MASHPEE – Chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Cedric Cromwell is urging Americans to continue supporting H.R. 312 after federal lawmakers pulled the bill from the House floor this week.
The ongoing dispute over 321 acres of land in Mashpee and Taunton, where the tribe is looking to construct a casino, has the Wampanoags locked in a legal battle. The bill, if passed, would take the tribe out of the lawsuit.
U.S. Representative Bill Keating (D-Mass) sponsored the bill, also known as the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act.
The bill was pulled from the House floor on Wednesday morning following a tweet from U.S. President Donald Trump that read, “It is unfair and doesn’t treat Native Americans equally!”
Trump called on Republicans to vote against the bill, while also indicating that the $1 billion casino the tribe hopes to build has special interest to political rival and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass). Warren is one of many candidates running for president in the Democratic Party, and has sparked controversy over her claims of Native American heritage.
In a press release, Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell immediately separated the tribe and it’s potential casino from Warren, before moving onto the specifics of H.R. 312.
“H.R. 312 is not about Senator Elizabeth Warren. H.R. 312 also is not about the developer that has been kind enough to lend the Tribe money to help us survive the inhumane and disgraceful burden that Rhode Island’s Carcieri case has inflicted on landless recognized tribes like ours,” Cromwell said.
“H.R. 312 is a deeply honorable legislative effort by both Republican and Democratic members of the House of Representatives to correct the significant wrongs that have been perpetrated against our Tribe over the years, and to ensure that our people have a chance to be self-sufficient.”
The U.S. Department of the Interior reversed an initial 2016 decision on the tribe’s eligibility for the land under the Indian Reorganization Act, which would have allowed the tribe to construct and operate the casino. The reversal came on September 7, leaving the tribe’s land, and hopes for a casino, in question.
Following the reversal, the Mashppe Wampanoags have seen more than $500 million of debt in legal fees to the casino’s investor.
In the rest of his statement, Cromwell went on to urge Americans to continue supporting the tribe’s efforts, as well as the passage of H.R. 312.
“We are deeply humbled by and grateful for their efforts, particularly in the face of the constant onslaught of misinformation about our Tribe and this bill. The Mashpee Wampanoag have been working toward the return of our sovereign lands for nearly a half century, and long before enactment of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act,” said Cromwell.
“H.R. 312 is about what is right, and about what is just. I urge our fellow Americans to continue to support the bi-partisan House effort to enact the ‘Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act’ H.R. 312.”
The House now plans to move the bill through regular order.
By TIM DUNN, CapeCod.com News Center
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