Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - In a new interview, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris declined to say whether she would create a federal reparations commission if elected president.

Harris sat down Tuesday for an interview with a panel of reporters with the National Association of Black Journalists, during which she was asked about her stance on reparative justice.

TheGrio's Gerren Keith Gaynor noted that Harris had been a co-sponsor of S 40, Senate companion bill to HR 40, while in Congress. The legislation calls for the creation of a commission to develop a comprehensive policy plan for reparations.

Gaynor then asked whether Harris as president would use her executive authority to establish such a commission, in accordance with longstanding demands from lawmakers and advocates.

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The vice president replied: "What we need to do going forward, look, first of all, we just need to speak truth about history in spite of the fact that some people try and erase history and try and teach our children otherwise. We need to speak truth about the generational impact of our history, in terms of the generational impact of slavery, the generational impact of redlining, of Jim Crow laws."

"I could go on and on and on," she continued. "These are facts that have impact, and we need to speak truth about it. And we need to speak truth about it in a way that is about deriving solutions."

Harris instead shifted focus to her plans to build an "opportunity economy" addressing the "obstacles that historically and currently exist," including student and medical debt, bias in home appraisals, and disparately high Black maternal mortality rates.

Gaynor pressed Harris whether she believes a reparations commission should be established via executive order or through Congress.

"I think Congress, ultimately, will have the ability to do this work. I'm not discounting the importance of any executive action, but ultimately Congress," the vice president answered.

"If you're going to talk about it in any substantial way, there will be hearings, there will be a level of public education and dialogue, and I think that was part of the spirit behind the congressional action thus far."

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Harris did not utter the word "reparations" a single time in her response.

The 2024 Democratic Party Platform expressed support for a "study of reparations and the continuing impacts of slavery," but excluded language in support of executive action.

The right to remedy for gross human rights violations is anchored in international law. According to the United Nations, reparations include measures for restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, and guarantees of non-repetition.

In 2022, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination urged the US government to pass HR 40 and "take the appropriate measures towards the establishment of such a commission to study and develop reparation proposals for people of African Descent, including issuing an executive order."

The president does not need congressional approval to establish a reparations commission. Advocates have pushed Joe Biden to take that step, but he has so far failed to do so.