The Navajo Nation needs to file a trust management lawsuit December 31, a council delegate said.

Delegate Ervin Keeswood said the tribe's Arthur Andersen report indicates between $28 million to $60 million is unaccounted. He tried to get the council to approve a litigation fund to file a lawsuit for the mismanaged funds but the council lacked a quorum.

More than two dozen tribes have already filed lawsuits for an historical accounting. But dozens more face the December deadline unless Congress extends the statute of limitations.

The statute of limitations is based on the date each tribe received its Arthur Andersen report. Tribes have six years from that date to file a lawsuit. The current date has been set at December 2000 so December 2006 is the deadline.

Get the Story:
Lack of quorum derails establishment of fund to sue the U.S. government (The Gallup Independent 11/2)

DOJ Letter:
Opposition to Extending Statute of Limitations (December 2005)

Statute of Limitations Bill:
S.1892 | H.R.4292 | Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

Relevant Links:
Inter-Tribal Monitoring Association - http://www.itmatrustfunds.org/index.cfm
Senate Indian Affairs Committee - http://indian.senate.gov
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Kempthorne - http://www.indiantrust.com

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