Washington DC - Representative Ayanna Pressley and Senator Cory Booker have reintroduced legislation to create a federal reparations commission in the 119th Congress.

The bill calls for the establishment of a commission to document and develop a policy blueprint to address historic and ongoing harms to Black communities, from the era of enslavement through the present day.

"We as a nation have not yet truly acknowledged and grappled with the ways slavery, racism, and white supremacy continue to disadvantage African Americans," Booker, lead sponsor of S 40, said in a Thursday statement.

"Commissioning a study to better understand where our country has fallen short will help lawmakers better address the racial disparities and inequalities that persist today as a result of generational injustices," he added.

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In addition to Booker, the Senate bill has 17 co-sponsors thus far.

Pressley, picking up the mantle from the late Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, earlier this month reintroduced the House version of the bill, HR 40, according to Congress.gov.

Reparations advocates had urged President Joe Biden to enact a commission by executive order. In his four years in office, he failed to follow through.