Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says his family�s history of slave ownership doesn�t change his opposition to reparations.

The Kentucky Republican said Tuesday that he and former President Barack Obama have opposed reparations, and �both are the descendent of slave owners.�

Last month, McConnell said he didn�t think �reparations for something that happened 150 years ago, for whom none of us currently living are responsible, is a good idea.� He said the nation paid for the �sin of slavery� by electing Obama president.

NBC News this week used census records to show that two of McConnell�s great-great-grandfathers were slave owners before the Civil War. Obama has white ancestors who were slave owners, according to reports.

House Democrats are considering legislation to study reparations for slavery.

(AP)