Reparations legislation required aligned Democratic control of both chambers to pass.

Evidence

What started out as an impossibility—the idea of “reparations” pushed for by the JACL for survivors of Japanese imprisonment—had gained significant traction by the publication of the commission’s report. Those who had been wronged were so close to the finish line—but not nearly close enough. To get reparations, they first had to get legislation through Congress. It would not be easy. Indeed, from the issuance of the commission report, it took almost five years—and Democratic control of both the House and the Senate with the 100th Congress (1987–88)—to get the actual legislation passed. — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations, 213

Categorization

• XREF: Direct lesson for the contemporary reparations battle Brown is building toward — party control as prerequisite.