Confronting and Correcting Historical Injustices Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1196 To establish a Commission for Review and Correction of Historical Injustices, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 22, 2021 Mr. DESAULNIER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Edu- cation and Labor, and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To establish a Commission for Review and Correction of Historical Injustices, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Confronting and Cor- 4 recting Historical Injustices Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. COMMISSION FOR REVIEW AND CORRECTION OF 6 HISTORICAL INJUSTICES. 7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com- 8 mission to be known as the Commission for Review and 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1196.IH H1196 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1196 IH Correction of Historical Injustices (in this Act referred to 1 as the ‘‘Commission’’). 2 (b) DUTIES OF COMMISSION.—The Commission 3 shall— 4 (1) identify and review each instance of histor- 5 ical injustice; 6 (2) identify and review any instance in which a 7 Federal agency has unjustly discriminated against 8 an individual or group protected by the Civil Rights 9 Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.), by the Reha- 10 bilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 705), and members of the 11 uniformed services as defined by section 101 of title 12 10, United States Code, that led to a discriminatory 13 charge, conviction, or dismissal of that individual or 14 group; 15 (3) identify and review any instance where an 16 individual or group has been discriminated against 17 and has not received compensation for the discrimi- 18 natory act of the Federal agency; 19 (4) not later than 90 days after the date of en- 20 actment of this Act, establish a mechanism for the 21 public to submit and be heard on each instance of 22 discrimination by a Federal agency for consideration 23 by the Commission; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1196.IH H1196 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1196 IH (5) not later than 180 days after a public sub- 1 mission described in paragraph (4) is submitted, the 2 Commission shall review the submission or decline to 3 consider the instance of discrimination. 4 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 5 (1) NUMBER.—The Commission shall be com- 6 posed of 12 members appointed as follows: 7 (A) Four members shall be appointed by 8 the Speaker of the House of Representatives. 9 (B) Two members shall be appointed by 10 the minority leader of the House of Representa- 11 tives. 12 (C) Four members shall be appointed by 13 the majority leader of the Senate. 14 (D) Two members shall be appointed by 15 the minority leader of the Senate. 16 (2) APPOINTMENT.—Members of the Commis- 17 sion shall be appointed to the Commission not later 18 than 60 days after the date of enactment of this 19 Act. 20 (3) MEMBER QUALIFICATIONS.— 21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Members of the Com- 22 mission appointed shall be civil rights leaders, 23 historians, lawyers, or judges with expertise or 24 academic experience in— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1196.IH H1196 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1196 IH (i) civil rights; 1 (ii) social justice; 2 (iii) civil law; 3 (iv) criminal law; 4 (v) constitutional law; or 5 (vi) history. 6 (B) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Speaker of 7 the House of Representatives, minority leader 8 of the House of Representatives, majority lead- 9 er of the Senate, and minority leader of the 10 Senate may solicit and receive recommendations 11 from civil rights groups and submit such rec- 12 ommendations to the Commission for review. 13 (4) TERMS.— 14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each member ap- 15 pointed after the initial appointments described 16 in subparagraph (B) shall be appointed for 17 three years. 18 (B) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Com- 19 mission shall be filled in the manner in which 20 the original appointment was made. 21 (5) BASIC PAY.—The rate of pay for members 22 of the Commission shall be set by the Chairperson 23 of the Commission. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1196.IH H1196 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1196 IH (6) QUORUM.—9 members of the Commission 1 shall constitute a quorum and are required to con- 2 duct the duties of the Commission. 3 (7) CHAIRPERSON.—One member shall be elect- 4 ed to serve as the chair of the Commission. 5 (8) MEETINGS.—Not later than 90 days after 6 the date of enactment of this Act and quarterly 7 thereafter, the Commission shall hold a meeting. Ad- 8 ditional meetings may be called by a majority of the 9 members. 10 (d) DIRECTOR; STAFF OF COMMISSION.— 11 (1) DIRECTOR.—The Commission shall have a 12 Director who shall be appointed by a majority vote 13 of the Commission. 14 (2) STAFF.—Subject to rules prescribed by the 15 Commission, the Commission shall appoint and fix 16 the pay of at least 11 additional personnel as the 17 Director considers appropriate. 18 (3) CIVIL SERVICE PROTECTION.—The Director 19 and staff shall qualify for civil service protection. 20 (e) CONSULTATION.—The Commission may collabo- 21 rate with historians, sociologists, researchers, graduate 22 students, doctoral students, law students, community 23 members, formerly incarcerated or exonerated individuals, 24 or other individuals directly impacted by discrimination by 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1196.IH H1196 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1196 IH any Federal agency to identify any appropriate instance 1 to be reviewed by the Commission. 2 (f) RESEARCH.—The Commission may investigate 3 any instance brought to the attention of the Commission 4 as described in subsection (e) and may issue a subpoena 5 to any agency that a majority of the Commission deter- 6 mines is necessary. 7 (g) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90 days 8 after the date of enactment of this Act, and at least quar- 9 terly thereafter, the Commission shall submit to Congress 10 and the appropriate congressional committees, a report in- 11 cluding the following: 12 (1) Information on any alternative to the par- 13 don process, including exoneration or other forgive- 14 ness. 15 (2) Each instance reviewed during the quarter. 16 (3) Recommendations on legislative or executive 17 action with respect to each instance reviewed by the 18 Commission. 19 (h) EXCEPTION FOR TERMINATION OF COMMIS- 20 SION.—Section 14(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Com- 21 mittee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) does not apply to the Commis- 22 sion. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1196.IH H1196 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1196 IH (i) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE- 1 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres- 2 sional committees’’ means the following: 3 (1) The Committee on the Judiciary of the 4 House of Representatives. 5 (2) The Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen- 6 ate. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1196.IH H1196 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS