[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 204 (Thursday, December 3, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H6096-H6099]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         LEECH LAKE BAND OF OJIBWE RESERVATION RESTORATION ACT

  Mr. CASE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(S. 199) to provide for the transfer of certain Federal land in the 
State of Minnesota for the benefit of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                 S. 199

       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 ``Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe 
     Reservation Restoration Act''.

     SEC. 2. LEECH LAKE BAND OF OJIBWE RESERVATION RESTORATION.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
       (1) the Federal land described in subsection (b)(1) was 
     taken from members of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe during a 
     period--
       (A) beginning in 1948;
       (B) during which the Bureau of Indian Affairs incorrectly 
     interpreted an order of the Secretary of the Interior to mean 
     that the Department of the Interior had the authority to sell 
     tribal allotments without the consent of a majority of the 
     rightful landowners; and
       (C) ending in 1959, when the Secretary of the Interior 
     was--
       (i) advised that sales described in subparagraph (B) were 
     illegal; and
       (ii) ordered to cease conducting those sales;
       (2) as a result of the Federal land described in subsection 
     (b)(1) being taken from members of the Leech Lake Band of 
     Ojibwe, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe hold the smallest 
     percentage of its original reservation lands of any Ojibwe 
     bands in Minnesota;
       (3)(A) the applicable statute of limitations prohibits 
     individuals from pursuing through litigation the return of 
     the land taken as described in paragraph (1); but

[[Page H6097]]

       (B) a Federal judge ruled that the land could be restored 
     to the affected individuals through the legislative process;
       (4) a comprehensive review of the Federal land demonstrated 
     that--
       (A) a portion of the Federal land is encumbered by--
       (i) utility easements;
       (ii) rights-of-way for roads; and
       (iii) flowage and reservoir rights; and
       (B) there are no known cabins, campgrounds, lodges, or 
     resorts located on any portion of the Federal land; and
       (5) on reacquisition by the Tribe of the Federal land, the 
     Tribe--
       (A) has pledged to respect the easements, rights-of-way, 
     and other rights described in paragraph (4)(A); and
       (B)(i) does not intend immediately to modify the use of the 
     Federal land; but
       (ii) will keep the Federal land in tax-exempt fee status as 
     part of the Chippewa National Forest until the Tribe develops 
     a plan that allows for a gradual subdivision of some tracts 
     for economic and residential development by the Tribe.
       (b) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) Federal land.--
       (A) In general.--The term ``Federal land'' means the 
     approximately 11,760 acres of Federal land located in the 
     Chippewa National Forest in Cass County, Minnesota, the 
     boundaries of which shall be depicted on the map, and 
     described in the legal description, submitted under 
     subsection (d)(1)(B).
       (B) Inclusions.--The term ``Federal land'' includes--
       (i) any improvement located on the Federal land described 
     in subparagraph (A); and
       (ii) any appurtenance to the Federal land.
       (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of Agriculture.
       (3) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Leech Lake Band of 
     Ojibwe.
       (c) Transfer to Reservation.--
       (1) In general.--Subject to valid existing rights and 
     paragraph (2), the Secretary shall transfer to the 
     administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior 
     all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to 
     the Federal land.
       (2) Treatment.--Effective immediately on the transfer under 
     paragraph (1), the Federal land shall be--
       (A) held in trust by the United States for the benefit of 
     the Tribe; and
       (B) considered to be a part of the reservation of the 
     Tribe.
       (d) Survey, Map, and Legal Description.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary shall--
       (A) not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
     this Act, complete a plan of survey to establish the 
     boundaries of the Federal land; and
       (B) as soon as practicable after the date of enactment of 
     this Act, submit a map and legal description of the Federal 
     land to--
       (i) the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 
     Representatives; and
       (ii) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate.
       (2) Force and effect.--The map and legal description 
     submitted under paragraph (1)(B) shall have the same force 
     and effect as if included in this Act, except that the 
     Secretary may correct any clerical or typographical error in 
     the map or legal description.
       (3) Public availability.--The map and legal description 
     submitted under paragraph (1)(B) shall be on file and 
     available for public inspection in the office of the 
     Secretary.
       (e) Administration.--
       (1) In general.--Except as otherwise expressly provided in 
     this section, nothing in this section affects any right or 
     claim of the Tribe, as in existence on the date of enactment 
     of this Act, to any land or interest in land.
       (2) Prohibitions.--
       (A) Exports of unprocessed logs.--Federal law (including 
     regulations) relating to the export of unprocessed logs 
     harvested from Federal land shall apply to any unprocessed 
     logs that are harvested from the Federal land.
       (B) Non-permissible use of land.--The Federal land shall 
     not be eligible or used for any gaming activity carried out 
     under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et 
     seq.).
       (3) Forest management.--Any commercial forestry activity 
     carried out on the Federal land shall be managed in 
     accordance with applicable Federal law.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Hawaii (Mr. Case) and the gentlewoman from Puerto Rico (Miss Gonzalez-
Colon) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Hawaii.


