The progressive congressman called on the federal government to foot the bill, arguing that there's a way to pay for it "without raising taxes on anyone."

"When COVID was destroying us, we invested in the American people in a way that kept the economy afloat," Bowman told the Journal News in an interview published January 16. "The government can invest the same way in reparations without raising taxes on anyone."

"Where did the money come from?" he continued. "We spent it into existence."

Bowman is among nine sponsors in support of H.R. 414, a resolution introduced by Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) in May 2023 to recognize that the U.S. "has a moral and legal obligation to provide reparations for the enslavement of Africans and its lasting harm on the lives of millions of Black people in the United States."

The proposal stretches beyond slavery, to also cover restitution for more government policies the disenfranchised black Americans including "banking, consumer, housing, health, education, and employment discrimination."

H.R. 414 also addresses the U.S.'s failure to "keep Black people safe from or actively sanctioning White domestic terrorism and failing to prosecute it when it occurred," as well as "the impacts of government-imposed segregation."

The bill states that "financial reparations must be paid by the Federal Government for an amount that respected economists have estimated totals, at minimum, $14,000,000,000,000 to eliminate the racial wealth gap that currently exists between Black and White Americans."