"One big challenge is that for political reasons that I do not fully understand, our quest for justice has been tied to the unrelated Cobell settlement. Cobell deals with mismanagement of Native American trust accounts by the United States Department of the Interior, while the Black famers’ settlement seeks to give Black farmers and Blacks who attempted to farm the opportunity to have their claims of discrimination by the USDA determined on their merits. Many Republicans have repeatedly objected to several elements of the Cobell settlement, ultimately keeping the Black farmers bill from ever passing through the Senate.

We have been told by congressional leadership that the only way we will receive our funding is by unanimous consent – all 100 senators agreeing that both the Black farmer settlement and the Cobell settlement should be funded.

There is seemingly no disagreement about funding for the Black farmers case. Yet it appears that many Republicans are objecting to Cobell and therefore, in effect, objecting to resolving the Black farmers case.

This has been especially frustrating for farmers when there has been such strong bipartisan leadership by Sen. Reid and Sen. Chuck Grassley. After a meeting between the two offices, it appears there is an agreement on offsets that fully pay for the Black farmer settlement, yet issues with Cobell remain.

If the Senate were able to vote on just the Black farmer settlement, it appears there would be at least 60 votes, however given the political need for the Black farmers to be joined with Cobell, 60 is simply not enough.

We need the Senate to stand as one and approve these settlements. Both cases are worthy of their own individual consideration, and I know our nation’s long suffering Black farmers are due justice."

Get the Story:
John Boyd Jr: Justice Now For Black Farmers (Afro.com 9/23)

Cobell Settlement Documents:
Agreement | Press Release | Q&A | Audio

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