"I don’t think reparations for something that happened 150 years ago, for whom none of us currently living are responsible, is a good idea. We’ve, you know, tried to deal with our original sin of slavery by fighting a civil war, by passing landmark civil rights legislation. We’ve elected an African-American president. I think we’re always a work in progress in this country, but no one currently alive was responsible for that. And I don’t think we should be trying to figure out how to compensate for it. First of all, it would be pretty hard to figure out who to compensate. We’ve had waves of immigrants, as well, who have come to the country and experienced dramatic discrimination of one kind or another. So, no, I don’t think reparations are a good idea."
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U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell quoted in Writer Ta-Nehisi Coates Makes the Case for Reparations at Historic Congressional Hearing, Democracy Now (20 June 2019)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/H.R._40_-_Commission_to_Study_and_Develop_Reparation_Proposals_for_African-Americans_Act
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H.R. 40 - Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act
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