Anti-fraud stance bypasses Indian trust

MONDAY, JULY 29, 2002

President Bush plans to sign into law stricter corporate oversight measures, a move which has left some in Indian Country scratching their heads as they seek to bring similar reforms to the management of trust assets.

"I bet Wall Street gets legislation before we do," predicted National Congress of American Indians President Tex Hall last week, describing stalled but ongoing talks with government officials over the future of the Indian trust.

Spurred by a wave of accounting scandals, the House and Senate last week overwhelmingly approved legislation to crack down on corporate abuse. Key provisions mimic reforms tribal leaders and Indian advocates have sought for years.

But were any of the measures applied to the Departments of Treasury and Interior, which have a fiduciary responsibility to manage and account for $3.1 billion in tribal and individually-owned trust funds, federal officials would be in for some big surprises.

The corporate bill, for example, creates an oversight board with investigative and enforcement powers. Yet a tribal demand for a similar entity has met resistance from Bush officials who raised constitutional concerns.

A compromise the Interior offered last week would create a commission whose membership is appointed by the president and open to Indian Country. However, the department's proposal limits the commission to fact-finding powers, referring potential wrongdoing elsewhere.

Stiff criminal and civil penalties are also included in the corporate legislation. One provision increases penalties for filing false reports, one of five contempt charges Secretary of Interior Gale Norton faces for her handling of Indian trust assets.

Norton, however, is not likely to see any jail time or pay personal fines for her actions. "The standards shouldn't be different," said Keith Harper, a Native American Rights Fund attorney who represents more than 500,000 Indian stakeholders in a class action that has uncovered government mismanagement.

Similarly, government officials and attorneys would face 10-year prison terms for destroying documents, including e-mails, if the bill were applied to the Indian trust. But in court papers, Norton's legal team recently argued no one could be punished for erasing electronic records against a court order.

"As we tackle the trust with a capital 't' we are building trust with a small 't'," said Dan DuBray, Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb's communications aide.

Bush welcomed the passage of the corporate anti-fraud bill. "Today's passage by Congress of corporate accounting reforms is a victory for America's shareholders and employees," he said last Wednesday.

"I look forward to signing these important reforms into law," he said.

Get the Corporate Bill:
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (H.R.3763)

Today on Indianz.Com:
No agreement on trust reform (7/29)

Relevant Links:
Indian Trust, Department of Interior - http://www.doi.gov/indiantrust
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com
Trust Reform, NCAI - http://www.ncai.org/main/pages/
issues/other_issues/trust_reform.asp