Post by blackcrowheart on May 1, 2007 12:46:57 GMT -5
Senate panel endorses Oneida
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON � The Senate Indian Affairs Committee has approved Carl
Artman, a member of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, to be head
of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, trying for a second time to fill a post
that has been vacant for two years.
Artman's nomination was held up on the Senate floor last year after the
committee approved it in September. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., chairman
of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said a Republican had blocked
the nominee but he did not know who it was.
"We need to find out who blocked (the nomination) last year and deal
with that and move on," Dorgan said Thursday. "I am hopeful we can move
this next week."
Senators can place anonymous holds on bills and legislation, forcing
supporters to find 60 votes or more for passage.
Dorgan said it is "unbelievable" that the BIA post has been vacant for
so long.
President Bush nominated Artman to oversee the agency last August, and
again last month as the new Congress convened. Artman would replace Dave
Anderson, a member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Lake Superior Band of
Ojibwe Indians of Wisconsin, who resigned in February 2005.
Artman has been the Interior Department's associate solicitor for Indian
affairs. Before joining the department, Artman was the chief counsel for
the Oneida tribe; among his duties was overseeing its trust properties
in the Green Bay area. He also worked on the staff of Rep. Michael
Oxley, R-Ohio.
Jacqueline Johnson, executive director of the National Congress of
American Indians, told the committee that the BIA post must be filled
soon to handle decisions involving such matters as building schools and
roads, the allocation of police and water rights settlements.
The BIA head "has an important decision-making role that affects
individual tribes, and many of these decisions have been on hold for too
long," she said.
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON � The Senate Indian Affairs Committee has approved Carl
Artman, a member of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, to be head
of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, trying for a second time to fill a post
that has been vacant for two years.
Artman's nomination was held up on the Senate floor last year after the
committee approved it in September. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., chairman
of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said a Republican had blocked
the nominee but he did not know who it was.
"We need to find out who blocked (the nomination) last year and deal
with that and move on," Dorgan said Thursday. "I am hopeful we can move
this next week."
Senators can place anonymous holds on bills and legislation, forcing
supporters to find 60 votes or more for passage.
Dorgan said it is "unbelievable" that the BIA post has been vacant for
so long.
President Bush nominated Artman to oversee the agency last August, and
again last month as the new Congress convened. Artman would replace Dave
Anderson, a member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Lake Superior Band of
Ojibwe Indians of Wisconsin, who resigned in February 2005.
Artman has been the Interior Department's associate solicitor for Indian
affairs. Before joining the department, Artman was the chief counsel for
the Oneida tribe; among his duties was overseeing its trust properties
in the Green Bay area. He also worked on the staff of Rep. Michael
Oxley, R-Ohio.
Jacqueline Johnson, executive director of the National Congress of
American Indians, told the committee that the BIA post must be filled
soon to handle decisions involving such matters as building schools and
roads, the allocation of police and water rights settlements.
The BIA head "has an important decision-making role that affects
individual tribes, and many of these decisions have been on hold for too
long," she said.