[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 77 (Thursday, May 10, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1014]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1294, THOMASINA E. JORDAN INDIAN 
           TRIBES OF VIRGINIA FEDERAL RECOGNITION ACT OF 2007

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                               speech of

                             HON. TOM COLE

                              of oklahoma

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 8, 2007

  Mr. COLE of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 
1294, the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal 
Recognition Act of 2006. This is a bill that is long overdue and 
provides an opportunity to right an historical wrong.
  As clearly outlined in the language of this legislation, these six 
tribes are of great historical significance. These tribes were some of 
the first Native Americans to come into contact with European settlers, 
and save for the active cooperation of these tribes, a number of the 
first English settlements in America may not have survived.
  Having clearly impacted the course of our Nation and having endured 
in a country of drastic change and challenges for four centuries, I am 
pleased to support a bill that will provide these six tribes federal 
recognition at long last.
  Mr. Speaker, the only reservation I have with this bill is the fact 
that it prohibits every single one of these tribes from gaming. For if 
indeed this bill passes ``into public law, these tribes should be 
afforded every right they deserve as a sovereign entity as granted to 
them under the Constitution of the United States. These tribes should 
not have to bargain away any one piece of their sovereignty they have 
sought to preserve in order to receive federal recognition. This 
diminishes the tribes, and places them at a lesser status than states 
and other tribes. In the future, I hope that Congress recognizes that 
it is not fair to blackmail tribes into giving up part of their rights 
in order to provide them sovereignty.
  With that said, Mr. Speaker, I recognize that these tribes negotiated 
with the House and the state in which they reside and ultimately agreed 
to this prohibition on their right to engage in certain forms of lawful 
economic activities. Therefore, although I fear the precedent this may 
establish, I honor the settlement reached between the House, the state 
of Virginia, and the tribes, and urge my colleagues to support passage 
of H.R. 1294.



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