The Oklahoman: Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole honored as longest serving Native American in U.S. House history
The Oklahoman - Chris Casteel
U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and congressional colleagues paid tribute to Rep. Tom Cole on Friday as he became the longest serving Native American in the history of the House of Representatives.
"I was so proud to serve with you, working hard for Native Americans, on missing and murdered Indigenous people, housing, education, health care — thank you, thank you, thank you," Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo Tribe and a former member of Congress, said in a recorded message to Cole.
Cole, R-Moore, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, broke the previous record of service of 7,048 days by former U.S. Rep. Charles David Carter, also a Chickasaw from Oklahoma, Cole's office said.
Carter served in Congress from Oklahoma statehood in 1907 to 1927, and was the first representative of the state's 4th Congressional District. Cole has represented the 4th District since 2003, though the district's boundaries have changed several times. The district now includes most of the counties that are part of the Chickasaw reservation.
Cole's mother, Helen, was the first Native American woman elected to the Oklahoma state Senate; Cole won her seat after she retired. Te Ata, the Chickasaw storyteller and performer, was a great aunt of the congressman.
'Honored to reach the milestone'
Cole, 72, said Friday, "I am honored to reach the milestone of becoming the longest serving Native American in the history of the House.
"When I entered Congress, I knew tribal issues would be an area I would focus on a great deal in light of my personal heritage and having observed the unique role of tribes in my community.
"It is indeed a special heritage that I was brought up to appreciate and treasure, and I have always been inspired by numerous family members who worked hard to preserve it and advance the interests of our tribe. But of course, I was most inspired by my late mother, Helen Cole, who not only taught me to know and understand what it meant to be tribal but also sparked my interest in politics."
In the tribute video released on Friday, Rep. Markwayne Mullin, a Cherokee who represents much of eastern Oklahoma, said Cole had mentored him on Native American issues and that he was "blown away" by how much Cole had done to increase funding for the Indian Health Service.
Rep. Sharice Davids, a Kansas Democrat and member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, said, "Thank you for all you do for the Native American caucus, of course, but for Indian country as a whole. All the work that you do and the expertise that you bring and the fight for tribal sovereignty that you always keep up does not go unnoticed."
Representatives from California, Arizona, Minnesota, Michigan, South Dakota, Illinois and Hawaii also joined in the tribute.
In recent years, Cole has been instrumental in making changes to the Violence Against Women Act to protect Native women and expand tribal authority over crimes committed against them.
He authored the bill authorizing a land swap involving the Chickasaw Nation, the city of Sulphur and the National Park Service that gave the tribe a 29-acre tract of land near the Chickasaw National Recreation Area for a museum.
During his time on the House Appropriations Committee, spending for the Indian Health Service has doubled, according to his office.
Cole has been trying for more than a decade to "fix" a U.S. Supreme Court ruling about the government taking land in trust for tribes. The court's decision stripped the Interior Department of the authority to take land into trust for tribes that were not federally recognized before the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.
After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that the Muscogee (Creek) reservation was never disestablished, Cole authored a bill to authorize the Chickasaw and Cherokee nations to enter into compacts with the state of Oklahoma on criminal jurisdiction. He also has helped get funding for tribes and the Justice Department to handle the surge in criminal cases caused by the ruling.
Cole routinely receives campaign contributions from tribes, and he headed off an effort by some lawmakers several years ago to put new limits on tribal donations.
"I am proud of my record as a champion for Indian country," Cole said Friday.
"In addition to authoring, sponsoring and supporting numerous pieces of legislation, I have embraced my role as a resource for my colleagues, helping them understand tribal sovereignty, the federal government's trust responsibility and how we can and should work in a bipartisan way to solve some of the issues facing tribes."
Online: The Oklahoman