Rep. Edolphus Towns to Hold Hearing to Address Discrimination Against Black Famers

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Chairman Edolphus "Ed" Towns D-N.Y. (10th CD), will hold a hearing to review the management of civil rights issues at the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. in Room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The Subcommittee on Government Management, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hear testimony that USDA has made little progress over the past five years in resolving longstanding issues of discrimination against minority and women farmers and employees. "The number of complaints regarding treatment of minority farmers, accusations of mismanagement and overall denials for relief and assistance are alarming," said Congressman Towns. "Now is the time to analyze disparity in treatment of minority and women farmers, such as the issues with crop and disaster payment programs and the process involved in obtaining critical assistance to assure the sustained viability of all farmers."

Representatives of African-American, Hispanic, Native American, and women farmers will testify about discrimination issues that those groups have faced, and GAO and the USDA Inspector General will present findings from their audits and investigations of civil rights at USDA. The Honorable Margo McKay, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, will testify for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Discrimination in the delivery of services to minority and limited-resource farmers and the treatment of minority employees at the U.S. Department of Agriculture is a longstanding problem that resulted in a multi-billion dollar settlement of a class-action discrimination suit by black farmers. In March 2003, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) was created to provide overall leadership and coordination of all civil rights programs across the Department.

Although Congress instituted a series of reforms to ensure the Office of Civil Rights was given the resources, autonomy, and authority by the USDA to adequately help underserved farmers and minority employees, it remains unclear whether there has been any improvement in the management of the USDA's civil rights programs. Serious questions have been raised in the last year regarding how ASCR tracks, processes, and remedies complaints brought against both the USDA and its own office.