Lumbee Fairness Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. BRECHEEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the Lumbee Fairness Act because of the three-quarters of a billion dollars that is unpaid for in cost and how it undermines Tribal designation based on merit, a 100-year history where merit drives and not politics.
While I respect the hard work of my colleagues from North Carolina and I have no doubt about their intentions with this legislation, the Lumbee Fairness Act would represent a lack of fairness for all historically recognized Native Americans and a lack of fairness for the merit-based process for Federal Tribal recognition.
I am a card-carrying member of the Choctaw Nation. My family can trace its lineage to the time of the Indian Removal Act and the Choctaw Trail of Tears. Oklahoma is a Choctaw word.
I am one of only four current Native-American Members in the House of Representatives. I harbor no ill will toward any people who seek Federal recognition for themselves and appreciate the hardship of going through the Federal recognition process.
However, we must also acknowledge that Tribal-Federal relations have a near 250-year history, rooted in our Constitution. It is found in Article I and Article VI of the Constitution. There are two centuries of tradition showing how the founding generations and those following after dealt with the issue of Federal treaties with Tribes.
The recognition process is robust. It is designed to ensure only people who can prove themselves as historical Tribes are designated as such.
The Lumbee people have attempted to gain recognition via this process for 130 years, and each time rebuffed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Proponents of this bill argue the Lumbee are not eligible for the merit-based Tribal recognition process.
However, the latest ruling on this from the Department of the Interior 2016 says that the Lumbee are eligible to go through the merit-based recognition process. We should let that merit-based process go forward instead of replacing that time-honored process with a vote on this floor and what is popular.
Congressional passage of this sends a subliminal message to historically recognized Tribes all over the country that politics trumps what we should be looking at within this situation, which is merit.
That is why 141 Tribes alongside the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole Nations, et cetera, have opposed this effort going back many years.
Mr. Speaker, with that in mind, I include in the Record a resolution from the Five Civilized Tribes opposing the goal of this bill and a news article detailing the opposition of 141 recognized Tribes, to the same effect. The INTER-TRIBAL COUNCIL of the FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES A Resolution Opposing Federal or State Recognition of Groups That Claim
to be Tribal Nations by Circumventing the Office of Federal Acknowledgement Resolution No. 22-14
Whereas, the Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes (ITC) is an organization that unites the tribal governments of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole Nations, representing approximately 815,000 Indian people throughout the United States; and
Whereas, our tribes maintain a historic and continual government-to-government relationship with the United States and exercised the sovereign rights of self-government; and
Whereas, our tribes have distinct histories, languages, cultures and identities that have been fiercely protected despite government policies intended to eradicate our ways of life; and
Whereas, fraudulent groups that appropriate our culture and erroneously claim to be legitimate tribal governments threaten the foundation of tribal sovereignty; and
Whereas, the federal government is granted authority by the U.S. Constitution to regulate matters relating to Indian tribes, which includes the process of obtaining federal recognition; and
Whereas, these groups often seek state recognition and other means to bolster their legitimacy and bypass the Department of the Interior's Office of Federal Acknowledgement (OFA); and
Whereas, the OFA currently manages a fair and measured process for attaining federal recognition, which includes a number of important steps that a petitioner must complete before being granted this status; and
Whereas, it is irresponsible for any governmental body, including the United States Congress, to bypass this process in favor of certain groups claiming to be tribal governments.
Now therefore let it be Resolved that, the Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes opposes efforts by any group attempting to gain federal or state recognition that circumvents the Office of Federal Acknowledgement (OFA).
