GLICKMAN ANNOUNCES NEW EFFORTS TO IMPROVE CIVIL RIGHTS, ASSIST SMALL FARMERS


                                           Release No.  0444.97
                                                               
                                   Laura Trivers (202) 720-4623
                                         laura.trivers@usda.gov
                                    Tom Amontree (202) 720-4623
                                          tom.amontree@usda.gov

GLICKMAN ANNOUNCES NEW EFFORTS TO IMPROVE CIVIL RIGHTS, ASSIST SMALL FARMERS

     WASHINGTON, Dec. 17, 1997--Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today
announced additional efforts to improve USDA's civil rights program and to
increase assistance for America's small and socially disadvantaged farmers.  

     "The ability to earn a decent living for yourself and your family from
the land is the original American dream," Glickman said. "We must work hard
to keep that dream alive for our nation's small farmers.  Through their
labor, America has the safest, most abundant food supply in the world."

     Glickman said that two budget initiatives would improve USDA's service
to small and socially disadvantaged farmers.   First, President Clinton's 
FY 1999 budget proposal will seek full funding of $85 million in direct farm
ownership loans -- an 86 percent increase over 1998 levels, as well as full
funding of $500 million in direct operating loans.  If approved by Congress,
this additional funding will allow over 1,000 small and socially
disadvantaged farmers to buy their farms and allow more than 12,000 farmers
to receive assistance to continue operating their farms.

     Second, Glickman announced that the Administration's FY 1999 budget
will request full funding of $10 million for the Section 2501 program --
Small Farmer Outreach Training and Technical Assistance Program -- an
increase from $3 million in Fiscal Year 1998.  Through the newly formed
Office of Outreach, this funding will be used to coordinate and provide
leadership in delivering programs and services to historically under served
populations ensuring that USDA programs are open to all that seek to use
them.

     "We've been making tremendous progress", Glickman said, "but there is
still more we must do to strengthen further USDA's ability to improve its
civil rights record." 

     Glickman announced the creation of a permanent federal advisory
committee on civil rights. The committee will be comprised of civil rights
experts who will provide advice and recommendations to USDA as we implement
policies to improve civil rights for USDA employees and customers.  "The
input and advice of independent experts will strengthen and enhance our
ability to make fundamentally sound, long-term improvements to our civil
rights programs," Glickman said.

     Glickman also announced that President Clinton has asked the White
House Counsel's Office to coordinate the efforts of USDA and the Department
of Justice in evaluating the wide range of legal issues involved in USDA's
effort to improve its civil rights record.  "We are committed to using every
possible legal remedy to improve civil rights at USDA," Glickman said. "But
over the course of the past year, we have continued to encounter complex and
difficult legal problems.  The active involvement and expertise of the White
House Counsel's office will help us to quickly and fairly resolve these
issues."      

     In addition, Glickman announced that USDA will begin a new livestock
feed program targeting American Indian Tribes for emergency livestock feed
assistance .  For the next 2 years, $4 million dollars in assistance will be
available annually for livestock feed losses caused by severe weather. This
program differs from previous efforts in that direct cash payments will be
made instead of grain donations.  

     Since the Civil Rights Action Team (CRAT) report of February 1997, the
U.S. Department of Agriculture has been making an unprecedented effort to
ensure that every USDA customer and employee is treated fairly and
equitably, with dignity and respect.  Key accomplishments include (1) a 10
percent increase in diversity on USDA state committees; (2) resolving 141
discrimination complaints, including 11 major settlements totaling $3.5
million, as well as implementing a comprehensive plan to resolve the
remaining complaints as quickly as possible; (3) establishing a Department-wide Office of Outreach to improve USDA's service to socially disadvantaged
farmers; (4) establishing a new USDA foreclosure policy to ensure that no
one loses their farm as a result of discrimination; and (5) imposing strict
standards of accountability for upholding civil rights laws on all USDA
employees.

     Glickman also reiterated the Administration's commitment to work with
Congress to ease the severe restrictions on USDA loans to farmers.  The
recent Farm Bill prohibits USDA, frequently the lender of last resort, from
loaning money to any farmer who has ever had a debt forgiveness from USDA, 
rules that are more stringent than most commercial lending operations.
 
     "Minority farmers are leaving the agriculture field at almost three
times the rate of other small farmers.  This Administration will not stand
idly by and let this trend continue.  The programs announced today are just
a small part of what USDA is doing to protect America's small farm heritage. 
We are working with retailers, bankers, insurers, consumer groups, even
foreign governments, to create new opportunities and new markets for our
nation's small farmers," Glickman said.

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