Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, has weighed in against legislation proposed by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) that would punish the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. CBC lawmakers have proposed a number of provisions this year that would cut off federal funding to the tribe because of its decision in March 2007 to remove the Freedmen — descendants of freed slaves once owned by tribe members — from Cherokee membership.

But Obama disagrees with those measures. In a statement to The Hill provided by his Senate office, the Illinois Democrat said that although he opposes unwarranted tribal disenrollment, Capitol Hill should not get involved.
“Discrimination anywhere is intolerable, but the Cherokee are dealing with this issue in both tribal and federal courts . . . I do not support efforts to undermine these legal processes and impose a congressional solution,” said Obama. “Tribes have a right to be self-governing and we need to respect that, even if we disagree, which I do in this case. We must have restraint in asserting federal power in such circumstances.”