House speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday threw her support behind a bill that would approve a commission to study the possibility of paying reparations to the descendants of American slaves.

“As you probably are aware, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has legislation to study this issue, and I support that,” the California Democrat told reporters. “One of the things that we can do not only just in terms of trying to make up for a horrible, sinful thing that happened in our country in terms of slavery, but for our country to live up to who we think we are.”