                             General Leave

  Mr. CASE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the measure under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Hawaii?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CASE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, S. 199, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation 
Restoration Act, introduced by Senator Tina Smith from Minnesota, 
directs the Department of Agriculture to transfer approximately 11,760 
acres of Federal land in the Chippewa National Forest to the Department 
of the Interior to be held in trust for the benefit of the Tribe.
  The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe is a federally recognized Tribe with 
approximately 10,660 members with a reservation located within the 
National Chippewa Forest in Cass County, Minnesota. The Leech Lake Band 
has the largest population of all the Minnesota Tribes yet the smallest 
amount of land available for its use.
  Much of the Tribe's land was lost when many of its members were 
illegally dispossessed of their land via ``secretarial transfers'' 
during the 1950s. Secretarial transfers were a transaction where the 
Department of the Interior approved the sale or transfer of Tribal land 
and/or individually owned Indian allotments without the consent of the 
Tribe or the individual Indian allottees. This practice resulted in the 
Tribe having insufficient land to meet the current needs of its 
membership.
  The return of the land through S. 199 will assist the Tribe in 
rebuilding its land base, enable the protection of sacred sites, and 
allow the construction of housing on some of the tracts near the 
Tribe's existing communities.
  The Tribe intends to respect all existing easements, rights of way, 
and other encumbrances on the land and does not intend to immediately 
modify the current land uses. Additionally, the land will stay in tax-
exempt fee status as part of the Chippewa National Forest until the 
Tribe develops a plan for future economic and residential use.
  I want to especially commend the Tribe for working together with 
local electric co-ops on a memorandum of understanding regarding some 
of the last remaining issues so that we could bring the bill before us 
today in a bipartisan fashion.
  I want to also extend sincere appreciation to our colleague from 
Minnesota (Ms. McCollum) for introducing the House companion of the 
legislation, H.R. 733, and for working diligently with the Natural 
Resources Committee, the Tribe, and the local interests to ensure that 
passage of this bill could become a reality.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge quick adoption of S. 199, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Miss GONZALEZ-COLON of Puerto Rico. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to 
the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber).
  Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 199, 
legislation that rights a historic wrong made against a Tribe in my 
district, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.
  Right after I took office, Chairman Jackson and other leaders from 
the Leech Lake Band approached me with a longstanding issue. In the 
1950s, the Secretary of Agriculture claimed land owned by Leech Lake 
under a dubious administrative transfer, ignoring pleas from the Tribe 
and upending the Tribal tradition of land ownership.
  Landholdings such as these are the foundation of Tribal sovereignty. 
Therefore, this wrong had to be righted with an act of Congress that 
transfers the roughly 11,000 acres back from the Agriculture Department 
to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.
  From the first conversation I had with the band, I supported this 
land exchange. This acreage was taken from Leech Lake and needed to be 
returned. Unfortunately, the legislation itself was flawed. It lacked 
any language allowing rural utilities access to longstanding rights of 
ways and easements to ensure maintenance for power and other services 
can be performed. It is crucial this transfer is done the right way, 
meaning electric cooperatives delivering power have the access they 
need for maintenance.
  Therefore, I worked with the band and the rural electric cooperatives 
to achieve a win-win solution. Through a years-long negotiation, I am 
happy to see a signed memorandum of understanding between Leech Lake 
and the cooperatives delivering service in the area, which include 
Beltrami Electric, Lake Country Power, and Crow Wing Power.
  After receiving and reviewing the memorandum to accompany the bill, I 
supported its passage through the

[[Page H6098]]

House Natural Resources Committee. With it now on the House floor, I 
look forward to its passage and the President signing the Leech Lake 
Band of Ojibwe Reservation Restoration Act into law.
  Mr. CASE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Minnesota (Ms. McCollum), who is the principal introducer of the House 
companion bill.
  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I thank my classmate from Hawaii, who is 
overseeing this legislation on the floor today. I thank the chairman of 
the full committee as well as the subcommittee chair and the members of 
the Natural Resources Committee for their unanimous support of H.R. 
733, the House companion to S. 199, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe 
Reservation Restoration Act.
  I want to thank Leech Lake's Tribal leaders personally for entrusting 
me with the responsibility of advancing this bill as the sponsor in the 
House and introducing the bill in the way they wanted it to be 
introduced so that they could have negotiations to move this language 
forward. I am proud of the ability that we all had in working together 
to make today a reality and that we will be voting on this final 
version of the bill.

