II
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 515
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 7, 2007
Mr. Grassley (for himself, Mr. Obama, Mr. Biden, and Mr. Kennedy) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To provide a mechanism for the determination on the merits of the claims of claimants who met the class criteria in a civil action relating to racial discrimination by the Department of Agriculture but who were denied that determination.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the
Pigford Claims Remedy Act of
2007
.
Determination on merits of Pigford claims
In General
Any Pigford claimant who has not obtained a determination on the merits of a Pigford claim before the date of enactment of this Act may, in a civil action, obtain that determination.
Intent of Congress as to Remedial Nature of Section
It is the intent of Congress that this section be liberally construed so as to effectuate its remedial purpose of giving a full determination on the merits for each Pigford claim denied that determination.
Definitions
In this Act—
the term Pigford claimant means an individual who submitted, before the date of enactment of this Act, a late-filing request under section 5(g) of the consent decree in the case of Pigford v. Glickman, approved by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on April 14, 1999; and
the term Pigford claim means a discrimination complaint, as defined by section 1(h) of that consent decree and documented under section 5(b) of that consent decree.