House committee takes up federal recognition bill

Thursday, October 4, 2007  

INDIANZ.COM LISTENING LOUNGE House Natural Resources Committee hearing on H.R.2837, the Indian Tribal Federal Recognition Administrative Procedures Act. • Opening Statements • Panel 1: Rep. Shays • Panel 2: Carl Artman | Q&A Part 1 | Q&A Part 2 • Panel 3 Testimony | Q&A • Panel 4 Part 1 | Part 2

The House's Natural Resource Committee held a lengthy hearing on Wednesday on a bill to reform the federal recognition process.

H.R. 2837 strips federal recognition from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. It creates the independent Commission on Indian Recognition to review all pending petitions.

Rep. Chris Shays (R-Connecticut) said Congress is to blame for the problem. He said the BIA has never been given enough money to do the job.

The Bush administration opposes the bill, assistant secretary Carl Artman said. He said the BIA is making improvements to the slow-moving recognition process.

A panel of recognition experts supported the bill. They said the BIA lacks adequate funding and that the federal recognition regulations are unfair and overly burdensome to tribal petitioners.

A second panel also expressed support for changing the process, which takes decades to complete.

Get the Story:
Recognition Reform Has Opponents (The New London Day 10/4)
pwday

Get the Bill:
Indian Tribal Federal Recognition Administrative Procedures Act (H.R.2837)

Committee Notice:
Full Committee Legislative Hearing: H.R. 2837 (October 3, 2007)

Only on Indianz.Com:
Federal Recognition Database V2.0 (May 2005)

Related Stories:
House Resources hearing on federal recognition (10/3)
House Resources hearing on federal recognition (10/1)
House hearing on federal recognition next week (9/27)
Editorial: Recognize the Lumbee Tribe (9/25)
Editorial: Lumbee recognition long overdue (9/24)
Resources lacking for recognition at BIA (9/20)
Little Shell Tribe waits on BIA for recognition (9/20)
Lumbee Tribe presses for federal recognition (9/20)
Senate Indian Affairs hearing on federal recognition (9/19)
Little Shell Chippewa to testify at Senate hearing (9/18)
DOI won't release Cason's performance evaluations (09/14)
Senate Indian Affairs sets hearing on recognition (9/13)
Interior board rejects Nipmuc recognition appeals (09/13)
Editorial: No to legislative recognition of tribes (08/08)
Column: Virginia recognition bill stalled in Senate (07/30)
Burt Lake Band lobbies for legislative recognition (06/19)
House panel takes up land-into-trust, recognition bills (06/14)
Lawmakers urge no vote on Lumbee recognition bill (06/07)
Opinion: Native Hawaiian entity ripe for corruption (06/07)
House vote expected on Lumbee recognition bill (06/06)
Voice of America: Virginia tribes wait on status (05/18)
Bush cites 'terrible cost' of Jamestown on Virginia tribes (05/14)
No rush for Virginia recognition bill in Senate (05/10)
Editorial: Take up Virginia recognition in Senate (05/10)