Washington (AFP) – A US congressional panel debates Wednesday whether to consider federal slavery reparation payments to African Americans, ahead of a historic first vote on an issue gaining momentum during the nation’s racial reckoning. The House Judiciary Committee launches its first-ever markup — the process by which committees debate and amend legislation — of a bill that creates a commission to study and develop reparation proposals for Black people. It faces major challenges in Congress, where no Republicans have joined the more than 150 Democratic sponsors of the bill. The first versi…