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Bluebook 21st ed. 167 Cong. Rec. S1217 (2021).

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-- Your use of this HeinOnline PDF indicates your acceptance of HeinOnline's Terms and Conditions of the license agreement available at https://heinonline.org/HOL/License -- The search text of this PDF is generated from uncorrected OCR text. S1266 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -SENATE March 5, 2021 Approximately 13 percent of bor- MARCH 2, 2021. favored crops. Not only are the vast majority rowers with FSA direct loans are cur- Re Support for Socially Disadvantaged of these large landowners white, the pro- Farmers. gram-favored crops are not those most often rently delinquent on their loans and produced by socially disadvantaged farmers. could lose their farms to foreclosure. Hon. CHARLES SCHUMER, Senate Majority Leader, These government payments distort credit, But for Black farmers, 35 percent of U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. land, input costs, and markets by favoring those with FSA direct loans are in de- Hon. MITCH MCCONNELL, white farmers to the disadvantage of others, fault and could soon lose their farms. Senate Minority Leader most of whom are small or beginning farm- U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. ers. And it is not only Black farmers-ap- The cumulative effect of decades of un- Hon. NANCY proximately 24 percent of the FSA di- PELOSI, equal treatment by the USDA coupled with House Majority Leader, rect loans to Hispanic, Asian-Amer- farm programs that favor large landowners House of Representatives, Washington, DC. ican, and Indigenous farmers are cur- continues to negatively impact the economic Hon. KEVIN MCCARTHY, condition of beginning farmers and small rently in default. What this means is House Minority Leader, fanning operations, creating an extra burden that we are facing yet another wave of House of Representatives, Washington, DC. for socially disadvantaged farmers. Today, foreclosures and potential land loss by DEAR LEADER SCHUMER, MINORITY LEADER disadvantaged farmers generally have less farmers of color. But the debt forgive- MCCONNELL, SPEAKER PELOSI, AND MINORITY access to credit than white farmers, less ac- LEADER MCCARTHY: We write in support of ness and other assistance in the bill we cumulated wealth, and smaller farming oper- efforts to level the playing field for socially ations. are considering today can prevent this disadvantaged American farmers as set forth and can begin to turn the page on this Congress and the USDA acknowledged this in §§1005 and 1006 of the House-passed Amer- racial discrimination and attempted to re- shameful history of discrimination by ican Rescue Plan. If enacted, these sections solve it through the settlement of two land- the Federal Government. will help to correct past injustices and cre- mark lawsuits-Pigford and Keepseagle. But ate new opportunities to build the diverse, I want to close by giving you one spe- this approach was severely flawed. These set- resilient food system that we all want and tlements attempted to define the problem in cific example of the discrimination I need. terms of discreet incidents of individualized have been talking about. American agriculture's history began with discrimination without correcting the sys- slavery and the forced removal of tribes from Eddie and Dorothy Wise were resi- temic problems that led to that discrimina- their land. It continued with myriad abuses, tion. The adversarial nature of the settle- dents of Whitakers, NC. A retired including Jim Crow laws, the prohibition of ment process served to further divide. While Green Beret, Mr. Wise's dream was to minority land ownership, property laws that some farmers received a payment, many re- own a pig farm, and so in 1991, Mr. Wise facilitated Black land loss, and deceptive mained indebted to the government, and the purchased land and started to raise practices to entice Hmong farmers to incur system itself remained broken. Providing swine. But then came the discrimina- huge debts to build chicken houses. Each of debt relief to disadvantaged farmers, will these predatory practices were instituted or tory actions by USDA: failure to han- help to correct the longstanding past injus- allowed by U.S. law. At every turn, govern- tice, wiping the slate clean for USDA to dle his loan applications in a timely ment policies have either intentionally or start over. Reforming the system will pro- manner, denial of loan applications, inadvertently served to advantage white vide the necessary financial and educational change of interest rates and escalation farmers, creating the category of farmers infrastructure to finally give these farmers of monthly notes, and other misdeeds. recognized by Congress and the USDA for an opportunity to compete on an even play- decades as "socially