Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the Lumbee Fairness Act because of the three-quarters of a billion dollars that is unpaid for in cost and how it undermines Tribal designation based on merit, a 100-year history where merit drives and not politics. While I respect the hard work of my colleagues from North Carolina and I have no doubt about their intentions with this legislation, the Lumbee Fairness Act would represent a lack of fairness for all historically recognized Native Americans and a lack of fairness for the merit-based process for Federal Tribal recognition. I am a card-carrying member of the Choctaw Nation. My family can trace its lineage to the time of the Indian Removal Act and the Choctaw Trail of Tears. Oklahoma is a Choctaw word. I am one of only four current Native-American Members in the House of Representatives. I harbor no ill will toward any people who seek Federal recognition for themselves and appreciate the hardship of going through the Federal recognition process. However, we must also acknowledge that Tribal-Federal relations have a near 250-year history, rooted in our Constitution. It is found in Article I and Article VI of the Constitution. There are two centuries of tradition showing how the founding generations and those following after dealt with the issue of Federal treaties with Tribes. The recognition process is robust. It is designed to ensure only people who can prove themselves as historical Tribes are designated as such.…”