[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 19954-19955]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    TRAIL OF TEARS DOCUMENTATION ACT

  Ms. BORDALLO. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 5335) to amend the National Trails System Act to provide for 
the inclusion of new trail segments, land components, and campgrounds 
associated with the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, and for 
other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 5335

       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 ``Trail of Tears Documentation 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. ADDITIONS TO TRAIL OF TEARS NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL.

       Section 5(a)(16) of the National Trails System Act (16 
     U.S.C. 1244(a)(16)) is amended as follows:
       (1) By amending subparagraph (C) to read as follows:
       ``(C) In addition to the areas otherwise designated under 
     this paragraph, the following routes and land components by 
     which the Cherokee Nation was removed to Oklahoma are 
     components of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, as 
     generally described in the environmentally preferred 
     alternative of the November 2007 Feasibility Study Amendment 
     and Environmental Assessment for Trail of Tears National 
     Historic Trail:
       ``(i) The Benge and Bell routes.
       ``(ii) The land components of the designated water routes 
     in Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.
       ``(iii) The routes from the collection forts in Alabama, 
     Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee to the emigration 
     depots.
       ``(iv) The related campgrounds located along the routes and 
     land components described in clauses (i) through (iii).''.
       (2) In subparagraph (D)--
       (A) by striking the first sentence; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following: ``No lands or 
     interests in lands outside the exterior boundaries of any 
     federally administered area may be acquired by the Federal 
     Government for the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail 
     except with the consent of the owner thereof.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Guam (Ms. Bordallo) and the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Guam.


                             General Leave

  Ms. BORDALLO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Guam?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Madam Speaker, H.R. 5335, introduced by our colleague 
from Tennessee, Representative Wamp, implements the recommendations of 
a National Park Service study that examined the possibility of adding 
several side trails associated with the Trail of Tears National 
Historic Trail.
  Congress designated the original National Historic Trail in 1987 to 
commemorate the two main routes used during the forced removal of more 
than 15,000 Cherokee Indians from their ancestral homelands in the 
southeastern United States. At that time, many of the side routes used 
during the removal were not well documented.
  Subsequent research has identified these routes, and in 2006 Congress 
directed the National Park Service to determine which, if any, of these 
routes would be eligible for addition to the existing trail.
  The National Park Service found a number of components eligible for 
designation and recommended adding routes in Tennessee and Alabama. 
H.R. 5335 adds those routes to the existing trail.
  I ask my colleagues to support passage of this measure.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  This legislation, H.R. 5335, has been explained by the good manager 
of the bill, and we support the legislation.
  I would like to, at this time, acknowledge the bill's author, 
Congressman Zach Wamp, and of course Congressman Shuler. Both of them 
have asked me and asked the leadership of the Resources Committee to 
move this legislation.
  I support the legislation because it does recognize the angst of 
those that marched on this trail. I strongly compliment both of those 
gentlemen for their hard work.
  Mr. SHULER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to voice my strong support 
for H.R. 5335, the Trail of Tears Documentation Act. As a co-sponsor of 
this legislation, I feel that it is imperative that Congress make it a 
priority to protect and preserve these historic routes.
  H.R. 5335 amends the National Trails System Act to provide for the 
inclusion of new trail segments, land components, and campsites 
associated with the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.
  The Trail of Tears was a significant and shameful chapter in American 
history. In 1838-1839, the U.S. Government forcibly removed Cherokee 
Indians from their ancestral homelands in western North Carolina and 
other parts of the southeastern United States and resettled them in 
Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. Over 15,000 Cherokees 
were systematically rounded up from their homes and forced to travel by 
foot, horseback, boat, and wagon across the southern U.S. to Indian 
Territory. More than 1,000 people died from exposure, illness, and 
exhaustion during the roundup and removal.
  I am proud to have grown up alongside the Qualla Boundary in western 
North Carolina, home to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The EBCI 
are descended from the Cherokee who resisted removal by taking to their 
ancestral mountains, where they still live to this day and keep alive 
the traditions and values of their forefathers.
  The Trail of Tears Act designated two primary travel routes, the 
northern land route and the water routes. This amendment specifically 
adds other significant routes that were used by the Cherokee during the 
resettlement. These include: the Bell and Benge routes, the land 
components of the water routes, the routes from the roundup forts and 
camps in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, and the 
related campsites located along the routes and land components.
  I am a proud co-sponsor of this bill, and I commend Congressman Zach 
Wamp for introducing this legislation and fighting to ensure its 
passage in the 110th Congress. I ask that my colleagues join me in 
honoring the memory of all of the Cherokee who suffered during the 
removal on the Trail of Tears.
  Mr. WAMP. Madam Speaker, I'd like to thank Chairman Rahall and 
Ranking Member Young and their staff for their help. I'd also like to 
thank all 21 cosponsors for their involvement and especially 
Congressman Heath Shuler, who helped me champion this very worthy 
initiative. Most of all, I would like to thank Principal Chief of the 
Cherokee Nation, Chad Smith and Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of 
Cherokee, Michell Hicks, as well as the National and State Trail of 
Tears Associations.
  I am very proud of H.R. 5335, the Trail of Tears Documentation Act 
and count it as a great privilege to be the lead sponsor. When I was a 
little boy, my mother told me of my own Cherokee heritage. Her 
grandfather, Luna Meadows was half Cherokee. His mother, Little Flower, 
was a full-blooded Cherokee midwife. So completing the story of the 
Cherokee Removal is personal for me and very important for our country 
as the Trail of Tears and the forced removal is one of the seminal 
injustices in American history. It must be told accurately, honestly 
and completely. I urge passage of this bill and enactment of the 
legislation.
  This bill is the subsequent measure to H.R. 3085, the Trail of Tears 
Study Act which was signed into law in December 2006. H.R. 3085 
directed the National Park Service to complete a study on expanding the 
current Trail of Tears National Historic Trail to include previously 
omitted components. In 1987 when the original Trail was designated, the 
historical documentation available for these known passages was sparse 
and ambiguous. Since that time however, significant research on the 
proposed additions has been documented by National Park Service 
historians through military journals, newspaper accounts and vouchers--
compelling us to reconsider these passages. In fact, the NPS has noted 
that now these proposed trails are better documented than the

