Walsh, DeFazio Protect Promise Made to Tribal Nations

Press Release

Senator John Walsh (D-MT) and Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) today introduced legislation to expedite the Cobell Settlement Land Buy-Back process and ensure Settlement class members receive second-round payments that have been delayed.

The proposal would amend the Claims Resettlement Act of 2010, which approved the Cobell Settlement and directed the Department of the Interior to use Settlement funds to make $1.5 billion of direct payments to Settlement class members, and created a $1.9 billion Trust Land Consolidation Fund to consolidate fractionated land shares on reservations to make Indian lands usable for economic purposes. Tribes and individual Indians have expressed concerns over the slow progress the Interior Department has made since the settlement became final.

The House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs held an oversight hearing entitled "Implementing the Cobell Settlement: Missed Opportunities and Lessons Learned" on April 3, 2014. At the hearing, witnesses made clear that they were concerned with the implementation of the Cobell Settlement and suggested ways it could be handled more efficiently. The Walsh-DeFazio bill makes the changes requested by tribes.

"The delay is a disservice to our tribal nations and we need to ensure these payments are being processed in a timely manner," Walsh said. "I am outraged at the lack of urgency the federal government has shown our tribal nations, and it is time we fix this wrong that has been more than a century in the making."

"For over a century the federal government mismanaged the accounts of individual Indians. The Cobell Settlement was supposed to compensate the account holders for these historic wrongs and to help ensure that tribes can consolidate land to benefit their communities. Our legislation makes simple changes to cut the red tape and streamline processes that interfere with the Department of Interior's ability to honor the settlement," said DeFazio.

Currently, on approximately 150 reservations, various plots of land are owned in equal shares by descendants of individual Indian Allottees who were given the plots when, in the 19th Century, the Federal government forcibly divided up reservations in misguided attempts to destroy native cultures . These plots may have up to hundreds of owners, making those lands unusable for any commercial or economic purpose.

The Walsh-DeFazio bill makes four major amendments to the 2010 legislation. The bill:

§ Allows tribes to administer the Land Buy-Back Program under the Indian Self Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA). This allows the Interior Department to enter into ISDEAA contracts with eligible tribes to use the Trust Land Consolidation Fund, streamlining the procedure for both the tribes and the Department.

§ Allows the Trust Land Consolidation Fund to be invested, giving the Interior Department the authorization to use income off of interest to be used for the same purpose as the rest of the fund.

§ Ensures all of the Trust Land Consolidation Fund will be used for its intended purpose. Currently, if the Interior Department fails to use all of the Fund within ten years, any remaining balance is reverted back to the Treasury. This bill will ensure every dollar in the trust fund is used for the tribes to consolidate fractionated land shares and help grow reservation economies.

§ Clarifies the Secretary's responsibility in making the second round of payments from the Settlement. One round of individual payments have already been made due to the Cobell Settlement, but class members have not yet received the second half of the payment they are owed. This bill clarifies the Departments responsibility to ensure the payments are made and provides a concrete timeline for doing so.

The Cobell v. Salazar class action lawsuit settled litigation between the United States and approximately 500,000 similarly-situated Indian Trust beneficiaries that stemmed from a century of gross trust fund mismanagement on the part of the United States to the tune of $3.4 billion. The settlement has two main parts: $1.5 billion be paid directly to the class members in two rounds of payments, and $1.9 billion to be used to consolidate fractionated land shares on Indian Reservations across the nation.

Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana, was the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.

Source