John Barrow: “Mr. Speaker, this country has a proud heritage of African American farmers who have contributed more than their fair…”

“Mr. Speaker, this country has a proud heritage of African American farmers who have contributed more than their fair share to our national economy, but our government has not given them its fair share of support. It is shameful that many of those farmers have faced discrimination by their own government. I applaud this effort to finally right some of those wrongs, and I encourage my colleagues to support this bill. However, I feel compelled to make the point that, while this is progress, it won't be providing relief for everyone who needs it. I have a constituent who is an original plaintiff in the Pigford suit, and because of bad lawyering and bad judging, he has never had so much as a hearing on his discrimination case. This settlement will likely do him no good. I hate to think about how many other folks might still be left out of their rights in this instance. I hope that the passage of this bill will be the first step toward righting some of those wrongs as well.”