Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation that will make amends to thousands of African American famers and Native Americans, and bring a long-delayed close to the serious cases of discrimination and mismanagement committed by the Federal government. The Claims Resolution Act provides funding to implement the settlements of both the Pigford and Cobell class action lawsuits in a budget neutral manner. The Pigford case involved past discrimination committed against black farmers by the Department of Agriculture while in the Cobell case, the Department of the Interior mismanaged Native American trust funds. With this legislation, it is time to provide long overdue justice and uphold the Federal government's responsibility of the settlements. Mr. Speaker, we are one step closer to providing African American farmers and Native Americans compensation for the past failures of the Federal government. I urge my colleagues to do the right thing and support this legislation so that it can be sent to the President's desk for his signature.”