Be it further Resolved, the Inter-Tribal Council opposes current efforts by the ``Lumbee Tribe'', ``Chickamauga Tribe'', ``Wolf Creek Cherokee'', and any other groups illegitimately claiming tribal recognition without following the outlined process of the OFA CERTIFICATION
The foregoing resolution was adopted by the Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes meeting in Tulsa, Oklahoma on this 15th day of July, 2022, by a vote of All in favor for 0 against and 0 abstentions. Bill Anoatubby, Governor, The Chickasaw Nation. Gary Batton, Chief, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Chuck Hoskin, Jr., Principal Chief, Cherokee Nation. David W. Hill, Principal Chief, Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Lewis J. Johnson, Chief, Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. ____ Tribal Leaders Fight To Defend Culture and Sovereignty 141 Tribes Oppose Efforts To Undermine Tribal-Protection Measures Summary
In 1978, tribal leaders and the National Congress of American Indians worked with Congress to create the Office of Federal Acknowledgement to facilitate federal recognition of tribal governments. The leaders sought to ensure that eligible tribes were able to obtain recognition but also expressly sought to protect legitimate tribes from groups making false or questionable claims.
Now, several groups who lack a common language, evidence of native ancestry or the ability to meet any of the standards as a historical tribal government are seeking to avoid scrutiny of their claims by seeking political recognition through Congress.
A growing coalition of 141 tribal nations is opposing any effort to circumvent the OFA process, saying that Congress should defer to the OFA process. While Congress certainly has the authority to recognize Tribes and correct any errors in the OFA process, political lobbying and horse-trading in Congress should not displace historical verification and evidence of a groups' claims.
``. . . recognition of groups claiming to be tribal nations with uncertain status as to historical tribes and without a close review of claims to Native ancestry imperils the government-to-government relationship between the United States and federally recognized tribal nations.''--Excerpt from Resolution of North Eastern Oklahoma Tribes, August 17, 2022.
``USET has passed several resolutions supporting administrative recognition over legislative recognition, because administrative recognition provides an orderly process, administered by experts, such as ethno-historians, genealogists, anthropologists, and other technical staff, that is insulated from political considerations unrelated to the historic legitimacy of a Tribal Nation.''--Excerpt from Resolution of the United South and Eastern Tribes COLT), October 27, 2015.
``As a tribal nation that was historically removed from our ancestral homelands, the Muscogee Nation is familiar with the risks inherent in granting federal recognition to a tribe that is not who they claim to be . . . hasty political decisions granting a group of people federal recognition significantly undermine the rights of legitimate tribal nations to protect the most sacred of sacred.''--Excerpt from letter from Muscogee Creek Nation to Senators Schatz and Murkowski, March 7, 2022. Pending Bills in Congress Demonstrate Threat to Tribal Nations
S. 3443--MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians Recognition Act:
Claim to be descendent from Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek, and other tribes.
The Office of Federal Recognition found that they bore no descendancy from any historical tribe and that 99 percent of their members had ZERO native ancestry.
Despite not even being Native Americans, this group is seeking recognition by attaching language to a must pass bill through back room political deals.
If successful, this group would have the right to claim the culture and identities of the Choctaw tribe.
The group would have same rights as Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek, and other federally recognized tribes have to the remains of their ancestors, to their homelands, sacred sites and many other.
This group would also be able to act as a sovereign nation with the authority to tax, incarcerate and enter government to government treaties with the United States.
HR 2758--Lumbee Recognition Act:
Serious questions remain about the legitimacy of their claims,
The group is eligible to seek acknowledgment through the OFA process but refuses to submit their claims for scrutiny and instead are seeking to attach language to a must pass bill through back room political deals.
They have no evidence of being a historical tribe. They have no language, no treaties with the United States and no customs, songs, dances or tribal religion.
At different times they have claimed descendancy from four separate and unrelated tribes, changing their claims when challenged. For over 40 years, they falsely claimed to be Cherokee.
The group boasts nearly 100k members based on descendance from a group of families that historians have testified cannot be verified as Cheraw or even Native American at all.
If recognized by Congress this group would obtain rights to the remains of ancestors, homelands, sacred sites, culture and identity of numerous other legitimate tribes.
This group would also be able to act as a sovereign nation with the authority to tax, incarcerate and enter government to government treaties with the United States.
Tribal leaders recently came together in D.C. to discuss the implications of these bills.
