Sec. 104. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights reforms
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The Secretary shall establish in the Department of Agriculture a position of Civil Rights Ombudsman— to assist individuals in navigating Office programs; and to provide recommendations to the Secretary for grants provided under subsection (g). Not later than 180 days after the date on which the Office receives a civil rights complaint, the Assistant Secretary shall make a final decision of the Assistant Secretary regarding the merit of the complaint and the appropriate disposition of the matter.
A person that receives an adverse decision or dismissal by the Office on a civil rights complaint filed by the person may appeal the decision or dismissal to the Board for a final decision. An appeal under paragraph
(1)shall be filed not later than 1 year after the date of the adverse decision or dismissal described in that paragraph. A decision of the Board on an appeal filed under paragraph (1), or a dismissal of such an appeal for lack of jurisdiction, shall constitute exhaustion of administrative remedies and be reviewable in Federal court. The Secretary shall not take any action on a foreclosure proceeding against any farmer or rancher during any period that a civil rights complaint filed by the farmer or rancher with the Office is outstanding, including an appeal to the Board under subsection (c)(1). The Assistant Secretary shall— publish on the website of the Office and submit to the Board a report of each civil rights complaint filed with the Office and the results of each such complaint; and include in each report described in paragraph
(1)a description of the race, ethnicity, gender, and geographic region of the complainant. The Office of General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture shall not have any involvement with the investigation, adjudication, or resolution of any civil rights complaint brought against the Secretary. The Secretary, based on recommendations from the Civil Rights Ombudsman, shall provide grants to community-based organizations and advocates with a history of working with socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers to provide technical assistance to farmers and ranchers seeking to file a civil rights complaint with the Office. There is authorized to be appropriated, and there is appropriated, out of amounts in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2030 to carry out this subsection. Section 218(c) of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 ( 7 U.S.C. 6918(c) ) is amended— in the subsection heading, by striking ; Duties of by redesignating paragraphs
(1)through
(3)as subparagraphs
(A)through (C), respectively, and indenting appropriately; in the matter preceding subparagraph
(A)(as so redesignated), by striking The Secretary and inserting the following: The Secretary ; and by adding at the end the following: If the Secretary establishes the position of Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights under subsection (a)(3), the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights shall report directly to the Secretary. . In addition to amounts made available under subsection (g)(2), there are authorized to be appropriated for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2030 such sums as are necessary to carry out this section and the amendments made by this section.
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Sec. 104
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights reforms
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