House Democrats scheduled a debate and vote on reparations for black Americans.
Democratic Chairman Jerry Nadler says the bill “is not intended to divide” America.
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Republican President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves on January 1, 1863.
FOX News reported:
The House took a step forward on a slavery reparations bill Friday by scheduling it for debate and a vote in the Judiciary Committee.
The bill would set up a commission to study reparations. If voted out of committee, the matter would come up on the House floor for the first time since 1989. The late Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., introduced slavery reparations legislation in the House each session for nearly 30 years to no avail.
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Committee chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said the measure, which is widely opposed by Republicans, is “not intended to divide” but to “bring us closer to racial understanding and advancement.”
“Today we still live with racial disparities in access to education, health care, housing, insurance, employment and other social goods that are directly attributable to the damaging legacy of slavery and government-sponsored racial discrimination,” Nadler said in a statement.
