Black farmers, due US$1.2 billion for a legacy of discrimination by the US Agriculture Department, suffered a new setback this week, despite the national spotlight provided by the firing of a black department worker.
The Senate refused again to pay the bill.
Opponents say it is a question of where the money would come from, and that is a major issue with an election nearing and voters up in arms about federal spending.
Late on Thursday, the Senate stripped US$1.2 billion for the claims from an emergency spending bill, along with US$3.4 billion in long-overdue funding for a settlement with Native Americans who say they were swindled out of royalties by the federal government.
Even the attention the Shirley Sherrod case brought to the issue of discrimination at the Agriculture Department could not bring lawmakers together on a deal. Instead, Republicans and Democrats alike proclaimed their support for the funding, appeasing important constituencies, while blaming the other side for not getting anything done.
The result: Thousands of black farmers and Native American landowners will keep waiting for checks that most lawmakers agree should have been written years ago.
Sherrod’s resignation under pressure from the Agriculture Department over her comments about race, and the subsequent White House apology, brought fresh attention to black farmers’ claims.
In explaining why he acted so hastily in asking her to resign, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he and the department were keenly sensitive to the issue of discrimination and race given the agency’s dismal track record on civil rights.
For decades, minority farmers have complained of being shut out by local Agriculture offices, well after the days of blatant segregation.
The department also has faced persistent complaints of racism and discrimination in its own hiring, and government audits going back two decades have found that complaints often sit for years without attention.
Vilsack says his department has acted far more aggressively than the administration of former US president George W. Bush to resolve minority settlements.
The blockade has come in Congress.
Leaders in both parties say they support the funding but things break down when they try to hash out how to pay.
The money for both the black farmers and Native American landowners was stripped from the Senate war-funding bill on Thursday after the House had passed it this month. Senate Republicans objected to a variety of other Democratic priorities as well, insisting they be paid for rather than adding to the federal deficit.
Democrats have offered a variety of proposals, including one package that included tax increases on oil companies and multinational companies. Republicans have objected, calling instead for spending cuts elsewhere.
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