Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I rise today, as this Chamber debates the nomination of Elena Kagan--someone I am looking forward to supporting when we vote--to raise another issue of ensuring justice in our country, an issue the Presiding Officer, I know, has been concerned about as well, and that is urging this Chamber to take action and approve funding for the settlement of racial discrimination claims made by thousands of African-American farmers.

This is an issue with which I have dealt for years, first as Governor of Virginia, now as a Senator. This issue was first brought to my attention by John Boyd, who is a fourth generation African-American farmer from Southside, VA. He founded the National Black Farmers Association in 1995.

He and a group of other African-American farmers brought forward a series of claims that were finally addressed in a lawsuit named Pigford v. Glickman. That lawsuit concerned allegations that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had denied farm loans and other services to African-American farmers between 1983 and 1997, although I think history will show those acts of discrimination long preceded 1983.

That case was settled in 1999. But due to very tight deadlines, thousands of farmers missed the deadline to file their complaints.

An estimated 74,000 Black farmers now await approval of funding by this body, following the announcement of a settlement of these additional claims by the USDA in February of this year. The USDA has acknowledged these claims. They have agreed to a settlement. These funds have been appropriated. This funding has been paid for.

According to Mr. Boyd, this effort, if we can get this funding approved, will mark the seventh time the Senate has tried to act on providing the Black farmers settlement money.

I have to say that as we debate the nomination of a very talented individual to serve on the Supreme Court and we hear folks on both sides of the aisle talk about American justice and American jurisprudence, it is a varnish on that record and, to a certain degree, on this body that we in the Senate have not acted to make sure that close to $1 billion in these settlement claims--again, that have been authorized by USDA--that those funds are not fully appropriated and approved by this Senate body for these farmers, many of whom have been struggling for decades, some who struggle due to the discrimination that has been acknowledged by our own Department of Agriculture. We have not acted. Senate procedure has gotten in the way of authorizing payment of these funds.

Now it is the time to act. This week the Senate has the opportunity to finally authorize funding of the settlement costs and turn the page on past discriminatory practices.

As I stated earlier, this legislation is fully paid for and there does not appear to be any substantive opposition to honoring the terms of this settlement.

I know we are all anxious to vote on Elena Kagan. I know many of us are anxious to vote on the small business legislation. I know we are all anxious, as well, for the August recess to start. As we go through this process on a matter that reflects on the integrity of this body, reflects on the value of our jurisprudence system, as we think through trying to get out of town and getting home, I hope our leaders can come together and act to make sure that these Black farmers, many times waiting literally for decades for the appropriate compensation that everyone throughout the judicial system has said is owed to them, that in this rush to get out and get back home, the Senate can finally take action in the Pigford case and these farmers can receive their appropriate compensation.

I again thank those involved in this action. I particularly thank Mr. John Boyd, as I mentioned, from Southside, VA, who has been a passionate and tireless leader on this issue for more than two decades.

I see my good friend, the Senator from Delaware, is here to speak on behalf of Elena Kagan. I know he and the Presiding Officer have also raised this issue making sure these Black farmers get--not their day in court; they have had their day in court, but they are waiting for the Senate to act on a noncontroversial issue so they can receive the funding that is long overdue.

I yield the floor.

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