[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 7 (Monday, January 13, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H170-H172]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 GRAND RONDE RESERVATION ACT AMENDMENT

  Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the bill (H.R. 841) to amend the Grand Ronde Reservation Act 
to make technical corrections, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 841

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF RESERVATION.

       Section 1 of the Act entitled ``An Act to establish a 
     reservation for the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde 
     Community of Oregon, and for other purposes,'' approved 
     September 9, 1988 (Public Law 100-425; 102 Stat. 1594; 102 
     Stat. 2939; 104 Stat. 207; 106 Stat. 3255; 108 Stat. 708; 108 
     Stat. 4566; 112 Stat. 1896), is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)--
       (A) by striking ``Subject to valid'' and inserting the 
     following:
       ``(1) In general.--Subject to valid''; and
       (B) by adding after paragraph (1) (as designated by 
     subparagraph (A)) the following:
       ``(2) Additional trust acquisitions.--
       ``(A) In general.--The Secretary may accept title to any 
     additional number of acres of real property located within 
     the boundaries of the original 1857 reservation of the 
     Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon 
     established by Executive Order dated June 30, 1857, comprised 
     of land within the political boundaries of Polk and Yamhill 
     Counties, Oregon, if that real property is conveyed or 
     otherwise transferred to the United States by or on behalf of 
     the Tribe.
       ``(B) Treatment of trust land.--
       ``(i) All applications to take land into trust within the 
     boundaries of the original 1857 reservation shall be treated 
     by the Secretary as an on-reservation trust acquisition.
       ``(ii) Any real property taken into trust under this 
     paragraph shall not be eligible, or used, for any Class II or 
     Class III gaming activity carried out pursuant to the Indian 
     Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.), except for 
     real property within 2 miles of the gaming facility in 
     existence on the date of enactment of this Act that is 
     located on State Highway 18 in the Grand Ronde community of 
     Oregon.
       ``(C) Reservation.--All real property taken into trust 
     within those boundaries at any time after September 9, 1988, 
     shall be part of the reservation of the Tribe.''; and
       (2) in subsection (c)--
       (A) in the matter preceding the table, by striking ``in 
     subsection (a) are approximately 10,311.60'' and inserting 
     ``in subsection (a)(1) are approximately 11,349.92''; and
       (B) in the table--
       (i) by striking the following:


``6      7        8        Tax lot 800                           5.55'';
 

       and inserting the following:


``6      7        7, 8,    Former tax lot 800, located           5.55'';
                   17, 18   within the SE \1/4\ SE \1/4\
                            of Section 7; SW \1/4\ SW \1/
                            4\ of Section 8; NW \1/4\ NW
                            \1/4\ of Section 17; and NE
                            \1/4\ NE \1/4\ of Section 18
 

       (ii) in the acres column of the last item added by section 
     2(a)(1) of Public Law 103-445 (108 Stat. 4566), by striking 
     ``240'' and inserting ``241.06''; and
       (iii) by striking all text after


``6      7        18       E \1/2\ NE \1/4\                     43.42'';
 

       and inserting the following:


