Boren, Cole oppose move to sever U.S. ties with Cherokee Nation Boren, Cole oppose severing U.S. ties with Cherokee Nation
By Chris Casteel
Published: June 17, 2007
WASHINGTON — Two key Oklahoma lawmakers oppose an effort by a California representative to sever U.S. relations with the Cherokee Nation and cut off its ability to conduct gaming operations because of the controversy over freedmen.
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Reps. Dan Boren, D-Muskogee, and Tom Cole, R-Moore, say tribal and judicial review processes are still under way and any congressional action to reverse a Cherokee vote on freedmen membership would be premature.
Rep. Diane Watson, angry that the Cherokees voted in March to exclude the descendants of freed African slaves, plans to offer legislation this week that would cut off money flowing to the tribe from several federal agencies and suspend its gaming authority. The bill also would allow any freedman descendant to sue the tribe in federal court.
Watson, a California Democrat and black, is circulating a draft copy of her legislation among colleagues.
The Cherokees claim they have the right to determine who can be a citizen, but others, including the descendants of some Cherokee freedmen, say the tribe is in direct violation of the post-Civil War treaty.
The question is now in a thicket of tribal court and federal court reviews and an Interior Department review.
The Cherokees also are defending themselves in the court of public opinion. The New York Times wrote an editorial recently blistering the tribe and supporting Watson's efforts.
Cherokee Principal Chief Chad Smith responded with a letter to the paper published Friday arguing that the tribe wasn't trying to exclude people because of their skin color.
Boren, whose district includes Tahlequah, the headquarters of the Cherokee Nation, said, "the resolution of (the freedmen issue) is working its way through the federal and tribal review process. It would be more appropriate to discuss congressional action after these review procedures are complete.”
A Chickasaw and a member of the House Republican leadership, Cole said Congress shouldn't "punish” the Cherokees while the freedmen issue is being reviewed by courts and the Bush administration.
"There's a lot of emotion surrounding this issue right now,” he said.
Freedmen
•Cherokees owned slaves before the Civil War and agreed in an 1866 treaty with the United States to include them as tribal members as free people. Other tribes that had owned slaves made the same agreement in regard to so-called freedmen.
•There are an estimated 2,800 Cherokee freedmen descendants, out of a total of 260,000 tribal citizens.
"There's a lot of emotion surrounding this issue right now.”
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore
The Senate Judiciary Committee this week is expected to hold a confirmation hearing for Oklahoma City attorney Timothy D. DeGiusti, who has been nominated to be a federal judge in the district court in Oklahoma City.
DeGiusti was nominated in February by President Bush for the position now held by U.S. District Judge Timothy Leonard, who will remain at the court on senior status.
DeGiusti, 44, is a 1988 graduate of the University of Oklahoma College of Law. He is a partner in the firm of Holladay, Chilton and DeGiusti, where his practice in state and federal courts includes commercial, military and employment law. He served in the U.S. Army's Judge Advocate General's Corps on active duty from 1990 to 1993, then for another 10 years in the JAG reserve.
He was recently given the highest rating by the American Bar Association.
Inhofe proposal killed
As the Senate struggled with energy legislation last week, it defeated a proposed amendment by Sen. Jim Inhofe aimed at spurring the construction of more refineries in the United States.
The vote was 43-52 and fell largely along party lines, with most Republicans supporting it.
According to Inhofe's office, his amendment would have streamlined the permitting process for expanding existing refineries or constructing new ones, including ones that involved the production of alternative fuels.
Some opponents argued that Inhofe, R-Tulsa, was proposing breaks for oil companies that were enjoying historic profits.
Inhofe said his legislation only granted relief for distressed communities, Indian land or for cities that lost military bases.
"The American public is starving for affordable energy and it appears the Democrats' only answer is to tell them to go on a diet,” Inhofe said.
