Filed under: News, Politics, President Obama, Race and Civil Rights
The House passed a bill that will fund a $1.25 billion discrimination settlement for black farmers.
After a decade of legal wrangling and being caught up in Washington politics, the House approved the bill by a vote of 256-152. The relatively easy passage in the House came after the Senate passed the bill on its tenth attempt last week. (Above: John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association with his mule Struggle in New York City).
President Obama has promised to sign the bill quickly, meaning that thousands of farmers who were discriminated against by the government when they were purposely denied the same access to subsidies and loans as white farmers by the federal government , can begin the process of being compensated for the losses they suffered as a result.
"I am pleased that today, the House has joined the Senate in passing the Claims Settlement Act of 2010. This important legislation will fund the agreements reached in the Pigford II lawsuit, brought by African American farmers, and the Cobell lawsuit, brought by Native Americans over the management of Indian trust accounts and resources. I want to thank Attorney General Holder and Secretaries Salazar and Vilsack for all their work to reach this outcome, and I applaud Congress for acting in a bipartisan fashion to bring this painful chapter in our nation's history to a close," President Obama said in a statement.
Black farmers successfully sued the government for discrimination in 1999 in the Pigford v. Glickman case, where $980 million was paid out to more than 16,000 farmers who were denied the same loans and subsidies offered to white farmers. Unfortunately, many eligible farmers were left out of the settlement or were not given enough time to file a claim.
In 2007, then-Sen. Barack Obama introduced a bill to reopen the case, and the $1.25 billion settlement was agreed upon but never funded by the Senate, despite passing twice in the House. On the 10th time the bill came before the Senate, it passed in a unanimous consent vote.
The race was on to pass the bill during the current lame duck session of Congress before Republicans take control of the House in January. Republicans have offered staunch resistance to the bill, with Rep. Michelle Bachman saying the settlement was "rife with fraud" and Rep. Steve King from Iowa calling the settlement "slavery reperations."
"Figure this out, Madame Speaker: We have a very, very urban Senator, Barack Obama, who has decided he's going to run for president, and what does he do?" King said. "He introduces legislation to create a whole new Pigford claim."
John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Assocaition has railed against those accusations.
"This is not a case about fraud. This is a case about black farmers being discriminated against by the department of agriculture. Asking them to wait another day for justice is a very sad situation," he said during a press conference this week.
The average payout to farmers will be approximately $50,000, said Boyd. However, anti-fraud measures are dispersed throught the bill and settlement process. Claimants will have to prove their case before an arbitrator and the court holds final approval over payout. Arbitrators can request more information and lawyers with clients to receive payouts risk perjury if they are found to have filed a false claim.
However, the funds will not fully right the wrongs that have been done to an entire generation of farmers, Boyd said. Many farmers died or lost their land while waiting for this settlement to wind its way through the courts and Congress.
In addition, employess of the U.S. Department of Agriculture who were responsible for the bold and unmitigated discrimination-- Boyd, also a farmer, was spit on when he went to apply for a loan-- have never been punished.
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said he wants the Black farmers settlement to close an ugly chapter in the agency's history.
"President Obama and I made a firm commitment not only to treat all farmers fairly and equally, but to right the wrongs in USDA's past," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "I applaud those who took this historic step to ensure black farmers who faced discrimination by their government finally receive justice. And I commend those who led this fight in the U.S. Congress and I am thankful for their unwavering determination. Today's vote will help the Department of Agriculture move beyond this sad chapter in history," Vilsack said in a statement.
The battle is not over though, Boyd said.
The process of making claims is a complicated one and many Black farmers are elderly, sick or not highly educated. Money is still needed so that his organization can do outreach mainly in the Deep South.
"That's what this case is about: A group of aging black farmers who have been waiting decades for redress. The only problm with the vote coming up this week is that it may have come a little tooo late for many black farmers, But for those who are waiting it will be such long overdue justice," Boyd said.
Obama also said there was more work to be done.
"Yet, while today's vote demonstrates important progress, we must remember that much work remains to be done. And my Administration will continue our efforts to resolve claims of past discrimination made by women and Hispanic farmers and others in a fair and timely manner," the president said.