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Sen. McCain backed Lumbee recognition in 2003
Friday, July 4, 2008
Filed Under: Politics | Recognition

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois), the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, said he supports federal recognition for the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Where does Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), the presumptive Republican nominee, stand?

During the 108th Congress, from 2003-2004, McCain co-sponsored a bill to recognize the tribe. But he has not signed onto the bill in subsequent sessions, including the current one.

At a hearing in 2006, McCain said he opposes legislative recognition as a matter of policy. However, he said the Lumbees appear to have been treated unfairly by Congress during the termination era.

Obama, on the eve of the Democratic primary in North Carolina, issued a statement in support of the tribe. But he has not signed onto the federal recognition bill either.

The House passed H.R.65 in June 2007 but the Senate has not taken action. It took the Senate Indian Affairs Committee nine months to report out the bill.

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