II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2079

To facilitate the timely resolution of back-logged civil rights discrimination

cases of the Department of Agriculture, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 22, 2000

Mr. BURNS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

A BILL

To facilitate the timely resolution of back-logged civil rights

discrimination cases of the Department of Agriculture,

and for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘USDA Civil Rights

5 Resolution Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

8 (1) there exists a strong public policy against

9 discrimination against minority groups, whether the

10 discrimination is committed by private persons or by
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1 the Federal Government in the operation of its pro2 grams;

3 (2) whenever discrimination occurs in the con4 duct of Federal programs, the responsible Federal

5 agencies should take quick and aggressive action to

6 remedy the discrimination;

7 (3) in 1997, it was determined that the Depart8 ment of Agriculture had, for decades, been guilty of

9 civil rights violations against United States agricul10 tural producers participating, or attempting to par11 ticipate, in Department programs;

12 (4) in 1998, Congress created a 2-year waiver

13 of the statute of limitations to allow persons injured

14 by discrimination by the Department to seek redress

15 in court or by filing an administrative complaint

16 with the Department;

17 (5) despite the waiver of the statute of limita18 tions, it remains a difficult challenge to ensure that

19 agricultural producers injured by discrimination by

20 the Department over the years will get a speedy and

21 balanced resolution of their complaints because it

22 appears now that—

23 (A) a number of complaints that have al24 ready been investigated by investigators hired
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1 by the Office of Civil Rights of the Department

2 are not being resolved; and

3 (B) nothing is being done to expeditiously

4 resolve these cases; and

5 (6) it is unfair for agricultural producers to be

6 faced with these delays because—

7 (A) the producers cannot get on with their

8 lives, or plan their farming operations, until

9 their complaints are resolved; and

10 (B) the producers are being wronged a sec11 ond time by delays in resolving meritorious

12 complaints.

13 (b) PURPOSES.—It is the purpose of this Act—

14 (1) to impose on the Department of Agriculture

15 a reasonable time limit to resolve the complaints de16 scribed in subsection (a); and

17 (2) if the Department fails to meet this reason18 able time limit, to enable complainants to seek the

19 experience and expertise of the Civil Rights Division

20 of the Department of Justice in resolving the com21 plaints in a timely manner.

22 SEC. 3. WAIVER OF STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.

23 Section 741(b) of the Agriculture, Rural Develop24 ment, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agen-
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1 cies Appropriations Act, 1999 (7 U.S.C. 2279 note; Public

2 Law 105–277) is amended—

3 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and

4 (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), respectively;

5 (2) by striking ‘‘(b) The’’ and inserting the fol6 lowing:

7 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATIVE DETERMINATIONS.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The’’;

9 (3) by indenting the margins of subparagraphs

10 (A), (B), and (C) (as so redesignated) to reflect the

11 amendment made by paragraph (2); and

12 (4) by adding at the end the following:

13 ‘‘(2) REVIEW BY DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.—

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a complainant seeks

15 a determination by the Department of Agri16 culture on the merits of an eligible complaint

17 under paragraph (1) and the complaint is not

18 resolved by the Department within 270 days

19 after the complaint has been investigated by the

20 Department, the complainant may petition the

21 Civil Rights Division of the Department of

22 Justice—

23 ‘‘(i) to review the complaint; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) to make recommendations to the

2 Department of Agriculture to resolve the

3 complaint.

4 ‘‘(B) DEADLINE.—The Civil Rights Divi5 sion of the Department of Justice shall conduct

6 the review, and make recommendations to re7 solve the complaint, not later than 30 days

8 after the complainant files a petition under sub9 paragraph (A).

10 ‘‘(C) ACCESS TO REVIEW FOR OTHER

11 CASES.—

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The right to re13 view by the Department of Justice under

14 this paragraph shall be made available to

15 any complainant with a complaint that—

16 ‘‘(I) is not considered an eligible

17 complaint under the time criteria de18 scribed in subsection (e); and

19 ‘‘(II) is pending at the Office of

20 Civil Rights of the Department of Ag21 riculture on the date of enactment of

22 this paragraph.

23 ‘‘(ii) TOLLING.—In the case of any

24 complaint that is reviewed by the Depart-
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1 ment of Justice under this paragraph,

2 after the review process is completed—

3 ‘‘(I) the complainant—

4 ‘‘(aa) shall be deemed to

5 have exhausted the administra6 tive remedies of the complainant;

7 and

8 ‘‘(bb) may file an action on

9 the complaint in United States

10 District Court; and

11 ‘‘(II) any applicable statute of

12 limitations shall be tolled for the pe13 riod beginning on the date that the

14 complaint was filed at the Department

15 of Agriculture and ending on the date

16 of completion of the review by the De17 partment of Justice.’’.

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