Number: RS22343
Title: Indian Trust Fund Litigation: Legislation to Resolve Accounting Claims in Cobell v. Norton
Authors: M. Maureen Murphy, American Law Division 
Abstract: The Cobell v. Norton litigation has been before the courts since 1996. Cobell is a class action lawsuit alleging federal government mismanagement of accounts held in trust for individual Indians. To date the litigation has not been able to secure from the Department of the Interior sufficient data in the form of an historical accounting to determine the accuracy of the payments to individual account holders. Although a full historical accounting is unlikely to be judicially required, the prospect that pursuit of an accounting through litigation will be costly, protracted, and elusive resulted in the introduction, in the 109th Congress, of S. 1439/H.R. 4322 and a concerted effort by Indian representatives to develop principles for a legislative settlement. A letter, dated March 1, 2007, from the Secretary of the Interior and the Attorney General to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and the House Committee on Natural Resources, outlined key elements that the Bush Administration requires for a legislative settlement. To date, no legislation has been introduced in the 110th Congress. The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the development of a legislative solution.
Pages: 6
Date: March 8, 2007