Farm bill establishes new civil rights chief at USDA
By Drew Long, Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (May 29) -- Newly enacted legislation creating an assistant secretary for civil rights at the Agriculture Department was a victory for workers and an employee organization that have raised discrimination concerns for years. A Senate aide told cyberFEDS(r) that the provision was added to the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act because of a series of complaints from USDA employees and farmers.

Employees and civil rights advocates have charged that discrimination and retaliation problems are nearly as old as the department but numerous administrations have allegedly chosen to ignore the issues rather than correct them. [See related article]

Lawrence Lucas, president of the Coalition of Minority Employees at USDA, told cyberFEDS(r) that the group has lobbied members of Congress for years to create an assistant secretary for civil rights who would report directly to the secretary of Agriculture.

The current senior civil rights official is David Winningham. As director of the Office of Civil Rights, Winningham reports to Assistant Secretary of Administration Lou Gallegos. An USDA spokeswoman said an implementation team is reviewing the Farm Bill and will recommend what steps should be taken to carry out the legislation's mandates. The review includes the new assistant secretary position and how it would change the department's organizational structure. Under the terms of the act, the assistant secretary will be responsible for:

* Ensuring compliance with all civil rights and related laws by all agencies and programs of the department.

* Coordinating administration of civil rights laws within the department for employees of, and participants in, USDA programs.

* Ensuring that necessary and appropriate civil rights components are properly incorporated into all strategic planning initiatives of the department and USDA agencies.

Lucas said the new position gives the department a chance to move the Office of Civil Rights from the jurisdiction of the assistant secretary of administration and lessen the influence of the Office of General Counsel, which handles all litigation matters for the USDA, including civil rights matters. "If they put all of civil rights under the new assistant secretary then I think the credibility of the office will be raised," he said. The USDA spokeswoman said it has not been decided whether the new assistant secretary would oversee the Office of Civil Rights.

Filed: May 30, 2002