  As I said, it has passed through the Senate, and it passed through 
the Senate unanimously. I look forward to seeing this legislation 
signed into law.
  Join me in voting today to restore the land that was illegally taken 
from Tribal nations by the Federal Government during the allotment era. 
Today we, collectively--the U.S. Congress--have an opportunity to 
correct a past injustice by returning the land to the Leech Lake Band 
of Ojibwe that the Federal Government sold without the consent of the 
rightful owners, to have it returned to them.
  Between 1948 and 1955, approximately 17,000 acres were illegally 
transferred by the Department of the Interior. The bill we are 
considering today would return more than 11,000 of those acres to the 
Tribe. The return of this land from the Forest Service is vitally 
important to the Leech Lake Band. They currently own less than 5 
percent of the land--5 percent of the land--within the boundaries of 
their reservation. This is the smallest percentage of any Minnesota 
Tribal nations.
  The Chippewa National Forest holds over 75 percent of the land within 
their reservation. Tribal leaders at Leech Lake have worked diligently 
for many years in partnership with the Chippewa National Forest in Cass 
County to identify the illegally transferred parcels of land and to 
build local support for this legislation. They have addressed concerns 
with the transfer through open dialogue and have created a win-win 
situation for everyone involved.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
  Mr. CASE. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the 
gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum).
  Ms. McCOLLUM. The chairman of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe has sent 
a letter that describes the injustices that were done when the land was 
illegally taken from Tribal members and the efforts that have gone into 
this bill that we will vote on today to create that injustice.
  Mr. Speaker, I include this letter in the Record.

