II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 340
To direct the President to designate a month as African Diaspora Heritage
Month.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JANUARY30, 2025
Mr. K
AINE(for himself, Mr. CORNYN, and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
A BILL
To direct the President to designate a month as African
Diaspora Heritage Month.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘African Diaspora Her-4
itage Month Act of 2025’’. 5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
Congress finds that— 7
(1) the African diaspora population in the 8
United States has grown significantly in recent 9
years, with the number of African immigrants grow-10
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•S 340 IS
ing at a rate of almost 246 percent from 2000 to 1
2019; 2
(2) as of 2024, the African diaspora in the 3
United States was comprised of approximately 4
50,000,000 people; 5
(3) the African diaspora community is one of 6
the most diverse communities in the United States, 7
inclusive of people who speak multiple languages, 8
whose rich heritage comes from all across the Afri-9
can continent, and whose members practice various 10
faiths; 11
(4) during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, 12
a significant number of enslaved people from Africa 13
were brought to the United States; 14
(5) immigrants of African origin boast some of 15
the highest educational achievements of any immi-16
grant group; 17
(6) African diaspora households contribute bil-18
lions of dollars to the economy of the United States, 19
with an estimated $10,100,000,000 in Federal taxes, 20
$4,700,000,000 in State and local taxes, and a 21
spending power of more than $40,300,000,000 in 22
2015; 23
(7) Sub-Saharan African immigrants living in 24
the United States, Europe, and elsewhere sent back 25
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$46,000,000,000 in remittances to the continent of 1
Africa in 2021; 2
(8) Government agencies, including the Inter-3
national Development Finance Corporation, the De-4
partment of Commerce, the Department of the 5
Treasury, and the United States Trade Representa-6
tive are critical to investments and enduring mutual 7
partnerships between the United States and African 8
nations; 9
(9) in 2023, through the African Growth and 10
Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.), the 11
United States imported $9,700,000,000 in goods 12
and resources; 13
(10) Prosper Africa and other similar Govern-14
ment initiatives are critical to building and strength-15
ening ties between the United States and African 16
businesses; 17
(11) the total two-way goods trade with Sub- 18
Saharan Africa totaled $47,500,000,000 in 2023, a 19
6.2 percent increase from $44,700,000,000 in 2021; 20
(12) the African diaspora plays an invaluable 21
role in shaping Government policy; 22
(13) members of the African diaspora have an 23
invaluable understanding of cross-cultural engage-24
ment between the United States and Africa, existing 25
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relations and networks on the African continent, and 1
can support efforts to facilitate stronger people-to- 2
people ties between the United States and Africa; 3
(14) the United States is committed to 4
strengthening the government-to-government rela-5
tionships between the United States and countries 6
throughout the African continent; 7
(15) Congress strongly supports the hosting of 8
the second United States-Africa Leaders Summit by 9
the United States, which was held in December 10
2022, to boost collaboration between the Govern-11
ment and the African diaspora community in the 12
United States, and to strengthen ties between the 13
United States and African nations by bringing to-14
gether approximately 49 African heads of state; 15
(16) the African diaspora harbors a deep com-16
mitment to family and community, an enduring 17
work ethic, and a perseverance to succeed and con-18
tribute to the society of the United States; 19
(17) all members of the African diaspora in the 20
United States deserve access to any Federal re-21
sources they are legally eligible to receive and free-22
dom to participate in civil life in the United States; 23
and 24
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(18) the African diaspora community signifi-1
cantly contributes to the growth and prosperity of 2
the United States, and Congress honors this abun-3
dant and growing community. 4
SEC. 3. AFRICAN DIASPORA HERITAGE MONTH. 5
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 36, United 6
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-7
lowing: 8
‘‘§ 149. African Diaspora Heritage Month 9
‘‘The President shall issue each year a proclama-10
tion— 11
‘‘(1) designating a month as African Diaspora 12
Heritage Month; 13
‘‘(2) calling on State and local governments and 14
the people of the United States to observe African 15
Diaspora Heritage Month with appropriate pro-16
grams and activities; and 17
‘‘(3) urging civil and educational authorities of 18
States and local governments to observe African Di-19
aspora Heritage Month through appropriate pro-20
grams and activities.’’. 21
(b) T
ECHNICAL AND CONFORMINGAMENDMENT.— 22
The table of sections for chapter 1 of title 36, United 23
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States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat-1
ing to section 148 the following: 2
‘‘149. African Diaspora Heritage Month.’’.
Æ
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