[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16705-16706]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



           PACIFIC NORTHWEST FEASIBILITY STUDIES ACT OF 2001

  Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the 
rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1937) to authorize the Secretary of the 
Interior to engage in certain feasibility studies of water resource 
projects in the State of Washington, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 1937

       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 ``Pacific Northwest 
     Feasibility Studies Act of 2001''.

     SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF FEASIBILITY STUDIES.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior may engage 
     in the following feasibility studies:
       (1) The Tulalip Tribes Water Quality Feasibility Study, to 
     identify ways to meet future domestic and commercial water 
     distribution needs of the Tulalip Indian Reservation on the 
     Eastern Shore of Puget Sound, Washington.
       (2) The Lower Elwha Klallam Rural Water Supply Feasibility 
     Study, to identify additional rural water supply sources for 
     the Lower Elwha Indian Reservation on the Olympic Peninsula, 
     Washington.
       (3) The Makah Community Water Source Project Feasibility 
     Study, to identify ways to meet the current and future 
     domestic and commercial water supply and distribution needs 
     of the Makah Indian Tribe on the Olympic Peninsula, 
     Washington.
       (b) Public Availability of Results.--The Secretary of the 
     Interior shall make available to the public, upon request, 
     the results of each feasibility study authorized under 
     subsection (a), and shall promptly publish in the Federal 
     Register a notice of the availability of those results.


[[Page 16706]]


  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Peterson) and the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands 
(Mrs. Christensen) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Peterson).
  Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1937, authored by the gentleman from Washington 
State (Mr. Larsen) will authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 
conduct feasibility studies for three Native American tribes in the 
State of Washington. The purpose of the studies is to investigate the 
feasibility of providing potable water and wastewater distribution 
systems to meet the future domestic and commercial needs of the tribes.
  This is a noncontroversial bill, and I urge its adoption.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I rise in strong support as well of H.R. 1937, the Pacific Northwest 
Feasibility Studies Act. I congratulate my colleague, the gentleman 
from Washington State (Mr. Larsen), for his hard work in bringing this 
bill to the House floor today.
  H.R. 1937 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to engage in water 
supply feasibility studies to benefit several Native American 
communities in the State of Washington. The studies will help the 
communities to identify the best ways to meet their water supply and 
distribution needs for domestic, rural, and commercial water users.
  The bill also requires the Secretary to make the results of these 
studies available to the public and to publish a notice of the 
availability of study results. The report and accompanying 
environmental and economic analyses will provide the Congress with 
recommendations on how best to proceed with cost-effective and 
environmentally sound solutions to the water problems facing these 
communities.
  This legislation enjoys broad support, and I encourage my colleagues 
to support H.R. 1937.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Washington (Mr. Larsen), the sponsor of H.R. 1937.
  Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I just want to take a few 
minutes to speak on behalf of H.R. 1937, the Pacific Northwest 
Feasibility Studies Act of 2001.
  I first want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Calvert) and 
the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen) on the Republican side, and the 
gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), the gentleman from 
Washington (Mr. Dicks), the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith), and 
the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Inslee) on the Democratic side for 
their support in shepherding this legislation to the floor today.
  I just want to point out this bill authorizes the Secretary of the 
Interior to conduct water feasibility studies for three Native American 
tribes in Washington State. I want to speak briefly about one in 
particular, which is in my district, the Tulalip Indian Tribe. The 
Tulalip reservation is located outside of Marysville and covers 
approximately 35 square miles. The permanent population of the 
reservation is under 7,000 and continues to grow significantly, but 
during the summer and holidays the reservation population increases by 
up to 40 percent.
  Like many American Indian reservations, the Tulalip reservation faces 
groundwater access barriers due to the presence of glacial sediments, a 
shallow aquifer system, bordering salt water and limited drainage. 
Likewise, most of the current drinking water on the reservation is 
supplied from a patchwork of public and private wells. Continued 
degradation of the water resources on the reservation will limit the 
development of the reservation and surrounding areas.
  The study that this bill authorizes is vital to ensure the long-term 
safety and accessibility of groundwater on the reservation. So I urge 
my colleagues to support this legislation, H.R. 1937.
  Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume, in closing, to thank the ranking member, the 
gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen), for her support 
in helping to bring these four bills to the floor today. Especially the 
first one, I failed to thank her on the floor for that, so I will do it 
now.
  I want to thank her and all the Members for their support in bringing 
these four bills forward.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume to thank my colleague for those kind words. It has been a 
pleasure sharing this afternoon with him and getting these bills to the 
floor and passed, as well as working with him on the committee these 
several years.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Peterson) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1937, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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