Cobell settlement stumbles in Senate

Cobell settlement stumbles in Senate

By Rob Capriccioso

Story Published: Jul 2, 2010

WASHINGTON – Any last-minute hopes that the Cobell settlement could pass the Senate as part of a tax extenders package before the Independence Day congressional recess have proven futile.

Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid admitted June 30 that the settlement could not pass as part of the package on the table at the time. He blamed Republicans for blocking the overall bill.

Jon Summers, a spokesman for Reid, said senators would work through the Fourth of July recess to develop a “compromise package” including the settlement “that can garner enough Republican support for passage.”

The death of Cobell as part of the extenders measure has now happened more than once.

First, the week of June 21, Republicans filibustered an effort to have the extenders bill passed with Cobell attached. GOP leaders said the overall bill should be paid for, and Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Vice Chairman John Barrasso, R-Wyo., thought the settlement should be amended to address several Indian country concerns, including lawyers’ fees.

The following week, hope was kept on life support for some who want the agreement approved after Reid said he would revive a vote via a pared down bill.

But after Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., died June 28, passage of a bigger bill, even pared down, became all the more difficult with one less Democratic supporter.

Senate leaders soon began trimming the legislation to get Republican votes to help them reach the 60 needed for passage. In turn, the Cobell settlement was struck from the extenders package.

Whether it can be placed back in after the Independence Day recess remains to be seen, but given the uncertainness of passage of the larger legislation, some supporters are looking for another piece of legislation to attach it to.

On top of that burden, the latest deadline for congressional approval agreed to by the Indian plaintiffs in the case and the Obama administration is July 9. Congress won’t return from recess until after that date, which means that another extension will have to be considered. Five extensions have already been granted.

Dennis Gingold, lead lawyer for the Indian plaintiffs, said June 30 that a new piece of legislation would likely be needed to achieve Senate passage.

“Reportedly, the bill has been gutted and it is reduced to only 13 pages. We, along with many other provisions have been cut from the bill. We are looking into other must-pass bills.”

Some observers speculated that Senate leaders may try to move Cobell to a small business bill being crafted, but Reid’s office could not say if that was a possibility.

The House passed a version of the legislation with Cobell attached just before the Memorial Day recess. That action would be meaningless in terms of the extenders bill if it remains cut out of the Senate package, and the settlement would have to find a new legislative vehicle to become law, or pass muster as a stand-alone measure.

The Obama administration deal calls for a $3.4 billion settlement to thousands of Indian plaintiffs who have been suing the federal government for years due to alleged royalty mismanagement.

Some Congress members have said they have problems with Cobell being attached to another piece of legislation, rather than being voted on as a stand-alone bill.

The House legislation is known as the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010.