NATIONWIDE — On February 21, 2020, John Cheeks submitted the first proposed law to the District of Columbia Board of Elections that is a model bill for businesses, faith-based institutions, industries and governments that participated in or benefited from slavery to redress past maltreatment and exploitation.
The Bill will require these entities to contribute to a fund that will provide benefits to families and descendants of enslaved Americans. The benefits and programs for descendants are at no cost to the government or taxpayers, because funding is provided by major U.S and international corporations and organizations.
Cheeks comments, “This is a solution for known injuries, not taxpayer sponsored lawsuits, that will divide or keep dividing the country. Funds will help descendants of enslaved Americans, many of whom live in poor, underserved, and high crime areas in the United States. The benefits are not handouts and differ from historical reparations where the U.S. government gave money interned to Japanese American during WW II and Native Americans.”
The funds will provide benefits and objectives to include:
- Removal of Public Fixtures and Names
- Financial Restitution (One Time Claim)
- Home Ownership
- Judicial Adjustments and Protections
- Identity Repair
- Business Aid
- Employment and Career Rights
- Education Support
Benefits and programs will improve life for individuals, families and communities. In doing so, the nation benefits.
The Bill submitted by Cheeks, who is Founder & National Executive Director of the United States Citizens Recovery Initiative Alliance Inc. (USCRIA), will be on the November, DC ballot as a referendum.
Eligibility for benefits by claimants will require DNA testing which will show 35% of DNA came from enslaved ancestors. Claimants also need to be born in the United States.
The Bill proposes a law, “The U.S. Adjustment and Recovery Act for the District of Columbia,” which also has the objectives to restore identities ,cure injuries, remove statues, change street names of slavery supporters and provide opportunities and justice to families that were subjected to inhumane treatment.
The proposed legislation was drafted over 3 years, by a team of experts and citizens working with USCRIA.
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