The Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs convened today to discuss two bills aimed at clarifying the Secretary of the Interior's authority to place land into trust. Subcommittee Chair Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) provided a statement on the matter:

"The ability to have land placed into trust is a top priority for many tribes and garners wide support across the board. Yet, there are impacts to local towns, cities, counties, and states that should be weighed by the Department of the Interior when placing land into trust. When the Secretary places land into trust it is removed from local control and falls under federal and tribal control. This change often has implications for taxation, zoning, and other local or state laws regarding property. As seen with the Poarch Band, these implications can lead to litigation which is often time-consuming and costly for all parties involved. I’m hopeful that conversations such as the one we will have today will be a catalyst for a long-term solution across the board."

H.R. 1208, introduced by U.S. Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), aims to authorize the Department of the Interior (DOI) to take land into trust for all federally recognized Indian tribes. The legislation seeks to address the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Carcieri v. Salazar, which ruled that DOI could not take land into trust for a specific tribe because that tribe had not been under federal jurisdiction when the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) was enacted in 1934.

H.R. 6180, known as the Poarch Band of Creek Indians Lands Act and introduced by U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl (R-Ala.), proposes recognizing the Poarch Band of Creek Indians as covered by the IRA and reaffirming any lands previously taken into trust for the tribe’s benefit by DOI as trust land.