On Monday, July 18, 2011, Tea Party darling and Republican presidential nominee Michele Bachmann again attacked the Pigford Settlement while touring flooded farm land in Iowa. Named after the original plaintiff, Timothy Pigford, an African American North Carolina farmer, black farmers sued, citing decades of being denied loans and other aid by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
President H. W. Bush’s administration settled the case in 1999. However, Congress never funded the cost of damages to the plaintiffs. This included each session under President Bill Clinton. Within the last two years, President Obama’s administration and the then-Democrat-controlled Congress funded the cost of the settlement and authorized a new, nearly $1.2 billion settlement for people who were denied payments in the earlier one because they missed deadlines for filing. The settlement for those families who missed the filing and re-filing deadlines is less than that of those who did not. A percentage of the plaintiffs have died waiting for the settlement to be funded.
Almost immediately upon hearing the news that the Pigford claims would be settled, Bachmann and some of her conservative colleagues spoke publicly about “widespread fraud” among the plaintiffs. While touring Iowa in her bid to win the Iowa Straw Poll, scheduled for August 13, Bachmann and Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa took the opportunity of yesterday’s tour of flooded areas to speak on the matter again. King likened the Pigford claims to “modern-day reparations” for African Americans and stated that a larger percentage of the settlement “was just paid out in fraudulent claims.”
“That’s another at least $1.3 billion,” King said. “I’d like to apply that money to the people that are under water right now.” Most Iowa farmers are not African American.
Bachmann supported King’s criticism by adding, “When money is diverted to inefficient projects, like the Pigford project, where there seems to be proof-positive of fraud, we can’t afford $2 billion in potentially fraudulent claims when that money can be used to benefit the people along the Mississippi River and the Missouri River.” Bachmann did not explain exactly the source of the “proof-positive” she cited.
John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association, which represented black farmers in the Pigford settlement, called the criticism unfair.
“Why continue to take from those people who haven’t taken part in federal programs equally and give to another group of farmers who have taken part in federal programs?” Boyd asked. “I think taking resources from a group of people who have been historically denied any relief at the Department of Agriculture is a bad idea. For the flood victims that deserve redress, they should provide those people with relief, too.”
Boyd was clear about the claims process. He and the National Black Farmers Association worked diligently to place an anti-fraud provision in the legislation. Each claim has to be judged on its own merit. Boyd said this stage of the disbursement process has not even begun.
“We worked with Republicans … to get those issues addressed,” he said. “Even after we got them addressed, Ms. Bachmann and Mr. King have continued to look at black farmers in a very negative way.
“I think it’s bad for the American people. I think if Ms. Bachmann wants to be president of the United States, she should treat all people fairly.” –a. robinson
