[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 132 (Wednesday, November 17, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H9844-H9845]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        THREE AFFILIATED TRIBES HEALTH FACILITY COMPENSATION ACT

  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
Senate bill (S. 1146) to implement the recommendations of the Garrison 
Unit Joint Tribal Advisory Committee by providing authorization for the 
construction of a rural health care facility on the Fort Berthold 
Indian Reservation, North Dakota.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                S. 1146

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Three Affiliated Tribes 
     Health Facility Compensation Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) in 1949, the United States assumed jurisdiction over 
     more than 150,000 prime acres on the Fort Berthold Indian 
     Reservation, North Dakota, for the construction of the 
     Garrison Dam and Reservoir;
       (2) the reservoir flooded and destroyed vital 
     infrastructure on the reservation, including a hospital of 
     the Indian Health Service;
       (3) the United States made a commitment to the Three 
     Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation to 
     replace the lost infrastructure;
       (4) on May 10, 1985, the Secretary of the Interior 
     established the Garrison Unit Joint Tribal Advisory Committee 
     to examine the effects of the Garrison Dam and Reservoir on 
     the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation;
       (5) the final report of the Committee issued on May 23, 
     1986, acknowledged the obligation of the Federal Government 
     to replace the infrastructure destroyed by the Federal 
     action;
       (6) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate--
       (A) acknowledged the recommendations of the final report of 
     the Committee in Senate Report No. 102-250; and
       (B) stated that every effort should be made by the 
     Administration and Congress to provide additional Federal 
     funding to replace the lost infrastructure; and
       (7) on August 30, 2001, the Chairman of the Three 
     Affiliated Tribes testified before the Committee on Indian 
     Affairs of the Senate that the promise to replace the lost 
     infrastructure, particularly the hospital, still had not been 
     kept.

[[Page H9845]]

     SEC. 3. RURAL HEALTH CARE FACILITY, FORT BERTHOLD INDIAN 
                   RESERVATION, NORTH DAKOTA.

       The Three Affiliated Tribes and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe 
     Equitable Compensation Act is amended--
       (1) in section 3504 (106 Stat. 4732), by adding at the end 
     the following:
       ``(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are 
     authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to 
     carry out this section.''; and
       (2) by striking section 3511 (106 Stat. 4739) and inserting 
     the following:

     ``SEC. 3511. RURAL HEALTH CARE FACILITY, FORT BERTHOLD INDIAN 
                   RESERVATION, NORTH DAKOTA.

       ``There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 
     of Health and Human Services $20,000,000 for the construction 
     of, and such sums as are necessary for other expenses 
     relating to, a rural health care facility on the Fort 
     Berthold Indian Reservation of the Three Affiliated Tribes, 
     North Dakota.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Nevada (Mr. Gibbons) and the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. 
Christensen) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons).


                             General Leave

  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to 
include extraneous material on the bill now under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Nevada?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, Senate 1146 was sponsored by the gentleman from North 
Dakota, Senator Kent Conrad. It was reported by unanimous consent of 
the House Resources Committee on June 3, 2004.
  This legislation fulfills a government commitment to replace a U.S. 
Public Health Service hospital serving the members of the Three 
Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. In the late 1940s, 
the hospital was destroyed in a flood resulting from the construction 
of the Garrison Dam and Reservoir Project by the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation. The flood forced the 
relocation of many Indian families, and it is long overdue that 
Congress fulfills all components of its pledge to compensate the tribe. 
I urge the speedy adoption of this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, in 1948, then Chairman George Gillette of the Three 
Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold, North Dakota, wept as a contract 
was signed to sell over 150,000 acres of tribal land to the U.S. 
Government to build the Garrison Dam. Through his grief, Chairman 
Gillette stated, ``We will sign this contract with a heavy heart. With 
a few scratches of the pen, we will sell the best part of our 
reservation. Right now, the future does not look good for us.''
  Chairman Gillette was correct as 80 percent of the tribe was forcibly 
relocated, 94 percent of their agricultural land was destroyed and 
their hospital flooded. Today, 56 years later, Chairman Gillette can 
now smile as we finally authorize this health care facility.
  Over this period of time, there has been one reason or another not to 
fulfill this promise made to the tribes. In fact, we are only here 
today because of the hard work and determined persistence of several 
people. The North Dakota delegation, led by Senator Conrad, the sponsor 
of this bill, has worked tirelessly to get this passed. Senators Conrad 
and Dorgan and our colleague, the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. 
Pomeroy), deserve much of the credit. I also want to thank the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo) for allowing this bill to come to 
the floor today.
  I would truly be remiss, however, if I did not credit Tex Hall, 
chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold, and Ranking 
Member Rahall of the Committee on Resources for all of their efforts to 
get us here today. Certainly there is a connection through the years 
from Chairman Gillette to Chairman Hall which has kept the drumbeat 
alive and steady not to give up the fight for this facility. Ranking 
Member Rahall heard that drum and took heed, making this bill a high 
priority. You see, Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from West Virginia knows 
all too well how promises made when resources are desired can quickly 
turn into devastated lands and broken promises. With that empathy, the 
gentleman from West Virginia kept pushing to get this bill heard today 
and I thank him.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from North Dakota (Mr. Pomeroy).
  Mr. POMEROY. I thank my colleague for yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill corrects a long overdue problem. When the 
Missouri River was dammed in North Dakota as part of the Pick-Sloan 
water project, the resulting flood created a lake about the size of 
Rhode Island. The lake is still with us. A number of communities were 
flooded out in the course of creating the reservoir. One of them, 
Elbowoods, was a community that was part of the Three Affiliated Tribes 
Reservation in western North Dakota. Elbowoods had a hospital, a 28-
bed, 35,000 square foot hospital, a most significant medical facility 
in that rural part of North Dakota, certainly the most significant 
medical facility serving the reservation.
  In order to persuade the Three Affiliated Tribes, Mandan, Hidatsa and 
Arikare nations, to vote in favor of the dam and give up 156,000 acres 
under this reservoir, the Federal Government made a commitment to 
replace the hospital. The tribes in western North Dakota are still 
waiting. This authorization will authorize up to $20 million for the 
construction of this medical facility.
  My colleagues, I am very familiar with this area. I have been there 
many, many times. I am acquainted with their medical facilities. They 
are grossly inadequate. This is an area where there are significant 
health needs and grossly inadequate facilities in which to meet them 
and a 50-year promise unmet by the Federal Government.
  I certainly want to thank those that have made it possible for this 
bill to come to the floor, the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo) 
and, of course, as was mentioned by the preceding speaker, the very 
aggressive, ongoing efforts by the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. 
Rahall) to get this matter considered.
  As I told the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo), this matter is 
deeply important to me as a representative of North Dakota because I 
feel so strongly about the injustice of what was done with the flooding 
out of this hospital, promising another one and then never getting it 
done; so I am really deeply grateful that this has been allowed for 
consideration under the suspension calendar. I urge the unanimous 
adoption of it in the course of our deliberations.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  It marks a historic point in the Committee on Resources, having just 
passed its more than 200th piece of legislation under suspension in the 
House for the year which sets a record for not only the committee but I 
believe for the House in terms of legislation passed.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the Senate bill, S. 1146.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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