[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 54 (Thursday, March 28, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S2085]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO DELORES PIGSLEY

 Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, this month, Women's History Month, 
we recognize and celebrate the contributions that women have made to 
the betterment of our Nation. Today, I want to talk about one such 
remarkable woman from my home State of Oregon: Delores Pigsley.
  In 1991, Delores Pigsley said, ``You never quit being an Indian just 
because your tribe has been terminated.'' Delores--Dee to her friends--
ought to know. As a young child, Delores witnessed the termination of 
her Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, in 1954, and just 
over two decades later, in 1977, she was the driving force behind the 
Siletz becoming the first Tribe in Oregon, and just the second tribe in 
the entire United States to have its Federal status as a sovereign 
government restored.
  For over four decades now, Delores has never slowed down or wavered 
in her commitment to serving the members of the Siletz Tribe, 32 of 
those years as Tribal chairman.
  As chief negotiator for the Siletz Tribe, Delores passed agreements 
with Congress, negotiated compacts, and testified here on Capitol Hill 
before Congress. She has worked with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and 
Indian Health Services on behalf of her Tribal members, and thanks in 
no small measure to her leadership, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz 
Indians, which was once on the verge of ceasing to exist, now owns and 
manages a reservation of over 3,500 acres, with a casino, resorts, 
hotels, a school, and health clinics.
  Delores is many things to many people: a chairman, a leader, a role 
model, a wife, a mother, and a grandmother. In spite of all her 
accomplishments, she remains humble, attributing much of her success to 
other Tribal council leaders and to many national Tribal leaders who 
have served as mentors to her.
  So this Women's History Month, let's take a moment to recognize and 
to thank Delores Pigsley for all that she has done for the members of 
the Siletz Tribe, for Tribes across the country, and for the people of 
Oregon.
  Thank you.

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