Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) serves as chairman of the House Subcommittee Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs. Photo from Facebook
The House Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs will hold a hearing on the land-into-trust process tomorrow. In 1934, Congress put a halt to the allotment of tribal lands with the Indian Reorganization Act. Section 5 of the law authorizes the Bureau of Indian Affairs to place land into trust for tribes and individual Indians. Critics -- mainly state and local governments -- claim Section 5 is too vague because it does not lay out any standards for the land-into-trust process. The hearing will focus on those "inadequate standards." "All rules and policies for taking land in trust for Indians are left to the discretion of an unelected bureaucracy in the Department of the Interior," a hearing memo states. The hearing takes place at 2pm in the Room 1334 of the Longworth House Office Building. The witness list follows:
Mr. Kevin WashburnCommittee Notice:
Assistant Secretary of Interior - Indian Affairs
U.S. Department of the Interior
Washington, DC
Mr. Randy Noka, Councilman
Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island
Vice President, United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc.
Charlestown, Rhode Island
Principal Chief George Tiger
Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma
Okmulgee, Oklahoma
Ms. Lori Stinson, Tribal Attorney General
Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama
Atmore, Alabama
The Honorable David Rabbitt
Supervisor
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Santa Rosa, California
Dr. Christian McMillen
Corcoran Department of History
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
Oversight Hearing on "Inadequate Standards for Trust Land Acquisition in the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934." (May 14, 2015) Related Stories:
House subcommittee schedules hearing on land-into-trust (5/11)
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Bill introduced in Senate to fix Carcieri land-into-trust decision (03/16)
Senate Indian Affairs Committee to host roundtable on Carcieri (3/13)
Updates from National Congress of American Indians winter session (02/26)
Updates from National Congress of American Indians winter session (02/25)
ICT interview with Assistant Secretary Kevin Washburn at BIA (11/17)
Tribal leaders headed to Capitol Hill to push legislative priorities (09/16)
Paul Moorehead: Let's get back to promoting self-government (07/30)
Rep. Young offers explanation for inaction on land-into-trust fix (07/15)
Senate Indian Affairs Committee approves five bills at meeting (06/11)
Dave Palermo: Lobbyists battle on fix to land-into-trust ruling (4/30)
Law Article: DOI takes diligent approach with land-into-trust (03/19)
DOI addresses Carcieri land-into-trust decision in legal opinion (03/13)
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