[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 151 (Tuesday, October 11, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S6387]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     REMEMBERING ERNEST HOUSE, SR.

 Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, today I honor of my 
friend, Ernest House, Sr. I am deeply saddened by his death and I would 
like to take a few minutes to speak in his honor.
  Mr. House was a member of the Weeminuche Band of the Ute Mountain Ute 
tribe. He was born and raised in Mancos Canyon, CO, in what is now the 
Ute Mountain Tribal Park in the Four Corners region of our State. Mr. 
House is the father of Michelle House, Jaque House Lopez, and Ernest 
House, Jr. He is the grandson of Chief Jack House, the Ute Mountain 
Ute's last hereditary chair. Ernest House, Sr., held a prominent role 
in the tribe's leadership over the course of the last three decades, 
serving several times as chairman and also as a tribal council member. 
In addition to his service with the tribe, he was also a veteran of the 
Colorado Army National Guard of the Special Forces Airborne Group, and 
he worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the National Park 
Service through the U.S. Department of the Interior.
  I have admired Mr. House's leadership for many years. He was renowned 
across Indian Country for his gentle but effective leadership. At the 
heart of all of his efforts was the goal of improving the lives of his 
people, which he accomplished on a daily basis. His tireless advocacy 
for tribal businesses and enterprises led to the completion of several 
building projects, including the creation of the National Indian Health 
Service's Tribal Epidemiology Center in New Mexico. His eloquent 
testimony before Congress on the Dolores and Animas La Plata water 
projects led to the creation of two water compacts that are critical to 
the tribe's development. During the latter part of his career, Mr. 
House focused much of his energy on tribal safety, helping to increase 
the tribal police force from two officers to more than a dozen.
  Mr. House had a wide circle of friends within his tribal community, 
but he was well respected throughout Colorado and Native American 
communities across our country. I can feel the sorrow of his friends 
and family as we collectively grieve for the loss of a truly visionary 
leader, a kind human being, and a wonderful friend. His legacy of 
working across tribal, ethnic, and party lines is something we should 
all take to heart as we try to rise to the challenges before us.
  We are all shocked by the sudden loss of someone so important to our 
collective community. My uncle, Stewart Udall, served as Secretary of 
the Interior under President Kennedy, and he was also a champion for 
the rights of Native peoples. He once said that we are not measured by 
the things we accomplish but by how we treat people. In both regards, 
Mr. House was an outstanding person, and while he will be dearly 
missed, his legacy of dedication to his people will live on. We will 
think of him as we continue to strive to improve the quality of life 
for native people everywhere.

                          ____________________