April D. Ryan

WASHINGTON - American Indians and black farmers will be paid $4.6 billion to address claims of government mistreatment over many decades under landmark legislation President Barack Obama signed Wednesday.

The legislation “closes a long and unfortunate chapter in our history,” Obama said. “It’s finally time to make things right.”

 
At a signing ceremony at the White House the president declared that approval of the long-delayed legislation “isn’t simply a matter of making amends, it’s about reaffirming our values on which this nation was founded: the principles of fairness and equality and opportunity.”

 
Obama promised during his campaign to work toward resolving disputes over the government’s past discrimination against minorities. The measure he signed settles a pair of long-standing class-action lawsuits. The measure also settles four long-standing disputes over Native American water rights in Arizona, New Mexico and Montana.

 
Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Tribe from Browning, Mont., and the lead plaintiff in the Indian royalties case, called the signing ceremony “breathtaking,” adding that she did not expect it to happen in her lifetime. Cobell filed the suit nearly 15 years ago and led efforts to reach the $3.4 billion settlement a year ago and then push it through the House and Senate.

 
At least 300,000 Native Americans say they were swindled out of royalties overseen by the Interior Department since 1887 for oil, gas, grazing and timber rights. The plaintiffs will share the settlement.

 
Cobell said she was driving her car in Montana when she learned the Senate had approved the measure last month. “I pulled over and I cried,” she said.

 
Even with Obama’s signature, the settlement must still go through a gauntlet of court hearings, a media campaign to notify beneficiaries, waiting periods for comments and appeals. The first check is not expected to reach tribal plaintiffs until August.

 
Even so, Cobell said the day was historic.

 
“This day means a lot to the elders, because it basically means they receive justice,” she said. “The money is secondary. They got justice. The United States government gave them justice.”

 
Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., used similar language to describe the black farmers case, which marks the second round of funding from a class-action lawsuit originally settled in 1999. The case, which involves allegations of widespread discrimination by local Agriculture Department offices in awarding loans and other aid, is named after Timothy Pigford, a black farmer from North Carolina who was an original plaintiff.

 
The new settlement, totaling nearly $1.2 billion, is intended for people who were denied payments in the earlier settlement because they missed deadlines for filing. Individual amounts depend on how many claims are successfully filed.

 
“The time is long overdue to fund the discrimination settlement for farmers who have experienced decades of injustice,” Lincoln said.

 
The settlement will not erase the anxiety and frustrations many black farmers experienced, Lincoln added, but “it will help compensate their financial losses and begin laying the foundation in restoring their faith in the United States government.”

 
Some Republicans have warned that black farmers might make up stories of discrimination that are hard to prove. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, likened the program to “modern-day reparations” for African-Americans and argued that the claims process is rife with fraud.

 
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Attorney General Eric Holder said the bill includes new safeguards to prevent fraud, including an extended court approval process and government audits.

 
Holder called fraud concerns “legitimate,” but he said the settlement rights a historical wrong.

Republicans achieve top goal in Obama tax-cut plan
By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Charles Babington, Associated Press

.WASHINGTON - Republicans control neither the House nor the Senate - and certainly not the White House. But they largely dictated the terms of President Barack Obama’s proposed tax-cut compromise, which disgruntled congressional Democrats want to discuss in closed meetings that are likely to be rowdy.

 
Republicans prevailed on their biggest demand: continuing Bush administration tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, despite Obama’s 2008 campaign promise to let them expire for households earning more than $250,000 a year. Obama, while acknowledging Democratic unrest, agreed to extend the tax breaks for two years, whereas Republicans wanted a permanent extension.

 
House and Senate Democratic leaders were noncommittal on the proposal, saying they would discuss it in closed caucus meetings Tuesday. Vice President Joe Biden, a key player in seeking a compromise, scheduled a rare visit to the Senate Democrats’ weekly luncheon the same day.

 
Obama explained Monday that the concession was the only way to prevent a congressional impasse that would cause the tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 to expire for all taxpayers. With 9.8 percent of Americans unemployed, he said, that would be “a chilling prospect.”

 
Liberal groups were furious at his willingness to bend, but Obama said he rejects “symbolic victories” that hurt average Americans.

 
His plan also would renew jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed, and grant a one-year reduction in Social Security taxes paid by workers but not by employers.

 
The president had barely stopped speaking before top Republicans applauded his proposals, while most Democrats kept a sullen silence.

 
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., thanked Obama for “working with Republicans on a bipartisan plan to prevent a tax hike on any American and in creating incentives for economic growth.”

Because they hold solid majorities in both chambers, Democrats must provide many votes for the tax package to become law, even if Republicans overwhelmingly support it.

 
Some Democrats quickly denounced the plan. “Senate Republicans have successfully used the fragile economic security of our middle class and the hardship of millions of jobless Americans as bargaining chips to secure tax breaks for the very wealthiest among us,” said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.

 
The emerging agreement includes tax breaks for businesses that the president said would contribute to the economy’s recovery from the worst recession in eight decades.

 
The proposed Social Security tax cut would apply to virtually every working American. For one year they would pay 4.2 percent of their income, instead of 6.2 percent, to the government retirement program, fattening U.S. paychecks by $120 billion in 2011.

