Lumbee Recognition Bill Pending in U.S. Senate

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Lumbee Recognition Bill Pending in U.S. Senate

Special Report - September 27, 2007
Legislation that would grant the Lumbee Indian Tribe full federal recognition and possibly pave the way for casino gambling in Eastern North Carolina is still pending in the U.S. Congress. The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held a hearing September 19 on the process of federal recognition for Indian tribes. The specific legislation that would grant the Lumbee Tribe full federal recognition was not considered, but Jimmy Goins, Chairman of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, testified before the committee on the challenges his tribe has faced under the existing federal recognition process. In addition to hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for health care, education, housing, economic development and other services that full federal recognition would provide for the Lumbee Tribe, recognition could also give the Tribe the opportunity to seek a gambling compact with the State of North Carolina.

In April, the North Carolina Family Policy Council submitted letters to the entire North Carolina Congressional delegation requesting that legislation to grant the Lumbee Tribe full federal recognition be amended to prohibit the Tribe from conducting gambling operations, should the measures move forward. “The North Carolina Family Policy Council does not oppose full federal recognition for the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, but we strongly oppose the potential that full federal recognition would have toward the expansion of gambling in North Carolina,” read letters from NCFPC president, Bill Brooks, to Sen. Elizabeth Dole and Rep. Mike McIntyre, the primary sponsors of the measures in Congress.

In June, the U.S. House passed legislation to grant the Lumbee Indian Tribe full federal recognition, but prior to passage, the House Natural Resources Committee amended H.R. 65—Lumbee Recognition Act to expressly prohibit the Tribe from conducting gambling activities should the act ultimately become law. H.R. 65 was assigned to the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and a similar bill introduced by Sen. Dole, S 333—Lumbee Recognition Act, also resides in the same committee. A hearing date for either bill has yet to be announced.