[[Page 19955]]

primary routes that currently make up the Trail of Tears.
  The Cherokee removal is only one tribe's story of the Indian Removal 
Act of 1830, but it is the most visible in American history. It is not 
just an Arkansas and Oklahoma story; it started in North Carolina, 
Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama. These distinct routes and campgrounds 
proposed in the Trail of Tears Documentation Act more fully reflect 
this tragic saga of a proud people's forced removal. The story is not 
yet complete until we commemorate the full experience.
  The arteries I want to highlight are the detachments led by John 
Benge that traveled 734 miles starting at Fort Payne, Alabama 
continuing through Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas and 
Oklahoma. And the Treaty Party Group led by John Bell which traveled 
765 miles starting at Charleston, Tennessee crossing west over Moccasin 
Bend and traveling through Arkansas. It was the only one of the 17 
detachments that did not disband in Oklahoma.
  Also included are 29 forts and the emigration depots concentrated 
around Fort Payne, Alabama; Ross's Landing--present day Chattanooga, 
Tennessee; and Fort Cass--present day Charleston, Tennessee where the 
Cherokee initially were taken after being rounded up from their homes 
for the long journey west.
  The National Park Service has demonstrated strong partnerships geared 
toward respecting the private property of citizens in its administering 
of the current Trail of Tears National Historic Trail and will continue 
to do so upon the addition of the Benge, Bell Routes and associated 
components. In fact, as the NPS traveled throughout the U.S. conducting 
public hearings on the proposal in the designated areas, the support 
and belief in this initiative were overwhelming.
  The designation and interpretation of the additional sites and trails 
associated with the Cherokee Removal will enhance public understanding 
of American history. Our greatness as a nation is our ability to look 
at our own history objectively and in proper perspective, being mindful 
of the errors of the past in order not to repeat them. Through this 
legislation we will honor the historic footsteps taken by the Cherokee 
and celebrate our future as we remember the past.
  Finally, because of historical significance, H.R. 5335 enjoys broad 
support not only within Congress, but also with the Cherokee Nation, 
Eastern Band of Cherokee and associated trail organizations. The 
legislation is a good example of how Congress can better understand a 
national event through an accurate portrayal of the people, the places 
and the actions involved. We can learn a lot from history and in this 
case, ensure that it will never be repeated.
  Mr. COLE of Oklahoma. Madam Speaker, I come here in support of H.R. 
5335, which would amend the National Trails System Act to provide for 
the inclusion of new trail segments, land components, and campgrounds 
associated with the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. First, I 
would like to thank my colleague from Tennessee, Congressman Wamp, for 
sponsoring this important legislation. As an Oklahoman, this 
legislation is significant to my district, where many of my 
constituents are descendants of those who survived the Trail of Tears. 
However, as the only Native American currently serving in Congress this 
bill is also personally important to me, as my ancestors were forcibly 
relocated from Mississippi to Oklahoma through the Trail of Tears, 
though not one of the routes originally documented in the original 
Historic Trail. Of the dozens of tribes that call Oklahoma home today, 
very few are originally from the area. Virtually all of the tribes in 
Oklahoma experienced the tragedy of the forced relocation process.
  Madam Speaker, when the Trail of Tears Historic Trail was created by 
Congress in 1987, it designated two main routes taken by the Cherokee 
during the removal process. Historically, many routes used during 
removal were not well documented at the time and were not included in 
the designation. Since that time, researchers have identified other 
routes taken by Native Americans during the relocation process. A 
feasibility study, ordered by Congress and released in September 2007, 
did find additional trail segments. This bill, pursuant to the 
feasibility study, adds additional land components, round up routes and 
water routes to the Trail of Tears Historic Trail. I am happy to be an 
original co-sponsor of this legislation.
  Not only will these additional designations help to raise awareness 
about this tragic chapter of our Nation's history, but will provide 
many across Indian country with better access to their past and 
collective history. The Trail of Tears crystallized the idea of race as 
a determining factor in American public policy and documents the first 
federally legislated forced removal of Native people from traditional 
homelands. The physical route of the Trail of Tears National Historic 
Trail and historic sites associated with the Trail and removal reflect 
the lifestyles of Native people at the time of removal, the harshness 
of the journey West and their remarkable adaptation to new 
surroundings. Thousands of Native Americans in Oklahoma and elsewhere 
will be able to visit these sites and identify with their ancestors' 
desperate journey westward.
  Madam Speaker, though this bill calls awareness to one of the most 
tragic events in our Nation's history, it also is ultimately a story of 
survival. The tribes that were relocated have once again established 
themselves and remain strong. This achievement only helps exemplify the 
astonishing fortitude of American Indians.
  Again, I thank Congressman Wamp for introducing this crucial 
legislation. As the only Native American currently serving in Congress, 
I am proud to support the intention of this bill and I urge Members to 
vote for its passage.
  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Madam Speaker, I again urge Members to support the 
bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 5335, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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