Some USDA employees, including a top official in the department, are organizing a lobbying campaign to eliminate a provision in the farm bill passed July 27 by the House of Representatives that would reopen a landmark civil rights case against the department for discrimination in providing farm loans to black farmers.

The provision under challenge would allow up to 73,000 black farmers another chance to pursue discrimination claims that were disqualified without review on their merits because they were filed after a court-mandated deadline.

The USDA employees lobbying to remove the provision work for the very agency black farmers sued in the 1990s for discrimination in providing low-interest government loans to farmers who have trouble getting commercial credit.

"As you all know by now, the House version of the Farm Bill will reopen
the Pigford lawsuit to allow late filers to be considered," wrote Kim DePasquale, an official with the department's Fredericksburg service center, in an Aug. 2 email to 40 fellow employees of USDA's Farm Service Agency. "I was really surprised by this. It makes me wish I was not part of this agency. If I feel this way, I'm sure others do too."

Ms. DePasquale verified to EWG in a phone conversation that she sent the email from a government computer, and that she'd received a version of it from another government computer.

Added in last-minute bargaining just before the House farm bill was considered on the floor and after pressure was applied by the Congressional Black Caucus, the provision will allow black farmers disqualified for late filing under the Pigford v. USDA settlement an opportunity to make their case, on the merits, that they were denied USDA loans as a result of racial discrimination. The provision also requires USDA to provide plaintiffs information that could help the court determine if black farmers were treated unfairly in comparison to similarly situated white farmers who did receive farm loans.

The inability of black farmers to access such information from USDA has been a major reason why so many of them have been unable to prove discrimination and obtain relief under the Pigford settlement process.

The House farm bill also caps all settlements under the provision to $100 million in total payments, sufficient for 2,000 claims if each receives the "automatic" $50,000 provided for "fast track" Pigford claimants.

Except for the settlement cap, the provision in the House farm bill is very similar to separate legislation, the Pigford Settlement Claims Act, introduced in the House by Reps. Bobbie Scott (D-VA) and Steve Chabot (R-OH), and championed by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI). The legislation was introduced following a series of congressional hearings that documented, among other problems, serious inadequacies in the effort to notify black farmers about the Pigford settlement process, resulting in tens of thousands of late claims, nearly all of which were rejected without consideration of their merits. A similar senate bill has been introduced by Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Barack Obama (D-IL).

Congressional interest in the case was reignited by this 2004 report by the Environmental Working Group and the National Black Farmers Association.

In the email, USDA employee DePasquale states that "NACS has just spoken to [top USDA official] Carolyn Cooksie concerning the inclusion of another Pigford Bill attached to the House's version of the Farm Bill. She said it is "awful" and will allow some 73,000 late filers in and we will probably have another class action suit."

NACS, the National Association of Credit Specialists, is a professional association of USDA employees who administer the department's credit programs. Cooksie is the Deputy Administrator for Farm Loan Programs at USDA. DePasquale added:

The agency will be required to submit a boatload of information within 60 days of anyone filing which will bury us! Not to mention, most of this information we don't have. Carolyn is doing a lot of legwork in the Senate trying to stop it but NACS, NASE, and other FSA employees need to contact their Senators and work hard to get it stopped.

DePasquale concluded her email with a call to action and a reminder that USDA computers and phones should not be used in the lobbying campaign. Her email was date-stamped during business hours (11:23 a.m., Thursday, Aug. 2). Ironically, DePasquale acknowledged to EWG that she used a government computer to send it.

PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SENATOR TODAY CONCERNING THE FOLLOWING: DO NOT ALLOW LATE FILERS ON THE PIGFORD LAWSUIT. AMPLE TIME AND OPPORTUNITY WAS GIVEN DURING THE INITIAL SUIT TO FILE AND THIS LATE FILING WOULD BURY THE AGENCY AND COST TAXPAYERS BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IF THE 73,000 LATE FILERS ARE ACCEPTED

Members, please step up and make your voice heard in this Farm Bill debate. I am willing to tell my Senators that I will not cast my vote
for anyone who will not stand up and do what's right instead of worrying
about being politically correct. They should be fiscally responsible
and at the same time listen to their constituients! [sic] WE CAN STOP THIS IF
WE RISE UP TOGETHER AND MAKE OUR VOICE HEARD! KEEP CONTACTING THEM
UNTIL THEY HEAR YOU! MAKE SURE THEY RECEIVE YOUR MESSAGE, FAX, E-MAIL,
ETC.
Remember, don't make contacts using the office telephone or computer.
Send your contacts from home or from another location other than the
office, but send them!