WASHINGTON — American Indian landowners and black farmers who for years have waited for Washington to address their claims of government mistreatment won a hard-fought victory Tuesday as Congress cleared legislation to pay the groups $4.6 billion to settle a pair of historic class-action lawsuits.
The measure passed the House in a 256-152 vote and now goes to President Barack Obama, who promised during his campaign to work toward resolving the long-standing disputes and others involving the government’s past discrimination against minorities.
Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Tribe from Browning, Mont., and lead plaintiff in the Indian case, called it a “historic day in Indian country as well as in America’s history.” The package would award $3.4 billion to American Indians over claims they were cheated out of royalties overseen by the Interior Department for resources such as oil, gas and timber. Another $1.2 billion would go to African-Americans who claim they were unfairly denied loans and other assistance from the Agriculture Department.
The settlements have broad bipartisan support but had stalled on Capitol Hill over costs until the Senate broke a stalemate in November.