                                                        LEECH LAKE


                                               BAND OF OJIBWE,

                                 Cass Lake, MN, November 17, 2020.
     Hon. Betty McCollum,
     House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Congresswoman McCollum: I write on behalf of the Leech 
     Lake Band of Ojibwe to express our thanks to you for 
     sponsoring H.R. 733, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe 
     Reservation Restoration Act. H.R. 733 will right a historical 
     injustice to the Leech Lake people by restoring 11,760 acres 
     to tribal trust status that the Interior Department illegally 
     transferred out of trust more than 70 years ago.
       Previously, former Congressman Rick Nolan introduced a 
     similar bill in the 115th Congress. While the identical 
     companion bill passed the Senate by unanimous consent in 
     December of 2018, it failed to advance in the House of 
     Representatives before the end of the session.
       In January of 2019, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe asked you 
     to reintroduce the Leech Lake Reservation Restoration Act to 
     the 116th Congress. As the former Co-Chair of the 
     Congressional Native American Caucus, your sponsorship of the 
     bill helped elevate the national importance of this 
     legislation and highlighted the historic injustice of the 
     federal takings of Leech Lake Reservation trust lands.
       The Leech Lake Indian Reservation was established through a 
     series of treaties with the United States and presidential 
     executive orders from 1855 to 1874. The initial Leech Lake 
     Reservation consisted or 588,684 acres of the Band's 
     homelands and included the most valuable red and white pine 
     in the region. These treaties and executive orders promised 
     that the reserved lands would be the Band's permanent 
     homeland.
       The United States violated these promises through a series 
     of federal laws and policies from 1889 to 1911, moving nearly 
     530,000 acres of our homelands out of trust status. These 
     federal actions unilaterally sold off large swaths of our 
     Reservation, and separately established what is now the 
     Chippewa National Forest, all without consent of the Band.
       In the 1940s and 1950s, the federal government, through 
     unauthorized administrative actions, took approximately 
     17,000 acres of additional Leech Lake Reservation lands again 
     without consent of the Band or individual tribal landowners. 
     In these agency-to-agency transfers, known as ``secretarial 
     transfers'', the Interior Department illegally transferred 
     Leech Lake trust lands to the USDA-Forest Service. The 
     Interior Department put a stop to the illegal transfers in 
     1955 when Department attorneys acknowledged that the actions 
     violated federal law. Lawsuits were filed to restore these 
     lands to trust status in federal courts, but the claims were 
     time barred. As a result, the only means of achieving justice 
     for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe is through federal 
     legislation. H.R. 733/S. 199 would restore the portion of 
     these illegal secretarial transfer lands located within Cass 
     County back to the Interior Department to be held in trust 
     for the Band.
       The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe has worked for many years to 
     identify the illegally transferred land parcels, build local 
     support and address any concerns with the bill. When it was 
     clear the only recourse to recover these lands was federal 
     legislation, the Band met on several occasions with 
     leadership of the Chippewa National Forest to discuss the 
     issue and draft the bill. The bill includes language 
     consistent with the U.S. Forest Service's mission to adhere 
     to national and local policies regarding the management of 
     Federal lands. It directs the Secretary to work with the 
     Chippewa National Forest Supervisor and the Band to identify 
     Federal lands in Cass County near concentrations of the Leech 
     Lake population and tribal government facilities to ensure 
     that transferred lands address the immediate needs of the 
     Band and reduce fragmentation of federal land holdings.
       In addition, the Band has held several meetings with rural 
     electric co-ops and other utilities that utilize federal 
     lands to ensure the bill would protect rights of way on any 
     transferred lands. Through meeting and open dialogue, we were 
     able to address the concerns of the ROW permitees and ensure 
     that access is maintained not only for citizens of our 
     community relying on these essential utility services, but 
     also for the companies crossing federal lands.
       Thanks to the work in addressing concerns with the Leech 
     Lake Reservation Restoration Act, the United States Senate 
     once again passed the identical companion bill to H.R. 733, 
     S. 199, by unanimous consent in June of 2019. Likewise, the 
     House Natural Resources Committee approved the bill by 
     unanimous voice vote on September 30, 2020.
       Advancing this bill to final passage in the U.S. House of 
     Representatives will restore a sense of justice that 
     generations of our Leech Lake people have been working to 
     achieve and provide the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe the 
     necessary land base to combat the housing and homelessness, 
     longstanding problems that have been highlighted as urgent 
     needs by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
       The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe values your friendship and 
     dedication to protecting and preserving tribal sovereignty. 
     We look forward to continuing our work together on this bill 
     and the many other policy issues facing Indian Country and 
     our Nation in these trying times.
           Sincerely,
                                               Faron Jackson, Sr.,
                                                         Chairman.

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, restoring this land to the Leech Lake 
reservation will support Tribal communities while also preserving the 
area for public recreation. It will allow the Tribe to consistently 
apply their forest management plan across a greater portion of the 
reservation. It will also respect all the rights of ways of the utility 
permits.
  It will be good for Leech Lake Band, good for the forest, and good 
for local communities. And it will be good to correct a historical 
injustice.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge support for S. 199.
  Miss GONZALEZ-COLON of Puerto Rico. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, as was just explained by my colleague across the aisle, 
S. 199 would place approximately 11,000 acres of Federal land managed 
by the U.S. Forest Service into trust for the Leech Lake Band.

[[Page H6099]]

  The Tribe and the lands that would be held into trust under this bill 
are located in the Eighth Congressional District, which is represented 
by Republican Congressman Pete Stauber. I want to thank Mr. Stauber for 
his hard work on this legislation because, without it, we would not be 
here today.
  After the House companion bill, H.R. 733, was introduced by 
Congresswoman McCollum, it was determined that a number of the parcels 
affected by the bills had encumbrances, mainly those of public utility 
co-ops.
  This was, again, another bill that was not properly vetted prior to 
introduction by a Member from this district. I truly believe that, 
since that time, Congressman Stauber has been a leader in efforts to 
bring the Tribe and several utility co-ops together to come to a legal 
agreement to resolve those issues with these easements.
  We have some concerns regarding the enforceability of this document 
but appreciate the willingness of all parties to seek a consensus. I 
think that is the important part today, that there is finally a 
consensus on this issue. That is a policy the Natural Resources 
Committee majority has little interest in pursuing because, 
unfortunately, S. 199 does not reflect this improvement in the bill 
text. Let's hope the parties will continue to act in good faith despite 
this.
  I, again, thank Mr. Stauber for his efforts and the members of the 
committee who worked across the aisle to make this happen today. I am 
pleased he joined our committee during this year. He has been one of 
the more active members of the committee during his short tenure.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. CASE. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this valuable 
legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Case) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, S. 199.
  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.

                          ____________________