Norton tries to convince judge on trust reform

FROM THE ARCHIVE

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2002

Secretary of Interior Gale Norton on Wednesday asked a skeptical federal judge for a "chance" to fix the Indian trust fund, a system she admitted was barely making the grade.

Collected and calm as she testified in her own contempt trial, Norton said she was determined to learn from the mistakes of the Clinton administration and make needed improvements in the management of not just the funds of 300,000 American Indians but of hundreds of tribes. As trustee, she is responsible for $3.1 billion in assets on 54 million acres of individually- and tribally-owned land but acknowledged she was not meeting her responsibilities to either completely.

"We have a system that is still not working to our satisfaction," she said. "We've got the core to work from but we need to make a lot of improvements."

"I think we might get what might be considered a passing grade on a number of different things," she later said, after a long pause, when asked what functions her department was carrying out.

Facing pressure from the court, lawmakers and tribes, Norton could offer no timetable for making her proposed changes, which include stripping the Bureau of Indian Affairs of its core duties and handing them to a new entity. Although she testified she would use whatever "power" to make changes administratively, she said "political consensus" was needed before moving forward.

"It is not a question of if, but of when," she asserted.

Norton's testimony came 27 days into her trial, which began in December 10 and moved at a rather slow place due to objections her attorneys later dropped. Now nearing its conclusion, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth must decide whether to hold her in contempt based on five charges she mishandled the Individual Indian Money (IIM) trust.

Lamberth, who has voiced numerous complaints -- and occasional praises -- about Norton's behavior for the past year, has been carefully weighing the testimony he has received in recent weeks. Suggesting he was stung for believing former Secretary Bruce Babbitt and former BIA computer official Dom Nessi before he made his landmark December 1999 ruling, he asked Norton yesterday why he should do the same for her.

"How would I rely on what you are telling me now?" he asked.

"I can understand your frustration," she responded. "We are motivated to get things done. We are in a better position to accomplish the results."

Fining the government $600,000, Lamberth in February 1999 previously held Babbitt, then-Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and then-Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Gover in contempt for not producing documents relevant to the case. A decision on Norton and current Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb will be made within the coming weeks, after the plaintiffs and government attorneys submit their final arguments.

Lamberth said he might call his own witnesses as he grapples with the decision to appoint a receiver for the IIM trust. A finding of contempt could pave the way for additional judicial oversight, in addition to special master Alan Balaran and court monitor Joseph S. Kieffer III, whom the plaintiffs want to assume control.

Lamberth will return to the bench next Wednesday.

Today on Indianz.Com:
Norton says plaintiffs' accounting complete (2/14)

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://130.94.214.68/main/pages/
issues/other_issues/trust_reform.asp