"In January of 1989, I first introduced the bill H.R. 40, Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African America…"

"Over 4 million Africans and their descendants were enslaved in the United States and its colonies from 1619 to 1865, …"

"I chose the number of the bill, 40, as a symbol of the forty acres and a mule that the United States initially promis…"

"It is a fact that slavery flourished in the United States and constituted an immoral and inhumane deprivation of Afri…"

"Though there is historical cognition for reparations and it is a term that is fairly well known in the international …"

"Many people don’t remember how violent and dangerous it was in the South at that time. This bill was the culmination …"

"It’s become clear that this struggle isn’t over. Much of the violence is gone, which provoked and embarrassed so many…"

"We’re calling for an end to this metadata of phone numbers of everybody... without any regard for a criminal investig…"

"We welcome everyone here to the hearing. In the Texas v. Johnson case in 1989, the Supreme Court set forth one of the…"

"My bill does four things:"