Nick Rahall

It pains me that our efforts to establish a process to re-recognize the Native Hawaiian government have thus far been unsuccessful.

I think it is wrong to suggest that there would be private companies, private individuals to do this work...

What I am saying is that is unacceptable and I am not willing to carry that for you.

I think if we were to take steps that effectively impede... the right of a citizen to have and provide self-defense in his home, that would be very worrisome to me.

We are seeking recognition through an act of Congress because actions taken by the Commonwealth of Virginia during the 20th Century erased our history by altering key documents as part of a systematic plan to deny our existence.

The record and the facts are crystal clear--the Lumbee Tribe exists as an Indian tribe and has done so over its long history.

We were treated with dignity and respect at a level we have never experienced in our homeland.

We feared the process would not be able to see beyond the corrupted documentation that was designed to deny our Indian heritage.

There really is no excuse for not treating the Lumbee Tribe like every other tribe in the country.

Once and for all, the time has come for discrimination to end and recognition to begin!

That question is a dagger in the heart of the good, decent, and honorable people who compose the Lumbee Tribe!

Today's Lumbee youth should not have to graduate from their classroom only to discover a world of social and political injustice.

The fair way to address the situation is to allow the Lumbee to complete the administrative process at the Office of Federal Acknowledgement in the Department of the Interior.

Both the Lumbee and the Virginia tribes require the attention of Congress.

Let sleeping dogs lie and do not rock the boat.

I believe 110 years is long enough for these people who have had to endure the pain and the suffering of being maligned.

This is not a Republican or a Democratic bill, by the way. This is a bill for America.

I proudly appear today in support of H.R. 31 and the federal recognition for the Tribe that it would provide.

The time has come for positive finality on this issue.

Should taxpayers be on the hook obviously for a multi-multi-billion dollar cleanup cost that is impacting 160,000 hardrock abandoned mines in the West?

The American people deserve to understand the risks and benefits that expanded drilling on the OCS will bring.

There are clear benefits to offshore drilling--including jobs, tax and royalty income, and money that we keep here at home instead of sending it overseas.

The amount of additional oil that we could drill offshore is a drop in the bucket of what we would need.

I am not opposed to new drilling. The transition to greater reliance on alternative sources of energy will not happen overnight.

history is fleeting, unless you are part of making it. Few in this House, nor outside this body, would take issue with the proposition that John D. Dingell has been a maker of history most of his days here. I rise today to honor our…