Barbara Lee reintroduces House resolution to create truth and racial healing commission

Washington DC - One day after Congresswoman Cori Bush introduced her historic new reparations resolution in the US House, her colleague Barbara Lee re-introduced a resolution calling for a US Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT).

Congresswoman Barbara Lee has reintroduced a resolution calling for the formation of a US Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee has reintroduced a resolution calling for the formation of a US Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation.  © Paul Morigi / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

The TRHT resolution, reintroduced on Thursday, calls for the establishment of a commission charged with studying the impacts of enslavement and systemic discrimination against people of color on present-day laws and policies.

In particular, the proposal calls on the US government to acknowledge the "debt of remembrance" it owes to the descendants of people who were enslaved and work toward eliminating racial inequities that still exist today.

"Every challenge we face today – from health disparities laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic, to economic inequality and poverty, to environmental racism – can be traced back to 400 years of systemic, government sanctioned racism. This history shows us that a truth commission is a moral imperative," Lee said in a statement.

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"These legislative efforts will educate and inform the public about the historical context for the current racial inequalities we witness each day, usher in a moment of truth, and take necessary steps toward rooting out systemic racism in our institutions," she continued.

"Only then will we repair past harm and build a more just nation for every individual."

Barbara Lee expresses support for federal reparations program

The news of the resolution's reintroduction came just one day after Lee joined Bush at a press conference on Capitol Hill to announce the Missouri congresswoman's groundbreaking new resolution calling for at least $14 trillion in reparations to Black Americans.

Bush's resolution also expresses support for TRHT as well as HR 40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act.

Cover photo: Paul Morigi / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

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