disadvantaged." ing field. In 1997, a loan for improvements to Cultural traditions in farming in America, We depend on our food system, and farming the property was approved, but the re- long romanticized in disregard of their dis- is at the heart of that system. Natural disas- ceipt of the funds was delayed for 7 criminatory consequences, have further con- ters and the COVID pandemic have revealed months, and his 400 pigs froze to death, tributed to inequities. Farming is built on significant systemic problems, and climate relationships: handshake contracts, neigh- destroying his operation. Later, he dis- change has and will produce additional chal- bors helping neighbors, conversations at the lenges. We need strong regional food systems covered that his original plan had been local coffee shop. These relationships work to build the resilience that is necessary for approved at the State level but that his well if you are a member of the group; if you our very survival. We need diversity re- loan officer never told him. are not, they serve as a persistent barrier to flected in that network. We bemoan the success. According to the 2017 Census of Ag- aging of our nation's farmers and the high In the early morning hours of Janu- riculture, of the 3.4 million farmers in the barriers to entry for beginning and would-be ary 20, 2016, at least 14 Federal mar- United States, 3.2 million, 95.4% are white. beginning farmers. The vast majority of shals descended with guns drawn on Only approximately 1.7% are American In- American farmers are white men over the Eddie's farm and forcibly escorted him dian or Alaskan Native; 1.3% are Black; and age of 50. We need to open farming to its full and his wife, who was still in bed and .6% are Asian. For most of these farmers, potential by offering new opportunities for suffering from a debilitating medical their farms are smaller, their sales are diverse farmers, thus benefiting from their smaller, and each year they fall further be- help in creating a resilient regional food sys- condition, out of their home and off hind. tem that is always able to meet our food se- their property. Forcibly evicted from The USDA should have served as the equal- curity needs. their home and their land and forced to izer, supporting all farmers and assisting We are all full-time professors who work in live in a cheap motel, Dorothy Wise those in need. But most often it has not. It agricultural, food law, and related subjects. died shortly thereafter. The 106-acre has instead reflected and perpetuated insti- The opinions expressed in this letter are our tutional racism since its inception. The own personal views and do not represent the farm was sold to an adjacent White problems experienced by the farmers it has position or policies of the Universities with farmer for the miniscule price of disadvantaged have been repeatedly docu- which we are affiliated. $260,000, and Eddie Wise had lost the mented in government reports and investiga- Sincerely, one thing that he had always wanted- tions and in writings by scholars, journal- Susan A. Schneider, William H. Enfield to own a pig farm. ists, and others. While some tell of the dec- Professor of Law, Director, LL.M. Pro- ades-long pattern of discrimination, recent gram in Agricultural & Food Law, Uni- This story is just one example of the reports, including a GAO Report released versity of Arkansas School of Law; Ni- discrimination that literally destroyed just last week, confirm that the barriers still cole Civita, Sustainable Food Systems the lives of hundreds of thousands of exist today, expressly affirming that socially Specialization Lead, Graduate Faculty, Black farmers and their families over disadvantaged farmers still have less access Masters of the Environment Program, the last century. to credit than other agricultural businesses. University of Colorado; Josh Galperin, Fair Lending, Access and Retirement Secu- Visiting Associate Professor of Law, Today we have the opportunity to rity, Government Accountability Office University of Pittsburgh School of take a step towards justice for those (2021) (finding racial and income disparities Law; Neil D. Hamilton, Emeritus Pro- families. in access to financial services, availability of fessor of Law, Drake University Law credit, and the ability to accumulate School; Christopher R. Kelley, Asso- I urge all of my colleagues to support wealth). ciate Professor of Law, University of sections 1005 and 1006 of the bill before Congressionally enacted farm programs Arkansas School of Law; Stacy Leeds, the Senate today. have perpetuated and exacerbated the prob- Foundation Professor of Law and Lead- lem by distorting the farm economy. Federal ership, Sandra Day O'Connor College of There being no objection, the mate- farm programs reward the largest farms the Law, Arizona State University; Emily rial was ordered to be printed in the most, providing