"The Individual Indian Money trust remains a troubled realm, and it is likely to stay that way well into the next Congress.

Indian country was right to reject the case settlement concepts offered by the administration. But as spelled out by the next Senate Committee on Indian Affairs chairman, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., failure to resolve the IIM litigation ''overhangs everything else'' in federal Indian affairs, on the funding front above all.

That overhang, 10 years in the making, isn't likely to get any less severe under a Democratic Congress over the next couple of years. Another leading figure on the issue, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has stated outright that he will not vote for a bill to settle the IIM litigation if it does not also settle as many subsidiary trust claims as may be possible. He wants a ''whole'' settlement, in contrast to an IIM-only settlement that would be considered ''partial.'' As a Republican of high stock right now and a probable presidential candidate in 2008, McCain's views will take many lawmakers along with him.

So for now, any hope of an IIM-only, ''partial'' settlement is out.

So is any hope of the huge settlement described as fair by the IIM plaintiff class. Remember, the litigation itself is only about an accounting. When the frail pages of the lawsuit are found among other fossils many centuries from now, they may show that a court has ''settled'' the mismanaged accounts for a larger sum than the government will agree to, left to its own devices. But the government can litigate for decades yet at a cost still light-years from the settlement figure(s) the plaintiffs have initiated."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Trust funds settlement should not be left to the fossil record (Indian Country Today 11/30)

Briefing Paper:
NEWLY PROPOSED PROVISIONS FOR SENATE BILL 1439 THE INDIAN TRUST REFORM ACT (SCIA 10/23)

Press Release:
ADDITIONAL CONSULTATION MEETINGS TO BE HELD ON S.1439 (SCIA 10/19)

Relevant Documents:
Staff Draft of Cobell Settlement Bill (Posted by ITMA)

Senate Indian Affairs Committee Statement:
INDIAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE POSTPONES CONSIDERATION OF TRUST REFORM LEGISLATION (August 2, 2006)

Indian Trust Reform Act:
S.1439 | H.R.4322

Relevant Links:
Senate Indian Affairs Committee - http://indian.senate.gov
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Kempthorne - http://www.indiantrust.com
Office of Special Trustee - http://www.ost.doi.gov
Cobell v. Norton, Department of Justice - http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/cases/cobell/index.htm

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