New York ( CNN ) -- The head of the National Black Farmers Association renewed his call Tuesday for Congress to fund a historic discrimination case settlement involving minority farmers . He slammed the sharply divided Senate for repeatedly stripping funding provisions from different bills , and urged President Obama to call for a decisive vote on the measure by the end of September . `` Suffering is an understatement of what is going on with black farmers , '' John Boyd said in front of a federal courthouse in lower Manhattan . We `` are tired of waiting . '' Boyd said black farmers are losing land at a rate three times faster than other agricultural workers . He said that it takes nearly 400 days to process a black farmer 's loan request at the Agriculture Department , compared with less than 30 days for white farmers . `` Congress has money for everything -- to bail out banks , Wall Street , AIG , everybody , '' he said . But `` we ca n't seem to get this done . There is something terribly wrong with that picture . '' Boyd showed up in front of the courthouse with a mule -- a reference to Civil War-era promises of assistance for freed African-American slaves . Last month , the U.S. Senate failed to approve $ 1.25 billion for the settlement between the U.S. Agriculture Department and black farmers , prompting finger-pointing by members of both parties and outrage among many black farmers . `` We are very , very , very disappointed that we are just caught up in such a larger political fight in the Senate , where it 's just partisan division , '' Boyd said after the August 5 outcome . A 1997 case against the Agriculture Department , Pigford v. Glickman , was settled out of court 11 years ago , but tens of thousands of farmers missed the filing deadline to submit claims . As a senator , Obama sponsored a measure in the 2008 Farm Bill that reopened the case , known as Pigford II . The $ 1.25 billion settlement is owed to the farmers after years of being denied government farm loans and support from federal programs because of the color of their skin . Under a federal judge 's terms dating to 1999 , qualified farmers could receive $ 50,000 each to settle claims of racial bias . In February , the Department of Justice released a statement saying Attorney General Eric Holder and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack were announcing a resolution to Pigford II . The statement said the settlement agreement is contingent on the appropriation of funds by Congress . `` Following the appropriation , class members may pursue their individual claims through a non-judicial claims process in front of a neutral arbitrator , '' the Justice Department statement said . `` Claimants who establish their credit-related claims will be entitled to receive up to $ 50,000 and debt relief . A separate track may provide actual damages of up to $ 250,000 through a more rigorous process . The actual value of awards may be reduced based on the total amount of funds made available and the number of successful claims . '' Prominent members of both parties have voiced support for paying out the settlements . In July , the House approved a war supplemental funding bill that included money to pay for the settlement . But the attempt to approve the funds in August failed in the Senate . It was the seventh attempt by the Senate to approve the funds , Boyd said . CNN 's Shawna Shepherd , Alan Silverleib , Elise Zeiger and Ed Hornick contributed to this report .
NEW : Association chief urges final Senate vote on black farmers ' aid by end of month . The settlement involves the U.S. Agriculture Department . Qualified farmers could receive $ 50,000 each to settle claims of racial bias . Democrats and Republicans have supported paying out the money .