just the criminal justice system, but the the systematic disenfranchisement of Black Since the initial introduction of this legisla- health care system, the economic system, and Americans, the ‘‘discrete and insular minority’’ tion, proponents have made substantial the educational system to name the most glar- excluded from ‘‘those political processes ordi- progress in elevating the discussion of ing examples. narily to be relied upon to protect’’ them, to reparatory justice at the national level and To find our way out of this dark time, we quote Chief Justice Hughes’ famous Carolene joining the mainstream international debate on need to understand how it came to be. Products Footnote 4. the issues. That is the purpose of H.R. 40, which estab- For these reasons, the history of the United Though some have tried to deflect the im- lishes a commission to examine slavery and States is intertwined with the history of portance of these conversations by focusing discrimination in the colonies and the United enslaved Africans in the Americas. on individual monetary compensation, the real States from 1619 to the present and rec- Madam Speaker, there is blood and there issue is whether and how this nation can ommend appropriate remedies. are tears, but there is also redemption and come to grips with the legacy of slavery that Among other requirements, the commission reconciliation. still infects current society. shall identify (1) the role of federal and state But to get there, we must know the com- Through legislation, resolutions, news, and governments in supporting the institution of plete truth and lay our history bare. litigation, we are moving closer to making slavery; (2) forms of discrimination in the pub- The Commission created and empowered more strides in the movement toward lic and private sectors against freed slaves by H.R. 40 is a necessary first step in that ef- reparatory relief. and their descendants; and (3) lingering nega- fort. Today, there are more people at the table— tive effects of slavery on living African-Ameri- I encourage all Members to join me in co- more activists, more scholars, more CEOs, cans and society. sponsoring H.R. 40, the ‘‘Commission to Study more state and local officials, and more Mem- Truth and reconciliation about the Original and Develop Reparation proposals for African bers of Congress. Sin of American Slavery is necessary to light Americans Act.’’ the way to the beloved community we all However, despite this progress and the f election of the first American President of Afri- seek. can descent, the legacy of slavery lingers The uncomfortable truth is that the United PERSONAL EXPLANATION heavily in this nation. States owes its position as the most powerful While we have focused on the social effects nation in the world to its slave-owning past. Initially, slavery in America was not insti- HON. JARED HUFFMAN of slavery and segregation, its continuing eco- OF CALIFORNIA nomic inequalities and disparities remain tuted for black people. The colonists in the southern states simply IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES largely ignored by mainstream analysis. wanted persons to cultivate and hue the soil of These economic issues are the root cause Monday, January 4, 2021 the New World’s wild untamed lands. of many critical issues in the African American And they wanted to exploit these boundless Mr. HUFFMAN. Madam Speaker, I regret community today, such as education, natural resources as cheaply as possible. that due to a scheduling conflict on January 3, healthcare and criminal justice policy, includ- At first, they tried to enslave the indigenous 2021, I was unable to cast the following vote. ing policing practices. persons they found when they arrived from Should I have been present, I would have The call for reparatory justice represents a Old World but that did not work because the voted YEA on roll call 3. commitment to entering a constructive dia- native persons they encountered were no- f logue on the role of slavery and racism in madic rather than agrarian. HONORING THE LIFE OF AMEER K. shaping present-day conditions in our commu- So next, landowners turned to poor persons EDWARD nity and American society. from Europe arriving to work as indentured H.R. 40 is important and needed legislation servants, but this did not work either for sev- because it goes beyond exploring the eco- eral reasons. HON. BARBARA LEE nomic implications of slavery and segregation. First, such persons were not as hardy in OF CALIFORNIA It is a holistic bill in the sense that estab- working under the difficult conditions that ex- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES lishes a commission to examine the moral and isted. social implications of slavery. Also, because as subjects of the British Monday, January 4, 2021 Madam Speaker, the United States is the Crown, indentured workers enjoyed legal Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I world’s only superpower and boasts the larg- rights and protections. rise today to honor the life of Ameer K.

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