 On mid-May, Tureen persuaded Governor Kenneth Curtis to issue a public statement saying that the Passamaquoddy deserved their date in court.Senators Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME) and Edmund S. Muskie (D-ME) and Representatives William Hathaway (D-ME) and Peter Kyros (D-ME) also issued similar statements of support.Gershuny advised Interior to take no action, noting that "no court had ever ordered the federal government to file a lawsuit on behalf of anyone, much less a multi-million dollar lawsuit on behalf of a powerless and virtually penniless Indian tribe."