AJR56: Joint Resolution Text

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2001 - 2002 LEGISLATURE

2001 Assembly JOINT RESOLUTION 56

July 5, 2001 - Introduced by Representatives Morris-Tatum, Young, Turner, Williams, Coggs, Riley, Pocan, Wasserman and Plouff, cosponsored by Senators George and Decker. Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

AJR56,1,5 Relating to: urging Congress to enact H.R. 40 of the 1st Session of the 107th Congress, which acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery and establishes a commission to examine the institution of slavery and make recommendations to Congress on appropriate remedies.

AJR56,1,8 Whereas, approximately 4,000,000 Africans and their descendants were enslaved in the United States and colonies that became the United States from 1619 to 1865; and

AJR56,1,10 Whereas, the institution of slavery was constitutionally and statutorily sanctioned by the government of the United States from 1789 through 1865; and

AJR56,1,13 Whereas, in 1865, the Freedmen's Bureau, created by the government to help newly freed slaves, pledged 40-acre parcels and the loan of a federal mule to work the land, but President Andrew Johnson reneged on the pledge; and

AJR56,2,3 Whereas, the slavery that flourished in the United States constituted an immoral and inhumane deprivation of Africans' life, liberty, African citizenship rights, and cultural heritage, and denied them the fruits of their own labor; and

AJR56,2,5 Whereas, sufficient inquiry has not been made into the effects of the institution of slavery on living African-Americans and society in the United States; and

AJR56,2,6 Whereas, H.R. 40 establishes a commission to:

AJR56,2,10 "(1) examine the institution of slavery which existed from 1619 through 1865 within the United States and the colonies that became the United States, including the extent to which the Federal and State Governments constitutionally and statutorily supported the institution of slavery;

AJR56,2,13 (2) examine de jure and de facto discrimination against freed slaves and their descendants from the end of the Civil War to the present, including economic, political, and social discrimination;

AJR56,2,16 (3) examine the lingering negative effects of the institution of slavery and the discrimination described in paragraph (2) on living African-Americans and on society in the United States;

AJR56,2,18 (4) recommend appropriate ways to educate the American public of the Commission's findings;

AJR56,2,20 (5) recommend appropriate remedies in consideration of the Commission's findings on the matters described in paragraphs (1) and (2); and

AJR56,2,22 (6) submit to the Congress the results of such examination, together with such recommendations"; and

AJR56,3,2 Whereas, California has enacted Chapter 934, Statutes of 2000, which directs the California commissioner of insurance to investigate and report to the California legislature and the public all records of insurance companies regarding slaveholder insurance policies, and determine whether the insurers profited from slavery; and

AJR56,3,8 Whereas, a National Reparations Convention was held this year in Chicago at which, according to the Wisconsin State Journal of February 11, 2001, convention participants joined a growing group of academics, activists, and governmental officials who believe that repaying African-Americans for the 246 years of unpaid labor of their ancestors could relieve poverty and hopelessness among modern-day African-Americans; and

AJR56,3,12 Whereas, it was reported in the Wisconsin State Journal of February 11, 2001, that one reason why people are now willing to talk about reparations may be that other groups victimized because of their religion, skin color, or nationality have won apologies and even cash payments for their suffering; and

AJR56,3,15 Whereas, a letter of formal apology and $20,000 were given by the U.S. government to each Japanese-American held in internment camps during World War II; and

AJR56,3,17 Whereas, Austria has established a $380,000,000 fund to compensate Nazi-era slave laborers; and

AJR56,3,22 Whereas, it was reported in the National Post of September 23, 2000, that some of Germany's largest corporations agreed to pay billions of dollars in reparations to individuals enslaved in their factories during the Second World War and that the Anglican Church in Canada faces bankruptcy as a result of claims arising from aboriginals who were abused in Church homes; and

AJR56,3,25 Whereas, Representative F. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, the House Judiciary Committee Chairman, has indicated that it is too early to determine whether H.R. 40 will be on the Committee's agenda; now, therefore, be it

AJR56,4,2 Resolved by the assembly, the senate concurring, That the legislature of the state of Wisconsin hereby urges Congress to pass H.R. 40; and, be it further

AJR56,4,7 Resolved, That the assembly chief clerk shall provide a copy of this joint resolution to the president and secretary of the U.S. Senate, to the speaker and clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, and to each member of the congressional delegation from this state attesting the adoption of this joint resolution by the 2001 legislature of the state of Wisconsin.

AJR56,4,8 (End)