Statement of Administration Policy: S. 1036 - Lumbee Recognition Act

(Senate)
(Sanford (D) NC and 6 others)

The Administration strongly opposes S. 1036, because the bill would statutorily acknowledge the Lumbee Tribe of Cheraw Indians (North Carolina), as an Indian tribe. If S. 1036 is presented to the President, the Secretary of the Interior would recommend a veto.

In 1978, the Department of the Interior established in regulation a Federal "acknowledgment" process to ensure that all petitions for acknowledgment as an Indian tribe would be evaluated in an objective and uniform manner. The process, developed with the support of the Indian community and Congress, provides each petitioning group the opportunity for an unbiased, detailed review of its petition.

Federal acknowledgement establishes a perpetual government-to- government relationship between the tribe and the United States and has major political, social, and economic implications for the petitioning tribe and Federal, State, and local governments.

S. 1036, however, would circumvent this process. To do so may erroneously acknowledge a group as an Indian tribe, thereby entitling the group to numerous Federal programs and benefits afforded only federally recognized tribes. Recognition through legislation would be unfair to all other groups seeking Federal acknowledgment. It would also undermine the administrative process that was designed to eliminate the need for ad hoc determinations through legislation.