mr. chairman , i am glad that mr. coble offered language to mitigate concerns over his amendment 's impact on tribal sovereignty . 
as initially drafted , the amendment by mr. coble could have had the unintended effect of targeting tribal governments who are legitimately involved in the retailing of tobacco products . 
with the help of mr. cole and other members , mr. coble has modified his amendment and has incorporated language that will go a long way to protecting tribal governments and tribal sovereignty . 
specifically , a provision stipulating that enforcement against tribes or in indian country , as defined in title 18 section 1151 , will not be authorized by the pending bill has been incorporated . 
support for tribal sovereignty is a bi-partisan issue and collectively the congress will continue to defend that fundamental principal of law . 
i realize that there are other sections that may need to be fixed as well because there has not been much time to refine the entirety of the coble provision and that further refinements may be in order once we get to conference with the senate on this provision . 
i understand that the rule of law of enforcement in indian country will fall to tribal governments and the federal government will be protected through further amendment and i pledge to work in conference to ensure the rights of tribal governments are fully protected . 
