Tom Burrell, a Covington, Tenn. farmer and a member of the Black Farmers & Agriculturalists Association, speaks to a crowd outside a U.S. Department of Agriculture office in Brownsville, Tenn during July of 2002.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
August 2, 2010
The Network of Black Farm Groups and Advocates
Contact: Heather Gray
404 765 0991
heathergray@federation.coop
PRESS ADVISORY:
The Senate Delays Pigford Bill Consideration Until Wednesday, August 4
ATLANTA....To correct the previous advisory, the Pigford and Cobell bill will be brought before the Senate on Wednesday, August 4. The budget calls for $1.25 billion for the Pigford settlement. We will provide more details as they become available.
____________________________________________________
For Immediate Release: August 1, 2010
The Network of Black Farm Groups and Advocates
Contact: Heather Gray
404 765 0991
heathergray@federation.coop
Reid to Offer Stand Alone Bill on Pigford Lawsuit
On Monday August 2 the Senate Will Consider the Pigford Settlement
Black farmers are dying while waiting for justice
ATLANTA....After several attempts in Congress to provide funding for the Pigford settlement, on Monday, August 2 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will offer Pigford, along with the Native American Cobell Land Trust case, as a stand alone bill. Reid will ask the Senate for “unanimous consent” in which there can be no opposition.
The Black farmer lawsuit against the USDA, known as Pigford v Vilsack, has been attached to any number of bills working their way through Congress. In the divisive US Senate, these efforts have repeatedly resulted in the stripping away of numerous domestic spending items including the Pigford and Cobell settlements. As the Senate is about begin it’s August recess, one more effort will be attempted.
Many in the Senate have asked that the Pigford and Cobell settlements be offered as a stand-alone bill and that they be paid for by offsets. Both these requirements will be met as Senator Reid offers the bill.
It has been more than 10 years that thousands of farmers filed petitions in the Pigford lawsuit. Some of these farmers have now died, some are retired or disabled, some have lost their land and some are still farming. The fact is that justice delayed is justice denied. Congress has delayed this justice for too long!
“The Network of Black Farm Groups and Advocates” demands justice for Black farmers and that the Senate finally offer a remedy to farmers by providing the necessary funding of $1.15 billion so that the case can proceed without further delay.
Members of the Network of Black Farm Groups and Advocates
Arkansas Land and Farm Development Corporation
Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association
Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund
Mississippi Family Farmers Association
Oklahoma Black Historical Research Project
Rural Advancement Fund
Operation Springplant
Texas Landowners Association
United Farmers USA
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