Washington DC - Representative Ayanna Pressley has formally announced the reintroduction of HR 40, a bill to establish a federal reparations commission for Black Americans, in the 119th Congress.

"Today, I'm deeply honored to reintroduce HR 40, historic legislation to establish a federal commission to examine the lasting legacy of slavery, to develop reparations proposals for descendants of enslaved Africans," Pressley said in a Wednesday press conference.

Introduced in every Congress since 1989, the bill calls for the creation of a comprehensive policy blueprint to address historic and ongoing harms to Black communities, from the era of enslavement through the present day.

Pressley was joined in the news conference by Representatives Yvette Clarke, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Summer Lee, Jonathan Jackson, and Lateefah Simon as well as former Representative Erica Lee Carter, daughter of the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who served as lead sponsor of the bill until her passing last July.

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"We're at a critical inflection point in America, and the moment cannot be more urgent. With Black history under attack and white supremacy emboldened, there is no better time to reintroduce this bill than during Black History Month, a time when we reflect on our history, our struggle, and our collective power," Pressley said in reference to the Donald Trump administration's assault on education and racial equity and inclusion measures.

"More than four centuries ago, Africans were kidnapped, trafficked, and enslaved, forced to build this country under horrific brutality – the economy which we still benefit from today," she added.

Pressley pointed to today's deep racial disparities, in particular the nation's staggering Black-white wealth gap, as reflections of the ongoing harms stemming from the enslavement era.

"This shameful reality is the direct result of generations of precise, intentional policy harm codified into our laws and budgets, and it is specifically the result of slavery and the anti-Black society that followed," the congresswoman said.

Pressley noted that more than 70 of her colleagues had signaled their support for the legislation in spite of the Trump administration's efforts to obscure the true history of the country.

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"No matter how many attempts they make to whitewash this history, the blood of our enslaved African ancestors can't be erased from this land. We must acknowledge that," Lee echoed.

"White supremacy is rampant in this country," she continued. "Just look at the current administration and our own legislative body. They have contributed to the social and economic harms, to racial terror Black folks have experienced in this country. Now more than ever we must acknowledge and repair those harms."

Senator Cory Booker last month reintroduced S 40, companion bill to HR 40, in the upper chamber, where it has 19 co-sponsors, according to Congress.gov.

Under the Joe Biden administration, reparations advocates had urged the president to enact a federal reparations commission by executive order. In his four years in office, he failed to follow through.