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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2002

"It is a disgrace. What will it take to begin major reform of the trust fund that manages (read: mismanages) $500 million a year for Native Americans?

Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth held Interior Secretary Gale Norton and a top aide in contempt for failing to fix oversight problems with the trust that handles royalty funds generated from Indian land.

This is not a new strategy for Lamberth as he tries to force the government to fix the trust. Three years ago, he held Norton's predecessor, Bruce Babbitt, and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin in contempt. His rulings are the only ones in modern history to hold Cabinet-level officials in contempt of court.

It is not that the government doesn't know it has a multimillion dollar nightmare on its hands. Officials have acknowledged that major problems exist in the trust fund. And since 1996, the Interior Department has spent more than $600 million to comply with instructions from Lamberth and Congress. But the bookkeeping problems haven't gone away. . ."

Get the Story:
Opinion: Trust fund ailing for too long (The Billings Gazette 9/24)

Relevant Links:
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com
Cobell v. Norton, Department of Justice - http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/cases/cobell/index.htm
Indian Trust, Department of Interior - http://www.doi.gov/indiantrust
Trust Reform, NCAI - http://www.ncai.org/main/pages/
issues/other_issues/trust_reform.asp

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