On the recordNovember 19, 2010
I want to first start off by thanking my Senate colleagues and in particular the Senate Agriculture Committee for addressing a new cause of action in Federal court for those African-American farmers who may have been discriminated against and who were denied entry in the Pigford v. Glickman Consent Decree. The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 included a provision titled Determination on Merits of Pigford Claims. It gave these farmers a chance to have their claims heard. For those that don't know, in 1997 a lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against the United States Department of Agriculture, USDA, Pigford v. Glickman, alleging that the USDA had violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the Administrative Procedure Act by maintaining a pattern and practice of discrimination against African-American farmers. Such pattern and practice delayed, denied, or otherwise frustrated the efforts of African-American farmers to obtain loan assistance and to engage in the vocation of farming.