 
Someone earning $40,000 a year would receive a $800 benefit, and a $70,000 earner would save $1,400, officials said. More than three-fourths of all Americans pay more in these so-called payroll taxes than in federal income taxes.

 
The White House said money from other sources would be shifted so the Social Security trust fund loses no revenue.

 
Obama said he reluctantly made another concession to Republicans, concerning the estate tax. It would tax estates worth more than $5 million at a rate of 35 percent, a GOP goal. Democrats favored a $3.5 million threshold, with a 45 percent tax on anything higher.

 
Obama’s willingness to compromise with Republicans comes a month after the GOP won resounding victories in congressional, gubernatorial and state legislative elections. They will control the House in the new Congress that convenes next month. In the Senate, they will easily be able to filibuster any provisions they oppose.

 
Addressing his liberal critics Monday, Obama said, “Sympathetic as I am to those who prefer a fight over compromise, as much as the political wisdom may dictate fighting over solving problems, it would be the wrong thing to do.”

 
“I’m not willing to let working families across this country become collateral damage for political warfare here in Washington,” he said.

Under his plan, unemployment benefits would remain in effect through the end of next year for workers who have been laid off for more than 26 weeks and less than 99 weeks. Without an extension, 2 million individuals would have lost their benefits over the holidays, the White House said, and 7 million would have done so by the end of next year.

Obama’s proposal also would extend a variety of other tax breaks for lower and middle-income families, including the Earned Income Tax Credit and the child tax credit.

The Cobell and Pigford II signing Ceremony is locked in for Wed. December 8, 2010 on the White House campus where President Obama will sign H.R. 4783 the Claims Resolution Act of 2010. Sources contend some persons associated with the Cobell and Pigford II lawsuits will also meet with the President in the Oval Office some time close to the ceremony.

The White House recognizes the historical significance of this event. The 4.6 billion dollar Act is one of the largest civil rights payouts by the United States government. 3.4 billion dollars is being awarded to American Indians over claims they were cheated out of royalties overseen by the interior Department for resources like oil, gas and timber. 1.2 billion dollars would go to African-Americans who claim they were unfairly denied loans and other assistance in the Farm Loan Program at the Agriculture Department.

 
Meanwhile, the United States Department of Agriculture is working to make sure poor farmers will not have any repeats of past discriminations in the Farm Loan Program. The agency is working to turn the clock on discrimination by conducting outreach programs to attract disadvantaged rural agrarians. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack contends “we are really trying to drill down with our USDA programs to get those very poor communities engaged in our programs. So we are working with her on that.”

A familiar face that has been fighting for black farmer justice for decades is consulting on the effort. The department will be utilizing former Georgia Department of Agriculture employee Shirley Sherrod. Agriculture Secretary Vilsack says Sherrod is set to travel to “Arkansas, Alabama and Georgia.  The agency is targeting “persistent poverty counties, where there is nothing but difficulty” according to Vilsack.

The House of Representatives surmounted the final hurdle to fund the Cobell and Pigford II discriminations settlements brought by Native Americans and African Americans  on land misuse issues and USDA discrimination in the farm loan program.

Black farmers were awarded the monies 15 years ago and had to wait until final congressional approval this week for the payout.

Outgoing, House Majority Whip Congressman James Clyburn has mixed emotions about the passage saying the black farmers settlement bill is not “clean” as the black farmers are relegated to 50 thousand dollars each in discrimination awards and women and Hispanic farmers can get countless amounts of an award from the Judgment fund. He also feels some of the language placed in the bill could cause intimidation to black farmers. Clyburn feels there are discriminatory overtones. He sites intimidation and a wtich hunt during the upcoming arbitration process with the Inspector General.  John Boyd head of the National Black Farmers Association says blacks have a tougher road to trod.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the bill does have another track- track B for those agrarians who feel they are owed more than 50 thousand dollars.  Through track B, black farmers could make claims with a limit of 250 thousand dollars.  Those farmers could be awarded an amount of 250 thousand dollars or less.

On Clyburns other concerns, Secretary Vilsack says, he “knows our Inspector General very well and there is not going to  be a witch hunt of any kind nor should there be any intimidation associated with this.”

Visack contends the language in the bill comes from Republican Senators who would only sign the bill if  certain items were included. 

 
Meanwhile, President Obama praised the House passage in a written statement.

 
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 30, 2010
Statement by the President on House Passage of the Claims Settlement Act of 2010
I am pleased that today, the House has joined the Senate in passing the Claims Settlement Act of 2010.   This important legislation will fund the agreements reached in the Pigford II lawsuit, brought by African American farmers, and the Cobell lawsuit, brought by Native Americans over the management of Indian trust accounts and resources.  I want to thank Attorney General Holder and Secretaries Salazar and Vilsack for all their work to reach this outcome, and I applaud Congress for acting in a bipartisan fashion to bring this painful chapter in our nation’s history to a close.

 
This bill also provides funding for settlements reached in four separate water rights suits brought by Native American tribes, and it represents a significant step forward in addressing the water needs of Indian Country.  Yet, while today’s vote demonstrates important progress, we must remember that much work remains to be done.  And my Administration will continue our efforts to resolve claims of past discrimination made by women and Hispanic farmers and others in a fair and timely manner. 
 
###