exchange for revenue; and
WHEREAS, The exception clause in the Thirteenth Amendment
facilitated and incentivized the over-incarceration of African
Americans and has led to our present moment where African
Americans are incarcerated at more than five times the rate of
White Americans; and
WHEREAS, Even as states have phased out convict leasing,
Federal law still requires all able-bodied Federal inmates to
work, pushing nearly 900,000 individuals into forced labor; and
WHEREAS, In recent years, voters in Colorado, Utah, Nebraska,
Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont have approved ballot
measures to remove provisions in their respective state
constitutions that allowed for slavery and involuntary servitude
as a punishment for crime; and
WHEREAS, On June 18, 2021, United States Senator Jeff Merkley
and United States Representative Nikema Williams introduced a
proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States that
reads, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude may be imposed
as a punishment for a crime"; and
WHEREAS, It is time for our nation to close this racist
loophole in the Constitution of the United States and end legal
slavery; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the Congress of the United
States to pass a constitutional amendment that provides that
neither slavery nor involuntary servitude may be imposed as a
punishment for a crime; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to
the President of the United States, the presiding officers of
each house of Congress and each member of Congress from
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