Senate Votes To Reopen Black Farmers’ Lawsuit

Read more on Senator Obama’s work on behalf of black farmers here.

The AP reports:

The farm bill approved by the Senate last week moved Congress a step closer to reopening a landmark discrimination case against the Agriculture Department.Like its companion bill in the House, the Senate measure would give thousands of black farmers another chance at seeking compensation over claims that they were denied loans or other crop subsidies because of their race.

Critics have charged that farmers had plenty of time to win claims under the original settlement that USDA agreed to in 1999. Reopening the matter now could cost several billion dollars and reward questionable claimants who may not have suffered losses, they argue.

But advocates for black farmers say the settlement was flawed and that many farmers living in rural areas did not know of the deadline for filing claims.

So far, the provision – tucked inside the nearly $300 billion farm bill – has not run into significant opposition on Capitol Hill. Aides said it appears likely to survive in the final version of the bill that Congress sends to President Bush.

“For far too long, this country’s hardworking black farmers were discriminated against by our own government, and this legislation offers a chance for us to continue righting those wrongs,” Sen. Barack Obama, an Illinois Democrat running for president, said in a written statement.

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