Eddie and Dorothy, Senators Warnock, Stabenow, and Booker

By now, many of you know that the Senate has passed President Biden's COVID-19 recovery act, or The American Recovery Plan. The vote was split along partisan lines, 50/49 with one senator leaving to attend a family funeral which saved Vice President Harris from casting the deciding vote.

Within the bill there are numerous things that impact many of us which have to do with children and economics of our families. The items that are most crucial to me these days has to do with debt relief and supports for minority farmers who have experienced much discrimination from the USDA. Of the total sum of $5 billion, $4 billion is dedicated to debt relief to Black, Hispanic, American Indian, and other minority farmers.

No, Senator Graham is absolutely wrong. This is not a reparations act. And, the 120%, Mr. Graham, amount has to do with taxes that are placed upon farmers when debt is forgiven. The best way I can describe this is this: a Black farmer borrows some money, but it is too little and too late, and there may or may not be a disaster from which he or she gets no relief, but when the crop comes in, or doesn't come in, the loan is due and payable. In most instances, that debt can be restructured or written off, but not so with minority farmers. For white farmers, yes, but others, no. So, much of the indebtedness is from interest on top of interest on top of interest on top of interest. A small loan turns into an overwhelming debt with the passage of time. And, along the way, many have lost their farms to foreclosure. They will not be getting those back.

Or, when the farm home plan is to be submitted to the county office, the FSA officer demands that the plan be submitted in pencil, and then a plan that "cash flows" no longer cash flows because he changed the numbers. These are only a few of what I've heard and seen.

At this link, you can read the entire debate in The Congressional Record, but save yourself some time, and go to page 40 where Senator Stabenow speaks, or to page 49 where Senator Booker speaks. There is much substantive information there that most of us do not know. At the end of Senator Booker's testimony, he tells the story of Eddie and Dorothy Wise. I am honored to have written their story for this effort. I hope Mr. Wise and his family are pleased with my efforts in telling the brutal stories of mistreatment at the hands of the USDA from the top in DC to the bottom at the county level.