The newly installed chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Jon Tester, says “fixing” the 2009 Carcieri v. Salazar Supreme Court decision will be tough, but that it is one issue that he is focusing on.
In an interview with Indian Country Today, Tester, a senator since 2007, inherited the chairmanship from Senator Maria Cantwell, who gave it up after year without passing many bills. Tester has already passed 15 pieces of legislation through the committee since taking up the gavel.
In July he is holding hearings on Carcieri as well as Indian gaming. He says that his biggest challenge is not to try to force too many bills through at a time.
“I think we are in pretty good shape. We have pushed a lot of bills out of the committee. We really have taken some of the less controversial bills and moved down the line. I think our next challenge is taking the bills that we’ve gotten out of committee and the ones that don’t get taken up by unanimous consent, figuring out a strategy for the lame duck. Maybe an omnibus Indian bill going forward that could include a lot of stuff,” he said. “Including, potentially, a Carcieri fix. He also favors creating a cabinet-level position for Native affairs.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would need to give his blessing to any omnibus bill, however, he said. “The advantage of a standalone Native American bill is that it has never been done before, and you have some great Native bills out there right now that have been carried by both Republicans and Democrats. So I think we could have a truly bi-partisan effort moving forward here. I think the big issue is going to be whether there is going to be enough time. Will Harry give me enough time to do a Native American bill?”
The challenge that the Carcieri legislation faces is finding 60 votes to support it, says Tester.
“That means that we’ve got to find 60 votes, and there are people out there on the Democratic side who don’t like it, and I’m sure there are people on the Republican side who don’t as well. This is truly going to have to be a bipartisan effort, or it isn’t going to work to get a clean fix. Our challenge is going to be finding those 60 votes. I think a clean fix is the way to go, but I am not stupid about the legislative process.” The legislation needs to be passed, he said, because, “I don’t think that two classes of Native Americans is a good idea.”
Senators who will need to be talked to include Senator Dianne Feinstein, Jack Reed, Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, “to let them know that I do not see the boogeyman out there in this bill that they do.”
He added, “The hard conversation is to sit down with them and say I want to make this real. We need to figure out a way to allay their fears. If we’re successful in doing that, fine. If it comes to a point that we can’t be successful, then it becomes a little more difficult. Feelings get hurt and all that stuff. But I think that we’re all grownups here, and I think this issue has been around long enough that we should be able to get to the root problems and get them resolved.”
