Indian trust settlement clears House hurdle

A $3.4 billion agreement in the long-running lawsuit over individual Indian trust accounts cleared one hurdle, but still must go through the U.S. Senate and a federal judge.

BY CHRIS CASTEEL | Published: June 1, 2010 Comment on this article

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The House on Friday approved a tax cut and jobs bill that includes approval for the Indian settlement, but the Senate may not go along with the overall bill.

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore, is a strong proponent of the settlement in the Cobell case — named for the lead plaintiff, Elouise Cobell — and has been trying to move it through the House.

But he said Democrats endangered it by putting it in a bill that has bipartisan opposition and might die in the Senate.

"Funding for the Cobell settlement is good legislation that has been attached to garbage,” Cole said.

"Cobell should be stand-alone legislation, and Democratic members have endangered its success by including it in a bill full of extraneous spending items that will do great damage to the country. I remain strongly supportive of the Cobell policy, but I could not vote for a bill that raises taxes and increases the deficit with unfunded programs.”

When the settlement was announced Dec. 8, the federal government and the Indian plaintiffs were hoping to get congressional approval that month.

But almost six months later, the settlement still is bogged down in Congress.

And even when it clears Congress, the federal judge in the case will have to hold hearings about several aspects.

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