The creation of a commission at this time would only serve to delay and impede the implementation of the reforms currently underway. The approach of reinventing trust funds and moving trust funds out of the Department of the Interior, as suggested by the American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act Amendments, is one I considered and actually advocated in 1993, at the beginning of this Administration as I searched for another organization to specialize in this task. I have come to realize over the last six and half years that my initial inclination was seriously mistaken. The management of the trust responsibility is intrinsically bound to the land held in trust by the Federal Government and managed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Mr. Chairman, notwithstanding what we invest in new trust systems, staffing and internal controls, it will all be for naught if we do not address the perplexing problem of fractionation of ownership of allotted lands.
Fractionation is the legacy of misguided policies of decades past.
Our failure to address those policies today will overwhelm our ability to manage Indian trust lands. More importantly, it will severely undermine the economic viability of Indian land because potential lessees will not want or be able to do business with the hundreds of owners that may own each parcel of land. I commend the Chairman for taking the lead on fractionation reform and would urge expeditious consideration of S.1586, the Indian Land Consolidation Act Amendments. Let me conclude by stating that we share your goals. However, we also feel strongly that our current efforts are yielding positive results as we have made considerable progress in achieving trust management reforms, the first real progress on trust reform in decades.