Senate Committee on Indian Affairs

Seventeen State AGs Urge Congress Not to Quick-Fix Carcieri

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the letter to the ranking members of the SCIA and the House Resources Committee from the attorneys general of 17 states — carcieri-state-ags-ltr-to-hill-april-24-2009

The letter asserts that Carcieri is a symptom of a greater frustration felt by state governments relating to the current fee to trust process and asking Congress to consider state interests. Importantly, the letter offers nothing suggesting what those interests might be or what these AGs want in a potential Carcieri fix.

There are at least two reasons for this, I suspect. First, 17 AGs probably can’t agree on what those state interests are. And second, maybe these state AGs are leaving unsaid the obvious — they want more control over Indian lands, perhaps even veto power over fee to trust transfers and over activities on trust land.

And that’s what the Supreme Court handed state governments with their very wrongheaded decision in Carcieri. A Carcieri cure might be worse than the disease.

U.S. Senate Hearing on Tribal Courts

ilpc

From Indianz:

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee will hold a hearing next Thursday, July 24, on tribal courts and the administration of justice in Indian Country.

The hearing takes place at 9:30am in Room 562 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building. A witness list hasn’t been made public. The committee has been examining law and order issues in Indian Country since 2007. A comprehensive bill addressing tribal courts and other justice matters is being introduced next week.

Hearing Information

Indian Health Care Improvement Act of 2007

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Jerilyn Church:

The Indian Health Care Improvement Act of 2007 (IHCIA), Senate Bill S. 1200, is moving to the floor of the Senate! To ensure Congress understands the strong support of Indian Country for the reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, it is critical that your Senator hears from you now.
As you know, the IHCIA has been favorably reported out of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and the Committee on Finance. It is now prepared to go to the floor of the Senate, and we need to make sure that your Senator supports the bill. We expect the bill to reach the Senate floor within 2 weeks! However, in order for the bill to move to the floor it will likely have to overcome a vote for cloture in which 60 Senators must vote to limit the debate on the bill under consideration. The motion for cloture essentially prevents the bill from being filibustered. Once the motion for cloture has been obtained, the bill will then be debated under time constraints and voted upon by the Senate.
Please make your calls now because it is critical that we have the support of 60 Senators for the cloture vote confirmed before Thursday, October 25th.
Please contact your Senator and ask them to:

  • Vote for the motion for cloture on S. 1200 (we need 60 Senators for cloture)
  • Vote for passage of S. 1200 (we need 51 Senators to pass the bill)
  • Ask your Senator to co-sponsor S. 1200 if they have not done so already

In order to reach your Senator, you can call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 (this is not a toll-free call). Ask to be connected to your state’s Senator and you will be connected directly to your Senator’s office. Urge your Senator to support the motion for cloture, vote for passage of the bill, and to sign on as a co-sponsor if they have not done so already.
Below is a list of the current 21 Senators who have sponsored or co-sponsored the IHCIA. If your Senators are not on the list, please urge them to sign on as a co-sponsor.

IHCIA, S. 1200 – Sponsor & Co-Sponsor List
Sen. Byron Dorgan – (D – NM) Sponsor
Sen. Max Baucus – (D – MT) Co-sponsor
Sen. Jeff Bingaman – (D – NM) Co-sponsor
Sen. Barbara Boxer – (D – CA) Co-sponsor
Sen. Sherrod Brown – (D – OH) Co-sponsor
Sen. Maria Cantwell – (D – WA) Co-sponsor
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton – (D – NY) Co-sponsor
Sen. Thad Cochran – (R – MS) Co-sponsor
Sen. Pete Domenici – (R – NM) Co-sponsor
Sen. Richard Durbin – (D – IL) Co-sponsor
Sen. Daniel Inouye – (D – HI) Co-sponsor
Sen. Tim Johnson – (D – SD) Co-sponsor
Sen. Amy Klobuchar – (D – MN) Co-sponsor
Sen. Carl Levin – (D – MI) Co-sponsor
Sen. Lisa Murkowski – (R – AK) Co-sponsor
Sen. Patty Murray – (D – WA) Co-sponsor
Sen. Barack Obama (D – IL) Co-sponsor
Sen. Harry Reid – (D – NV) Co-sponsor
Sen. Debbie Stabenow – (D – MI) Co-sponsor
Sen. Ted Stevens – (R – AK) Co-sponsor
Sen. Jon Tester – (D-MT) Co-sponsor
If you have any questions or need more information please contact Steve Griggs, Legislative Associate, National Indian Health Board, at sgriggs@nihb.org. Thank you for helping to achieve the reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act of 2007.