[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 20]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 27382]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2691, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND RELATED 
                   AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2004

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                               speech of

                           HON. EARL POMEROY

                            of north dakota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 30, 2003

  Mr. POMEROY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to say that I will be voting 
for H.R. 2691, the fiscal year 2003 Interior Appropriations Conference 
Report, but doing so with some reluctance. This report includes a 
provision that keeps the Department of Interior from performing its 
legal responsibility to conduct a complete accounting of the individual 
Indian trust. I voted to strike a similar provision in the FY 2003 
Interior Appropriations bill, which was stripped from the House-passed 
bill, and I am disappointed that it has reemerged in the conference 
report.
  I understand the Committee's concern for the Cobell v. Norton class 
action lawsuit, which has been stalled for years with no satisfactory 
end in sight. We should certainly take aggressive steps to ensure that 
this case moves forward. However, I do not believe that Congress should 
circumvent due process by attaching this rider to the Interior 
Appropriations bill.
  Ultimately, Mr. Speaker, I am concerned that this provision sends a 
terrible message to Indian country that the Federal Government is not 
committed to working in close consultation with the tribes on issues 
such as trust reform, or for that matter, ensuring that they have their 
day in court.

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