Political Quotes

“Mr. President, earlier today we had some suggestion on the floor of the Senate about the Cobell case--that is the settlement of the Cobell case--the Federal court case Cobell, et al. v. Salazar. A negotiation ensued late last year with an agreement in December of last year that would settle at last--at long, long last--a 15-year litigation in Federal court dealing with American Indians and the mismanagement of their trust accounts--literally stealing and looting trust accounts over the years and, in addition to that, a substantial amount of incompetence along the way. I described today people who have had oil wells on their land and who have lived in poverty because somebody else got the money from their oil wells. They didn't get it, despite the fact that the government held their land in trust and promised to provide them their income from that land, whether it was from minerals, oil, grazing, agriculture, or another activity. For 140 years, American Indians have too often been cheated. Well, a court case that has existed now for 15 years determined that the Federal Government had a responsibility and liability. Rather than have that court case continue for more years in the Federal courts, there was a negotiation late last year with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Cobell plaintiffs. They reached an agreement and the Federal judge gave Congress 30 days to provide the funding and approve the settlement. The Congress did not do that in 30 days.…”