[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 62 (Thursday, April 29, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2807-S2808]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BAUCUS (for himself and Mr. Tester):
  S. 3290. A bill to modify the purposes and operation of certain 
facilities of the Bureau of Reclamation to implement the water rights 
compact among the State of Montana, the Blackfeet Tribe of the 
Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, and the United States, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Blackfeet 
Water Rights Settlement Act, along with my good friend, Senator Tester. 
We introduce this bill as a critical step in 2 decades of negotiations 
between the Blackfeet Nation, the State of Montana, and the U.S. The 
bill ratifies the water rights compact with the Blackfeet Nation. It 
confirms that the United States is a nation that honors its commitments 
to all its citizens, including those who belong to Tribal Nations.
  Over 150 years ago, the United States and the Blackfeet people signed 
a treaty that created the Blackfeet Reservation on a tract of land the 
size of Delaware abutting what became Glacier National Park and the 
Canadian Border. Over 100 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that 
such treaties imply a commitment to reserve sufficient water to satisfy 
both present and future needs of a Tribe. Honoring this particular 
commitment has been delayed for decades. With the introduction of this 
bill, we are on the brink of fulfilling that commitment.
  The Blackfeet people call the mountains of their homeland the 
``backbone of the world.'' When you visit their land, you can feel a 
shiver in your own backbone at its beauty and spiritual significance. 
These mountains are also the wellspring of the reservation's water. 
Their cirques and flanks, frozen for much of the year, store the 
crucial resource that makes the Great Plains inhabitable. The drainages 
and storage systems that define how the snow melts and the water flows 
are the principal subject of this legislation. This water is necessary 
for irrigation, livestock, fisheries, wildlife, homes, and other uses.
  By ratifying this compact, Congress will both establish the federal 
reserved water rights of the Tribe and authorize funds to construct the 
infrastructure necessary to make the water available for use. This 
infrastructure includes rehabilitation of the Blackfeet Irrigation 
Project and construction of other water projects. It also mitigates the 
impacts of the Tribe's water rights on current non-tribal water users.
  The Blackfeet Water Compact has already been ratified by the State of 
Montana. The Montana Legislature has appropriated $15 million toward 
the overall Blackfeet settlement and has committed to provide an 
additional $20 million in this bill.
  The bill that Senator Tester and I have introduced addresses a vital 
concern of the Blackfeet people and the State of Montana. It is time 
for the U.S. to honor its commitment to the Blackfeet Nation.
  Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Blackfeet 
Water Settlement Act of 2010 with my friend and colleague, Senator 
Baucus. The bill will ratify the water rights compact negotiated for 
two decades by the Blackfeet Tribe, State of Montana and U.S. It will 
improve water infrastructure in the local area and, more importantly, 
create a self-sustaining homeland for the Blackfeet Nation. The bill 
enjoys broad support on the local, regional and national level. I look 
forward to working with my colleagues to enact it this year.
  The time to implement this legislation is now. The United States and 
Blackfeet Tribe created the Blackfeet Reservation by treaty over 150 
years ago. Over 100 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court held that in 
creating Indian reservations, the government must provide enough water 
to sustain a permanent homeland for the American Indians living on 
them. This legislation will fulfill that law.
  By ratifying the compact, this bill provides water for domestic and 
municipal use, irrigation and livestock, and for developing Reservation 
resources. It will also provide water to sustain reservation wildlife 
and fisheries located in the majestic Rocky Mountains, next door to 
Glacier National Park. Enacting this bill not only establishes the 
Tribe's federally reserved water rights, paper water, but also 
authorizes resources to construct the infrastructure that will deliver 
water to Reservation users, wet water.
  The process of building critical infrastructure authorized by this 
bill will also create valuable reservation jobs, where the unemployment 
rate regularly reaches 70-80 percent. It authorizes funds to 
rehabilitate the Blackfeet Irrigation Project, construct water storage 
facilities, repair community water systems and promote economic 
development.
  The bill enjoys strong support in Montana. The State of Montana 
ratified the Blackfeet Water Compact in 2009. The Montana Legislature 
has already appropriated $15 million toward the overall Blackfeet 
settlement. Most recently, the state supports provisions in this bill 
that commit it to provide an additional $10 million.
  This bill is long past due. As Justice Hugo Black said in the 1960 
Tuscarora

[[Page S2808]]

case: ``Great nations, like great men, should keep their word.'' It is 
time for this great Nation to keep its word to the Blackfeet people. 
Senator Baucus and I introduce this bill to do just that. With adequate 
water, infrastructure and jobs, the Blackfeet Nation will take another 
step to a secure future for many years to come.
                                 ______