Senate to Attach Freedmen Rider

The US Senate is apparently poised to add a measure by the Congressional Black Caucus to cut housing funding to the Cherokee Nation if the Freedmen are disenrolled. Chief Chad Smith has been lobbying heavily against the proposal, which has already passed the House, an amendment to the reauthorization of the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act. If the NAHSDA passes with the Freedmen rider, the pressure on the Cherokee Nation to reach some kind of settlement will increase dramatically. Unfortunately, I'm not sure there's a compromise left that both sides could sign off on. The Freedmen have a good case, legally and morally, that all Freedmen should remain as citizens. The Smith Administration has backed itself into a corner by refusing to even acknowledge that any of the Freedmen have a legitimate claim.