August 5, 2010 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6803 judges who have actually presided over the Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise ment to satisfy the claims filed by de- 14–year history of this case. today to talk about the Pigford II set- serving claimants denied participation Mr. BARRASSO. So there are issues tlement pending full action by the U.S. in the original settlement because of of policy dealing with transparency, Senate. timeliness issues. dealing with the production of records We all know that farming is a dif- After years of litigation and negotia- by the attorneys who are involved in ficult occupation. The hours are long, tion between the Department of Jus- this. When you read one of these edi- the weather is unpredictable, and the tice, which represented the USDA, and torials, the one in today’s Hill, ‘‘Un- challenge of competing in a global lawyers for the farmers, a settlement conscionable Cobell,’’ written by a law marketplace is intense. Tens of thou- was finally reached in February 2010. professor at the University of Wis- sands of Black farmers have had to face The Pigford II settlement agreement consin-Madison: all those normal challenges. Trag- will provide $1.25 billion, which is con- Number of published court opinions in the ically, they have also had to deal with tingent on appropriation by Congress, case: 80-plus a challenge that was unique to them to African-American farmers who can Amount awarded to plaintiffs by courts at based solely on race. The U.S. Depart- show they suffered racial discrimina- present: $0 ment of Agriculture, USDA, was dis- tion in USDA farm loan programs. Amount to attorneys under settlement: criminating against them. Once the money is appropriated farm- $100 Million. More than 12 years ago, Black farm- ers can pursue their individual claims Amount to each account holder under through the same nonjudicial process [this] settlement: ers across America brought a class ac- tion suit against the USDA for racial used in the first case. We are talking now about those who discrimination. The history of that dis- To address this funding need, Presi- have been affected by this— crimination is a sad one, and it is well dent Obama included $1.15 billion in ad- $1,000.00 documented. Farmers, like all busi- ditional funding for his fiscal year 2010 What an incredible disparity. nesses, need access to loans. They need and fiscal year 2011 budgets. Both Well, if we were all to take the time to borrow money for expensive equip- Chambers of Congress have worked to to look through these two editorials, ment and they need funding to help pass appropriations to fulfill the settle- the changes to the settlement I have them when droughts strike or when ment agreement since February. The been proposing would not only seem markets collapse. The Congress has House of Representatives has passed reasonable, they would be absolutely recognized this need for decades, and funding language for the Pigford case necessary. They point out several real we have established special loan pro- twice; once as part of the war supple- problems with the settlement, includ- grams in the USDA to support these mental and the other on a tax extend- ing the way the attorneys’ fees are special needs. But when it came to ers bill. But the Senate has not been handled. I am continuing to work with lending, tens of thousands of Black able to do the same. Despite the major- my colleagues on dealing with that. farmers were the victims of systemic ity leader’s efforts in finding ways to These are the blunt facts. discrimination. During the 1980s and pay for the legislation and move the So I agree with my colleague from 1990s, the average processing time for a legislation for full Senate consider- North Dakota, the problems with the loan application by White farmers was ation, we have been unable to proceed Cobell settlement are by no means in- 30 days; the average time for a loan ap- to a rollcall vote. This bill has come surmountable. They can and they must plication by Black farmers was 387 before the Senate a half dozen times. be resolved. In fact, I do not think it days. Black farmers had to wait 12 There are no known objections to the would be difficult to resolve the dif- times as long to receive a loan. This settlement, yet we have failed to pass ferences we have regarding the Cobell discrimination earned the USDA the the funding therefore denying the proc- settlement. We can sit down, and we regrettable nickname ‘‘the Last Plan- ess for funding to these farmers who were discriminated against by our own plan to do that, to discuss the issues tation.’’ directly. I think we can get beyond this Black farmers finally sought justice government. We must move to appropriate these impasse, and that is what I am com- through a class action lawsuit in 1997. funds. The settlement that was reached mitted to do. More than 20,000 farmers initiated is only valid until August 18, 2010. Fail- I yield the floor. claims citing racial discrimination in ure to appropriate the money by then The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- the USDA farm loan programs. Two could cause the agreement to be void- ator from North Dakota is recognized. years after the action was initiated, ed. William Gladstone once said that Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, as I in- the U.S. District Court for the District ‘‘justice delayed is justice denied.’’ Let dicated, I intend to withhold the unani- of Columbia entered a consent decree us not be in the business of delaying mous consent request because it would approving a class action settlement to and denying justice for African-Amer- clearly be objected to. There are some compensate these farmers for years of ican farmers. Let us be in the business people who disagree with the method racial discrimination by the USDA. of allowing the justice system to work by which this settlement would be paid Each farmer who could prove discrimi- and provide them with adequate re- for. nation was entitled to damages. Out of dress. I urge my colleagues to support But I also wish to mention that I the initial 20,000 farmers, 15,000 were this funding. have some hope that later today, fi- meritorious in the claims they The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- nally at long last, we may be able to brought. ator from Connecticut is recognized. come to the floor of the Senate with an As the legal process continued, addi- Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I think my agreement that would be able to with- tional farmers began to join the class friends and colleagues on the other side stand the unanimous consent request. action and filed their own claims. Ap- have blocked out some time. If they If we do that before we break, we would proximately 80,000 farmers eventually would not mind, I would be very grate- have resolved a very longstanding brought claims. Unfortunately, many ful if I could take 5 or 6 minutes to issue, not just 15 years of litigation, or of these farmers did not know about make some comments about the Kagan a century of mismanagement, but also the class action suit, and by the time nomination. I see heads nodding af- since last December, when this agree- they learned of its existence, the filing firmatively, so I appreciate it. ment was reached and the Congress deadline had passed. was given time to approve it, but then In 2008, Congress recognizing the in- f that deadline had to be extended six justice of stopping 80 percent or more EXECUTIVE SESSION times. At long last, perhaps we will be of the farmers who potentially suffered able to decide we can do this together. discrimination by our government—de- I very much appreciate the work Sen- cided to take action and created a new NOMINATION OF ELENA KAGAN TO ator BARRASSO is doing and Senator cause of action for farmers previously BE AN ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF KYL and Senator BAUCUS and others. denied access to justice. In the 2008 THE SUPREME COURT OF THE My hope is that later this afternoon I farm bill, with bipartisan support, Con- UNITED STATES—Resumed will be able to come to the floor with gress included $100 million for pay- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- such a unanimous consent request. ments and debt relief as a downpay- ate will proceed to executive session to VerDate Mar 15 2010 05:41 Dec 01, 2010 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\RECORD10\RECFILES\AUGUST\S05AU0.REC S05AU0 mmaher on DSK69SOYB1PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE S6804 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 5, 2010 consider the following nomination, On the question of Solicitor General measures of the quality of a Supreme which the clerk will report. Kagan’s competency and experience, I Court nominee besides the depth of his The legislative clerk read the nomi- think there is little doubt that we are or her experience on the bench. Solic- nation of Elena Kagan, of Massachu- dealing with a superbly qualified nomi- itor General Kagan’s impressive list of setts, to be an Associate Justice of the nee. career accomplishments and extensive Supreme Court of the United States. Since her graduation from Harvard base of legal knowledge will, I believe, The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- Law School in 1986, Elena Kagan has hopefully put those unfounded doubts ator from Connecticut. enjoyed an illustrious legal and aca- over her experience to rest.