Congress names August 20 as a day to honor enslaved people
S.J.Res. 220 — Original Slavery Remembrance Day Resolution · Filed by Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) · 12 cosponsors · Introduced Sep 30, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
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What it does
This bill makes August 20 a federal day each year. It honors enslaved people and speaks against slavery. It names 18 Black members of Congress from after the Civil War as honorary sponsors. It asks the President to write a statement. The statement tells Americans to mark the day with events.
Who it affects
The bill affects all Americans. It creates a day for the public to honor slavery's history. It costs no money.
One thing to notice
The bill says August 20, 1619 was when the first enslaved Africans arrived. It links slavery to Jim Crow laws, mass jail time, and police harm.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
12 cosponsors: 12 Democrats.
- Sep 30, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 30, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- federal day — A day the government sets aside for all Americans to mark.
- enslaved people — People who were forced to work without pay or freedom.
- Jim Crow laws — Laws that kept Black people and white people apart and unequal.
- statement — An official announcement made by the President.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (10,430 characters) on Oct 3, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Congress names August 20 as a day to honor enslaved people” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/sjres220/simple Report an error
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