An excerpt from BLT:
Also at the news conference, a reporter asked Obama whether he can commit to winning legislative approval of two settlements that would end major discrimination claims against the federal government: the Cobell and Pigford II settlements. The Cobell claims relate to unpaid royalties from natural resource extraction on American Indian lands, while the Pigford claims relate to disparate treatment for black farmers in U.S. Department of Agriculture programs.
Obama did not make a commitment, but he said he would try. “It is a fair settlement. It is a just settlement,” Obama said, appearing to conflate the two settlements. “We think it’s important for Congress to fund that settlement, and we’re going to continue to make it a priority.”
The lead lawyer for plaintiffs in the Cobell litigation has accused the White House of not making the settlement a priority.
Turtle Talk 