George Miller: “I am glad to strongly support this major piece of legislation that has been nearly six years in the making. I wish to…”

“I am glad to strongly support this major piece of legislation that has been nearly six years in the making. I wish to compliment Congressman Faleomavaega for all of the hard work and energy he has spent on this bill in the last four years. I know that he has personally met with a number of Indian tribes seeking recognition and was involved with the important White House meeting with a broad coalition of non-recognized tribes in January of 1995. His staff, in particular, Marty Yerick, has worked countless hours along with my committee staff to get this bill to a point where it now enjoys tribal and Administration support. I would also like to compliment the attorneys who have helped with this process, including Arlinda Locklear, and many of the staff at the Native American Rights Fund. As you know, the past two Congresses have not been a hotbed of legislative activity that could be said to actually benefit Native Americans. Just about anyone can who has been watching Congress lately can see that Indian tribes, the leadership of the Resources Committee, and the Administration have been spending a lot of energy fighting measures that would erode tribal sovereignty. Compared with the 103rd Congress, and Congresses before that, there has been a dearth of pro- Indian legislation. In fact, I am hard-pressed to name more than one major piece of Indian legislation signed into law these last two Congresses. But, fortunately, this is different.…”