Today, I have signed into law S. 832, a bill to nullify the Supplemental Treaty between the United States and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of Indians of Middle Oregon. S. 832 declares that “[t]he Supplemental Treaty Between the United States of America and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of Indians of Middle Oregon, concluded on November 15, 1865, and entered into pursuant to the Senate resolution of ratification dated March 2, 1867 (14 Stat. 751), shall have no force or effect.” The bill eliminates an unenforced, but antiquated and unfair, restriction on tribal members’ ability to leave their respective reservations without government permission. I understand the bill to negate the domestic legal effect of the 1865 treaty with the Indian tribes, consistent with their unique status under our Constitution, and thus not to implicate my Article II authority over the termination of international agreements.
October 20, 2020.
