WASHINGTON - Representatives Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Colleen Hanabusa (D-Hawaii) introduced legislation today that would restore the authority of the Department of Interior to put land into trust for all Indian tribes, regardless of when they were federally recognized by the United States.
The bill corrects a 2009 Supreme Court case, Carcieri v. Salazar, which broadly held that the Secretary of the Interior’s authority to place land into trust under the Indian Reorganization Act applies only to tribes that were “under federal jurisdiction" as of 1934.
“A legislative fix to the Carcieri decision has been a top priority for Indian country since the case was decided in 2009," said Rep. Markey, the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, which has primary jurisdiction over Indian affairs in the House. “Indeed, for four years, tribal sovereign authority to restore their ancestral homelands, essential to tribal self-determination and self-governance, has been under assault. Tribes from across the country - including those whose federal status predate 1934 and therefore beyond dispute - have been hauled into court to fight meritless lawsuits challenging land into trust decisions. In fact, a majority of those decisions authorized housing, health care clinics and other government services that are vital to the stability of tribal governments and the well-being of their citizens. It’s well past time for Congress to act by fixing this judicially-created problem and reinstate the status quo."
“The Supreme Court’s Carcieri decision ignored the congressional intent of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 and reversed 75 years of secretarial authority to take land into trust for Indian tribes; our clean fix removes the uncertainty that Indian country is facing due to the decision," said Rep. Hanabusa, ranking member of the Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs. “We cannot ignore the strain this ruling has placed on tribes and the dangerous precedent this decision sets. I am pleased to carry on the work of Hawaii’s Senator Daniel Akaka in proposing and supporting a legislative fix for Carcieri’s misguided ruling, and to be working with Congressman Markey in introducing this bill."
The text of the bill can be found HERE.
