U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) hit on several major topics in a telephone call with Southwest Alabama residents on Thursday, according to a report from Mobile’s FOX 10.
In the wide-ranging, one-hour tele town hall, Jones was reportedly asked by a constituent about the notion of slavery reparations in the United States. In response, Alabama’s junior senator pointed to a recently introduced bill sponsored by U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ).
That legislation “would establish a commission to study the impact of slavery and continuing discrimination against African-Americans and make recommendations on reparation proposals for the descendants of slaves,” per Booker’s office. Co-sponsors include U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Mazie Hirono (D-HI).
“That’s a very, very complicated issue,” Jones said on Thursday, per FOX 10. “It’s a hot-button issue. But it’s also a very complicated issue. And I think we’ve got to do that.”
He reportedly voiced his support for a nonpartisan commission of academics, among others, to study the issue of reparations and then make recommendations about whether (and, if so, how) black Americans should be compensated by the federal government.
“And I think right now is an interesting time, because I do think in America, we’re at a historic moment where people are now beginning to realize that we have not fulfilled America’s promise to have all people created equal – that there are still systemic problems in this country, systemic racism problems. We’ve got inequalities in health care jobs, the economy and within the justice system. So I think the time is right now to at least find a way that we can at least study an issue about the original sin of America, to try to do something to see whether or not, what is the appropriate way, or if there should be some type of reparations going forward,” Jones added.
Later in the call, Jones rejected the idea of “defunding” the police.
“That’s just not gonna happen,” the senator advised. “We want to make sure that we’ve got good people that we can encourage to go into law enforcement because that’s how you [get] better law enforcement.”
He further detailed that he opposed a criminal justice reform bill proposed by U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) but supported a Democrat-backed bill on the subject spearheaded by Booker and U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA).
You can read the full FOX 10 report here.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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