{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-leads-colleagues-in-urging-president-biden-to-establish-a-presidential-commission-to-study-reparations", "Booker Leads Colleagues in Urging President Biden to Establish a Presidential Commission to Study Reparations", "2022-06-21", "2022", "2022-06", "Democrat", "Senate", "NJ", "Cory A. Booker", "B001288", "www.booker.senate.gov", "booker", "https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press", "scraper", "Washington, DC -- U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) led a group of Senators urging President Biden to establish a Presidential Commission to study and issue proposals on a national apology and reparations for African Americans. The effort builds upon the lawmakers\u2019 earlier work on S. 40, a bill that would establish a congressional commission for the study of reparations proposals that aims to study the impact of slavery and continuing discrimination against African Americans and will make recommendations on reparation proposals for the descendants of slaves.\n\nIn a letter to the President, the Senators write that \u201cThe legacy of slavery remains with us today and is compounded by ongoing racism and discrimination. The consequences for Black people in this country have been severe, continuous, and measurable.\u201d The Senators document that \u201cBlack people in the United States are incarcerated at over five times the rate of white people, face an unemployment rate over twice that of white Americans, and have on average less than one-sixth the wealth of white households.\u201d These \u201cclear and staggering racial disparities\u201d argue the Senators, \u201ccan be traced directly back to slavery, Jim Crow segregation, redlining, and ongoing systemic racism that has deprived Black families of wealth and opportunities for generations.\u201d\n\nIn conclusion, the Senators highlight the need to \u201cdocument the harms inflicted upon African Americans throughout our history, confront the egregious inequalities we see today with the knowledge of their deep roots, and seek to help African American families and communities realize the promise of equality and opportunity that this country has always purported to offer.\u201d A presidential commission will help progress our nation toward that end by recommending \u201cpolicy changes and monetary and other forms of compensation for the descendants of enslaved people.\u201d\n\nThe letter was cosigned by Senators Chris Coons (D-DE), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tina Smith (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI).", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T02:39:01Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-leads-colleagues-in-urging-president-biden-to-establish-a-presidential-commission-to-study-reparations"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3979289215058088, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}