Congressional Black Caucus Civil Rights Hearing Release No. 0131.97 Talking Points for Secretary Dan Glickman Congressional Black Caucus Civil Rights Hearing Washington, D.C. -- April 23, 1997 INTRODUCTION Thank you, Congresswoman Waters, for the opportunity to be here and to say a few words. I'd like to thank all the members of the Congressional Black Caucus for organizing this dialogue and for being such strong allies in our efforts to improve USDA's civil rights performance and the plight of America's disadvantaged farmers. I'd also like to thank all the farmers who've come to Washington today to make their voices heard. I know that your time is precious. We are both fighting for the American farmer, for a basic respect for human rights and dignity and a commitment to equal opportunity. In the 2 years that I've been Secretary of Agriculture, I've seen a lot of change -- in farm policy, conservation policy, trade policy, welfare reform and our own reorganization. But the biggest challenge we face at USDA -- the one that's consumed the most of my time and commitment -- has been civil rights. As many farmers said earlier today, this is a decades-old problem. I offer no excuses for the past. But I have promised that on my watch we'll change the culture of the Department of Agriculture. I intend to keep that promise. We will close down the last plantation' and reopen the doors to the people's department.' That's what Abraham Lincoln called USDA when he first created us -- the people's department.' Together, we can reclaim that title and make USDA an advocate for all farmers. USDA ACTIONS I've spent a lot of time traveling around the country listening to farmers and getting ideas as to how we can improve our record. I plan on doing a lot of listening today, too. But first, I'd like to tell you briefly what USDA's been doing since the release of our civil rights report. It was a hard-hitting report. It certainly didn't pull any punches. I accepted it, and called for it to be put immediately into action. I named the report's author, Pearlie Reed, the Acting Assistant Secretary for Administration. He's put together a team of dedicated public servants and civil rights advocates. I've also ordered everyone at USDA -- regardless of where they work -- to make civil rights a top priority. I've made it crystal clear what it takes to work at USDA: It is now a condition of employment that every worker treat every colleague and customer fairly and equitably, with dignity and respect. No exceptions. No excuses. I've even taken it a step further to say that employees who even think about retaliating against co-workers who stand up for their rights had better think first about keeping their own jobs if they do so. PROGRESS ON THE BACKLOG IN COMPLAINTS Many of you, I'm sure, have read in the newspapers that USDA recently made 2 substantial settlements to black farmers who were discriminated against. These, too, were meant as a strong signal: USDA stands ready to redress -- quickly and fairly -- legitimate civil rights complaints. Eliminating the tremendous backlog in complaints is one of the most daunting tasks we face. Our new Civil Rights Division is in high-gear, working through them in a no-nonsense manner: -- Cases with possible cause are either settled or decided and conciliated. -- Cases that should be dismissed are. -- Cases with incomplete investigations are either completed or mediated and settled. All complaints that can be resolved by our June 6th goal will be. We also have a parallel effort underway to streamline the process, so we can reach a more timely, respectful closure to future complaints. FORECLOSURE/LENDING REFORMS We've also strengthened the civil rights protections of our foreclosure and lending policies. Now, when a written civil rights complaint is lodged, the foreclosure is frozen -- wherever it is in the process, even if it's just at the initial calling-loans-due phase. This time-out' allows an independent review team to come in and determine whether there's an inconsistency in program delivery and whether discrimination is a factor. Until that review is complete, that foreclosure will not proceed. I've also made it clear that loan processing must continue on accounts where a discrimination complaint is pending. Standing up for your rights does not disqualify someone from seeking a farm loan. If it's the loan processor who's been charged, then another employee will be assigned to work with the applicant who's filed a complaint. If their loan can't be approved, they now get a personal meeting and a written letter explaining why. Besides discrimination, part of the problem is economic. The federal government simply isn't doing enough to help small farmers. I'm establishing a National Commission on the Small Farm to give us a national strategy to strengthen this great American institution and make sure low-resource farmers aren't constantly on the ropes. USDA LEADERSHIP Given all the open slots in USDA leadership positions -- including the next head of the Farm Service Agency and Undersecretary for the Farm and Foreign Agricultural Service -- I have a unique opportunity to make sure the top brass are true believers. Civil rights is high on my priority list in every single interview I do, as it is throughout the selection process. We're also taking steps toward establishing a civil rights division in USDA's Office of General Counsel, so we have strong civil rights advocates on our legal team. LEGISLATIVE CHANGES Have we done enough? I'm the first to say, no way. But are we off to a good start? Yes. The next major step will be to introduce the legislation we need to make some of the more dramatic institutional changes. Most notably, we want the authority to convert all county USDA employees to federal status, so regional biases don't trump national civil rights laws. I'm going to work with Congress to get this done, and I'd like to thank Congresswoman Clayton for her leadership in that effort. I hope we can move forward during this session of Congress. There's no reason to wait. CONCLUSION I'm not proud of how far we have yet to go, but I am proud of how far USDA has come since the release of our civil rights report. We've stopped debating whether discrimination exists. Clearly, it does. And now, every USDA employee is responsible for being a part of the solution. The vast majority of our people are 100% committed to meeting this challenge. We will get through the backlog we inherited. We are taking aggressive action to stamp out the discrimination that persists today, and we will restore the full promise of the people's department.' If not, we fail you, we fail agriculture and we fail the values that make our nation great. Failure is not an option for this President, for myself, and for the vast majority of good people at USDA. I know that many of you have good reason to be skeptical. USDA has a lot to prove. We cannot change history, but we can and will set a new course for the future of this department. I look forward to a constructive dialogue and continued forward progress. Thank you. # NOTE: USDA news releases and media advisories are available on the Internet. Access the USDA Home Page on the World Wide Web at http://www.usda.gov