USDA to get high-ranking civil rights official

In a major victory for civil rights advocates, the new farm bill signed by President Bush on May 13 allows the creation of the position of assistant secretary for civil rights at the Agriculture Department.

Rep. Eva Clayton, D-N.C., the only African-American woman on the House Agriculture Committee and the only African-American or woman to sit on the House-Senate conference committee that crafted the final version of the farm bill, told Government Executive the provision is a "home run" because black and other minority farmers and USDA employees have been complaining for decades about discrimination at the agency.

Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman has not yet announced plans for filling the civil rights position, but has appointed a working group of high-level Agriculture officials to work on implementation of the massive bill. A Clayton aide noted that the bill allows, but does not require, the Bush administration to make the appointment, but said that if the administration does not fill the job it will come under tremendous criticism.

The Clayton aide also noted that the language creating the position was exactly the same as was used in the creation of the other two assistant secretaries at USDA-for legislative affairs and administration. Clayton initially proposed the creation of the civil rights position, but the House refused to include it in its initial version of the farm bill. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Richard Lugar, R-Ind., introduced the measure in the Senate, and it was included in the final version of the bill that came out of the conference committee. The Clayton aide said Bush administration officials initially resisted the provision, but agreed to it in the final negotiations on the bill.

Formally titled the "Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002," the law governs farm policy through 2007, and also has far-reaching effects on Agriculture Department operations.

According to the law, the assistant secretary for civil rights is responsible for "ensuring compliance with all civil rights and related laws by all agencies and under all programs of the department; coordinating administration of civil rights laws (including regulations) within the department for employees of, and participants in, programs of the department; and ensuring that necessary and appropriate civil rights components are properly incorporated into all strategic planning initiatives of the department and agencies of the department."

The explanatory statement accompanying the conference report elaborates on the new assistant secretary's duties, saying they include "ensuring that USDA has measurable goals for fair and nondiscriminatory treatment; compiling and disclosing data used in assessing civil rights compliance in the socially disadvantaged farmer program; holding USDA agency heads and senior executives accountable for civil rights compliance and assessing their performance; ensuring that there is sufficient level of participation by socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers in deliberations of county and area committees ... of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act and that participation and election data are made publicly available."

Agriculture's Office of Civil Rights is currently located within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration. The farm bill does not require that the office be moved under the jurisdiction of the new assistant secretary for civil rights. The Clayton aide said the authors of the provision thought the creation of the new assistant secretary position was the most important step and that further reorganization is likely to follow.

USDA's civil rights problems date back to the 19th century. The Agriculture Department was created in 1862 when the civil war was raging. After the war, African-Americans began buying land and going into farming on their own. At the turn of the century, there were about 1 million black farmers. But throughout the 20th century the number of black farmers has declined at a faster rate than the number of white farmers. Today there are about 18,000 black farmers.

In the 1930s, when the Roosevelt administration created the modern farm programs, it also established committees of farmers in every county in the country to certify farmers' eligibility to receive subsidies and loans. Black farmers in the South have charged that white farmers used their control of the committee system to force black farmers into debt so they would have to sell their land. Hispanic, American Indian and women farmers have registered similar complaints of discrimination.

USDA's own employees have also leveled charges of discrimination against the department for many years. From the 1930s through the 1960s, Agriculture allowed the extension services that provide advice to farmers and their families to be operated on a segregated basis. The issue of discrimination against women employees in the Forest Service has caused major management problems in the western states.

Clinton administration Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman set up a special civil rights task force and encouraged the settlement of many farmer and employee cases, but the number of cases has continued to mount. Glickman has described USDA as "one of the last federal agencies to integrate and perhaps the last to include women and minorities in leadership positions."