Tom Udall: “I thank the Presiding Officer for the recognition. Madam President, I rise today as the ranking member on the Senate…”

“I thank the Presiding Officer for the recognition. Madam President, I rise today as the ranking member on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. In our parlance on the committee, it is called the vice chair. Normally, our committee is very bipartisan. It was not so in this case today. In the debate, it was mentioned that this was a negotiated package. It was not. I was not asked for input as the vice chair of the committee. Nothing about this bill sent over from the House was negotiated with me. For the first time in 10 years, this body has just considered a bill from the Committee on Indian Affairs using a cloture filing and valuable floor time. Let me repeat that. For the first time in 10 years, this Chamber just debated an Indian Affairs bill using valuable floor time and not unanimous consent. For a Senate majority, floor time and cloture filings are the coin of the realm, and this is the first time in 10 years that it is being spent on a Tribal issue. Over this decade, during which both Democrats and Republicans have held a majority, Indian Country has seen its priorities sidelined.…”