A coalition of Democratic lawmakers and advocates on Thursday reintroduced a resolution to offer reparations to descendants of enslaved Africans and people of African descent.

Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) led the reintroduction of the Reparations Now resolution, which was first introduced in 2023 by former Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.).

“We’re here to say that there's no more waiting, no more watering down, no more putting justice on layaway,” said Lee, the descendant of enslaved Africans. “Black folks are owed more than thoughts and prayers. We’re owed repair, we’re owed restitution and we're owed justice.”

The resolution calls for the federal government to allocate trillions of dollars in reparations to Black Americans to atone for chattel slavery, Jim Crow and the ongoing effects of other federally sanctioned discriminatory policies.

“For over 400 years, this country has profited off the stolen labor, the stolen land and stolen lives of Black people,” said Bush, who attended Thursday's press conference.

She continued: “From the first shackled bodies brought to these shores — and those that didn't make it to the shores — to the grueling, back-breaking,........

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