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BREAKTHROUGH |
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| Senators Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Arizona) have introduced a bill (S. 739) which requires the federal government to turn over Indian Trust Funds to firms in the private sector. The summary introduction to Congress was as follows: "Amends the American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to contract with qualified financial institutions that are regulated by a federal bank regulatory agency for the investment of all funds presently managed in trust status for Indian tribes and individual Indians, unless: (1) a tribe whose money is held in trust requests in writing that its funds continue to be invested by the Interior Department; or (2) contracting of a particular fund would be inconsistent with the U.S.'s trust responsibility or would contravene any provision of law specifically related to that fund. Requires the Secretary to afford a tribe an opportunity to designate in writing a qualified financial institution to manage its funds." The bill has been referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. |
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