Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, 10 years ago, the Supreme Court handed down what is known as the Carcieri decision. In that decision, the Court determined that trust land acquisition under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 only applies to Tribes that were under Federal jurisdiction in 1934. Mr. Speaker, up until 2009, the Department of the Interior, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, had consistently construed that the IRA authorizes the placement of land into trust for any Tribe so long as the Tribe is federally recognized at the time of the trust application. The decision overturned 75 years of agency practice, both Democratic and Republican administrations, and created a two-tiered system for trust land acquisition. This also opened up the Tribes to frivolous lawsuits on land that they had held in trust for years, sometimes decades. While this has been great for lawyers and their firms, it is detrimental to the health of a Tribe. The money to defend these lawsuits could, instead, be used to provide and improve the lives of their members. We have had to pass standalone bills for individual Tribes on a piecemeal basis to protect their lands, and we should, since these Tribal lands are under direct assault right now. We must also address this going forward so that other Tribes do not find themselves in the same dire straits. Passage of H.R.…”