Current:Home > ScamsRep. Cori Bush marks Juneteenth with push for reparations-VaTradeCoin
Rep. Cori Bush marks Juneteenth with push for reparations
View Date:2025-01-08 16:03:31
Washington — As Americans commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people on Juneteenth, Democratic Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri is using the federal holiday to advance new legislation for reparations for their descendants.
"This is the moment to put it out and we needed something like this," said Bush. "I feel it is the first of its kind on the Congressional Record."
Bush introduced H.R. 414, The Reparations Now Resolution, in May. The 23-page measure makes the case for federal reparations, citing a "moral and legal obligation" for the U.S. to address the "enslavement of Africans and its lasting harm" on millions of Black Americans.
The bill would support other pieces of reparatory justice legislation and formally acknowledge the momentum of state and local reparations movements. The Missouri Democrat believes ongoing efforts in Evanston, Boston, San Francisco and her hometown of St. Louis could galvanize support for reparations on the federal level.
"Our mayor just put together a commission to be able to work on what reparations would look like for St. Louis," said Bush, who has the backing of nearly 300 grassroots organizations. "Because we're seeing it on the local level, that's where a big part of that push will come from, I believe."
The resolution does not stipulate direct cash payments but recommends the federal government pay $14 trillion "to eliminate the racial wealth gap that currently exists between Black and White Americans."
Bush called it a "starting point" and cited scholars who estimate the U.S. benefited from over 222 million hours of forced labor between 1619 and the end of slavery in 1865, a value of approximately $97 trillion today.
"This country thrived and grew through the planting and harvesting of tobacco, sugar, rice and cotton, all from chattel slavery, and that hasn't been compensated," she said.
The legislation builds upon a decadeslong push in Congress for reparations. Earlier this year, Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, both Democrats, reintroduced H.R. 40 and S.40, which would establish a commission to study and develop reparations proposals for African Americans. Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee of California also re-upped a bill last month to create the first U.S. Commission on Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation to examine the impact of slavery.
Lee is one of several Democratic co-sponsors of Bush's resolution. Bush said she is waiting to hear from House Democratic leadership on her measure but realizes it could be a non-starter for Republicans in the GOP-controlled House who contend reparations could be too costly and divisive.
"I am going to be calling folks out on this," Bush forewarned. "There has to be restitution and compensation. There has to be rehabilitation and so that is what I'm going to throw back at them."
A Pew Research Center study found 48% of Democrats surveyed believe descendants of enslaved people should be repaid in some way, while 91% of Republicans think they should not.
A progressive, second-term lawmaker, Bush spent two years working on the reparations resolution. She said it was one of her top priorities before she was sworn into Congress, dating back to her time as a community activist.
"I remember being on the ground in Ferguson and feeling like, 'Hey, we're doing all of this on the ground but we don't have anybody in Congress that's like picking this up and running with it,'" Bush recalled. "We're making these soft pitches, and [there's] nobody to hit a home run. Well, that has changed. So now we're in a position to hit the ball."
- In:
- Juneteenth
Nikole Killion is a congressional correspondent for CBS News based in Washington D.C.
TwitterveryGood! (49)
Related
- Ariana Grande's Brunette Hair Transformation Is a Callback to Her Roots
- Jennifer Lopez Breaks Silence on Ben Affleck Divorce
- Dancing With the Stars’ Brooks Nader Details “Special” First Tattoo With Gleb Savchenko
- In Florida Senate Race, Two Candidates With Vastly Different Views on the Climate
- 'Climate change is real': New York parks employee killed as historic drought fuels blazes
- Kathy Bates Addresses Ozempic Rumors After 100-Lb. Weight Loss
- Why Ana Huang’s Romance Novel The Striker Is BookTok's New Obsession
- October Prime Day’s Best Bedding Deals 2024: Save Over 60% off Sheets, Pillows & More Fall Essentials
- Saks Fifth Avenue’s holiday light display in Manhattan changing up this season
- Premiums this year may surprise you: Why health insurance is getting more expensive
Ranking
- Democrat Cleo Fields wins re-drawn Louisiana congressional district, flipping red seat blue
- Horoscopes Today, October 8, 2024
- John Amos' cause of death revealed: 'Roots' actor died of heart failure
- These Are the Best October Prime Day 2024 Essentials That Influencers (And TikTok) Can’t Live Without
- 'Yellowstone's powerful opening: What happened to Kevin Costner's John Dutton?
- Former Sen. Tim Johnson, the last Democrat to hold statewide office in South Dakota, dies at 77
- Largest water utility company in the US says it was targeted by a cyberattack
- What presidential campaign? The Electoral College puts most American voters on the sidelines
Recommendation
-
'I was in total shock': Woman wins $1 million after forgetting lotto ticket in her purse
-
AI ΩApexTactics: Delivering a Data-Driven, Precise Trading Experience for Investors
-
American Water cyberattack renews focus on protecting critical infrastructure
-
Judge tosses a New York law that moved many local elections to even-numbered years
-
Wildfire map: Thousands of acres burn near New Jersey-New York border; 1 firefighter dead
-
Social Security’s scheduled cost of living increase ‘won’t make a dent’ for some retirees
-
Jury selection begins in corruption trial of longest-serving legislative leader in US history
-
Beyoncé Channels Marilyn Monroe in Bombshell Look at Glamour's Women of the Year Ceremony