[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 11, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S1011]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. PADILLA (for himself and Mr. Schiff):
  S. 4053. A bill to take certain land in the State of California into 
trust for the benefit of the Pechanga Band of Indians, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
  Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Pechanga 
Band of Indians Land Transfer Act. This bill would transfer 860 acres 
of Federal land in Riverside County, CA, currently administered by the 
Bureau of Land Management and adjacent to Tribal land, to be held in 
trust for the Pechanga Band of Indians.
  The Pechanga Band of Indians have worked to acquire isolated parcels 
of land nearby and adjacent to Tribal land in Temecula to better 
protect, preserve, and restore sites sacred to the Tribe, including by 
fighting against the development of an open-pit mine quarry that would 
have caused air pollution across the valley and destroyed the sacred 
Pu'eska Mountain.
  The transfer of these 860 acres would unify the Tribe with the land 
near this mountain to be managed consistent with the Tribe's cultural 
traditions and land management practices.
  This legislation will support the Tribe's restoration efforts, allow 
for greater protection of culturally significant sites, and improve 
environmental monitoring and natural resource management on land that 
has been significant to the Tribe for over 10,000 years.
  I want to thank Senator Schiff for joining me in cosponsoring this 
legislation, and I thank Congressman Darrell Issa for introducing 
companion legislation in the House.
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