[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 164 (Thursday, November 18, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S14825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 233--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE 
   URGENT NEED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE TO RESOLVE CERTAIN 
               MONTANA CIVIL RIGHTS DISCRIMINATION CASES

  Mr. BAUCUS (for himself and Mr. Burns) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Agrilcuture, 
Nutrition, and Forestry:

                              S. Res. 233

       Whereas there exists a strong public policy against 
     discrimination against minority groups, whether the 
     discrimination is committed by private individuals or by the 
     Federal Government in the operation of its programs;
       Whereas, whenever discrimination occurs in the conduct of a 
     Federal Government program, the responsible Federal 
     Government agency should take quick and aggressive action to 
     remedy the discrimination;
       Whereas, last year, the Department of Agriculture was held 
     accountable for certain civil rights violations against 
     United States agricultural producers in connection with their 
     attempted participation in lending programs of the 
     Department;
       Whereas, a significant number of Montana civil rights 
     petitioners have not received a timely, and equitable 
     resolution of their complaints;
       Whereas the agricultural community has faced a series of 
     hardships, including record low prices, extreme weather 
     disasters, and a shortage of farm loan opportunities;
       Whereas additional frustration and financial difficulties 
     perpetuated by the inadequate review process has further 
     imposed undue hardship on the Montana civil rights 
     petitioners;
       Whereas the mission of the Office of Civil Rights of the 
     Department of Agriculture requires the Office to facilitate 
     the fair and equitable treatment of customers and employees 
     of the Department while ensuring the delivery and enforcement 
     of civil rights programs and activities;
       Whereas the Department of Agriculture should be committed 
     to the policy of treating its customers with dignity and 
     respect as well as to providing high quality and timely 
     products and services; and
       Whereas an urgent need exists for the Department of 
     Agriculture to resolve certain Montana civil rights 
     discrimination cases, many backlogged, by a date certain in 
     furtherance of that policy: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that, not 
     later than March 1, 2000, the Secretary of Agriculture should 
     resolve, or take other action to resolve, all cases pending 
     on the date of approval of this resolution of alleged civil 
     rights discrimination by the Department of Agriculture 
     against agricultural producers located in the State of 
     Montana.

 Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I rise today to submit a sense-of-
the-Senate Resolution regarding the urgent need for the U.S. Department 
of Agriculture to resolve its civil rights discrimination cases. On 
behalf of Senator Burns, the bill's cosponsor, and myself, I urge the 
Senate to recognize the urgency of this situation.
  Mr. President, there exists a strong public policy against 
discrimination against minority groups, whether the discrimination is 
committed by private individuals or by the Government in the operation 
of its programs, and it is our firmly held belief that whenever 
discrimination occurs in the conduct of Government programs, the 
responsible Government agencies should take quick and aggressive action 
to remedy such discrimination.
  I am most concerned that over the past year, such action has not been 
taken by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Civil Rights. 
In fact, many Montana civil rights cases that my office and that of 
Senator's Burns have been working with are seriously backlogged in the 
system and have consequently remained unsatisfactorily addressed.
  We have worked hard with the Montana Department of Agriculture's Farm 
Agency to resolve these cases. The Director of the FSA and the State 
FSA Committee has worked hard to resolve any outstanding problems 
concerning its programs and have made certain that these kinds of 
problems to not occur in Montana. I commend their outreach efforts in 
ensuring the equitable delivery of the Agency's programs to all 
eligible Montana recipients.
  We need a better working relationship with the USDA's Office of Civil 
Rights to bring the outstanding cases to resolution in a timely manner. 
Repeated phone calls and requests have yielded few answers. For that 
reason, I am offering this resolution which binds the agency to its 
mission of facilitating the fair and equitable treatment of USDA 
customers and employees while ensuring the delivery and enforcement of 
civil rights programs and activities. Further we hope to commit the 
USDA to treating its customers with dignity and respect as well as to 
providing quality and timely products and services. Finally, the 
resolution resolves that not later than March 1, 2000, the Secretary 
should resolve all the outstanding cases of alleged civil rights 
discrimination by the Department of Agriculture.
  It is high time to bring this issue to resolution, and I appreciate 
the Senate's consideration of this important matter.
 Mr. BURNS. Mr. President. I am pleased to be joined by Mr. 
Baucus, in sponsoring a sense-of-the-Senate resolution which addresses 
the backlog of Montana civil rights complaints at the U.S. Department 
of Agriculture (USDA).
  Last year, a finding was made that the USDA had, for decades, been 
guilty of violating many of America's producer's civil rights. When 
these producers tried to take advantage of the programs offered by the 
USDA they were treated differently than their friends and neighbors. We 
enacted Legislation last fall, that was intended to right this wrong. 
Even with passage of this provision, it remains a difficult challenge 
to ensure that those who have been harmed by USDA will receive a prompt 
and balanced resolution of their complaints.
  It appears that a number of those previously investigated complaints 
have fallen into some sort of ``black hole''. Despite numerous phone 
calls and concerted pressure, no progress has been made in resolving 
these cases. We have been contacted by a number of Montanans who have 
shared horror stories about the treatment their cases have received 
from the USDA's Office of Civil Rights. These complaints are simply 
being ignored. The inadequacy of this process is adding insult to 
injury, keeping these producers in limbo and allowing their complaints 
to rest, unresolved. These constituents cannot get on with their lives 
until the USDA takes action. For those who have justified complaints, 
this delay is another slap in the face.
  This resolution expreses the sense of the Senate that USDA's delays 
must stop. These cases must be resolved soon. It is our intent that 
they be resolved by March 1, 2000. These producers has suffered too 
much already. They cannot afford to wait any longer.
  We look forward to working with members of other states affected by 
this abuse of the civil rights program to resolve these complaints as 
quickly a possible.

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