Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) choked up as she reintroduced H.R. 40, a reparations bill establishing a federal commission to study the impact of reparations for descendants of enslaved people, as she takes up the mantel left vacant by the late Texas Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.
“It is an honor,” Pressley began before her voice cracked during the emotional moment, “to inherit the privilege of carrying this forward from Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. In my last correspondence with her, she said keep working on our priorities and never give up.”
Later on during the briefing, Pressley explained: “I got emotional because I’m humbled and because I feel a tremendous amount of responsibility. These are unprecedented and deeply consequential times.”
Jackson Lee was the previous House sponsor of H.R. 40 before she died from cancer in July 2024. Former Rep. John Conyers Jr. first introduced the legislation in 1989, and it has been reintroduced in every Congress since.
