Establishment and duties

(a) Establishment There is established the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the Commission). (b) Duties The Commission shall perform the following duties: (1) Identify, compile, and synthesize the relevant corpus of evidentiary documentation of the institution of slavery which existed from 1565 in colonial Florida, and from 1619 within the other colonies that became the United States, through 1865. The Commission’s documentation and examination under this paragraph shall include the facts related to— (A) the capture and procurement of Africans; (B) the transport of Africans to the United States and the colonies that became the United States for the purpose of enslavement, including their treatment during transport; (C) the sale and acquisition of Africans as chattel property in interstate and intrastate commerce; (D) the treatment of African slaves in the colonies and the United States, including the deprivation of their freedom, exploitation of their labor, and destruction of their culture, language, religion, and families; (E) the extensive denial of humanity, sexual abuse, and the chatellization of persons; (F) the role the Federal Government and State governments played in supporting the institution of slavery including through constitutional and statutory provisions, including the extent to which the Federal Government and State governments prevented, opposed, or restricted efforts of formerly enslaved Africans and their descendants to repatriate to their homeland; and (G) the Federal and State laws that discriminated against formerly enslaved Africans and their descendants who were determined United States citizens from 1868 to the present. (2) Identify the other forms of discrimination in the public and private sectors against freed African slaves and their descendants who were determined United States citizens from 1868 to the present, including redlining, educational funding discrepancies, and predatory financial practices. (3) Identify the lingering negative effects of the institution of slavery and the matters described in subparagraphs (A) through (F) of section 2(b)(1) and paragraphs (1) and (2) on living African Americans and on society in the United States. (4) Recommend appropriate ways to educate the American public of the Commission’s findings on the matters described in subparagraphs (A) through (F) of section 2(b)(1) and paragraphs (1), (2), and (3). (5) Recommend appropriate remedies in consideration of the Commission’s findings on the matters described in subparagraphs (A) through (F) of section 2(b)(1) and paragraphs (1), (2), and (3). In making such recommendations, the Commission shall address, among other issues, the following questions: (A) How such recommendations comport with international standards of remedy for wrongs and injuries caused by the governments of foreign countries, that include full reparations and special measures, as understood by various relevant international protocols, laws, and findings. (B) How the Federal Government will offer a formal apology on behalf of the people of the United States for the perpetration of gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity on African slaves and their descendants. (C) How Federal laws and policies that continue to disproportionately and negatively affect African Americans as a group, and those that perpetuate the lingering effects, materially and psycho-social, can be eliminated. (D) How the injuries resulting from the matters described in subparagraphs (A) through (F) of section 2(b)(1) and paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) can be reversed and provide appropriate policies, programs, projects and recommendations for the purpose of reversing the injuries. (E) How, in consideration of the Commission’s findings, any form of compensation to the descendants of enslaved Africans is calculated. (F) What form of compensation should be awarded, through what instrumentalities should such compensation be awarded, and who should be eligible for such compensation. (G) Whether, in consideration of the Commission’s findings, any other measures of rehabilitation or restitution to African descendants is warranted and what the form and scope of those measures should take. (c) Report to congress The Commission shall submit a written report of its findings and recommendations to the Congress not later than the date that is one year after the date of the first meeting of the Commission held pursuant to section 4(c).