I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3623 

To amend the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to provide 

funding for successful claimants following a determination on the merits 

of Pigford claims related to racial discrimination by the Department 

of Agriculture. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2009 

Mr. DAVIS of Alabama introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 

to provide funding for successful claimants following a 

determination on the merits of Pigford claims related 

to racial discrimination by the Department of Agriculture. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) The claims of a significant number of Afri6 can-American farmers who brought discrimination 


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1 cases against the Department of Agriculture in the 

2 case Pigford v. Glickman were denied without such 

3 farmers receiving a hearing on the merits of those 

4 claims. 

5 (2) Section 14012 of the Food, Conservation, 

6 and Energy Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–246; 122 

7 Stat. 2210) states that it is Congress’ express intent 

8 that such section ‘‘be liberally construed so as to ef9 fectuate its remedial purpose of giving a full deter10 mination on the merits for each Pigford claim pre11 viously denied that determination,’’ and explicitly 

12 authorizes expedited resolutions to Pigford claims. 

13 (3) Such section authorizes the expenditure of 

14 $100,000,000 from the Commodity Credit Corpora15 tion for the purpose of addressing such claims. 

16 (4) The $100,000,000 expenditure was not in17 tended to serve as a cap, but was intended to serve 

18 as a place-holder allowing Congress to increase fund19 ing as necessary so that each Pigford claim may be 

20 determined on the merits. 

21 (5) The number of African-American farmers 

22 who have had discrimination claims against the De23 partment of Agriculture unfairly denied may total 

24 more than 77,000 persons. 


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1 (6) Funding in addition to the $100,000,000 

2 made available in such section 14012 will be needed 

3 to achieve Congress’ intent to carry out the remedial 

4 purpose of having each Pigford claim determined on 

5 the merits. 

6 SEC. 2. FUNDING FOR PIGFORD CLAIMS. 

7 Section 14012 of the Food, Conservation, and En8 ergy Act of 2008 (122 Stat. 2209; Public Law 110–246) 

9 is amended— 

10 (1) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(c) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 

14 person to— 

15 ‘‘(A) knowingly execute, or attempt to exe16 cute, a scheme or artifice to defraud, or obtain 

17 money or property from any person by means 

18 of false or fraudulent pretenses, representa19 tions, or promises, relating to the eligibility or 

20 ability of a person to— 

21 ‘‘(i) file a civil action relating to a 

22 Pigford claim; 

23 ‘‘(ii) submit a late-filing request under 

24 section 5(g) of the consent decree; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) obtain a determination on the 

2 merits of a Pigford claim; or 

3 ‘‘(iv) recover damages or other relief 

4 relating to a Pigford claim; and 

5 ‘‘(B) for the purpose of executing the 

6 scheme or artifice or attempting so to do, or ob7 taining the money or property— 

8 ‘‘(i) place or deposit, or cause to be 

9 placed or deposited, any matter or thing to 

10 be sent or delivered by the Postal Service 

11 or any private or commercial interstate 

12 carrier; 

13 ‘‘(ii) take or receive any matter or 

14 thing sent or delivered by the Postal Serv15 ice or any private or commercial interstate 

16 carrier; 

17 ‘‘(iii) knowingly cause to be delivered 

18 by the Postal Service or any private or 

19 commercial interstate carrier any matter 

20 or thing according to the direction on the 

21 matter or thing, or at the place at which 

22 the matter or thing is directed to be deliv23 ered by the person to whom it is ad24 dressed; or 


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1 ‘‘(iv) transmit, or cause to be trans2 mitted, any writings, signs, signals, pic3 tures, or sounds by means of wire, radio, 

4 or television communication in interstate 

5 or foreign commerce. 

6 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—Any person who violates para7 graph (1) shall be fined under title 18, United 

8 States Code, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, 

9 or both.’’; and 

10 (2) in subsection (i), by striking paragraph (2) 

11 and inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘(2) PERMANENT JUDGMENT APPROPRIA13 TION.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—After the expenditure 

15 of all funds made available under paragraph 

16 (1), any additional payments or debt relief in 

17 satisfaction of claims against the United States 

18 under subsection (b) and for any actions under 

19 subsection (f) or (g) shall be paid from amounts 

20 appropriated under section 1304 of title 31, 

21 United States Code. 

22 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZATION OF CERTAIN EX23 PENSES.—Reasonable attorney’s fees, adminis24 trative costs, and expenses described in section 

25 14(a) of the consent decree and related to adjuVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:46 Sep 23, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3623.IH H3623

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1 dicating the merits of claims brought under 

2 subsection (b), (f), or (g) shall be paid from 

3 amounts appropriated under section 1304 of 

4 title 31, United States Code. 

5 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In 

6 addition to any other funds made available under 

7 this subsection, there are authorized to be appro8 priated such sums as are necessary to carry out this 

9 section.’’. 

Æ 


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