[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 41 (Thursday, March 17, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E527]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 QUILEUTE TRIBE TSUNAMI PROTECTION ACT

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                          HON. NORMAN D. DICKS

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 17, 2011

  Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the Quileute Tribe 
Tsunami Protection Act. This legislation will provide Park Service land 
to the Quileute Tribe to enable the re-location of many facilities 
outside the tsunami zone. The tragic events in Japan that we have sadly 
witnessed over the last week illustrate the need for this legislation.
  The threat of tsunamis is a harsh reality that the Quileutes face 
every day. The Tribe lives on a one-square mile reservation along the 
Pacific coast of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. It is a 
spectacularly beautiful place. Many of you, or at least your children 
or grandchildren, recognize the Quileute Tribe from the Twilight series 
of novels and movies.
  But there is nothing romantic about the tsunami threat. Much of the 
Tribe's infrastructure, including a day care center, the elder center, 
government offices and Quileute Tribal members', homes are in the 
direct path of a potential tsunami. In addition, the Tribe faces a 
nearly annual flood threat from the Quillayute River.
  The purpose of this legislation is to help the Quileutes move their 
people and buildings to safer land. The Olympic National Park would 
transfer land that is out of the tsunami zone to the Tribe for the 
development of new infrastructure.
  The legislation also settles a long-standing dispute between the 
Olympic National Park and the Tribe over the northern boundary of the 
Reservation. The resolution of this dispute benefits the Tribe, the 
Park Service and the general public. The bill also guarantees access 
for the public to some of the most beautiful Washington State beaches, 
and will designate as wilderness thousands of acres currently in the 
Olympic National Park.
  I want to thank the Quileute Tribe, National Park Service Director 
Jon Jarvis and Olympic National Park Superintendent Karen Gustin for 
their hard work over many years to resolve this dispute and provide 
safer land for the Tribe.
  I ask my colleagues to consider the present danger to the Quileute 
Tribe and to support this bill.

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