The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President for award of the Medal or any person selected by the President upon his own initiative," and was created to recognize people who have made "an especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." The award is not limited to U.S. citizens, and, while it is a civilian award, it can also be awarded to military personnel and worn on the uniform. It was established in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy, superseding the Medal of Freedom that was initially established by President Harry S. Truman in 1945 to honor civilian service.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and production, works to assure food safety, protects natural resources, fosters rural communities and works to end hunger in the United States and internationally. It is headed by the secretary of agriculture, who reports directly to the president of the United States and is a member of the president's Cabinet. The current secretary is Tom Vilsack, who has served since February 24, 2021.
Thomas James Vilsack is an American politician serving as the 32nd United States secretary of agriculture in the Biden administration. He previously served in the role from 2009 to 2017 during the Obama administration. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 40th governor of Iowa from 1999 to 2007.
James Enos Clyburn is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for South Carolina's 6th congressional district. First elected in 1992, Clyburn is in his 17th term, representing a congressional district that includes most of the majority-black precincts in and around Columbia and Charleston, as well as most of the majority-black areas outside Beaufort and nearly all of South Carolina's share of the Black Belt. Since Joe Cunningham's departure in 2021, Clyburn has been the only Democrat in South Carolina's congressional delegation and as well as the dean of this delegation since 2011 after fellow Democrat John Spratt lost re-election.
Cobell v. Salazar is a class-action lawsuit brought by Elouise Cobell (Blackfeet) and other Native American representatives in 1996 against two departments of the United States government: the Department of Interior and the Department of the Treasury for mismanagement of Indian trust funds. It was settled in 2009. The plaintiffs claim that the U.S. government has incorrectly accounted for the income from Indian trust assets, which are legally owned by the Department of the Interior, but held in trust for individual Native Americans. The case was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The original complaint[usurped] asserted no claims for mismanagement of the trust assets, since such claims could only properly be asserted in the United States Court of Federal Claims.
Jill Lynette Long Thompson is an American politician, educator, and author. A former Congresswoman from Indiana, she is the author of The Character of American Democracy, published by Indiana University Press in September 2020. From 2015 to 2020 she taught ethics as a visiting clinical associate professor at the Kelley School of Business and the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Bloomington and during the 2020–2021 academic year she served as a visiting scholar with the Ostrom Workshop, also at Indiana University. Until 2015 she was board chair and CEO of the Farm Credit Administration, a position to which President Barack Obama appointed her. The first person in her family to graduate from college, she earned a B.S. in business administration at Valparaiso University and an M.B.A. and Ph.D. in business at Indiana University. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Elouise Pepion Cobell, also known as Yellow Bird Woman, was a tribal elder and activist, banker, rancher, and lead plaintiff in the groundbreaking class-action suit Cobell v. Salazar (2009). This challenged the United States' mismanagement of trust funds belonging to more than 500,000 individual Native Americans. She pursued the suit from 1996, challenging the government to account for fees from resource leases.
The National Black Farmers Association (NBFA) is a non-profit organization representing African American farmers and their families in the United States. As an association, it serves tens of thousands of members nationwide. NBFA's education and advocacy efforts have been focused on civil rights, land retention, access to public and private loans, education and agricultural training, and rural economic development for black and other small farmers.
The 2008 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 4, 2008, which was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 13 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Barack Obama assumed office as the 44th president of the United States on January 20, 2009, and his term ended on January 20, 2017. The president has the authority to nominate members of his Cabinet to the United States Senate for confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.
Pigford v. Glickman (1999) was a class action lawsuit against the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), alleging that it had racially discriminated against African-American farmers in its allocation of farm loans and assistance from 1981 to 1996. The lawsuit was settled on April 14, 1999, by Judge Paul L. Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. To date, almost $1 billion US dollars have been paid or credited to fewer than 20,000 farmers under the settlement's consent decree, under what is reportedly the largest civil rights settlement until that point. Due to delaying tactics by U.S. government officials, more than 70,000 farmers were treated as filing late and thus did not have their claims heard. The 2008 Farm Bill provided for additional claims to be heard. In December 2010, Congress appropriated $1.2 billion for what is called "Pigford II," settlement for the second part of the case.
The 2010 congressional elections in Virginia were held November 2, 2010, to determine who will represent the state of Virginia in the United States House of Representatives. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected served in the 112th Congress from January 2011 until January 2013.
Art Collins is a Founding and Managing Partner of theGROUP, a strategy, policy and communications firm established in 2011. He was previously President and Chief Executive Officer of Public Private Partnership, Inc., an independent strategic planning and political consulting firm he founded in 1989. theGROUP provides strategic advice to multinational corporations, political campaigns, political parties, elected officials, nonprofit and government organizations, and advocacy groups.
The Claims Resolution Act of 2010 is a federal law enacted by the 111th Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 8, 2010. The act is a response to the Pigford v. Glickman case, where black farmers were found to have been discriminated against from 1983 to 1997 by the United States Department of Agriculture when applying for loans and assistance to start and to maintain farms. The case required a $50,000 dollar settlement to every discriminated farmer. However, many potential victims missed the application deadline for a settlement. The bill sets aside $1.5 billion for the estimated 75,000 farmers who are eligible for a settlement.
The 2012 United States presidential election in Georgia took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the 2012 General Election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Georgia voters chose 16 electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, Vice President Joe Biden, against Republican challenger and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and his running mate, Congressman Paul Ryan.
James Richardson Comer Jr. is an American politician from Kentucky who represents the state's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. A member of the Republican Party, he has served in Congress since 2016, during the 114th United States Congress. He previously served in the Kentucky House of Representatives and also served as the Agriculture Commissioner of Kentucky.
William L. Thomas is a circuit judge for Florida's Eleventh Judicial Circuit and former nominee for United States district judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Keith Michael Harper is an American attorney and diplomat who was the first Native American to ever receive the rank of a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council. He is a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and as a lawyer he is known for working on behalf of Native Americans. He was, from June 2014 to January 2017, the U.S. representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Basil Ivanhoe Gooden is an American governmental executive whose career has advanced equitable food systems, agriculture policy, public health, and community economic development in rural America. Gooden served as the 3rd Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry for the Commonwealth of Virginia in the cabinet of Governor Terry McAuliffe. He became the first Black American to serve in this position and during his tenure from September 2016 until January 2018, he was the only Black American Secretary of Agriculture in any state in the United States. In his capacity as Secretary, he provided strategic vision and leadership to two of Virginia's largest private industries, Agriculture and Forestry, with an annual economic impact of $91 billion on the Commonwealth.
Janie Simms Hipp is an agriculture and food lawyer, policy expert, and the founder of the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative at the University of Arkansas, founder of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Office of Tribal Relations in the Office of the Secretary, founding Executive Director of the Native American Agriculture Fund,. Hipp's work focuses on the intersection of Indian law and agriculture and food law. She is currently the CEO/President of Native Agriculture Financial Services since August 2023.
