WASHINGTON (AP) — American Indian landowners and black farmers who for years have waited for Washington to address their claims of government mistreatment won a hard-fought victory Tuesday as Congress cleared legislation to pay the groups $4.6 billion to settle a pair of historic class-action lawsuits.
The measure passed the House in a 256-152 vote and
now goes to President Barack Obama, who promised during his campaign to work
toward resolving the long-standing disputes and others involving the
government's past discrimination against minorities.
In a statement, Obama applauded the bill's passage
and said he would continue working to resolve other lingering complaints of
historic discrimination, including from women and Hispanic farmers.
Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Tribe
from Browning, Mont., and lead plaintiff in the Indian case, called it a
"historic day in Indian country as well as in America's history."
"A monumental step has been taken to remove a
stain on our national honor and create a better future for Indians as our
government begins to make some amends for grave past injustices," she
said.
The package would award some $3.4 billion to
American Indians over claims they were cheated out of royalties overseen by the
Interior Department for resources like oil, gas and timber. Another $1.2
billion would go to African-Americans who claim they were unfairly denied loans
and other assistance from the Agriculture Department.
The settlements have broad bipartisan support but
had stalled on Capitol Hill over costs until the Senate broke a stalemate
earlier this month.
Although the Senate passed the measure without
opposition, all but 16 Republicans opposed it in the House. Many argued the
individual settlements have merit but objected to lumping them together in a
single bill with other provisions, including deals on four long-standing
disputes over Indian water rights.
Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said Democrats weren't
really paying for the bill as they claimed but were simply tapping unused funds
in unrelated programs.
"When we approve new spending we should offset
that by spending cuts," Brady said.
Democrats and at least one Republican supporter
countered that the bill protects taxpayers while offering fair compensation for
people who were mistreated.
"This is not about fraud. This is about
justice for black farmers who were wronged by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture," said John Boyd, who founded the National Black Farmers
Association and has lobbied Congress on the issue for more than two decades.
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., noted that a federal judge
has held the federal government in contempt for not funding the Indian case and
called it a "bargain for the American taxpayers" that will avoid tens
of millions of dollars in court costs.
"We are correcting historic wrongs that should
never have occurred in the first place," he said.
In the Indian case, at least 300,000 Native
Americans claim they were swindled out of royalties overseen by the Interior
Department since 1887. The plaintiffs originally said they were owed $100
billion, but signaled they were willing to settle for less as the case dragged
on.
For the black farmers, it is the second round of
funding from a class-action lawsuit originally settled in 1999 over allegations
of widespread discrimination by local USDA offices.
The government already has paid out more than $1
billion to about 16,000 farmers, with most getting payments of about $50,000.
The new money is intended for people who were denied earlier payments because
they missed deadlines for filing. Tens of thousands of new claims are expected,
and the amount of money each would get depends on how many are successful.
The bill also includes nearly $1 billion to settle
several long-standing Indian water-rights lawsuits and extends for one year the
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which gives grants to states
to provide cash assistance and other services to the poor.
The costs of the bill would be offset by diverting
dollars from a surplus in nutrition programs for women and children, extending
customs user fees and new efforts for the Treasury to recoup excess
unemployment insurance payments.
Copyright
2010 The Associated Press.
