[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 16 (Wednesday, January 29, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E108-E109]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    REINTRODUCTION OF INDIAN PROGRAMS REAUTHORIZATION AND TECHNICAL 
                             AMENDMENTS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 29, 2003

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to 
introduce legislation, which I originally introduced in the 107th 
Congress, that declares that the United States holds certain public 
domain lands in trust for the Pueblos of San Ildefonso and Santa Clara 
in New Mexico.
  Senators Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman sponsored the Senate 
companion bill during the 107th Congress, and were successful in 
incorporating it into S. 2711, the Indian Programs Reauthorization and 
Technical Amendments Act of 2002, which I strongly supported, during 
the closing days of the 107th Congress. However, the House was unable 
to take up this legislation prior to its adjournment.
  I would also like to note that both Senators are reintroducing, in 
the Senate today, the companion to this bill.
  Accordingly, today I reintroduce this legislation, which will 
formally restore control and tribal authority of nearly 4,500 acres of 
culturally significant ancestral lands. Located in the eastern Jemez 
Mountains, roughly 2,000 acres of land located within the aboriginal 
domain of the San Ildefonso Pueblo will be transferred to that Pueblo; 
similarly, approximately 2,484 acres of Santa Clara Pueblo's aboriginal 
lands will be transferred to that Pueblo.
  This transfer is the result of years of negotiations between the two 
Pueblos, and between the Pueblos and the Department of the Interior, 
and the Bureau of Land Management. The Pueblos intend to maintain the 
natural

[[Page E109]]

quality of the land and restore the health of the ecosystem of their 
traditional ancestral lands. In addition, the lands will be used for 
ceremonial and other traditional purposes.
  Finally, Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties in New Mexico, 
the National Congress of American Indians, and the National Audubon 
Society's New Mexico State Office, the Quivira Coalition and the Santa 
Fe Group of the Sierra Club support the acquisition and transfer of 
these lands.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Resources 
Committee to pass this important legislation for the people of San 
Ildefonso and Santa Clara.

                          ____________________