Lumbee Recognition Act

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2758) to provide for the recognition of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measure under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, H.R. 2758, the Lumbee Recognition Act, introduced by Representative Butterfield from North Carolina, will extend Federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.

With approximately 60,000 members, the Lumbee Tribe is the largest in North Carolina, the largest Tribe east of the Mississippi River, and the ninth largest Tribe in the Nation.

In 1885, the Lumbee Tribe was recognized by the State of North Carolina.

The Tribe then sought Federal recognition from the United States in 1889 and has been pursuing its recognition ever since.

Over the past 130 years, numerous bills have been introduced in Congress to federally recognize the Lumbee people, resulting in a significant record of hearing transcripts and committee reports. In addition, numerous studies have been undertaken in academia on Lumbee ancestry, including reports filed by the Department of the Interior on the Tribe's validity.

All of these documents and these reports consistently conclude one thing: The Lumbee people are indeed a distinct, self-governing community that has been continuously and undeniably present in the Robeson County area. However, in 1955, when the Lumbee Tribe once again sought Federal recognition, the U.S. Government was actively terminating its relationship with Tribal governments.

To that end, the Department of the Interior recommended that Congress amend the recognition legislation to deny eligibility for the benefits and services available to the Tribe after becoming recognized under the bill. Congress then enacted this amended legislation in 1956, which had the effect of simultaneously federally recognizing the Lumbee Tribe and effectively terminating that recognition.

In 1987, the Lumbee Tribe attempted to restore their Federal recognition through the Federal acknowledgment process at the Department of the Interior. However, the Department determined that the Tribe was ineligible to participate in the Federal acknowledgment process because Congress, according to the 1956 act, had terminated its relationship with the Tribe. Therefore, only Congress could restore that relationship. This is what the enactment of H.R. 2758 will accomplish.

Federal recognition is the formal establishment of a government-to- government relationship between the United States and a Tribal nation. Its importance to Tribes cannot be overstated.

Federal recognition allows a Tribe to reestablish its homelands and place that land into trust for future generations. Recognizing Tribes as sovereign entities enables Tribal governments to manage resources, including local jurisdiction and taxation issues. Recognition also entitles Tribal citizens to distinctive benefits, including eligibility to participate in many Federal programs, including for healthcare and education.

That is why the enactment of this legislation is vital to the Lumbee Tribe. Let's keep in mind that the Lumbee Tribe has been seeking formal Federal recognition for over 100 years. Now is the time.

Other Tribes that were terminated by congressional action had come before Congress and had their relationship reestablished through legislation. After a century of inaction, it is finally time that we extend Federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank Representative Butterfield for championing this bipartisan legislation. I urge its quick adoption, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Butterfield).

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I would inquire whether my colleague has any remaining speakers on their side.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I, too, want to thank Mr. Bishop, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Westerman, and Mr. Grijalva for championing this legislation so that we may today undo 100 years of injustice.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank Representative Butterfield for those fine comments. I agree with him 100 percent.

That bill that Congress passed back in 1956 said this, even as it recognized the Lumbee: ``Nothing in this act shall make such Indians eligible for any services performed by the United States for Indians because of their status as Indians, and none of the statutes of the United States which affect Indians because of their status as Indians shall be applicable to the Lumbee Indians.''

My goodness. What an error, what a mistake, and what an injustice. But that is what the Congress of that time

said, and it is high time for us to correct that injustice. Therefore, I am proud to be a cosponsor with Representative Butterfield and Representative Hudson of this legislation.

The Lumbee have for three centuries been a cohesive and distinct community of aboriginal origins and durable institutions, especially schools, living near the Lumber River in Robeson County.

The Lumbee have been called by several names, but it cannot be disputed that they are the continuously present and vital people shown on a map drawn in 1725 whose common modern surnames appear on a document written in 1771: Locklear, Chavis, Dees, Sweat, and Groom. They are the Lumbee who were living in Long Swamp in the 1730s, the community now known as Prospect.

I said these words last year when it appeared very favorable that we were going to pass Lumbee recognition then, and I am going to say it continuously until we get this done, that this is going to be the year.

I know the Lumbee. I know the Warriors Ball and Lumbee Homecoming, UNC-Pembroke and Old Main, the Lumbee Cultural Center and the Cozy Corner. The Lumbee are supremely patriotic Americans, God-fearing and washed in the blood, devoted to the liberating cause of education and to civic involvement, proud of their community, and loving and welcoming to strangers. They are the best of America, and the only honorable course for the United States Congress is to accord them their due recognition at long last.

So my thank-you to Representative Butterfield for sponsoring this legislation. I thank Representative Hudson and Representatives Grijalva and Westerman for permitting it to come forward--staunch supporters of the Lumbees' pursuit of justice. I thank Senators Burr and Tillis. Lumbee recognition took on new life when both North Carolina Senators began to champion it.

Thanks also to former Representative Mike McIntyre of Robeson County, who worked for Lumbee recognition for more than a decade. We almost accomplished passage last year. This is going to be the year.

Madam Speaker, I urge overwhelming support for the Lumbee Recognition Act.

