Sherwood Boehlert: “Mr. Speaker, I have a very important announcement. There has been a Federal court decision today in one of the most…”

“Mr. Speaker, I have a very important announcement. There has been a Federal court decision today in one of the most highly visible and significant Indian land claims in the country. Senior Judge Neal McCurn of the Federal Court of the Northern District of New York has denied request by the Oneida Indian Nation and the U.S. Department of Justice to amend a lawsuit in a claim to include 20,000 innocent landowners as defendants. Let me repeat that. Judge McCurn has ruled he has denied a request to amend a lawsuit in the claim to include 20,000 innocent landowners as defendants. That falls under the heading of very good news. I am delighted with Judge McCurn's decision, which once and for all removes the threat of eviction and monetary damages from the innocent landowners in Madison and Oneida Counties, New York. With this ruling, the innocent landowners are quite simply excluded as parties to this longstanding dispute. Their homes are not threatened in any way. That should be an enormous relief to all concerned.”