Nick Rahall: “when this legislation was considered by the Committee on Resources, the majority of Democratic Members opposed it after…”

“when this legislation was considered by the Committee on Resources, the majority of Democratic Members opposed it after an amendment I sought to offer was not made in order. That amendment would have made two important changes to the bill. First, it would have provided that amounts distributed to the Western Shoshone would not be treated as income and subjected to Federal or State taxes. Second, it would have directed the Interior Secretary to devise a list in consultation with the Western Shoshone of lands that may be suitable to be held in trust for the tribes. Today we are considering a modified version of that legislation, which contains the language of the Senate-passed version, S. 618, and I am pleased to note it contains a provision I sought to exempt, the claims distribution from Federal and State income taxes. That is a very important change. It must be stated that while this legislation would distribute over $130 million to the Western Shoshone, there is not consensus among the tribes on this issue. While we do not have an exact count, there is a segment of the Western Shoshone who are opposed to this legislation. They believe that if the claims award is distributed, they would then be precluded from expanding the land base of the various Western Shoshone Indian tribes. The ancestral lands of the Western Shoshone are rich with natural resources and minerals. Some have put mining receipts on these lands in the tens of billions of dollars since 1960s.”