Lumbee Recognition Act
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, H.R. 2758 would extend Federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and remove a bar that has prevented the Tribe from being federally recognized.
Recognizing the Lumbee Tribe would make its members eligible for services, benefits, and immunities available to other federally recognized Indian Tribes. The bill would also establish a service area to deliver Federal programs to Robeson, Cumberland, Hoke, and Scotland Counties in North Carolina.
In 1956, an act by Congress designated certain Indians as Lumbee Indians of North Carolina and declared that they shall enjoy all rights as citizens of the State of North Carolina and the United States. At the same time, the act made them ineligible for services available to recognized Tribes and makes Indian statutes inapplicable to them.
This scheme has led to conflicting Department of the Interior solicitor opinions regarding whether the Lumbee Tribe may pursue administrative recognition. H.R. 2758 would resolve those conflicting administrative opinions and recognize the Tribe so that its Members can receive the benefits that other Tribes have.
Madam Speaker, I want to thank Representative Dan Bishop from the State of North Carolina for his leadership on the issue.
Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Butterfield).
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Bishop) who has done so much work on this issue.
Mr. BISHOP of North Carolina. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank Representative Butterfield for those fine comments. I agree with him 100 percent.
That bill that Congress passed back in 1956 said this, even as it recognized the Lumbee: ``Nothing in this act shall make such Indians eligible for any services performed by the United States for Indians because of their status as Indians, and none of the statutes of the United States which affect Indians because of their status as Indians shall be applicable to the Lumbee Indians.''
My goodness. What an error, what a mistake, and what an injustice. But that is what the Congress of that time said, and it is high time for us to correct that injustice. Therefore, I am proud to be a cosponsor with Representative Butterfield and Representative Hudson of this legislation.
The Lumbee have for three centuries been a cohesive and distinct community of aboriginal origins and durable institutions, especially schools, living near the Lumber River in Robeson County.
The Lumbee have been called by several names, but it cannot be disputed that they are the continuously present and vital people shown on a map drawn in 1725 whose common modern surnames appear on a document written in 1771: Locklear, Chavis, Dees, Sweat, and Groom. They are the Lumbee who were living in Long Swamp in the 1730s, the community now known as Prospect.
I said these words last year when it appeared very favorable that we were going to pass Lumbee recognition then, and I am going to say it continuously until we get this done, that this is going to be the year.
I know the Lumbee. I know the Warriors Ball and Lumbee Homecoming, UNC-Pembroke and Old Main, the Lumbee Cultural Center and the Cozy Corner. The Lumbee are supremely patriotic Americans, God-fearing and washed in the blood, devoted to the liberating cause of education and to civic involvement, proud of their community, and loving and welcoming to strangers. They are the best of America, and the only honorable course for the United States Congress is to accord them their due recognition at long last.
So my thank-you to Representative Butterfield for sponsoring this legislation. I thank Representative Hudson and Representatives Grijalva and Westerman for permitting it to come forward--staunch supporters of the Lumbees' pursuit of justice. I thank Senators Burr and Tillis. Lumbee recognition took on new life when both North Carolina Senators began to champion it.
Thanks also to former Representative Mike McIntyre of Robeson County, who worked for Lumbee recognition for more than a decade. We almost accomplished passage last year. This is going to be the year.
Madam Speaker, I urge overwhelming support for the Lumbee Recognition Act.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his unwavering support for his constituents and his efforts to work across the aisle.
Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I would inquire whether my colleague has any remaining speakers on their side.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I am ready to close, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Madam Speaker, I, too, want to thank Mr. Bishop, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Westerman, and Mr. Grijalva for championing this legislation so that we may today undo 100 years of injustice.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source