On the recordAugust 5, 2010
I add my voice in support of coming to closure on this important issue. I thank Senator Dorgan and Senator Lincoln for their extraordinary leadership for the Pigford and Cobell claimants. We are very close to settling a grave injustice that has gone on in two communities, one the Native-American community and the other the African-American community. I surely hope we can find a way forward in the next few hours, before we leave, to get this done; if not, that it would be one of the first orders of business when we return. Explanations have been made beautifully on both sides. I represent 1,000 African-American farmers. I am going to fight for them and advocate for them and continue to bring their cases before this body until we get justice. People in Louisiana generally, of many different races, understand systematic injustice. Talking about oil moneys not coming the way they should, there are many people in Louisiana right now shaking their heads in great sympathy with the stories the Senator from North Dakota shared with us about Native Americans. I support the Pigford settlement. I support the Cobell settlement. I hope we can find the $5 billion, approximately, so that it does not affect the deficit, paid for in a responsible way to end this discrimination and to provide some hope and support to these families.
