Cole’s bill to safeguard Indian tribal lands advances to Senate

U.S. Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) applauded recent action by the U.S. House of Representatives authorizing his bill to put national lands into a trust for America’s Indian tribes.

The House on May 15 approved H.R. 375 by a 323-96 vote, the bipartisan bill Rep. Cole sponsored in January to reauthorize the Indian Reorganization Act.

“While the federal government and tribal nations have at times had a battered and troubled relationship, this legislative action in the House symbolizes desire to keep the promises made to tribes, respect their sovereign status and repair damage done,” said Rep. Cole, a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma and co-chair emeritus of the Native American Caucus.

Now under consideration in the U.S. Senate, H.R. 375 would amend the 1934 law to reaffirm the authority of the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for Indian Tribes, among other purposes, according to the congressional record.

Such action, said Rep. Cole, would remove the uncertainty and ambiguities inherent within the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2009 Carcieri v. Salazar opinion, which overturned the law giving all federally recognized tribes the right to request that land be placed into trust for their nations by the Secretary of the Interior.

“Despite a misguided Supreme Court opinion 10 years ago that jeopardized ownership of tribal trust lands and questioned the authority of the Secretary of Interior, I am encouraged progress has been made to reverse it and rightly restore 75 years of past precedent,” Rep. Cole said.

Rep. Cole on Jan. 9 introduced H.R. 375 with lead cosponsor U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) and the measure gained support from 27 other cosponsors, including U.S. Reps. Ken Calvert (R-CA), Dave Joyce (R-OH) and Paul Cook (R-CA).