S. 40 — Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act

This section states congressional findings that approximately 4,000,000 Africans and their descendants were enslaved in the United States and its predecessor colonies from 1619 to 1865, with the institution constitutionally and statutorily sanctioned through 1865; that federal, state, and local governments perpetuated discrimination thereafter (e.g., sharecropping, convict leasing, Jim Crow, redlining); and that African Americans continue to face disparities including over 1,000,000 Black individuals incarcerated or under correctional supervision, an unemployment rate more than twice the White rate, and average wealth less than 1/16 that of White families. It declares the purpose of the Act to establish a commission to study and develop reparation proposals for African Americans to address slavery (including trans-Atlantic and domestic trade from 1565), de jure and de facto discrimination through the present, lingering effects, denial of slavery's inhumanity in educational resources, Northern complicity, and direct benefits to public and private institutions; recommend ways to educate the public on the commission's findings; recommend remedies; and submit findings and recommendations to Congress.

This section establishes the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans. The commission must (1) compile and synthesize evidence on slavery from 1565 in colonial Florida and 1619 in other colonies through 1865, including the capture and transport of Africans, their sale and treatment as chattel, sexual abuse, and the roles of federal and state governments; (2) identify post-1868 discrimination against freed slaves and descendants who became U.S. citizens, including redlining, educational funding discrepancies, and predatory financial practices; (3) assess lingering negative effects of slavery and such discrimination on living African Americans and U.S. society; (4) recommend public education on these findings; and (5) recommend remedies, including how they align with international reparations standards, a formal federal apology, elimination of discriminatory laws, reversal of injuries via policies and programs, calculation and forms of compensation to descendants of enslaved Africans, eligibility criteria, and other rehabilitation or restitution measures. The commission must submit a report to Congress within one year of its first meeting.

This section establishes a 13-member Commission, to be appointed within 90 days of enactment as follows: (1) three members by the President, (2) three by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, (3) one by the President pro tempore of the Senate, and (4) six selected from major civil society and reparations organizations that have historically championed reparatory justice. The section requires all members to be especially qualified by education, training, activism, or experience—particularly in African-American studies and reparatory justice—sets terms for the life of the Commission (with vacancies filled in the same manner as original appointments), requires the President to call the first meeting within 120 days of enactment or 30 days after appropriations (whichever is later), establishes a quorum of seven members, authorizes the Commission to elect its Chair and Vice Chair for the life of the Commission, and compensates non-federal members at a daily rate not to exceed that of Executive Level IV of the Executive Schedule under 5 U.S.C. 5315 (i.e., approximately $183,500 annually as of 2024, pro-rated for days worked, including travel time). Federal employee members serve without additional pay.

This section authorizes the Commission to (1) hold hearings, compel witness attendance and testimony, and require production of documents via subpoena enforceable by U.S. district court; (2) delegate such powers to subcommittees or members; and (3) obtain information from executive branch departments, agencies, and instrumentalities, which must cooperate to the extent permitted by law.

This section establishes administrative authorities for the Commission, as follows: (1) appointment and compensation of staff without regard to competitive civil service, classification, or General Schedule pay requirements, capped at the daily equivalent of Level IV of the Executive Schedule; (2) procurement of experts and consultants under 5 U.S.C. 3109(b) at rates not to exceed the daily equivalent of the highest General Schedule rate; (3) agreements with the General Services Administration for financial and administrative support services, reimbursable from Commission funds; and (4) contracts for supplies, services, property, research, and other activities to the extent provided in appropriations acts.