The Lumbee Tribe found itself in the national spotlight Saturday when Former President Trump made a shoutout during his visit to Wilmington.

The candidate thanked a host of people before turning his attention to the Lumbee tribe.

In his remarks he thanked Robeson County commissioner John Cummings, identifying him as a “member of the Lumbee Tribe, a friend of mine and a friend of ours.”

“John is a real supporter and we appreciate it very much,” Trump said. “And we are going to make sure you guys (The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina) are OK, because they have not been treated properly by this administration as we know.”

A crowd of several thousand roared as the former president made his address at a podium surrounded by a protective glass shield.

“The Lumbee Tribe has been wrongfully denied federal recognition for more than a century,” Trump said. “But now we are going to take care of it. We’re going to take care of it right at the beginning.”

The Lumbee Fairness Act, Senate Bill 521, which would grant full-Federal recognition, was introduced in February 2023 by Republican Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd, but it has stalled in the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and never got a vote. Members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs include the following.

Chairman U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)

Vice Chairman U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Arkansas)

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington)

U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada)

U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico)

U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana)

U.S. Senator John Hoeven (R-North Dakota)

U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma)

U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-Montana)

Nearly all of these senators represent American Indians in their states.

The current proposed legislation, which is most likely not going to make it out of committee at this point, would need to be approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate before Congress convenes the 2023-2024 session in December.

On Saturday, Trump said both President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama “promised they wanted to remedy the injustice. They broke their promise.”

“And today I am officially announcing that if I am elected in November I will sign Legislation granting the great Lumbee tribe the federal recognition that it deserves,” Trump said. “You’ll be all set.” During his presidency, Lumbee legislation again stalled in committee before it could be voted on and moved to the president’s desk.

“Unfortunately, we weren’t in office when that happened, but they treated them very badly. Thank you very much.”

So, it appears that in the current session, Congress will let the Lumber Fairness Act die.

Any new legislation would need to be introduced and possibly face the same fate as past legislation before making it to the president’s desk, whoever that is.