Mr. Speaker, today I join Congressman Don Young and Congressman Doc Hastings in supporting H.R. 887. I explain separately my reasons for doing so, and specifically my concerns about a request for…
Mr. Speaker, today I join Congressman Don Young and Congressman Doc Hastings in supporting H.R. 887. I explain separately my reasons for doing so, and specifically my concerns about a request for attorney's fees of $227 million. The resolution of the litigation in Cobell v Salazar involved claims that ultimately amounted to a breach of trust by the government to Native Americans. The plaintiffs have been denied the use of money they were otherwise entitled to, according to the settlement. The petition for fees reports that ``government officials have abused individual Indian trust beneficiaries'' for decades.
While the mismanagement of the Native trust monies is bad enough, a second injury cannot be inflicted on these same peoples by a fee request that is almost a quarter of a billion dollars. It shocks the conscience to see such a large request. Every dollar paid out in legal fees is a dollar the injured Native Americans will not have. That being said, I recognize, and appreciate, the work done by Plaintiffs' counsel on behalf of the claimants, and I recognize the value of that work and the years it took. In this case, the magnitude of the recovery cannot be used as a benchmark to determine attorney's fees. I would prefer to see an accounting of the actual attorney's fees incurred, by the hour, to see how that compares as a bench mark. But a contingency fee based on a resolution that is itself measured in the billions is simply avaricious.
I therefore support this legislation, H.R. 887, that limits the fee award to $50 million. Congress has the ultimate power over Indian affairs. It also has the duty to protect Native American rights. The Constitution grants to Congress the express power to make regulations governing the territory belonging to the United States (Art. IV, Sec. 3, Cl. 2). In addition, the Indian Commerce Clause conveys the express power to Congress over Native American affairs. This clause provides that ``Congress shall have the Power . . . to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.'' (Art. I, Sec. 8, Cl. 3). As a result of these powers, it is well established that Congress has plenary power over Indian affairs. It is up to us, members of Congress, to make sure we exercise these supervisory obligations.
Finally, there is what is referred to as the federal government's ``trust relationship'' between the federal government and the Native American tribes. This trust relationship obligates Congress and the federal government to protect the well-being of Native Americans, peoples who rendered their lands in return for this trust. As elaborated by Supreme Court Justice John Marshall, the tribes of our country are considered ``domestic dependant nations'' whose relationship to the United States was like ``that of a ward to his guardian.'' We, the guardians in Congress, must now intervene to protect those under our care, especially where a fee dispute now creates a conflict of interest between the class members and their legal counsel.
That brings us to the Cobell settlement. In rectifying the breach of fiduciary duty documented in Cobell, we cannot allow another breach to proceed under our noses. Just as the government has a fiduciary duty to the Native Americans in the first instance in ensuring trust monies are not misappropriated, so too Congress has plenary power to ensure that the Native American class members are not gouged in a fee award. I have long advocated for sensible legal reform. Excessive attorney's fees in cases like this support this advocacy. Though the Cobell litigation was contentious and time consuming, no one can tell me, with a straight face, that a $50 million dollar fee award is not excellent compensation for one case. On behalf of the 21 federally recognized tribes in Arizona, over 250,000 strong, from the Dine in the north, to the Havasupai at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, down to the Pascua Yaqui Tribe in the south, and on behalf of those tribes in between and throughout the United States, I rise in support of H.R. 887.
