[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 79 (Tuesday, May 15, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H3953-H3954]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
OREGON TRIBAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACT
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass
the bill (S. 1285) to allow the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower
Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde
Community of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of
Oregon, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the Cow Creek Band of
Umpqua Tribe of Indians, the Klamath Tribes, and the Burns Paiute
Tribes to lease or transfer certain lands.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
S. 1285
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Oregon Tribal Economic
Development Act''.
SEC. 2. APPROVAL NOT REQUIRED TO VALIDATE LAND TRANSACTIONS.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, without further approval, ratification, or authorization
by the United States, the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower
Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians, the Confederated Tribes of the
Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes of
Siletz Indians of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes of Warm
Springs, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, the
Klamath Tribes, and the Burns Paiute Tribes may lease, sell,
convey, warrant, or otherwise transfer all or any part of its
interests in any real property that is not held in trust by
the United States for the benefit of such tribe.
(b) Trust Land Not Affected.--Nothing in this section
shall--
(1) authorize the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower
Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians, the Confederated Tribes of the
Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes of
Siletz Indians of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes of Warm
Springs, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, the
Klamath Tribes, and the Burns Paiute Tribes to lease, sell,
convey, warrant, or otherwise transfer all or any part of an
interest in any real property that is held in trust by the
United States for the benefit of such tribe; or
(2) affect the operation of any law governing leasing,
selling, conveying, warranting, or otherwise transferring any
interest in such trust land.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Utah (Mr. Bishop) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Soto) each will
control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah.
General Leave
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. 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 Utah?
There was no objection.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to speak to this particular piece of
legislation.
This bill will clarify that five recognized tribes in the State of
Oregon may buy, sell, lease, or otherwise convey land that they own in
fee without approval from the Federal Government.
Some of the earliest laws passed by Congress after the ratification
of the Constitution reserves to the United States the exclusive right
to acquire Indian lands. These laws are commonly called the Trade and
Intercourse Acts.
The acts were meant to protect Indian tribes by preventing the loss
of their lands, except by treaty. It does so by preventing the
transfer, sale, lease, or other conveyance of land owned by an Indian
tribe to third parties without Federal approval.
This bill, S. 1285, would clarify that the five tribes named in this
bill may do this job without Federal review or approval.
The bill benefits other tribes in a similar fashion were also
considered by the Natural Resources Committee and enacted into law
during the 106th, 113th, and 114th Congresses as well. This particular
bill, which passed by unanimous consent in December, truly shows that
despite what some Members are quoted as saying in the press, the
Natural Resources Committee is, in fact, still a productive committee
after all.
In fact, we have been the most active House committee next to the
Rules Committee. We have already marked up 147 bills and reported out
114 of these bills. No other committee has reached the 100 mark. I
guess that is a plus. If it is, then we did it. The House has passed 92
of these bills, and 23 have been signed into law. We hope to change
that to 93 and 24 respectively.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SOTO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
First, I want to congratulate the chairman on having a productive
committee. I appreciate that one of those bills was from our own
office. We will keep them coming, hopefully.
Back to the bill at hand. Almost 200 years ago, the Indian
Nonintercourse Act was enacted with the intention of protecting Indian
tribes by preventing the loss of their lands. It does so by preventing
the transfer, sale, lease, or other conveyance of any land owned by an
Indian tribe to third parties without Federal approval. This
prohibition applies to both trust and tribally owned fee lands.
Although a number of laws have been passed over the centuries that
effectively supersede the Nonintercourse Act, the actual act has never
been repealed. Therefore, relief from the act is sometimes necessary so
that a tribe may manage their fee lands efficiently and put them to
productive use.
This is what S. 1285 would do. It clarifies that these seven Oregon
tribes have the authority to lease, sell, convey, warrant, or otherwise
transfer their tribally owned fee lands without approval from the
Federal Government. The bill also clarifies that this authority does
not apply to trust lands. Congress has previously enacted similar laws
for other Indian tribes, so this measure is not unprecedented.
In closing, I want to thank our colleague from Oregon, Congressman
Peter DeFazio, for his sponsorship of the House version of this bill
and his leadership on this issue.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill.
I have no other speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1285, the Senate
companion to my bipartisan bill, H.R. 3225, the Oregon Tribal Economic
Development Act.
Last year a federally-recognized tribe in my District, the
Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw, alerted me
that it was unable to obtain a commercial mortgage to purchase a
storage unit facility.
A local financial institution was concerned that under the arcane
Indian Non-Intercourse Act (INIA), it was afraid it would not be able
to repossess the property should the tribe be unable to make mortgage
payments.
Many of my colleagues are not familiar with the INIA, with good
reason. The law is over 180 years old, and prohibits a tribe from
buying, selling or leasing land. Under the law, Congress, not the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, is required to approve every potential
transaction.
Typically, the INIA has not prevented tribes from buying, selling or
leasing land. However, some financial institutions, as in the case in
my District, have interpreted it to mean that Congress act.
[[Page H3954]]
Over the years, Congress has appropriately passed laws excluding
individual tribes from the INIA. First, the INIA is completely
unworkable. Congress has a hard enough time passing legislation, for
better or worse, that affects thousands or millions of Americans. It is
not remotely possible we could pass a law every time a tribe requests
to buy, sell or lease property.
Additionally, the INIA is a road block to a tribe's economic
development. For hundreds of years, terrible federal Indian policy
decimated tribes through displacement, disease, and discrimination. In
my District, the INIA made it impossible for the Tribe to function as
the sovereign nation it is to benefit its members. S. 1285 would
clarify that INIA does not apply to five Oregon tribes, and only in the
case of fee land. Land held in trust is not affected by this bill. It
is bipartisan, and does not cost the government a dime.
It is past time to ensure Oregon tribes are allowed to engage in real
property transactions without the threat of a 180 year-old law standing
in the way.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Bishop) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, S. 1285.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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