[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 121 (Tuesday, September 11, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1478-E1479]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             LAMENTING THE FACT THAT H.R. 2362 DID NOT PASS

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                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 11, 2012

  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to submit an article printed in the 
July 27th issue of The Hill that came to my attention. Entitled 
``Native American tribal leaders: Indian Country shouldn't be hostage 
to far-off conflicts'' and written by Native American tribal leaders 
Eric Bruguier and Lloyd Irvine, the authors lament the fact that the 
Indian Tribal Trade and Investment Demonstration Project Act (H.R. 
2362) failed to secure the necessary votes to pass under a suspension 
of the rules.
  As a cosponsor of this measure, I am also disappointed this measure 
failed to pass. With the unemployment rate on American Indian 
reservations averaging between 40 percent and 50 percent, with poverty 
that transcends generations and incomes and educational attainment all 
well below the national average, this bill would have enabled foreign 
investors to partner with Native Americans on reservations to create 
new businesses and generate income where little to none exists today.

Native American Tribal Leaders: Indian Country Shouldn't Be Hostage to 
                           Far-Off Conflicts

                  (By Eric Bruguier and Lloyd Irvine)

       Being able to conduct business easily internationally is 
     the lifeblood of the American economy. Trade provides new 
     markets for American products and know-how, providing choices 
     to foreign consumers and growth and prosperity at home. Yet 
     apparently Congress does not feel that Native Americans 
     deserve to participate.
       This week, the House voted on H.R. 2362, a simple yet 
     important piece of legislation that would have allowed Native 
     Americans to do business with foreign companies from any of 
     the 155 countries that are members of the World Trade 
     Organization.
       Despite earning the support of 58 percent of House 
     members--and the backing of the National American Indian 
     Housing Council, the National Congress of American Indians, 
     and the National Center for American Indian Enterprise 
     Development--the bill failed to meet the two-thirds majority 
     needed to pass under the expedited process known as 
     suspension. It failed not because of any substantive 
     arguments against the bill's merits but because of pressure 
     from two ethnic lobbies with a history of grievances against 
     Turkey. And once again, Native Americans are left to suffer.
       Current regulations and red tape prevent Native Americans 
     from taking control of their own economic development. If a 
     business wants to lease property to open a store or a 
     factory, that business must first go through a multilayer, 
     multiyear review process required by the Bureau of Indian 
     Affairs, a process that can take up to six years--six years 
     to complete paperwork that takes a week to complete in the 
     rest of the country. Business cannot operate under these 
     conditions. This bill would have changed that.
       Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), the only Native American member of 
     Congress, introduced this legislation with the sole intention 
     of creating economic sovereignty for Native Americans. He has 
     firsthand experience of the challenges faced by tribes. 
     Native Americans suffer from the highest poverty and 
     unemployment rates in the country. Compared with the rest of 
     the United States, they are

[[Page E1479]]

     more likely to suffer from drug and alcohol addiction and 
     have less access to quality healthcare.
       It was a shock to see a positive and seemingly 
     noncontroversial bill fall short. After all, the bill would 
     provide a clear avenue for foreign investment in Indian 
     Country, streamline archaic and incredibly inefficient 
     regulations that add years of delays to potential business 
     deals, and for the first time allow tribes to enter into 
     business deals as sovereign entities, much like every state 
     in the country can already do. It would do all of these 
     things at no additional cost to the federal government.
       H.R. 2362 was also designed to complement H.R. 205, the 
     HEARTH Act, which easily passed the House and Senate and will 
     soon be signed into law. The bills are complementary but 
     different. H.R. 205 was specifically designed to address 
     housing needs on tribal lands but makes no mention of 
     investment from foreign companies. H.R. 2362 invites 
     companies from all 155 WTO countries to invest in Indian 
     Country. It establishes a demonstration project that will 
     help us learn best practices for future business deals. Once 
     we work the kinks out, we would open it up to all tribes.
       So why the opposition? One word: Turkey. Turkey and Turkish 
     Americans helped bring this bill to fruition through years of 
     business exchanges and negotiations on how to best facilitate 
     trade and investment with Indian Country. Turkey was the 
     first and only country to send an official delegation to the 
     Reservation Economic Summit, the premiere tribal business 
     conference. Turkey is the only WTO country that has 
     demonstrated an active economic interest in tribal lands. 
     Turkey was mentioned in the text of H.R. 2362 in recognition 
     of these efforts.
       But the word ``Turkey'' in a tribal economic development 
     bill turned into a call to action for special interests. 
     Rather than focusing on the bill's many economic benefits for 
     tribes and all WTO countries, these communities focused on 
     the word ``Turkey''. In the process, they hijacked a bill 
     that has nothing to do with their centuries-old grievances 
     and put an end to promising new economic opportunities for 
     some of the most impoverished people living within America.
       Native Americans have too few--not too many--tools for 
     economic development. We need to give them as many options as 
     we can. Tribes should have the power to choose which tools 
     they wish to use to grow their economies.
       H.R. 2362 is a good bill that would have spurred economic 
     development on tribal lands. Instead, it was killed by 
     special interests that chose this opportunity to advance 
     their own agenda. An agenda that has nothing to do with 
     tribal sovereignty.
       (Eric Bruguier is the chairman of economic development for 
     the Fort Peck Tribes. Lloyd Irvine is a councilman for the 
     Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.)

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