GOVERNOR CHAFEE OPPOSES S.676

Rhode Island governor opposes fix to land-into-trust decisionMonday, April 11, 2011Filed Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee (I) opposes S.676, a bill to fix the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar. The bill ensures that all tribes, regardless of the date of federal recognition, can follow the land-into-trust process. That includes the would allow the Narragansett Tribe, whose leaders are trying to place land in trust for housing. "They don't want us to have sovereignty over that land," Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas told the Associated Press. The Narragansett Tribe gained federal recognition in 1983. The Supreme Court said the tribe wasn't under federal jurisdiction in 1934, when the Indian Reorganization Act became law. S.676 amends the IRA to address the date issue. The Senate Indian Affairs Committee approved the bill last Thursday.