[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.
____________________