Christopher Shays: “I rise in strong opposition, not to recognition of any tribe necessarily, but to recognition of a tribe through a…”

“I rise in strong opposition, not to recognition of any tribe necessarily, but to recognition of a tribe through a legislative process rather than through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The fact is that this bill, as it is titled, is to reaffirm and clarify the Federal relationship with the Burt Lake Band as a distinctly recognized Indian tribe and for other purposes. What we are trying to do is circumvent a process of petition before the Bureau of Indian Affairs, while the Bureau of Indian Affairs is trying to determine that while you were once a tribe, does this group of people still constitute a tribe today. That is a process that is in the works today. As the Bureau of Indian Affairs has stated, they expect to know within 6 months whether or not they can recommend that this tribe should be Federally recognized. Please know that when we recognize a tribe, we are giving them a status as an independent nation, notwithstanding the other benefit that they can establish a gaming institution.”