Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday ruled out Congress passing reparations, saying nobody alive now was responsible for slavery and saying it would be unworkable to figure out who should benefit.
Mr. McConnell’s statement was the clearest signal yet that the push for reparations, which has gained traction among some Democrats, is not going far on Capitol Hill.
“I don’t think reparations for something that happened 150 years ago for whom none of us currently living are responsible is a good idea,” the Kentucky Republican said.
He called slavery “our original sin,” but said the country has tried to address it over the years by fighting the Civil War, by approving civil rights legislation and even by election an African-American president.
“We’re always a work in progress in this country, but no one currently alive was responsible for that and I don’t think we should be trying to figure out how to compensate for it,” he said.
He suggested picking those who deserve compensation would be made more complicated by immigrants who came to the U.S. after the Civil War.
He was responding to a reporter who wanted to know the prospects for reparations in Congress.
House Democrats have announced a hearing to be held Wednesday, Juneteenth, a traditional celebration of the end of slavery, with reparations backers.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.