House Judiciary Committee advances reparations bill in historic vote
15 April 2021
The House Judiciary Committee voted 25 to 17 Wednesday to advance a bill that would create a commission to study reparations for Black Americans who are the descendants of slaves.
Why it matters: "No such bill has ever come this far during Congressional history of the United States," said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), who sponsored the bill, per the Washington Post.
- The same reparations bill advanced on Wednesday was first introduced in the House in 1989, but never received a committee vote.
- The racial justice protests of 2020 have given new wind to the movement to pass reparations legislation, but the bill still faces formidable Republican opposition.
Details: If passed, the billwould create a 13-person commission to "study the effects of slavery and racial discrimination, hold hearings and recommend "appropriate remedies" to Congress," per the Post.
- What form these remedies would take is still up for debate. Jackson Lee told the Post that the committee would offer Congress a variety of proposals on how to end economic, health, and educational racial disparities.
- President Biden has affirmed his support for a study on reparations and is open to considering potential legislation recommended by the commission, NPR reports.
Yes, but: Republicans remain firmly opposed to the idea of reparations.
- "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," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in 2019.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.