[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 49 (Thursday, April 21, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S4129]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. CANTWELL (for herself, Mr. McCain, Mr. Dorgan, Mrs. 
        Murray, and Mr. Inouye):
  S. 881. A bill to provide for equitable compensation to the Spokane 
Tribe of Indians of the Spokane Reservation for the use of tribal land 
for the production of hydropower by the Grand Coulee Dam, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
with my colleague from Washington State, Senator Murray, and former 
Senate Indian Affairs Committee chairman, Senator Inouye of Hawaii. The 
bill I submit today, which is identical to S. 1438 which passed the 
Senate unanimously on November 19, 2004, provides an equitable 
settlement of a longer standing injustice to the Spokane Tribe of 
Indians.
  For more than half a century, the Columbia Basin Project has made an 
extraordinary contribution to this Nation. It helped pull the economy 
out of the Great Depression. It provided the electricity that produced 
aluminum required for airplanes and weapons that ensured our national 
security. The project continues to produce enormous revenues for the 
United States. It is a key component of the agricultural economy in 
eastern Washington and plays a pivotal role in the electric systems 
serving the entire western United States.
  However, these benefits have come at a direct cost to tribal property 
that became inundated when the U.S. Government built the Grand Coulee 
Dam. Before dam construction, the free flowing Columbia River supported 
robust and plentiful salmon runs and provided for virtually all of the 
subsistence needs of the Spokane Tribe. After construction, the 
Columbia and its Spokane River tributary flooded tribal communities, 
schools, and roads, and the remaining stagnant water continues to erode 
reservation lands today.
  The legislation Senators Inouye, Murray and I are introducing today 
is similar to P.L. 103-436, which was enacted in 1994 to provide just 
compensation to the neighboring Confederated Colville Tribes. This bill 
would provide the Spokane Tribe of Indians with compensation for the 
use of its lands for the production of hydropower by the Grand Coulee 
Dam under a formula based in part on that by which the Confederated 
Tribes of the Colville Reservation were compensated in the Colville 
Tribes' settlement legislation in 1994. The Spokane Tribe lost lands 
equivalent in area to 39.4 percent of the lands lost to Colville Tribes 
a settlement based solely on this factor would result in a proportional 
payment of 39.4 percent to the Spokane Tribe. This was the formula 
basis for similar Spokane settlement legislation introduced in the 
Senate and House in the 107th, 108th, and 109th Congress. However, 
based upon good faith, honorable and extensive negotiations by and 
between the Spokane Tribe, the Bonneville Power Administration, the 
Bureau of Reclamation the National Park Service during the past year, 
this percentage has been reduced to 29 percent in recognition of the 
fact that certain lands taken for the construction of the Grand Coulee 
Dam would be restored to the Spokane Tribe under the terms of this 
legislation. The legislation reserves a perpetual right, power, and 
easement over the land transferred to carry out the Columbia Basin 
Project under the Columbia Basin Project Act, 16 U.S.C. 835 et seq.
  The United States has a trust responsibility to maintain and protect 
the integrity of all tribal lands with its borders. When Federal 
actions physically or economically impact or harm, our Nation has a 
legal responsibility to address and compensate the damaged parties. 
Unfortunately, despite countless effort, half a century has passed 
without justice to the Spokane people.
  In hearings before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on October 
2, 2003, Robert A. Robinson, Managing Director, Natural Resources and 
Environment, General Accounting Office testified:

       A reasonable case can be made to settle the Spokane Tribe's 
     case along the lines of the Colville settlement--a one-time 
     payment from the U.S. Treasury for past lost payments for 
     water power values and annual payments primarily from 
     Bonneville [BPA]. Bonneville continues to earn revenues from 
     the Spokane reservation lands used to generate hydropower. 
     However, unlike the Colville Tribes, the Spokane Tribe does 
     not benefit from these revenues. The Spokane Tribe does not 
     benefit because it missed its filing opportunity before the 
     Indian Claims Commission. At that time it was pursuing other 
     avenues to win payments for the value of its land for 
     hydropower. These efforts would ultimately fail. Without 
     congressional action, it seems unlikely that a settlement for 
     the Spokane Tribe will occur.

  The time has come for the Federal Government to finally meet its 
fiduciary responsibility for converting the Spokane Tribe's resource to 
its own benefit. Senators Inouye, Murray and I believe that the 
legislation we are proposing today will finally bring a fair and 
honorable closure to these matters. We are pleased that similar 
bipartisan legislation was also introduced today in the U.S House of 
Representatives.
  I look forward to working with the Indian Affairs Committee and 
Senate colleagues as this legislation proceeds through the Congress.
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