H.R. 1134 · 117th Congress

African Descent Affairs Act of 2021

Introduced on Feb 18, 2021 by Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL-20). 6 cosponsors, all from the sponsor's party. Latest action (Feb 18, 2021): Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Stage
Introduced
Introduced
Feb 18, 2021
Cosponsors
6
0 from the other party
Policy area
International Affairs
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Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. 2Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To provide for the establishment of a global affairs strategy and assistance for people of African descent, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Africa
  • Department of State
  • Executive agency funding and structure
  • Foreign aid and international relief
  • Human rights
  • Racial and ethnic relations

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Feb 18, 2021). Public domain.

African Descent Affairs Act of 2021

This bill directs the Department of State to establish an Office of Global African Descent Affairs, to be headed by the Director and Special Envoy to the Secretary on Global African Descent Affairs.

The functions of the office shall include

  • directing policies, programs, and funding relating to the human rights and advancement of people of African descent internationally;
  • developing and managing the Fund for African Descent Affairs to invest in solutions to combat racial discrimination and create opportunities for people of African descent internationally;
  • directing U.S. government resources to support the protection, integration, resettlement, and empowerment of people of African descent; and
  • compiling an annual report on U.S. government activities relating to people of African descent.

The bill requires that a description of the status of the people of African descent in each country be included in a specified annual human rights report.

The U.S. Agency for International Development must appoint a Senior Advisor to the Administrator on Global African Descent Affairs who shall (1) direct policies, programs, and funding relating to the human rights and advancement of people of African descent internationally; and (2) develop a uniform set of indicators and standards for monitoring and evaluating foreign assistance for people of African descent.

The Office of Global African Descent Affairs must develop or update annually (for 10 years after the initial report) a U.S. global strategy to prevent and respond to discrimination and violence against people of African descent.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Alcee L. HastingsD-FL-20Sponsor

Democrats · 6

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Feb 18, 2021Introduced in House
  2. Feb 18, 2021Introduced in House
  3. Feb 18, 2021Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E139-140)
  4. Feb 18, 2021 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.