Political Quotes

“I oppose S. 282, which would grant Federal recognition to the Mowa Band of Choctaw Indians of Alabama. The matter of granting legislative recognition to nonrecognized groups of Indian people is clearly a controversial issue. In my opinion all who seek Federal recognition should go through the acknowledgment process administered by the Department of the Interior and meet the established criteria. Legislative recognition creates a dual system, one in which the Congress applies no criteria, and the other where the Interior Department applies a set of statutory, established criteria. Congress should not grant Federal recognition because it leads to inconsistency and unfairness for petitioning groups. As a member of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, I have observed funding for Indian programs lags far behind equivalent Federal programs. Native Americans generally suffer the worst conditions of unemployment, the lowest life expectancy, and least adequate education of all national groups. Our government has a responsibility to native Americans based on treaties, statutes, and Federal court rulings. Federal acknowledgment establishes a perpetual government-to-government relationship between the tribe and United States, which has major political, social, and economic implications for the petitioning tribe and Federal, State, and local governments.”