What the US can learn from Africa about slavery reparations The Conversation 06 May 2021, 22:41 GMT+10 The measure, H.R. 40, would establish a 15-person commission to offer a "national apology" for slavery, study its long-term effects and submit recommendations to Congress on how to compensate African Americans. Any federal reparations bill faces long odds of being enacted due to Republican opposition, but this is the furthest this effort has advanced since a similar bill was first introduced over 30 years ago. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Democrat from Texas, who introduced H.R. 40, called it a needed step on the "path to restorative justice."