Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann pointed to one program in particular Monday when talking about wasteful government spending: a multibillion dollar settlement paid to black farmers, who claim the federal government discriminated against them for decades in awarding loans and other aid.

A federal judge Friday granted preliminary approval of the $1.25 billion class-action settlement in decades-old discrimination cases brought by against black farmers. Last December President Obama signed the “Claims Remedy Act of 2010,” which provided $1.25 billion in funding for the black farmers’ late filers class-action lawsuit.

It is important to have a farm bill in 2012 that provides an equitable measure of support for all farmers. Currently, the largest 10% of farms receive 74% of federal farm subsidies, while 60% of American farmers receive no direct support. There is talk in the halls of Congress of leaving the farm bill on the table until 2013. That is unacceptable. We need a good farm bill in 2012 that includes programs to help small and socially disadvantaged farmers.

Boyd - who was present when President Obama signed the landmark Claims Resolution Act of 2010 in December - will also offer an update on how the settlement is moving ahead, including a look at the cases of individual farmers from across the country. The settlement is designed to remedy decades of discrimination by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Today, White House staff met with John Boyd, founder of the National Black Farmers Association, to discuss the Pigford II settlement. White House staff reiterated the President’s commitment on this issue and the need for Congress to act and implement funding for the Black Farmers.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Las Vegas Branch announced today that nationally-known civil rights champion John Boyd will deliver the keynote address at its annual Freedom Fund Banquet fundraising event. The dinner takes place on Saturday, October 16, 2010 at Caesars Palace Las Vegas Hotel & Casino.

In the wake of the public health crisis, people are waking up to a troubling reality. Today, a few hundred mega-farms produce the majority of our country’s eggs. The intensive industrial operations on these farms represent a fundamental change in the industry from the time when chickens grew cage-free in the chicken houses of small and mid-sized operations. This change is one that presents a significant threat to public health.

Frontpage on The Washington Post newspaper.

John Boyd, has been an advocate for the fair treatment of black farmers for over three decades. The black farmers have been locked out of receiving the credit from banks, discriminated against in federal farm subsidy programs, and generally excluded from the normal channels of support that white farmers easily enjoy.

A pending merger in the cotton-seed industry is prompting sharp legal and environmental criticisms of biotechnology in US agriculture. The proposed merger would fuse the world's largest seed company, Monsanto, with one of the country's leading cotton-seed firms, Delta and Pine Land. Announced last year, the deal is now awaiting antitrust clearance from the Justice Department.

The proposed merger would fuse the world's largest seed company, Monsanto, with one of the country's leading cotton-seed firms, Delta and Pine Land. Announced last year, the deal is now awaiting antitrust clearance from the Justice Department.

We applaud RRHA for their efforts to become more competitive and more inclusive with respect to its constituents and the marketplace. However, the historical experience and accumulated data of efforts to support minority contracting in the State of Virginia cause us to respectfully suggest a more thoughtful, reasonable and balanced approach to implementing municipal procurement, if in fact, greater effectiveness, efficiency and participation are the Authority’s objectives.

S. 515 re-establishes the right of those plaintiffs who filed within the court-order late filing period to file claims and receive a determination on the merits of their cases. You can be sure I will work with my colleagues so that legislation will pass both chambers of Congress and be signed into law by the President.

A RESOLUTION opposing Monsanto’s acquisition of Delta and Pine Land Company.

I’m proud to join my colleagues in the Senate and House as a sponsor of the bipartisan legislation to help the many African American farmers who failed to receive notice of their rights under the settlement in the discrimination case of Pigford v. Glickman.

The settlement followed the 1997 filing of a class-action lawsuit by minority farmers against the USDA. The lawsuit claimed that the USDA had discriminated against African-American farmers because of their race when applying for farm loans or other forms of assistance in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The Pigford Claims Remedy Act will allow more than 70,000 claims previously rejected on procedural grounds to be reviewed based on merit.

Today is historic for the nation's Black farmers and their families. With the introduction of the Pigford Claims Remedy Act of 2007 in the Senate and House, we move two steps closer to remedying an injustice against Black farmers across America.

At the urging of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), the House of Representatives recently approved a new farm bill that provides $100 million to help settle discrimination lawsuits filed by Black farmers.

As the president of the National Black Farmers Association, Boyd represented black farmers seeking legislation to equalize federal farming subsidies. Black farmers, he said, do not get the same loans and subsidies as whites farmers do.