Washington Report: Updates from Capitol Hill

Congress May Miss Black Farmers Settlement Deadline

National Black Farmers Association President John Boyd, Jr., fears that Capitol Hill lawmakers won’t meet the March 31 deadline to appropriate funds for the settlement agreement reached last month with the Agriculture and Justice departments to compensate black farmers for past acts of discrimination. With only 10 days left on the legislative calendar before Congress breaks for Easter recess, it’s easy to understand why.

Boyd says bipartisan support for the settlement seems to have fallen by the wayside amidst partisan bickering over healthcare, jobs and other issues. Democratic lawmakers and administration officials continue to offer their support, but Boyd–and NFBA members, who understand little about the legislative process and thought it was a done deal–are more interested in action.

“They say they’re supportive, but that has to turn into results and I’m not seeing that right now,” said Boyd. “I know they’re busy on healthcare and other issues, but we need them to act. We need the president to be more vocally active on this issue, too.”

USDA spokesman Justin DeLong said in an email message that the agency is “actively working with Congress to ensure the settlement agreement is funded, and Agriculture Secretary [Tom] Vilsack has made personal phone calls and sent a letter in support of the president’s budget amendment to communicate the administration’s commitment to resolving this issue.” The timing, however, is up to Congress.

Georgia Rep. Sanford Bishop, a Congressional Black Caucus member who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, said this week that while the White House included the settlement in its budget request, it didn’t indicate how to pay for it. Both he and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi) suggested that President Obama give the settlement an emergency designation, as it would a natural disaster, to fast track the process.

“If that’s done, it’s done,” Thompson said matter-of-factly.

Funding Unclear for Proposed Jobs Bill

House Democrats and U.S. mayors introduced a jobs bill on Wednesday that would direct $100 billion over two years to states and localities to help them save or create government jobs and fund salaries for job-training programs.

The Local Jobs for America Act would provide more than $24 billion to governors to support education and public safety jobs; $75 billion would go directly to struggling communities to help them hire or retain employees.

But Rep. George Miller (D-California), who heads the House Education and Labor Committee, acknowledged that he doesn’t know how the bill would be paid for.

Bill co-sponsor Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota) said that sometimes “the right kind of circumstances can come together to make [such bills] a hot issue.”

Ellison and other black lawmakers want Obama to publically acknowledge that black communities have been hit the hardest by the recession and that something must be done about it.

“I want the president to stop saying ‘We are the world, one size fits all’ in terms of the jobs situation,” Ellison said. “The misery that this country is facing is hitting everybody, but it’s hitting some much worse than others and we need to be real about that.”Department of Education to Step Up Enforcement

Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced on Monday plans to amp up the agency’s civil rights enforcement to ensure

equal educational opportunity and access in schools and colleges. Duncan unveiled the plan before participating in a marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to commemorate the “Bloody Sunday” civil rights protest.

According to agency statistics, white students are six times more likely than African American students to be college ready in biology and four times as likely to be college ready in algebra. They also are more than twice as likely to have taken advanced placement calculus classes.

“This is the civil rights issue of our generation. The battle for a quality education is about so much more than education. It’s a fight for social justice,” said Duncan in a conference call with reporters. He also said that the agency’s Office for Civil Rights has not been as vigilant as it should have been with regard to combating gender and racial discrimination and protecting the rights of the disabled.

“Every child is entitled to a quality education,” Duncan said. “Today we’re making it clear that we will enforce laws to ensure that all children have a fair chance at a good future.”

Government Pledges Support and Debt Relief for Haiti

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Debt Relief for Earthquake Recovery in Haiti Act (H.R. 4573) that seeks the cancellation of Haiti’s debt to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and other multilateral development organizations. And in a departure from its usual lengthy procedural process, the Senate is expected to Rep. Maxine Waters’ (D-California) bill very soon.

Waters said that while she is pleased that her bill will soon become law, the US and other nations must continue to address Haiti’s more immediate needs in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake it experienced on Jan.  12.

“We must also keep in mind the immediate needs of survivors who, without adequate shelter, will be further subjected to the elements and to disease during the upcoming rainy season,” said Waters.

After meeting with Haiti’s President René Préval on Wednesday, President Barack Obama pledged continued financial and humanitarian support. Like Waters, he warned that the conditions there remain “dire,” and that preventing a second disaster remains a challenge.