Madam Speaker, let me first thank Congresswoman Leger Fernandez for her friendship, her extraordinary leadership, and her passionate leadership. The gentlewoman is a wonderful member of this body, and I thank her so much for all that she does. She and I serve on another committee together, the Elections Subcommittee, and I have seen her in action.

Madam Speaker, I thank all of our cosponsors of this legislation for their support, both Democratic and Republican, including the Tribe's Representative, Congressman Dan Bishop from the Ninth District of North Carolina, who is my friend.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of my bill, H.R. 2758, the Lumbee Recognition Act, and I urge my colleagues to vote for its passage.

Madam Speaker, the Lumbee Recognition Act will finally extend full Federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and make its members eligible for the same services and the same benefits provided to members of other federally recognized Tribes.

Most importantly, the bill would establish, once and for all, the Lumbee Tribe as an independent and sovereign entity under Federal law.

Madam Speaker, we have an opportunity before us to do the right thing and fix a historic wrong by passing my bill. North Carolina has recognized the Lumbee Tribe since 1885, and this body, the Congress, recognized the Tribe in the 1950s but, during the dark days of the termination era, refused to allow the Lumbee Tribe access to federally funded services and benefits. What a shame.

Almost all Tribes that were ``terminated'' in this troubling era have since been restored to Federal recognition. We are long overdue in delivering the same justice to the Lumbee Tribe.

This legislation has tremendous bipartisan support inside and outside North Carolina as demonstrated by a unanimous House vote to pass this very bill last Congress and President Biden's support for full Federal recognition of the Lumbee Tribe. Now is the time, Madam Speaker, to get it done.

Madam Speaker, the merits of the Lumbee's claim for full Federal recognition have long been accepted by our State of North Carolina, academia, and the Federal Government. It is long past time for Congress to give the Lumbee the respect they deserve and to treat them with the fundamental fairness that has been withheld for so many years.

As Ms. Leger Fernandez said earlier, this is the first day of Native American History Month. What an honor.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' and stand on the right side of history.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, H.R. 2758 would extend Federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and remove a bar that has prevented the Tribe from being federally recognized.

Recognizing the Lumbee Tribe would make its members eligible for services, benefits, and immunities available to other federally recognized Indian Tribes. The bill would also establish a service area to deliver Federal programs to Robeson, Cumberland, Hoke, and Scotland Counties in North Carolina.

In 1956, an act by Congress designated certain Indians as Lumbee Indians of North Carolina and declared that they shall enjoy all rights as citizens of the State of North Carolina and the United States. At the same time, the act made them ineligible for services available to recognized Tribes and makes Indian statutes inapplicable to them.

This scheme has led to conflicting Department of the Interior solicitor opinions regarding whether the Lumbee Tribe may pursue administrative recognition. H.R. 2758 would resolve those conflicting administrative opinions and recognize the Tribe so that its Members can receive the benefits that other Tribes have.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank Representative Dan Bishop from the State of North Carolina for his leadership on the issue.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Bishop) who has done so much work on this issue.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his unwavering support for his constituents and his efforts to work across the aisle.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I am ready to close, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I was regrettably unable to vote on November 1, 2021. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes'' on H.R. 1619 and ``yes'' on H.R. 2758.

Members Recorded Pursuant to House Resolution 8, 117th Congress

Axne (Spanberger)

Barragan (Gallego)

Beatty (Jeffries)

Bilirakis (Fleischmann)

Bowman (Tlaib)

Boyle, Brendan F. (Jeffries)

Brown (Mfume)

Cardenas (Gomez)

Carter (TX) (Calvert)

Cohen (Beyer)

Crist (Castor (FL))

Davis, Danny K. (Underwood)

DeFazio (Davids (KS))

DesJarlais (Fleischmann)

Deutch (Rice (NY))

Doggett (Raskin)

Fletcher (Escobar)

Gaetz (Greene (GA))

Gonzalez, Vicente (Gomez)

Granger (Cole)

Hagedorn (Carl)

Houlahan (Wild)

Johnson (TX) (Jeffries)

Kelly (IL) (Blunt Rochester)

Kind (Connolly)

Kirkpatrick (Stanton)

Langevin (Lynch)

Larsen (WA) (Connolly)

Lawson (FL) (Evans)

Mann (LaTurner)

McEachin (Wexton)

Meeks (Perlmutter)

Meng (Jeffries)

Morelle (Rice (NY))

Moulton (Kahele)

Mullin (Cole)

Norcross (Pallone)

Nunes (Garcia (CA))

Ocasio-Cortez (Garca (IL))

Palazzo (Fleischmann)

Payne (Pallone)

Pingree (Kuster)

Rush (Underwood)

Salazar (Gimenez)

Schiff (Thompson (CA))

Sewell (Cicilline)

Sires (Pallone)

Speier (Scanlon)

Steube (Franklin, C. Scott)

Strickland (Jeffries)

Thompson (MS) (Butterfield)

Titus (Connolly)

Torres (NY) (Auchincloss)

Trone (Beyer)

Wagner (Walorski)

Wasserman Schultz (Soto)

Welch (McGovern)

Williams (GA) (McBath)

Wilson (FL) (Hayes)