WASHINGTON — The Senate approved a measure Friday to fund $1.2 billion in payments to black farmers for years of discrimination by federal agriculture officials, moving the historic legislation a step forward.
"This has been a very, very long process,’’ said John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association. "But we made a huge step for justice tonight ... It’s bigger than the black farmers. It’s a big step in the right direction for race relations.’’
The measure must now go to the House, where Democratic leaders have vowed to take it up before the new Congress begins next year. The $4.6 billion measure includes money to pay American Indians as part of a class-action lawsuit.
President Barack Obama urged the House to approve the measure and said he would sign it into law . . .
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http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20101119/NEWS/101119044/Black+farmer+settlement+moves+forwardThe settlements include almost $1.2 billion for black farmers who say they suffered discrimination at the hands of the Agriculture Department. Also, $3.4 billion would go to Indian landowners who claim they were swindled out of royalties by the Interior Department. The legislation was approved in the Senate by voice vote Friday and sent to the House.
Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Tribe from Browning, Mont. and the lead plaintiff in the Indian case, said Friday that it took her breath away when she found out the Senate had passed the bill. She was feeling despondent after the chamber had tried and failed to pass the legislation many times and two people who would have been beneficiaries had died on her reservation this week.
"It's 17 below and the Blackfeet nation is feeling warm," she said. "I don't know if people understand or believe the agony you go through when one of the beneficiaries passes away without justice."
John Boyd, head of the National Black Farmers Association, said the passage of the black farmers' money is also long overdue. "Twenty-six years justice is in sight for our nation's black farmers," he said.
read:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101119/ap_on_go_co/us_black_farmers_indian_moneyBy unanimous consent, the Senate approved funding to pay claims to black farmers under a 1999 settlement with the Department of Agriculture in a lawsuit claiming the U.S. government denied loans to black farmers in favor of whites. The measure also provided for a temporary extension of an anti-poverty program known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
"Black farmers and Native American trust account holders have had to wait a long time for justice, but now it will finally be served," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in a statement. "I am heartened that Democrats and Republicans were able to come together to deliver the settlement that these men and women deserve for the discrimination and mismanagement they faced in the past."
In a statement issued by the White House, President Barack Obama said the Claims Settlement Act of 2010 "will at long last provide funding for the agreements reached" in the 1999 settlement and the lawsuit, brought by American Indians over the management of Indian trust accounts and resources.
read:
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/11/19/Senate-OKs-paying-black-farmers-claims/UPI-95281290214814/Statement by the President on the Senate Passage of the Claims Settlement Act of 2010I applaud the Senate for passing the Claims Settlement Act of 2010, which will at long last provide funding for 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 particularly want to thank Attorney General Holder and Secretaries Salazar and Vilsack for their continued work to achieve this outcome. I urge the House to move forward with this legislation as they did earlier this year, and I look forward to signing it into law.
This bill also includes settlements for four separate water rights suits made by Native American tribes. I support these settlements and my Administration is committed to addressing the water needs of tribal communities. While these legislative achievements reflect important progress, they also serve to remind us that much work remains to be done. That is why my Administration also continues to work to resolve claims of past discrimination made by women and Hispanic farmers against the USDA.
read:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/11/19/statement-president-senate-passage-claims-settlement-act-2010
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