During Tuesday’s House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs, Congressman Tom Cole called for taking up his legislation to reaffirm the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for Indian tribes. H.R. 1208 would amend the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 to achieve that.
If the legislation becomes law, it would counter a Supreme Court decision which held the Interior could not take land into trust for tribal nations that had not been under federal jurisdiction when the Indian Reorganization Act was passed.
Cole contends that creates a two-class system among Native communities.
You can watch Cole’s testimony before the subcommittee below. (His testimony begins at the 1:12:06 mark.)
