Sen. John Walsh (D-Montana). Photo from Facebook

Sen. John Walsh (D-Montana) welcomed the arrival of the final payment from the $3.4 billion Cobell trust fund settlement.

Walsh co-sponsored a bill to speed up the release of the checks. It didn't pass but pressure from Congress helped shine a line of the delays facing Indian beneficiaries whose trust funds were mismanaged for more than a century.

“Although still decades too late, the recent Cobell settlement payments marks a step in the right direction to right a wrong,” Walsh said today. “I will continue to fight to ensure the federal government adequately meets the trust obligations we owe our tribal nations. Today, we all should be grateful for the leadership of fellow Montanan Elouise Cobell.”

Walsh was appointed to serve out the remainder of the term of former Sen. Max Baucus (D), who became the U.S. Ambassador to China. Walsh will be leaving Capitol Hill later this year after ending his re-election bid due to a plagiarism scandal.

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