Page 7 - Florida Sentinel 7-26-19

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Democrats On Capitol Hill Taking A Look At Sen. Booker’s Bill On Reparations
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
Senator Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) and Repre- sentative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) are the spon- sors of a bill that would set up a commission to explore reparations for the descen- dants of slavery.
The 13-member commis- sion will examine the role of the federal and state govern- ments to support the institu- tion of slavery and recommend “appropriate remedies,” and help Con- gress to understand the whole history of slavery and
reparations.
Thus far, Sen. Booker
has 15 co-sponsors in the Senate, and 5 of those who are presidential candidates.
The conversation on reparations came up again last week when Senate Mi- nority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) talked with a group of reporters. He told them that he supported the legislation sponsored by Sen. Booker and Rep. Jackson Lee. Several De- mocrats have joined the con- versation.
Schumer supports es- tablishing a commission to study reparations for slavery
CONGRESSWOMAN KATHY CASTOR
and discriminatory laws. When contacted about the legislation, Congress- woman Kathy Castor of
Tampa (D-FL 14) said:
“I believe in addressing inequities through increas- ing funding for public schools, students and teach- ers, affordable health care, more affordable housing op- tions, clean energy, environ- mental justice, expanded transit and higher-paying jobs. That’s where I would invest extra dollars, rather than creating something new.
“Like President Barack Obama, I think “reparations would be an ex- cuse for some to say ‘we’ve paid our debt’ and to avoid the much harder work of en- forcing our anti-discrimina-
tion laws in employment and housing; the much harder work of making sure that our schools are not sep- arate and unequal; the much harder work of providing job training programs and reha- bilitating young men coming out of prison every year.”
According to a 2018 poll, 26% of those who partici- pated in the poll supported the reparations, while 47% opposed it.
It has been estimated that the legislation as pro- posed could cost up to $17.1 trillion for about 30 million African-American who could be eligible to benefit.
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