Schumer presses land claim at hearing
May 26, 2000

By R. PATRICK CORBETT
Observer-Dispatch

The Oneida Indian Nation land claim became a pivotal issue Thursday in the U.S. Senate confirmation hearing for Dan Marcus, who has been nominated to take over the number three job at the Department of Justice.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said he and Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-New Hartford, have appealed repeatedly to Attorney General Janet Reno to lift the threat of penalties against Madison and Oneida county landowners in the land-claim area.

Reno has not responded to his requests, the senator said.
Thursday afternoon, the senator said, “I am seriously considering holding up (Marcus’s) confirmation if we don’t get an answer.”

A confirmation vote has not been scheduled but is expected with the next three weeks, Schumer aide Phil Singer said.

Schumer said he would prefer a response favorable to the landowners, but in any event, he wants a direct response before the vote.

The Justice Department is supporting the Oneida Indian claim for compensation for some 250,000 acres in the two counties acquired illegally from the tribe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

If Marcus were confirmed, he would be responsible for the prosecution of the land claim, Singer said Thursday.

That made him fair game for Schumer.

“I told him how very unfair they were, and that they are creating huge animus between the Indians and the people in the counties,” the senator said.

“I told him I couldn’t figure why the Justice Department ... is being more extreme than the Indian tribe,” he added.

The New York Oneidas have offered to remove sanctions against individual landowners in return for a settlement, and Schumer said he wants at least that consideration from the Justice Department.