[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16310-16311]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         LUMBEE RECOGNITION ACT

  Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to discuss an 
issue that is vitally important to North Carolina's economy, and to the 
heritage and cultural identity of more than 40,000 Americans. I urge my 
colleagues to join me in supporting the Lumbee Recognition Act.
  The Lumbee Indians are among the earliest North Carolinians. They 
descended from the coastal tribes of North Carolina and lived along the 
Lumber River before our Nation was founded.
  During that time, the Lumbee have maintained a distinct community in 
what is now Robeson County, NC, with more than 40,000 current members 
in and around the county seat of Lumberton.
  Tribe members have worked diligently throughout the generations to 
sustain a strong tribal society.
  Each and every Lumbee can trace his or her ancestry to the tribe's 
base roll, which is comprised of school and church records and early 
20th-century census data. This common ancestry has bound the tribe for 
generations and established the Lumbee as a longstanding, distinct 
community in southeastern North Carolina.
  Nearly two-thirds of the tribe live within 15 miles of the city of 
Pembroke, where they start families and businesses, run for tribal 
office, and attend the annual Fourth of July parade.
  The Lumbee fought alongside the American Colonists during the 
Revolutionary War, and helped shape North Carolina's history.
  But because the tribe lacked a formal treaty relationship with the 
new United States, the tribe has worked for over 120 years to win the 
recognition that they so clearly deserve.
  As has been noted by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, ``The 
Lumbees have a longstanding history of functioning like an Indian tribe 
and being recognized as such by State and local authorities. Since 
1885, the Lumbees have maintained an active political relationship with 
the State of North Carolina.''
  The State officially recognized the tribe in 1885, and established a 
separate school system for Lumbee children.
  With initial enrollment limited to children who could demonstrate at 
least four generations of Lumbee descent, this autonomous school system 
has remained in place for over 100 years.
  And in the late 1800s, the State of North Carolina established the 
Indian Normal School to train Lumbee teachers for the tribe's school 
system. This school has been in continuous operation since that time 
and has grown into the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
  The university is obviously now open to enrollment for all Americans, 
but continues to serve as an anchor of the Lumbee community.
  Despite generations of uninterrupted self-governing, the Lumbee still 
have not received full recognition by the Federal Government.

[[Page 16311]]

  Instead, Congress in 1956 enacted the Lumbee Act, which 
simultaneously recognized the tribe, but denied tribal members access 
to Federal services.
  The Lumbee Recognition Act, which I have introduced with my colleague 
from North Carolina, Senator Burr, would rectify this longstanding 
inequity, and provide the Lumbee with the full recognition that they so 
clearly deserve.
  Beyond simple fairness, the issue of Lumbee recognition is critically 
important to the North Carolina economy, and to counties and 
communities that have been hardest hit by the recent economic downturn.
  Because the 1956 Lumbee Act forbade the Lumbee from pursuing the 
Federal resources available to every other recognized tribe in the 
country, the tribe does not have access to critical services through 
the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Health Service.
  The Harvard School of Public Health has found that residents of 
Robeson County have a lower average life expectancy due to persistent 
poverty and limited access to affordable health care. Our bill will 
enable the Lumbee to combat these trends through sustained economic 
development and quality health services.
  It will allow members of the Lumbee tribe to access critical programs 
through Indian Health Services, and will help treat and prevent chronic 
illnesses that negatively affect the quality of life in the region.
  With a healthier population, and access to Federal programs, the 
tribe can focus on economic development. Robeson County has an 
unemployment rate above 12 percent, and the surrounding counties of 
Scotland, Hoke, Cumberland, Bladen, and Columbia continue to experience 
unemployment rates that are among the highest in North Carolina.
  Economic development programs through the Bureau of Indian Affairs 
will allow the tribe to create jobs where they are needed most, and 
will support a true economic recovery in this distressed region.
  The Lumbee Recognition Act was introduced in the House by my North 
Carolina colleague, Congressman Mike McIntyre, who has been a tireless 
champion for the Lumbee since coming to Congress.
  Due largely to Congressman McIntyre's efforts, the House has passed 
the Lumbee Recognition Act with a strong bipartisan majority twice in 
the last 3 years.
  Here in the Senate, the bill has been approved by the Indian Affairs 
Committee, and now awaits consideration on the Senate floor.
  Some have also argued that the cost of providing BIA and Indian 
Health services to the Lumbee will be too high, and that Lumbee 
recognition will draw down funds that are currently going to other 
tribes. I certainly understand these concerns.
  But, I want to be clear, the Lumbee do not want recognition on the 
backs of other tribes, and this bill will not increase the Federal 
deficit. This bill simply ensures that the Lumbee are eligible for the 
same services as their peers. Funding for these services will be 
subject to future appropriations, and the Lumbee will not dilute 
support for tribes that currently receive Federal resources.
  I want to stress again that this effort is about one thing, providing 
the recognition that the Lumbee need to improve their quality of life 
and create jobs in their community.
  The tribe is not seeking Federal gaming rights, and, in fact, this 
legislation explicitly denies the tribe's ability to operate casinos.
  Some have also argued that the Lumbee do not need Federal recognition 
because they can apply for acknowledgement through the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs administrative process. But let me be clear about this: the 
Lumbees have been prohibited from being considered by this process.
  This is because the Lumbee were unfortunate enough to win partial 
recognition during a time when the BIA was actively working to 
terminate longstanding relationships with tribes and roll back Federal 
services for Native Americans across the country.
  The 1956 Lumbee Act expressly precludes the tribe from pursuing 
Federal acknowledgment through the Bureau of Indian Affairs 
administrative process. Thus, while the Lumbee were identified in 
Federal legislation as a tribe more than 50 years ago, existing law 
strictly limits the group's ability to access vital services otherwise 
available to a federally designated tribe.
  As the Senate Indian Affairs Committee has noted, Congress placed 
only one other Indian tribe in a similar position. In 1965, the Tiwa 
Indians of Texas won recognition in Congress, but were prohibited from 
pursuing BIA and other Federal services.
  Congress recognized this problem, and in 1987 passed legislation 
granting full recognition to the tribe. This has left the Lumbee as the 
only tribe in America that is at once recognized by the Federal 
Government and forbidden from accessing critical programs that are 
available to every other tribe in the country.
  The administration has recognized this basic inequity, and at a House 
hearing on the bill last year, George Skibine, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Policy and Economic Development for Indian Affairs, 
testified that, ``There are rare circumstances when Congress should 
intervene and recognize a tribal group, and the case of the Lumbee 
Indians is one such rare case.''
  I could not agree more. I urge my colleagues to pass this important 
legislation with no further delay.
  Lumbee Chairman Purnell Swett is here in the Senate Gallery, and has 
been meeting with a number of Senators to discuss this effort. I thank 
him for joining us, and encourage my colleagues to take time to hear 
from him how vital this bill is for his community and his people.
  Federal recognition is about more than Federal resources and creating 
economic development opportunities for this community. It is about 
tribal identity.
  The Lumbee have fought for the recognition they deserve for over 100 
years. Truly, this recognition is long overdue.
  We must ensure the Lumbee are no longer treated as a second-class 
tribe, and I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting the Lumbee 
Recognition Act.
  I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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