``6                  8   1           W \1/2\ SE \1/4\ SE            20.6
                                     \1/4\
6                    8   1          N \1/2\ SW \1/4\ SE            19.99
                                     \1/4\
6                    8   1          SE \1/4\ NE \1/4\               9.99
6                    8   1          NE \1/4\ SW \1/4\              10.46
6                    8   1          NE \1/4\ SW \1/4\,             12.99
                                     NW \1/4\ SW \1/4\
6                    7   6          SW \1/4\ NW \1/4\              37.39
6                    7   5          SE \1/4\ SW \1/4\              24.87
6                    7   5, 8       SW \1/4\ SE \1/4\ of           109.9
                                     Section 5; and NE
                                     \1/4\ NE \1/4\, NW
                                     \1/4\ NE \1/4\, NE
                                     \1/4\ NW \1/4\ of
                                     Section 8
6                    8   1           NW \1/4\ SE \1/4\             31.32
6                    8   1           NE \1/4\ SW \1/4\              8.89
6                    8   1          SW \1/4\ NE \1/4\,              78.4
                                     NW \1/4\ NE \1/4\
6                    7   8, 17      SW \1/4\ SW \1/4\ of           14.33
                                     Section 8; and NE
                                     \1/4\ NW \1/4\, NW
                                     \1/4\ NW \1/4\ of
                                     Section 17
6                    7   17         NW\1/4\ NW \1/4\                6.68
6                    8   12         SW \1/4\ NE\1/4\                8.19
6                    8   1          SE \1/4\ SW \1/4\                2.0
6                    8   1          SW \1/4\ SW \1/4\               5.05
6                    8   12         SE \1/4\, SW \1/4\             54.64
6                    7   17, 18     SW \1/4\, NW \1/4\            136.83
                                     of Section 17; and
                                     SE \1/4\, NE \1/4\
                                     of Section 18
6                    8   1          SW \1/4\ SE \1/4\              20.08

[[Page H171]]

 
6                    7   5          NE \1/4\ SE \1/4\,             97.38
                                     SE \1/4\ SE \1/4\,
                                     E \1/2\ SE \1/4\ SW
                                     \1/4\
4                    7   31         SE \1/4\                      159.60
6                    7   17         NW \1/4\ NW \1/4\               3.14
6                    8   12         NW \1/4\ SE \1/4\               1.10
6                    7   8          SW \1/4\ SW \1/4\               0.92
6                    8   12         NE \1/4\ NW \1/4\               1.99
6                    7   7          NW \1/4\ NW \1/4\ of
                                     Section 7; and
6                    8   12         S \1/2\ NE \1/4\, E            86.48
                                     \1/2\ NE \1/4\ NE
                                     \1/4\ of Section 12
6                    8   12         NE \1/4\ NW \1/4\               1.56
6                    7   6          W \1/2\ SW \1/4\ SW
                                     \1/4\ of Section 6;
                                     and
6                    8   1          E \1/2\ SE \1/4\ SE            35.82
                                     \1/4\ of Section 1
6                    7   5          E \1/2\ NW \1/4\ SE            19.88
                                     \1/4\
6                    8   12         NW \1/4\ NE \1/4\               0.29
6                    8   1          SE \1/4\ SW \1/4\                2.5
6                    7   8          NE \1/4\ NW \1/4\               7.16
6                    8   1          SE \1/4\ SW \1/4\                5.5
6                    8   1          SE \1/4\ NW \1/4\               1.34
                         .........      Total               11,349.92''.
 

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Washington (Mr. Hastings) and the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Grijalva) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Washington.


