From the Associated Press:
The Senate has approved almost $4.6 billion to settle long-standing claims brought by American Indians and black farmers against the government.
The money has been held up for months in the Senate as Democrats and Republicans squabbled over how to pay for it. The two class action lawsuits were filed over a decade ago.
The settlements include almost $1.2 billion for black farmers who say they suffered discrimination at the hands of the Agriculture Department. Also, $3.4 billion would go to Indian landowners who claim they were swindled out of royalties by the Interior Department. The legislation was approved in the Senate by voice vote Friday and sent to the House.
Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Tribe from Browning, Mont. and the lead plaintiff in the Indian case, said Friday that it took her breath away when she found out the Senate had passed the bill. She was feeling despondent after the chamber had tried and failed to pass the legislation many times and two people who would have been beneficiaries had died on her reservation this week.
“It’s 17 below and the Blackfeet nation is feeling warm,” she said. “I don’t know if people understand or believe the agony you go through when one of the beneficiaries passes away without justice.”
John Boyd, head of the National Black Farmers Association, said the passage of the black farmers’ money is also long overdue. “Twenty-six years justice is in sight for our nation’s black farmers,” he said.
Lawmakers from both parties have said they support resolving the long-standing claims of discrimination and mistreatment by federal agencies. But the funding has been caught up in a fight over spending and deficits. Republicans repeatedly objected to the settlements when they were added on to larger pieces of legislation. But Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), D-Nev., satisfied conservative complaints by finding spending offsets to cover the cost.
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