DATE DOWNLOADED: Tue Aug 17 16:57:54 2021 SOURCE: Content Downloaded from HeinOnline Citations: Bluebook 21st ed. 167 Cong. Rec. S1217 (2021). ALWD 6th ed. , , 167(Number 42) Cong. Rec. S1217 (2021). APA 7th ed. (2021). Congressional Record, 167(Number 42), S1217-S1407. Chicago 17th ed. "," Congressional Record 167, no. Number 42 (03/05/2021): S1217-S1407 AGLC 4th ed. '' (2021) 167(Number 42) Congressional Record S1217. OSCOLA 4th ed. '' (2021) 167 Cong Rec S1217 Provided by: Georgetown University Law Library -- 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.