HERE'S WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED HAD THE AKAKA BILL BECOME LAW
Bush Seeks Dramatic Changes To Escape Liability Of Wrongdoing
Indinaz.com -Tuesday, October 24, 2006
The Bush administration is proposing sweeping changes to the Cobell settlement bill that would phase out the federal government's trust management responsibilities and force consolidation of Indian lands.
Within 10 years, the Interior Department would no longer manage the 54 million acres held in trust for individual Indians and tribes.
The goal is to turn the system into a "beneficiary- managed" trust for which the United States cannot be held liable for any damage claims.
To facilitate the major shift, the administration wants to consolidate the Indian land base through voluntary and involuntary mechanisms.
Highly fractionated parcels would be whittled down to just 10 owners in the next 10 years.
And the administration is asking Congress to resolve all tribal trust claims in addition to the Cobell suit over the Individual Indian Money trust....
Jim Cason, the associate deputy secretary at Interior, has advocated for the resolution of all tribal and individual Indian trust claims.
David Bernhardt, the recently-confirmed solicitor, has lobbied Congress to limit the liability of the United States....
More than two dozen tribes subsequently filed lawsuits for accounting, mismanagement and related claims. But some cases -- notably the Navajo Nation's $1.8 billion claim -- have been pending in court for years longer than Cobell
or the more recent tribal suits.
