Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, has refused to consider tribal recognition bills, Media General News Service reports.

Unidentified Senate aides said Dorgan was slow to schedule a hearing on a bill to recognize six Virginia tribes. The hearing will finally take place next Thursday, September 25 -- a day before Congress adjourns for the November election.

“As the political games go, I’m not sure why they felt it necessary to give this hearing to us the day before the end of the session,” Chief Anne Richardson of the Rappahannock Tribe told Media General News Service.

H.R. 1294 passed the House amid considerable table. The bill would extend federal recognition to the Chickahominy Tribe, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe – Eastern Division, the Upper Mattaponi Tribe, the Rappahannock Tribe, the Monacan Nation and the Nansemond Tribe.

In public hearings, Dorgan has expressed concerns about tribes seeking federal recognition through Congress.

Get the Story:
Virginia Indian Bill to Get Last-Minute Hearing (Media General News Service 9/18)

Recognition Bill:
Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act (H.R.1294)

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