Statement of Administration Policy: S. 362 - Mowa Band of Choctaw Indians Recognition Act

(SENT 9/22/92)
(Senate)
(Shelby (D) Alabama and Heflin (D) Alabama)

If S. 362 is presented to the President, the Secretary of the Interior will recommend a veto because the bill would statutorily acknowledge the Mowa Band of Choctaw Indians in Alabama.

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

S. 362, 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 federally recognized tribes. Recognition through legislation would be unfair to all other groups seeking Federal acknowledgment and would undermine the administrative process that was designed to eliminate the need for ad hoc determinations through legislation.