[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 11182]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                           FOUR BEARS BRIDGE

 Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I commend the leadership of the 
Appropriations Committee, and particularly subcommittee Chairman Shelby 
and Senator Lautenberg for their work on the Transportation 
appropriations bill that the Senate passed yesterday. However, I am 
gravely concerned about the omission of an item included in the 
President's budget request for Three Affiliated Tribes on the Fort 
Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. The President included $5 
million for the design and preliminary engineering of the Four Bears 
Bridge on Fort Berthold Reservation. This bill makes no reference to 
this funding request. I am concerned that this will provide the federal 
government with yet another excuse for not replacing a bridge that is 
clearly its responsibility to replace.
  This bridge, originally constructed in 1934 on another part of the 
reservation, was erected at its current site by the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers in 1952 during construction of the Garrison Dam. Because the 
Garrison Dam project created a permanent flood in the form of Lake 
Sakakawea on the Fort Berthold Reservation, the bridge became necessary 
to connect the west and the east sides of the Reservation.
  Mr. President, Senator Campbell, chairman of the Indian Affairs 
Committee, shares my concerns that the Four Bears Bridge was not 
included in the bill as requested by the Administration. The reason 
that this bridge is necessary is because the federal government created 
a lake bisecting the Reservation. Now there's a situation on Fort 
Berthold where emergency vehicles, school buses, police and general 
local traffic are forced to cross a bridge that is only 22 feet wide. 
This kind of a bridge was built for the small cars of the 1930s--not 
for the large vehicles common today. It is also important to note that 
this bridge is one of the few crossing points along the Missouri River 
in North Dakota, making it a vital connection for all traffic--
including large truck traffic--moving across the state.
  Mr. INOUYE. I, too, am concerned about the situation on the Fort 
Berthold Reservation. In the Indian Affairs Committee, my colleagues 
and I struggle with how to meet the many responsibilities that the 
federal government has to Indian tribes across the nation. There is a 
mounting crisis in Indian country in a range of areas and 
transportation is among the critical needs of tribes. Including the 
Four Bears Bridge in this bill as requested by the President is vital 
to addressing the emergency needs on the Fort Berthold Reservation.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, this is clearly a Federal responsibility. 
A Federal project created Lake Sakakawea and flooded a significant 
portion of the reservation, thus creating the need for this bridge. In 
1992, Congress accepted the recommendations of the Joint Tribal 
Advisory Commission, which studied the impact of the Garrison 
Reservoir, created by the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Project, on the 
Three Affiliated Tribes. The Commission found that the Three Affiliated 
Tribes are entitled to replacement of infrastructure lost by the 
creation of the Garrison Dam and Lake Sakakawea. The Federal Government 
has a responsibility to the Three Affiliated Tribes to play a major 
role in providing for the infrastructure necessitated by the permanent 
flood created by this project.
  Mr. President, will the Chairman of the Subcommittee also support 
funding this bridge as recommended by President Clinton?
  Mr. SHELBY. I recognize that the Four Bears Bridge is an important 
priority for my colleagues and I will work with Senator Dorgan, Senator 
Conrad, Indian Affairs Committee Chairman Campbell and Indian Affairs 
Committee Vice Chairman Inouye to identify funding for the bridge in 
the Transportation appropriations bill when it goes to 
conference.

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