Reparations · Federal
The first federal reparations-study bill (later renumbered H.R. 40) is introduced
- Direction
- +1 — benefit to Freedmen
- Force
- 0.10 — introduced or referred
- Status
- Decided
- Date
- 1989-11-20
Why this rating
On November 20, 1989, Rep. John Conyers introduced H.R. 3745, the Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act — later renumbered H.R. 40 for the '40 acres' promise. Rated +1 at force 0.10: a study-commission bill only (magnitude capped by its broad 'African Americans' framing, per the same reasoning as the current H.R. 40 entry) that was introduced but never received a floor vote — reintroduced every Congress since, the bridge from the historical record to today's.
Summary
On November 20, 1989, Rep. John Conyers introduced H.R. 3745, the Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act — later renumbered H.R. 40 for the '40 acres' promise. Rated +1 at force 0.10: a study-commission bill only (magnitude capped by its broad 'African Americans' framing, per the same reasoning as the current H.R. 40 entry) that was introduced but never received a floor vote — reintroduced every Congress since, the bridge from the historical record to today's.
Sources
- H.R. 3745, 101st Congress (1989-1990) — Congress.gov, Library of Congress — bill text · primary · historical
Rated under the published impact rubric. Direction records what a measure would do if fully effective; force records how far it has actually travelled. Neither is inferred — both trace to the sources above. Think something here is wrong? Tell us and we will log the correction.