my name is freeman weaver. and i am the elected travel chief of the choctaw indians. today i would like to say a few words about what the process has done to us as a tribe. it is clear that our tribe are the [ inaudible ] for structural failures evident in the federal recognition process. as the only tribe in the nation to have exhausted all three remedies made available for the granting of federal status, or for a federal lawsuit, congressional bills, we are well aware of the inherent bias, corruption, and how the finance campaigns waged against legitimate historic nonfederal tribes. we are the second longest petition tribe in the nation. only those in north carolina have petitioned longer. our initial attempt at federal recognition began with our mass community attempt to be admitted. we clearly understand that the current process is only open to those with millions of dollars. we have children through this long process no to ally ourselves with numerous suitors. some may call this ignorant. we choose to call it what it is, integrity. the only avenue for defining th

chairman scott gabaldon, who is accompanied by his attorney chairman ann tucker, chief freeman weaver of the choctaw indians and supervisor dillon, supervisor of napa county district three. i do thank all my witnesses. your written testimony will appear in the hearing record. i ask you to keep your statement to five minutes as outlined in the invitation letter to you, rule 4a. our microphones are not automatic. please press the button when you're ready to begin. i also want to explain how our timing lights work. when you begin to speak, the clerk will start the timer and a green light will appear. after four minutes, the yellow light will appear. in that time you will begin to conclude your statement. at five minutes the red light will come on. you may complete your sentence, but at that time i will ask you to stop. one thing, keep in mind, that all of you at the table, i'm very strict about procedures. if the dignity of the house of representatives is preserved, not to assume the house conducts its business -- make sure the house conducts its business in an orderly fashion but to per

weaver, for being with us. >>> and we're going to talk more about this community of aurora, colorado, when our special coverage continues. [ freemanundredth of a second? ♪ it's faster than the blink of an eye. ♪ faster than a flash of lightning. and it was the difference between michael phelps winning eight gold medals... instead of seven. a hundredth of a second... just think of the cheers if lightning strikes twice. visa. supporting athletes and the olympic games for 25 years. join our global cheer. has a facebook page these days. but where's the relationship status? well, esurance is now in a relationship...with allstate. and it looks pretty serious. esurance. click or call. >>> i'm sure that many of you that are parents had the same reaction that i did when i heard this news. now, my daughters go to the movies. what if malia and sasha had been at the theater as so many of our kids do every day? michelle and i will be fortunate to hug our girls a little tighter tonight and i'm sure you will do the same with your children. >> that was the president earlier today, both he and mitt romney issued statements of sympathy to the victi