ending July 27
Texas tribe closes casino.
File Photo © AP.
Congress got its first shot at the Bush administration's long-awaited historical accounting plan this week. Leaders of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee weren't kind to the $2.4 billion, 10-year proposal. They urged the Department of Interior to settle the debacle in order to prevent further damage to more than 500,000 American Indians. Elouise Cobell, the lead plaintiff in a class action against the federal government, also urged resolution of the case. More than $100 billion is unaccounted, she said this week. Get the Story:
Contract woes typical of trust fund (7/22)
Editorial: Making the victims pay (7/22)
Historical accounting focus of hearing (7/22)
'We need Bush at the table' (7/24)
Trust law favors Indian claims (7/24)
Senate debates accounting plan (7/26)
Slonaker objects to House bill (7/26) Tribes press forward with trust claims
Their cases have yet to go to trial but several tribes citing mismanagement of their trust assets throughout the country scored an early victory. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth agreed to hear several tribal claims over the objections of the Bush administration. Billions of dollars are at stake as a new front is opened on a war dating back more than one hundred years. Get the Story:
Norton handed worst nightmare (7/25) more stories
There's still more to read in the recap of the top stories.