[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 87 (Thursday, June 16, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1128-E1129]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2012

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                               speech of

                           HON. BOB GOODLATTE

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 15, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2112) making 
     appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and 
     Drug Administration, and Related Agencies programs for the 
     fiscal year ending September 30, 2012, and for other 
     purposes:

  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of the gentleman's 
amendment to this legislation.
  First, I want to be clear that I do believe that discrimination 
against many black farmers occurred. In 1997 a group of black farmers 
who had been discriminated against filed a case against USDA. By 1999 
the courts agreed and approved a settlement for the farmers who had 
been discriminated against and provided a framework and time frames to 
settle the claims. Included in this settlement, the court provided a 
time frame for new claimants to have their cases heard. Anyone who had 
a claim was given the opportunity to come forward during this court 
approved window.
  Despite this framework, we are still allowing additional payments to 
others, who had an earlier opportunity to file claims but did not. What 
is most disturbing is that approximately 94,000 total claims have been 
filed, yet census data shows that there were only 33,000 black farmers 
in the U.S. during the relevant time period. Furthermore, 
whistleblowers have come forward, including a black farmer, alleging 
widespread fraud in this process. These serious allegations of fraud 
should be investigated before we spend potentially $1.2 billion on 
these claims, especially when the standard of proof for these claims is 
reduced under this settlement compared to what it would have been in a 
court.
  I believe that we must investigate any allegations of fraud that are 
occurring before this Congress allows any more funds to be used for the 
settlement. Just as it would be an injustice to not grant relief to 
black farmers who had been discriminated against, it would also

[[Page E1129]]

be an injustice to grant an award to an individual who had not been 
discriminated against.

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