staggering sums of money to M. Broad Leib, Clinical Professor of RECORD, as follows: large landowners who produce the program- Law, Director, Food Law and Policy March 5, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -SENATE S1267 Clinic, Harvard Law School; Thomas support and encourage small farms; noting it end in a tiebreaker? For the same W. Mitchell, Professor of Law, Co-Di- that "Black, Hispanic Native American, reason the House passed their version rector, Program in Real Estate and Asian, women, and other minorities have of the bill we are considering today in contributed immensely to our Nation's food Community Development Law, Texas the dead of night. No amount of good A&M University School of Law; production and their contributions should be Michelle B. Nowlin, Clinical Professor recognized and rewarded."); PR could ever make the American peo- of Law, Co-Director, Environmental USDA: Problems in Processing Discrimina- ple forget that this little exercise the Law and Policy Clinic, Duke Univer- tion Complaints, U.S. Govt Accountability Democrats are leading us through has sity School of Law; Michael T. Roberts, Office (2000) (reporting on the continuation almost nothing to do with providing Executive Director, Resnick Center for of "longstanding problems" in the USDA's emergency COVID relief. Food Law and Policy, Professor from discrimination complaint process); Nine percent. That is how much of Racial and Ethnic Tensions in American Practice, University of California, Los this package Democrats want to dedi- Angeles; Anthony B. Schutz, Associate Communities: Poverty, Inequality, and Dis- crimination, Vol. VII: The Mississippi Delta cate to a national vaccination pro- Professor of Law, Associate Dean for gram, expanded testing, and public Faculty, Director, Rural Law Opportu- Report, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights nities Program, University of Nebraska (2001) (finding evidence that Black farmers health jobs. They slapped a "COVID College of Law; Jessica A. Shoemaker, have unequal access to technical support and RELIEF" label on one of the largest Professor of Law, University of Ne- financial assistance, with a wait that is four transfers of wealth ever proposed in the braska College of Law; Jennifer times longer than white farmers to receive history of the U.S. Congress and tried Zwagerman, Assistant Professor of farm loans); USDA: Recommendations and Options to to sneak it through reconciliation be- Law, Director of the Agricultural Law fore anyone caught on. Center, Drake University Law School. Address Management Deficiencies in the Of- fice of the Assistant Secretary for Civil This bill is so far over the line that ATTACHMENT Rights, Government Accountability Office my friends across the aisle have spent EXAMPLES OF GOVERNMENT AND RELATED (2008) (reporting that the USDA's "difficul- the past week fighting over the very REPORTS DOCUMENTING USDA DISCRIMINATION ties in resolving discrimination complaints provisions House Democrats and the Equal Opportunity in Farm Programs, An persist," that its data on minority farmer White House used to pitch it. The bill Appraisal of Services Rendered by Agencies participation is "unreliable," and that its is fatally flawed, right down to the for- of the USDA, U.S. Commission on Civil "strategic planning does not address key mula it employs to allocate State fund- Rights (1965) (finding discrimination in the steps needed to ensure USDA provides fair ing. The previous, bipartisan relief administration of federal farm programs, and equitable services"); contributing to the decline in Black owner- Agricultural Lending: Information on packages used population to determine ship of farmland); Credit and Outreach to Socially Disadvan- this. It very straightforward. But this Civil Rights Under Federal Programs: An taged Farmers and Ranchers is Limited, time, Democrats ran the numbers and Analysis of Title IV of the Civil Rights Act Government Accountability Office (2019) (ad- decided they could benefit by making of 1964, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights dressing USDA survey data that shows that unemployment rate the deciding fac- (1968) (finding discrimination in the adminis- "socially disadvantaged farmers" receive a tor. And, wouldn't you know it, this disproportionately small share of farm loans tration of federal farm programs and in the new system disproportionately benefits information services provided by Agricul- and noting lack of reliable data on program tural Extension); services to this community; acknowledging poorly mannaged blue States at the ex- Federal Civil Rights Enforcement Effort, concerns of ongoing discrimination); pense of well-managed red ones. New U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (1970) (find- Indian Issues: Agricultural Credit Needs Jersey, New York, and California, ing discrimination in the administration