With Republicans in control of the House, Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Washington) is expected to chair the House Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over Indian issues.

Hastings doesn't have a particularly strong record on tribal matters. In the 111th Congress, he tried to change the terms of the Cobell settlement, opposed the inclusion of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act in the national health reform bill, objected to the way the Tribal Law and Order Act was passed and opposed a bill to fix the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar

Hastings district includes parts of the Yakama Nation. In 2006, he introduced a bill to amend the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act to allow scientific study of remains like the Kennewick Man, whom the Yakamas claim as an ancestor.

The bill never made it far but the tribe complained that it was never consulted by Hastings. The bill would have affected all ancestral remains found on federal land.

In 2008, Hastings opposed a NAGPRA regulation that would help return remains to tribes. He claimed the Interior Department lacked the authority to issue the rule.

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