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Mr. BRECHEEN. Mr. Speaker, if a Tribe cannot prove the necessary documentation to receive Federal recognition, they should not receive it by Congress' action.
If the Lumbee have a historical record of being a formal Tribe, if they have evidence of lineage to any particular Tribe, if they had a formal claim to the land that they now occupy, why would the BIA repeatedly refuse to formally recognize them as a Tribe?
Whatever Tribe may have occupied the land near the Lumbee River has long since dissipated. In fact, the 1956 bill that acknowledged the Lumbee as a people stated that the Tribe around the Lumbee River had fully assimilated into the surrounding European communities during the colonial era before the Constitution was written.
The Lumbee agreed to the language in that bill in 1956 as a compromise. In return for the Federal Government referring to them as a distinct people, they promised they would not seek formal Federal recognition.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a copy of the 1956 hearing on the Lumbee bill where a representative of the Lumbee stated they would rather leave the county than accept the Federal recognition status. That is a strong statement of promise.
They could look us up and find we are in the law; in the books at Raleigh, and therefore we are honest in their sight. That is No. 1.
Mr. Aspinall. Do you or any members of your organization anticipate that after you might receive this designation you would come to Congress and ask for any of the benefits that otherwise go to Indian Tribes?
Reverend Lowery. No, sir. We would leave the county before we would come under a reservation or anything like wards of the government. We are citizens and always have been citizens. We would leave before we would come on this reservation.
The transcript of the hearing record makes clear that the Lumbee Indians were not expecting to receive any federal benefits or privileges as a result of the 1956 law. Nonetheless, the Department of the Interior objected to the bill because the United States has no treaty or other obligation to provide services to these Indians. Because of this, the Secretary of the Interior stated:
We are therefore unable to recommend that the Congress take any action which might ultimately result in the imposition of additional obligations on the Federal Government or in placing additional persons of Indian blood under the jurisdiction of this Department.
The persons who constitute this group of Indians have been recognized and designated as Indians by the State legislature. If they are not completely satisfied with such recognition, they, as citizens of the State, may petition the legislature to amend or otherwise to change that recognition. Except for the possibility of becoming entitled to Federal services as Indians, the position of this group of Indians would not be enhanced by enactment of this bill.
Ultimately, the Congress amended the bill as requested by the Department of the Interior by including the following language: ``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.'' Thus, the Indians of Robeson and adjoining counties were designated as Lumbee Indians, but not granted any eligibility for services or benefits.
The Department of the Interior has interpreted the 1956 law as preventing the Lumbee Indians from utilizing the Federal Acknowledgment Process to become a federally-recognized Indian tribe. In 1989, the Solicitor for the Department of the Interior concluded that the 1956 law forbids a government-to-government relationship with the Lumbee Indians.
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Mr. BRECHEEN. Mr. Speaker, this bill undermines that verbal promise. Constitutionally sound agreements to the Federal Government must be adhered to. I think we should all agree to that. Nations fall apart when people walk back commitments to one another.
The entire foundation of Tribal-Federal relations today is premised on both sides upholding commitments, agreements, and treaties made two centuries ago by our ancestors and our Founding Fathers.
Why do we uphold agreements?
Why do we uphold treaties? It is about trust.
The cornerstone to Tribal law is the adherence to promises made hundreds of years ago. The Lumbee must be held to that standard, that commitment from 70 years ago. Granting the Lumbee Tribal recognition sets a dangerous precedent. Granting them recognition by going around this 100-year-old process opens the floodgates for anyone who claims themselves a Tribe to receive specific benefits through politics not merit. This will lead to a vast and irresponsible increase in Federal spending.
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Mr. BRECHEEN. Mr. Speaker, this will lead to a vast and irresponsible increase in Federal spending. I would like to respectfully refute the claim that this does not increase spending.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the CBO report from the 117th Congress scoring the exact same bill at a cost of $726 million over 10 years. H.R. 2758, LUMBEE RECOGNITION ACT AS PASSED BY THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ON NOVEMBER 1, 2021 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ By fiscal year, millions of dollars-- ----------------------------------- 2023 2023-2027 2023-2032 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Direct Spending (Outlays)........... 0 0 0 Revenues............................ 0 0 0 Increase or Decrease (-) in the 0 0 0 Deficit............................ Spending Subject to Appropriation 0 363 not (Outlays).......................... estimated ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Statutory pay-as-you-go procedures apply? No.
