Witness list for hearing on tribal homelands and tribal consultation bills

Tuesday, April 2, 2019  

The House Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States is meeting on Wednesday afternoon for a legislative hearing.

Three items are on the agenda. They follow:

• H.R.375, a bill to reaffirm the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for all tribes, regardless of the date of federal recognition. The measure is more commonly known as a Carcieri fix because it addresses the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar.

• H.R.312, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act, a bill to reaffirm that the reservation of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe is in trust and cannot be challenged in court on the basis of the Carcieri decision.

• The Requirements, Expectations, and Standard Procedures 3 for Executive Consultation with Tribes Act, also known as the RESPECT Act. The bill, a draft of which is up for discussion, requires federal agencies to develop "meaningful" tribal consultation policies.

The hearing takes place at 2pm Eastern in Room 1324 of the Longworth House Office Building. The witness list follows:

Panel I: Sponsor Testimony
The Honorable Tom Cole (OK-04)
The Honorable William Keating (MA-09)

Panel II: The Impacts of the Carcieri decision on Indian Country (H.R. 312 and H.R. 375)
The Honorable Cedric Cromwell
Chairman, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe

Mr. Kevin Washburn
N. William Hines Dean and Professor of Law, The University of Iowa College of Law

Ms. Colette Routel
Professor of Law, Mitchell Hamline School of Law

Ms. Claire Richards
Executive Counsel to the Governor, State of Rhode Island

Panel III: Tribal Consultation – A Legislative Discussion (RESPECT Act Draft)
Mr. Kevin Washburn
N. William Hines Dean and Professor of Law, The University of Iowa College of Law

Ms. Vanessa Ray-Hodge
Partner, Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Endreson & Perry, LLP

Mr. Mathew Fletcher
Professor of Law and Director of the Indigenous Law & Policy Center, Michigan State University College of Law

Indigenous Peoples Legislative Hearing (April 3, 2019)

House Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States takes up Carcieri fix (March 29, 2019)
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe awaits action on bill to keep reservation in trust (March 28, 2019)
United South and Eastern Tribes pledge unity amid uncertainty in the Trump era (March 4, 2019)
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe continues fight for homelands (November 28, 2018)
Peter d'Errico: Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe falls victim to anti-Indian law (November 26, 2018)
Samish Nation celebrates approval of land-into-trust application (November 20, 2018)
'Termination is here': Tribes rally against Trump administration (November 14, 2018)
National Congress of American Indians unites in face of termination threat (October 24, 2018)
Brian Lightfoot Brown: It's time to protect our tribal homelands (September 28, 2018)