Posted by Sen. Reid's Staff  on 12/8/2010 - 3:53 PM

 As Nevada’s senior senator, one of Senator Reid’s most important responsibilities is making sure that the federal government works for the people of our state, is a good steward of taxpayers’ dollars and treats all citizens equally under the law. When justice fails to prevail, the courts and sometimes the Congress must act. In the case of discrimination against black farmers and mismanagement of Native American trust account— it took both.

In 1999 a group of African-American farmers brought a suit against U.S. Department of Agriculture for discrimination in a federal loan program. The suit was settled, but funding for many plaintiffs who were left out of the first round of settlement has taken years to authorize.  The deadline continually passed for authorizing payment to the second group of plaintiffs.

This year Senator Reid made passing those payments a priority and in November he led Senate passage—with unanimous support—to approve $1.15 billion in settlements, which also benefit more than 2,000 Native Americans who suffered losses from mishandling of Indian Trust fund accounts.

Black farmers and Native American trust account holders have waited a long time for justice that is finally being served. Democrats and Republicans came together to deliver the settlement that these men and women deserve for the discrimination and mismanagement they faced in the past because it was the right thing to do.

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