In certain states, there are treaties, specific treaties signed by tribes, yet through the years, the Department of the Interior and the BIA have just dropped certain tribes that were signatories to those treaties from the rolls.

we are in effect the 'Indian Committee' in the Congress.

we want to be fair and abide by the Constitution, abide by the treaties.

We are not saying by any means there is no need for a solution. Let us just make sure it is the right solution that respects the needs of citizens and communities and towns and cities and states as well as a fair process and also that…

I am part of that trust responsibility. The trust responsibility is not just with the executive branch of government.

Just as an aside, my father lived in the area of where your reservation is, Buckley, Michigan.

the treaties are the supreme law of the land.

I first of all would like to thank the gentleman from the Interior Department for his testimony.

I hope that your underlying attitude in implementing this bill would be one of streamlining, so money would not be lost.

Sovereignty is not just a theoretical thing, it is a practical thing.

Your abiding interest in justice for our Native Americans certainly reaches back to at least the 33 years that you have been in Congress, and the Indians have benefitted from your sense of justice.