Maria Cantwell: “while I plan to vote for this bill because it funds a host of programs critical to our Nation and my home State of…”

“while I plan to vote for this bill because it funds a host of programs critical to our Nation and my home State of Washington, I rise today to voice my grave concerns over a provision that would prevent the Department of Interior from conducting a full accounting of Individual Indian Trust accounts. On September 25, 2003, in the case of Cobell v. Norton, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ordered the Department of Interior to account for all individual Indian assets held in trust since 1887. This accounting is critical if our government is to meet its federal trust responsibility and reach an equitable settlement over the funds owed to over 300,000 American Indians. My concerns over this funding limitation are threefold. First, it subverts both the legislative and committee process. Last week, Indian Affairs Committee Chairman Campbell and Vice-Chairman Inouye introduced legislation that provided a blueprint on how we can move forward on this issue. As a member of the Indian Affairs Committee, I feel strongly that the committee of jurisdiction should deal with this issue so that we can hear from the multiple stakeholders through the traditional hearing and legislative drafting process. Secondly, by forestalling a court order, I am very concerned that this rider may violate the Constitution's separation of powers doctrine.”