When passing a policy through Congress to be further approved by the President of the United States, all the legislature members, ideally, should be guided by the principles of morality and humanity. It is apparent that in reality, this is rarely the case. In this essay, the author attempts to shed light on a bill that deserves more attention – “A concurrent resolution urging the establishment of a United States Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation” sponsored by Corey Booker. In order to confirm its importance, relevance, and, if passed, contribution to nation-wide social justice struggle, a “may-can-should” model is applied in an analysis of the bill and further is deemed feasible.
First, it is imperative to learn whether or not this resolution by Corey Booker is aligning ideologically with biblical ideas: this needs to be done for the purpose of finding out the bill’s correctness and, subsequently, feasibility. According to Fischer (2018), “justice does not originate from man-made law,” which becomes evident when reading the bill, which expands on about all the instances of injustice and racial inequality that all ethnic minorities are subject to. The resolution aims to “embrace our common humanity,” which corresponds well with the message from Biblical Principles of Government, “government exists first and foremost to protect our inalienable rights and ensure justice” (Fischer, 2018). This way, it meets the natural law and inalienable human rights perfectly, making everyone equal in the face of God.
The federal government’s authority is constitutionalized – meaning the precise process of sharing authority in any act of policymaking is described in the Constitution. In order for this system to work, there have been installed houses of power – “Congress, the President, various agencies of the executive branch” (Kraft & Furlong, 2018, p. 41). Therefore, it can be said that such a system adheres to the idea of federalism, a system that implies “the national government shares authority with the states and local governments” (Kraft & Furlong, 2018, p. 41). The bill adheres to federalism’s ideals, as it propels complete reinvention of power – leaving the ideas of the supremacy of one race and the inability of the other remnants of the past.
The political feasibility of an act or a policy depends fully upon the political climate in the country – however, feasibility is not fully mediated by it. It remains to be highly unpredictable, with “no formula is available for estimating political feasibility” (Kraft & Furlong, 2018, p. 318). However, in the author’s personal opinion, the bill appears to be politically feasible because it solves all the racial and minority issues that have been oppressing a significant percentage of the population, practically, since the founding days.
Financial feasibility appears less probable, thus, financial support might become a barrier for this bill to pass. In the text of the proposal, it says that the government needs to “develop material remedies for the institution of slavery” (Booker, 2021). The situation African-Americans have been put in in this country needs to be resolved, as “poverty, with its attending physical and psychological consequences, severally limits people in their ability to live creative, productive lives” (Monsma 2008, p. 210). This, as well as the “creation of the Federal Housing Administration” and some other instances, may lead to economic complications. However, if the bill receives enough support in Congress, it might still be feasible as the current racial injustice movement is calling for it.
The resolution is at a high probability of being the solution that many people were fighting and protesting for. Although it may not be the panacea to racial injustice, at least it has the potential to establish a new vector for American racial consciousness. Politically, it is very feasible, albeit no one can give a reliable prognosis. Financially, it might require many resources; however, given the current socio-political climate, the bill might still pass – partly for the reason that it alights with humanistic and Christian thought that calls for justice for all. Therefore, the bill has a significant potential to be allowed by Congress due to its long-awaited solutions.
References
Booker, C. (2021). “S.Con.Res. 6: A concurrent resolution urging the establishment of a United States Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation”. GovTrack, Web.
Fischer, K. (2018). “Biblical Principles of Government”.
Kraft, M. E. & Furlong, S. R. Public Policy: Politics, Analysis and Alternatives (6th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2018.
Monsma, S. “Healing for a Broken World: Christian Perspective on Public Policy”. Crossway Books, 2008.