                             General Leave

  Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Washington?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time 
as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 841 clarifies the administrative process for the 
Grand Ronde Tribe in Oregon to apply for new trust lands as long as the 
lands are within the tribe's original 1857 reservation.
  The bill also deems property placed in trust for the tribe after 1988 
to be part of the tribe's reservation and adjusts the tribe's 
Reservation Act to reflect several previous trust land acquisitions.
  Mr. Speaker, in 1954, Congress terminated the Grand Ronde Tribe and 
its 60,000-acre western Oregon reservation. While Congress restored the 
tribe in 1983, the process of rebuilding the land base for it has been 
done in a somewhat piecemeal fashion, beginning in 1988.
  H.R. 841 resolves a problem the Grand Ronde Tribe has experienced 
when it applies to the Department of the Interior for trust lands 
within its former reservation area. Applications for such land are 
considered under a set of ``off-reservation'' rules that are quite 
cumbersome.
  The bill requires the Department to treat land acquisition 
applications under less cumbersome ``on-reservation'' rules. It does 
not, however, reestablish the original 1857 reservation.
  The bill was reported favorably out of the Natural Resources 
Committee and has bipartisan support from the entire Oregon 
congressional delegation.
  I also want to point out that the suspension text contains an 
amendment to the reported bill. The new language prohibits the Grand 
Ronde Tribe from gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act on all 
lands it acquires through the Department's ``on-reservation'' process 
unless the lands are within a 2-mile radius of its existing rural 
casino.
  Within the 2-mile radius, existing restrictions under the Indian 
Gaming Regulatory Act remain in effect.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  H.R. 841 makes technical corrections to the Confederated Tribes of 
the Grand Ronde Reservation Act. In the past, efforts by the tribe have 
been hindered in its effort to restore traditional land within its 
original reservation by a very cumbersome and long process.
  The bill would end the current two-step process that requires the 
tribe to take the former reservation land into trust with approval from 
Interior and then get congressional approval to be designated 
reservation land.
  Also, the bill would allow the property taken into trust within the 
boundaries of the tribe's original reservation after September 9, 1988, 
to be part of the reservation.
  Congressman Schrader is to be commended for his leadership on this 
legislation and his commitment to working on behalf of our first 
Americans.
  H.R. 841 has wide support, including the entire Oregon delegation, 
and I urge its passage today.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Oregon (Mr. Schrader), the sponsor of the legislation.
  Mr. SCHRADER. Mr. Speaker, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand 
Ronde, which I have the privilege of representing, was terminated by 
the Federal Government in 1954. At that time, they not only lost their 
Federal recognition, but also its original reservation of over 60,000 
acres.
  In the decades that have ensued, members of the tribe have worked 
tirelessly to rebuild that Grand Ronde community. As was stated before, 
in 1983 these efforts resulted in the Grand Ronde Restoration Act, 
followed by the Grand Ronde Reservation Act in 1988, which restored 
nearly 10,000 acres of the tribe's original reservation to the Grand 
Ronde people.
  Since restoration, the tribe has continued their pursuit of securing 
its sovereignty by acquiring additional parcels of its original 
reservation and providing much-needed on-reservation jobs and services 
to tribal members.
  Unfortunately, the tribe's efforts have been hampered by a lengthy, 
expensive, and cumbersome BIA process, as you have heard. After the 
tribe acquires a parcel of land in fee, the tribe must prepare a fee-
to-trust application package for BIA. The BIA then processes this 
application, either as an on-reservation or off-reservation 
acquisition.

                              {time}  1730

  Because the tribe does not have exterior reservation boundaries, all 
parcels are, therefore, processed under the much more rigorous and 
oftentimes unneeded off-reservation acquisition regulations, even if 
the parcel is located within the original boundaries of the 
reservation.
  I introduced H.R. 841 to correct this problem and streamline the 
bureaucratic process the tribe continues to face as it brings parcels 
of land into trust. Under my legislation, any property located within 
the boundaries of the tribe's original reservation will be treated as 
``on-reservation'' land for the purpose of processing acquisitions of 
property into trust, and deemed a part of the tribe's reservation once 
taken into trust.
  Once enacted, H.R. 841 will not only save the Grand Ronde time and 
money, which could be better utilized serving their community and 
membership, but would also streamline the BIA's land-into-trust 
responsibilities to the Grand Ronde, thus saving taxpayer money.
  There is no opposition in my State by State officials or local 
governments, and CBO scores this as no cost to the Federal Government. 
I am proud to say that H.R. 841 has the delegation's support, the 
Bureau of Indian Affairs' support, and unanimous support from the two 
counties affected by the legislation.

[[Page H172]]

  I want to thank my Oregon colleagues in particular for their 
continued support and efforts to move this bill forward; and, frankly, 
I would personally like to thank Chairman Hastings, Ranking Member 
Grijalva, Chairman Young, Ranking Member Hanabusa, and Representative 
DeFazio for their assistance in moving this important legislation 
forward and the tireless efforts that their staffs have put forward, 
particularly Travis Joseph and Chris Fluhr. Finally, I would like to 
thank the members of the Grand Ronde who have been very, very, very 
patient throughout this whole process.
  With that, I ask Members of the House for their support for this 
important bill.
  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the 
legislation and yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. Hastings) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 841, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________