Press Releases

June 19th: House Judiciary Subcommittee to Hold Hearing on H.R. 40, Legislation to Study Slavery Reparations

On June 19th at 10:00 a.m., the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties will hold a hearing on H.R. 40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act. The purpose of the hearing is to examine, through open and constructive discourse, the legacy of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, its continuing impact on the community and the path to restorative justice.   

Witnesses:       Ta-Nehisi Coates, Distinguished Writer in Residence, Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University

Danny Glover, Actor and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for the U.N. Decade for People of African Descent

Katrina Browne, Documentarian: Traces of the Trade

Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, Episcopal Bishop of Maryland

Dr. Julianne Malveaux, Economist and Political Commentator

Professor Eric J. Miller, Loyola Marymount University

Republican witnesses to be announced      

Date:               June 19, 2019

Time:               10:00 a.m.

Location:         2141 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington D.C.

Livestream:     The hearing will stream live here. 

Background: H.R. 40, the “Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act,” would create a commission to study the history of slavery in the United States and in the American colonies from 1619 to 1865; the role of the federal and state governments in supporting slavery; federal and state laws that discriminated against the descendants of African slaves; other forms of discrimination against the descendants of African slaves; and the lingering effects of slavery on African Americans.  The commission would also make recommendations as to appropriate ways to educate the American public about its fin