• “While it might be convenient to assume that we can address the current divisive racial and political climate in our nation through race neutral means, experience shows that we have not escaped our history. Though the Civil Rights Movement challenged many of the most racist practices and structures that subjugated the African American community, it was not followed by a commitment to truth and reconciliation. For that reason, the legacy of racial inequality has persisted, and left the nation vulnerable to a range of problems that continue to yield division, racial disparities and injustice. By passing H.R. 40, Congress can start a movement toward the national reckoning we need to bridge racial divides.” - Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat, Texas, District 18)
• “[Y]et to truly acknowledge and grapple with the racism and white supremacy that tainted this country's founding and continues to cause persistent and deep racial disparities and inequality. These disparities don't just harm black communities, they harm all communities… I believe this is an urgent moment and this bill, which I am now leading on the Senate side, is the beginning of an important process—not just to examine and study this history that has not been addressed, the silence that persists, but also to find practical ideas to address the enduring injustices in our nation.” - Sen. Cory Booker (Democrat, New Jersey)
• “[T]he U.S. owes a massive debt to the progeny of American slavery. What we find is that the consequences of the creation of race and the dissemination of advantage and wealth based on color and lineage has had lasting impacts on those families that were continuously left out of America, all while their descendants bodies and labor built the very foundation this nation sits upon… In making the first step, what’s required above all is the resolve to frame the discussion around bold, large-scale proposals for achieving reparative justice. These are the imaginative times we have waited on for generations. Reparations and the call to make it a reality are finally upon us. It is our job to answer that call and begin to help America repent for its original sin of slavery.” - Antonio Moore, Founder of America Descendants of Slavery