of and Barriers to Lending on Tribal Lands, whose destructive shutdowns led to federal farm programs); Government Accountability Office (2019) (re- high unemployment rates, will walk The Decline of Black Farming in America, porting on the structural barriers to lending away with a combined gain of almost to tribal members, including the difficulty in U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (1982) (docu- $9 billion. Tennessee, on the other menting discrimination complaints at USDA using tribal land as security, long delays in field offices, the lack of institutional support federal paperwork, lender hesitancy, lack of hand, is still one of the best fiscally provided to Black farmers, and legal struc- credit history); managed States in the country. We will tures geared to benefit large farming oper- Fair Lending, Access and Retirement Secu- lose $164 million for doing the right ations); rity, Government Accountability Office thing. Alabama will lose almost $900 Hearing on the Decline of Minority Farm- (2021) (finding racial and income disparities million. Both Florida and Georgia will ing in the United States, Committee on Gov- in access to financial services, availability of lose over $1.2 billion each. ernment Operations, U.S. House of Rep- credit, and the ability to accumulate wealth; If this body mandates a transfer of specifically finding that "women and minor- resentatives (1990) (documenting evidence of wealth based solely on Democrats' de- discrimination in USDA programs); ity farmers and ranchers, including tribal Minorities and Women on Farm Commit- members, had less access to credit than sire to clean up their prepandemic mis- tees, Govt Accountability Office (1995) (re- other agricultural businesses"). takes, we will scare off investment and porting on the lack of representation of mi- Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, to hamper innovation in every State long nority farmers within the USDA committee most people back home in Tennessee, after we are able to fully reopen. This system); "business as usual" here in Washington isn't a hypothetical-leaders on the D.J. Miller Disparity Study: Producer Par- means a combination of partisan bick- State level know what is coming. Last ticipation and EEO Complaint Process ering and reckless spending, usually week, 22 Governors, including Ten- Study), D.J. Miller & Associates report pre- nessee Governor Bill Lee, released a pared for the USDA Farm Services Agency after someone up high decides not to (1996) (finding inequities throughout the fed- let a crisis go to waste. They are used joint statement pointing out the fool- eral farm programs, with minority farmers to watching this all play out on TV, ish premise driving the new formula. I not receiving an equitable share of farm pay- then looking at the receipt and seeing would like to associate myself with ments and loans and serious problems with a billion dollars' worth of earmarks what they said: "A state's ability to the USDA EEO Complaint Process); and pork barrel spending they didn't keep businesses open and people em- Report for the Secretary on Civil Rights order. ployed should not be a penalizing fac- Issues, USDA's Inspector General (1997) (re- Right now, Democrats are doing tor when distributing funds." porting that a "staffing problems, obsolete their best to spin the scandal their If this happens, small towns and procedures, and little direction from man- agement have resulted in a climate of dis- absurb $1.9 trillion bailout bill has mom-and-pop shops will suffer. Those order"); caused as "business as usual" but Ten- budding tech hubs you hear so much Civil Rights at the United States Depart- nesseans aren't stupid. They know the about will suffer. The unemployed peo- ment of Agriculture-A Report by the Civil spin is a lie because over the past year ple my colleagues on the left are using Rights Action Team, Report of the USDA they have seen what "business as as leverage against their political ri- Civil Rights Action Team (1997) (docu- usual" looks like when it comes to vals will suffer. menting widespread discrimination through- passing COVID relief funding. So I would ask my colleagues wheth- out the USDA network of offices); Since last March, the Senate has er fulfilling campaign promises is A Time to Act: A Report of the USDA Na- worth what it will cost the families tional Commission on Small Farms, USDA passed five separate relief laws with Nat'l Commission on Small Farms (1998) (re- overwhelming bipartisan support, 96-1, and small business owners stuck hold- porting on the "structural bias toward great- 90-8, 96-0, 100-0, and 92-6. ing the bill. And to the Democratic er concentration of assets and wealth" and But what happened with last month's Senators representing States losing on the importance of developing policies to vote on the budget resolution? Why did out, I would say that we will be happy