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In The Hoop
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2002

Welcome to In The Hoop, Indianz.Com's occasional column about assorted Indian issues.

Trust Reform v. Enron
The way the Enron-Arthur Anderson debacle is unfolding one would think the Department of Interior was in charge of the failed energy company's finances, auditing and performance.

Destroyed documents. Erased e-mail. Warnings of "imploding." Congressional investigations. Class action lawsuits.

The fact that Arthur Andersen, a "Big Five" accounting firm, helped the Interior account for tribal assets in the 90s doesn't help either. But unlike the current scandal, that five-year "paper matching" exercise, still viewed by Congress and senior officials as less than exemplary, probably won't be revisited any time soon.

Senate Building to Reopen
After weeks of being shutdown since the discovery of anthrax, the Hart Senate Office Building is due to reopen on Friday, sources have told The Washington Post.

That means the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, which canceled all hearings last year, will finally have a place to meet. It also means an oversight hearing on trust reform will happen soon.

But many a Indianz.Com reader were unhappy about the committee's closing. While other panels found closets, clubs and other nooks to roost their fannies, the readers wondered why Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) didn't do the same for his committee, and offered suggestions for an interim solution.

"I suggest they meet in Sitka, Alaska or even Juneau!" wrote one.

"MY patience has run-out and they're not doing their best in getting BACK TO WORK," said another. "Maybe a remote branch office out west will do."

"How 'bout over at Steptoe and Johnson, [former Assistant Secretary Kevin] Gover's new firm," offered someone else. "It would be perfect since on one hand they hire Indians to help them get into the casino business, while on the other, they represent non-Indians challenging the jurisdiction of Indian tribes to tax."

Honestly, I Don't Recall
It seems that a member of a commission former President Ronald Reagan created during his administration has picked up a few tips from his forgetful friend.

During a recent conversation, the member, now a top Bush official, mysteriously forgot testimony he gave to Congress recently. "If I said it, I didn't mean it," the official is alleged to have said when confronted with the fact that he has since flip-flopped on the important issue.

In Your Hoop
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