mr. kildee. mr. benishek. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and i certainly appreciate mr. kildee's comments as well. i want to thank the members that came forward to testify today. i represent michigan's first district. this is my first term, and we have 15 federally recognized tribes in michigan, and it's been my pleasure to work with both the recognized tribes and with those tribes seeking recognition. i, along with mr. kildee, introduced a bill to reaffirm the status of the indians, and i'm really anxious to learn more about the issues. i'm really disappointed that the department of interior chose not to participate today, but i think it's important that we as a committee explore this issue. it seems difficult to me. you know, i remain committed to heing ch gup, t i like too son a anspent fashion, and i don't like to be in the position of picking winners and losers between the tribes. i think that we need to have an open transparent process, and i'm not sure exactly what that is, you know, being a freshman, but i think it's important that we explore these issues. so i wo

mr. kildee. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you very much. for 48 years now i've been involved in trying to bring justice to the sovereign tribes, indians of this country, and they are sovereign. i have two citizenships. i'm a citizen of the state of michigan, and i'm a citizen of the united states. you have three real sovereign citizenships. you are citizens of the united states. you've shown that certainly during our wars, in numbers. many of you fought. you're a citizen of the state in which you live, and you're a citizen of your sovereign tribe. you have three citizenships, so those are real citizenships. those aren't just fancy get well cards. they are in the constitution of the united states. says the congress shall have the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations in among the several states and with the indian tribes. they put you on the same level as france or germany. you're sovereign, and they recognize that congress has the power to regulate commerce with these three types of governments, sovereign governments, and also the

mr. kildee's comments as well. i want to thank the members of the committee who can't afford to testify today. i represent michigan's first district, it's my first term, and we have 15 federally recognized tribes in michigan. and it's been my pleasure to work with, both recognized tribes and with the strides seeking recognition. i introduced a bill. i'm really anxious to learn more about these issues. i'm disappointed that the department of interior chose not to participate today, but i think it's very important that we as a committee explore this issue. it seems difficult to me. i remain committed to helping each group but i'd like to do so in a transparent fashion. i don't like to be in a position of picking winners and losers between the tribes. i think that we need to have an open, transparent process and i'm not sure exactly what that is, being a freshman, but i think it's important to at least explore these issues. so i'd like to ask a few questions, mr. gabaldon. given your experience as a tribal leader, wha