Getting your player ready...
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration announced a $760 million settlement Tuesday to resolve charges by thousands of American Indian farmers and ranchers who say that for decades the Agriculture Department discriminated against them in loan programs.
The farmers have fought for 11 years and through three administrations to resolve the case brought in 1999 by nearly 900 people, covering Department of Agriculture actions dating to 1981.
Under the agreement, the department would pay $680 million in damages and forgive $80 million of outstanding farm-loan debt. The government also agreed to create a Native American Farmer and Rancher Council to advise the USDA, among other actions.
