Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 1344 - Restoration of Recognition of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and the Alabama and Coushatta Indian Tribes

(House)
(Reps. Coleman (D) and Wilson (D) Texas)

The Administration opposes enactment of H.R. 1344 because (1) in the case of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo group, which has never been a Federally recognized Indian Tribe, the legislation would circumvent an established administrative recognition process that is designed to ensure that the same set of criteria is systematically applied to all groups that seek Federal recognition as Indian Tribes and (2) regarding the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes, whose Federal recognition was terminated at the Tribes request in 1954, there is little current tribal information available regarding its current eligibility for recognition, and consequently the Department of the Interior has not had the opportunity to determine whether the Tribes meet standard criteria for restoration.