[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 7, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S267]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. PADILLA:
  S. 277. A bill to take certain land located in San Diego County, 
California, into trust for the benefit of the Pala Band of Mission 
Indians, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
  Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise to introduce the bipartisan Pala 
Band of Mission Indians Land Transfer Act to place roughly 700 acres of 
sacred lands into trust for the benefit of the Pala Band of Mission 
Indians. The lands in this bill, which are adjacent to the Tribe's 
existing reservation, include sacred sites, ancient rock art, and 
Tribal artifacts. Placing these lands into trust would protect the Pala 
Band's sacred lands and allow them to safeguard their culture and 
traditions as their ancestors have done since time immemorial.
  Our bill would place 721 acres of land in San Diego County, which the 
Tribe has already purchased, into trust for the Pala Band of Mission 
Indians. Doing so would allow the Pala Band to preserve their 
traditions and better steward their sacred sites for generations to 
come.
  Members of the Pala Band of Mission Indians descend from the Cupeno 
and Luiseno Tribes. The Cupenos lived in the valley of San Jose de 
Valle for generations until they were expelled from their ancestral 
homelands by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1901. The Tribe was forcibly 
relocated to Pala, CA, onto a Luiseno reservation. Over a century 
later, the Pala Band considers themselves one proud people with over 
900 Tribal members.
  In 2016, the Tribe purchased the lands covered by our bill in order 
to prevent the construction of a landfill on their sacred lands, known 
to the Tribe as ``Chokla.'' This bill would enable the Federal 
Government to fulfill its trust obligation by providing permanent 
protection for the Pala Band's ancestral and cultural sites.
  I thank Senator Feinstein for introducing this legislation with me in 
the Senate and Congressman Issa and Congressman Vargas for leading this 
effort in the House of Representatives. I look forward to working with 
my colleagues to enact this bill as quickly as possible.
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