Increases on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2033? No.
Mandate Effects:
Contains intergovernmental mandate? No.
Contains private-sector mandate? No.
The legislation would:
Provide federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina
Extend services and benefits to the tribe provided by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service
Authorizes the Bureau of Indian Affairs to take land into trust for the benefit of the tribe
Estimated budgetary effects would mainly stem from:
Providing federal benefits to the newly recognized tribe
Legislation summary: H.R. 2758 would extend federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, thereby making the tribe and its members eligible for various federal programs.
Estimated Federal cost: The estimated budgetary effect of H.R. 2758 is shown in Table 1. The costs of the legislation fall within budget functions 450 (community and regional development) and 550 (health). TABLE 1.--ESTIMATED INCREASES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION UNDER H.R. 2758 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By fiscal year, millions of dollars-- ------------------------------------------------------- 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2023-2027 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau of Indian Affairs:
Estimated Authorization............................... 0 15 33 37 43 128
Estimated Outlays..................................... 0 10 27 36 43 116 Indian Health Service:
Estimated Authorization............................... 0 39 79 80 81 279
Estimated Outlays..................................... 0 29 65 75 78 247 Total Changes:
Estimated Authorization............................... 0 54 112 117 124 407
Estimated Outlays..................................... 0 39 92 111 121 363 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes that the legislation will be enacted by the end of 2022. Providing federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina would allow the tribe and its members to receive benefits from various programs administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Indian Health Service (IHS). CBO expects that those agencies and the tribe would require over a year to document the tribe's membership and approve contracts for services, so no federal spending would occur until 2024. CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 2758 would cost $363 million over the 2023-2027 period, assuming appropriation of the estimated amounts.
Bureau of Indian Affairs: The Department of the Interior, primarily through BIA, provides funding to federally recognized tribes for various purposes, including child welfare services, adult care, community development, and general assistance. Based on recent per capita expenditures for other federally recognized tribes located in the eastern United States, CBO estimates that providing BIA services would cost $116 million over the 2023-2027 period, assuming appropriation of the estimated amounts. CBO expects that most of that funding would go toward law enforcement and infrastructure needs on the tribe's reservation.
Indian health service: H.R. 2758 also would make members of the Lumbee Tribe eligible to receive health benefits from the IHS. Using information from the tribe, CBO estimates that about 44,000 of the tribe's 63,000 members live in the service area that is covered by IHS. CBO expects that the cost to service those people would be similar to current IHS beneficiaries--about $1,700 for each person annually over the 2023-2027 period. Assuming appropriation of the estimated amounts and adjusting for anticipated inflation, CBO estimates that providing IHS benefits for the Lumbee Tribe would cost $247 million over the 2023-2027 period.
Other Federal agencies: In addition to BIA and IHS funding, certain Indian tribes also receive support from other federal agencies, including the Departments of Education, Housing and Urban Development, and Health and Human Services. Based on their status as a tribe recognized by North Carolina, the Lumbee already receive funding from those agencies. Thus, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 2758 would not increase spending for those programs.
Pay-As-You-Go considerations: None.
Increase in long-term deficits: None.
Mandates: None.
Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Julia Aman (Bureau of Indian Affairs), Rob Stewart (Indian Health Service); Mandates: Rachel Austin.
Estimate Reviewed By: Justin Humphrey, Chief, Finance, Housing, and Education Cost Estimates Unit; H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
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Mr. BRECHEEN. Mr. Speaker, just because CBO this time around didn't score it, doesn't mean it doesn't have a cost. It just means they didn't score it. The score from it 2 years ago was three-quarters of a billion dollars.
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