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Thursday, May 16, 2019

House affirms Mashpee Wampanoag’s sovereignty




House affirms Mashpee Wampanoag’s sovereignty


By Tanner Stening
Posted May 15, 2019

WASHINGTON — The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe is halfway home.
After several attempts over many weeks to move the legislation to a vote, the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act, a bill aimed at putting an end to a protracted legal fight challenging the tribe’s trust eligibility under the Indian Reorganization Act.
Lawmakers voted 275-146 to approve the measure under regular order. The bill was introduced by U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-Mass., earlier this year.
In a statement issued by the tribe, Tribal Council Chairman Cedric Cromwell praised Democrats and Republicans for coming together.
“What they demonstrated today on the House Floor was nothing short of genuine understanding of my people, the Mashpee Wampanoag,” he stated.
“Our Tribe has suffered so much in the past from the United States’ failure to protect our land -- today the House of Representatives acted to change that history, and to help us take one step closer towards a better and more secure future for the Mashpee people” Cromwell said.
Last month, Keating and his colleagues had tried to pass the bill on a suspension of the rules, a process that expedites so-called noncontroversial bills. It appeared headed for passage last week before President Donald Trump issued a tweet urging Republicans to vote against it, saying it would allow a “special interest casino” backed by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to move forward.
“Had President Trump not tweeted about this bill, it would have likely passed on suspension,” U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., said before Wednesday’s vote.
As anticipated, the bill was the subject of much debate on the House floor, highlighting deep divisions between Rhode Island and Massachusetts lawmakers over the tribe’s plan to build a $1 billion casino-resort in Taunton, as well as the impact of millions of dollars spent lobbying on the issue.
Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo and her state’s federal legislative delegation have long expressed opposition to the bill, saying the tribe’s casino project would hamper their state’s gambling revenue. U.S. Reps. David Cicilline and James Langevin, both Democrats, expressed their opposition on the floor.
“It would be the first time Congress ever reversed a final federal court ruling,” Cicilline said, referring to a finding from a federal judge in 2016.
That judge ruled that the secretary of the Interior Department did not have the authority to take the tribe’s 321 acres of land into trust because the tribe was not under federal jurisdiction at the time of the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act in 1934, and therefore did not qualify under a definition of “Indian” used by the Department of the Interior.
Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., led the opposition to the bill, contending that the tribe selected Taunton as the site for its planned casino because of its proximity to the Rhode Island gambling market — a process referred to as “reservation shopping.”
“H.R. 312 is contrary to the view of the Department of the Interior ... and it aims to reverse federal court decisions on this matter,” Gosar said.
In a fiery speech on the House floor, Keating defended the merits of the legislation, noting that it’s “not about gaming” but about “justice.”
“Tragically, like so many Native Americans, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe have lived through centuries of injustices,” he said. “After nearly 250 years since our country’s founding, we would not be where we are without them. They deserve that dignity, they deserve that respect and they deserve that sovereignty.”
The vote follows increased public scrutiny of Rhode Island-based Twin River Management Group for its ties to several high-powered lobbyists linked to Trump. The company, which manages the state’s two casinos, paid Black Diamond Strategies $30,000 during the first quarter of this year, according to federal filings. Twin River paid Cove Strategies $30,000 in the same quarter.
Matthew Schlapp, who works for Cove Strategies, was an early Trump supporter and chairman of the American Conservative Union, which organizes the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. Schlapp also is married to Trump’s director of strategic communications, Mercedes Schlapp.
However, lobbying spending by the tribe’s financial backer, Genting Malaysia, has appeared so far to outpace efforts opposing the bill. Genting spent more than $1 million on various lobbying firms in 2018 in connection with the cause, three times more than it did in 2017, according to federal lobbying disclosures.
The House also voted 323-96 to pass H.R. 375, the so-called “clean Carcieri fix” introduced by Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, under a suspension of the rules.
The bill would reverse the 2009 Supreme Court decision, known as Carcieri v. Salazar, which established that the secretary of the Interior could not take land into trust for tribes that were not under federal jurisdiction before 1934, at the time of the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act. Carcieri v. Salazar increased the burden of proof tribes had to meet to qualify for trust status.
Since neighbors of the tribe’s Taunton casino successfully sued the Department of the Interior in 2016, the Carcieri decision has stood in the way of the tribe, leading to the original finding out of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts.
With respect to the Mashpee legislation, Cole said there had been “a lot of misinformation put out” following Trump’s tweet.
“This is a bill about keeping our federal promises to tribes,” he said.
The bill now will go before the Senate for review. The second leg of the journey may prove a tougher track. Warren’s presidential bid has cast a shadow on the potential for bipartisan support in the Senate and the likelihood that Trump will sign it into law.
Warren previously was a co-sponsor of a Senate version of the bill, but she has since distanced herself from the legislation.
In a telephone interview following the vote, Keating said he was pleased with the number of Republicans who signed on with their support.
“I’m just glad we had the opportunity within less than a week’s time to show that the House is an independent body that can deal in a bipartisan way on fundamental legislation,” he said. “This could have well been a death knell for the tribe.”

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