[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 93 (Wednesday, May 31, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S1838]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                        TRIBUTE TO NATHAN SMALL

 Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, with my colleague Senator Jim Risch 
and Representative Mike Simpson, I congratulate Nathan Small, who is 
retiring from serving as chairman of the Fort Hall Business Council, 
the governing body of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes on the Fort Hall 
Reservation.
  Chairman Small has been an unwavering voice for his people for 
roughly 40 years, leading in various roles for the Fort Hall Business 
Council since the late 1980s. He has dedicated his life to protecting 
the Tribes' rights under the 1868 Treaty of Fort Bridger and other 
Federal laws and tirelessly worked to preserve the traditional ways of 
life of the Shoshone-Bannock people. He is respected not only in Idaho 
for his efforts to protect the rights of all Idaho Tribes but also on 
the national level for his inspiring and effective advocacy in ensuring 
the United States upholds its treaty and trust responsibilities to 
Tribal governments.
  We have been grateful for his steady leadership, especially while we 
partnered with him and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes on various efforts 
over the years. Chairman Small's wealth of knowledge and experience was 
pivotal to his advocacy on the Tribes' behalf. He is also a member of 
the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Bar Association and has been both a 
prosecutor and public defender in Tribal court. He was instrumental in 
opening the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes' first gaming operation and was 
gaming manager from 1990 to 1998. He also served in the Tribes' Water 
Resources Department in the Environmental Waste Program, advocating for 
the protection of the Reservation's water and land. He is a founding 
Board member and is Secretary of the Coalition of Large Tribes, which 
advocates for the sovereign rights of Tribes.
  Thank you, Chairman Small, for working with us to properly recognize 
tribal sovereignty and the Federal Government's treaty and trust 
obligations to Tribes. We hope that retirement will provide you more 
time to spend enjoying the outdoors you love. We thank you for your 
leadership and wish you all the best.

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