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Senate Approves Payment of Black Farmers’ Claims By ASHLEY SOUTHALL WASHINGTON — The Senate on Friday approved $4.55 billion to settle longstanding charges that the federal government had denied or underpaid aid to black farmers and mismanaged trust funds for American Indians. The bill sets aside $1.15 billion to resolve racial bias claims brought by black farmers against the Agriculture Department and $3.4 billion to pay claims stemming from the Department of the Interior’s handling of American Indian trust funds. The Senate approved the measure by unanimous consent on Friday evening and sent it to the House. Similar measures have passed the House twice, and President Obama has said he would sign the bill into law. “It’s been a long time coming, and it’s the right thing to do,” said Ralph Paige, executive director of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund, which helps primarily African-American farmers keep their land. The black farmers’ case is an outgrowth of Pigford v. Glickman, a federal class-action lawsuit originally settled in 1999. The Obama administration agreed in February to provide a second round of damages to people who were denied earlier payment because they had missed the deadlines for filing. The American Indian case, Cobell v. Salazar, was settled in December after more than 13 years of litigation. The settlement creates a $1.4 billion trust fund and a $60 million scholarship fund. It also provides $2 billion for the federal government to repurchase tribal lands sold to individuals in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The House has approved money for both settlements twice this year — first in a war supplemental bill, then in a tax extenders bill — but the financing was stripped in the Senate over concerns about spending and lawyers’ fees in the American Indian settlement. Until Friday, Republicans had thwarted several attempts made by Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, to consider the measure on its own. Mr. Reid was able to appease Republicans by finding offsetting spending cuts. The legislation was also amended to include a one-year extension to a program that provides temporary benefits to poor families, and several American Indian water rights settlements, both requested by Senator Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona. Shortly after the bill passed, Mr. Reid said he was “heartened” that both parties had been able to reach a deal. “This issue has been of great importance to me, and I am pleased these long-suffering Americans can now receive the closure that they deserve,” Mr. Reid said. Members of the National Congress of American Indians, a group that advocates for tribal interests, said they were encouraged by the vote. “The passage of the Cobell settlement in the Senate brings tribal nations and the federal government one step closer to settling this historical injustice,” said Jefferson Keel, president of the National Congress of American Indians. “We urge the House to pass this legislation and send it to the president’s desk for final signature.” Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the House majority leader, said he hoped a House vote would come “very soon.” Read more at www.nytimes.com

 

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