A top Democrat said Wednesday the House will consider a bill that would develop a commission to study whether reparations should be provided to the descendants of slaves.
“I expect it will get a vote if it comes out of committee,” Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters Wednesday. “I expect it to come out of committee.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., also expressed support for the measure Wednesday.
The bill would establish a commission to “study and develop reparations proposals for African Americans.”
Hoyer and Pelosi signaled support for the bill as the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the measure featuring proponents and critics of the proposal.
Hoyer said the commission would examine “how we try to compensate for the extraordinary racism and denigration of so many people that then put them in a position where they were substantially disadvantaged in the competition for jobs, income, equity.”
The measure would hit a roadblock in the Senate.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday he does not support reparations, telling reporters it would be impossible to determine who should be compensated.
“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,” McConnell said.
