Washington, D.C. – Today, the House Committee on Natural Resources held a markup on four bills including H.R. 3764 (Rep. Rob Bishop), the Tribal Recognition Act of 2015. The bill restores the constitutional framework to tribal recognition authorities vested with Congress under Article I. Following the passage of H.R. 3764, Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) issued the following statement:

“The current administrative process in the Department of the Interior is without a statutory basis and therefor has a constitutional problem. If unelected political appointees can override historical analysis by their own inference to recognize a tribe, we have a serious issue. The Tribal Recognition Act will bring prudence and accountability to the system. This bill restores our Constitution’s original intent, creating transparency and consistency while protecting the integrity of federal recognition for new and existing tribes.”

The committee held two legislative hearings on H.R. 3764, one in October 2015 and one in December 2015, as well as an oversight hearing on the Administration's Part 83 Revisions to regulations governing the existing recognition process within the Department of the Interior (DOI). Committee members sent a letter to DOI Secretary Jewell related to Part 83 in March 2015 that you can viewe here.  

Click here to learn more about H.R. 3764.