[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15689-15690]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      CELEBRATION AT STANDING ROCK

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, in the bitter cold of a North Dakota 
December yesterday--and it can be cold up there--there was a 
celebration at Standing Rock. Why?
  Along the banks of the Missouri River, in this heavy snow, there were 
hugs and tears of joy and drumming and dancing as the people of the 
Standing Rock Tribe and others heard the good news. The Army Corps of 
Engineers did not--did not--approve the easement for the Dakota Access 
oil pipeline. Instead, the Corps of Engineers determined that the 
pipeline must be rerouted. I am so glad. It is so important.
  This is a victory for the Standing Rock Sioux. We know the long 
history Native Americans have in the State of the Presiding Officer. We 
know that around the country--I have 26 Indian entities in Nevada--they 
have been treated so poorly. Nevada is no different from any other 
State. They were pushed off of the lands they dwelt on before we showed 
up, we White folks here in America. They have been pushed around. So 
when the Standing Rock people heard the good news that the Corps of 
Engineers had finally given them at least some small victory, it was 
very exciting for them. It is a victory for them. They have been 
objecting to this construction for more than 2 years.
  The tribe was concerned about a number of issues, not the least of 
which were their ancestral grounds, some of which land has their 
ancestors buried there. They were afraid of water contamination and 
other problems.
  In a statement to the press, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux 
Tribe said:

       We wholeheartedly support the decision of the 
     administration and commend with the utmost gratitude the 
     courage it took on the part of President Obama, the Army 
     Corps, the Department of Justice and the Department of 
     Interior to take steps to correct the course of history and 
     do the right thing.
       The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and all of Indian country 
     will be forever grateful to the Obama administration for this 
     historic decision.

  Indians have taken one loss after another. Rare are there any 
victories for the Indians.
  I agree with the chairman of the tribe. This is a historic decision, 
and it was a momentous step toward correcting the course of a 
disgraceful history.
  As I said last week here on the floor, the treatment of the Standing 
Rock Sioux by our government has been shameful--not only recently but 
for more than a century. The Sioux were pushed to reservations first. I 
say ``reservations''--plural. But even that land was taken--most of 
it--and then massive dams were built that put the tribe's best farmland 
underwater. The result of these actions was a crippling poverty that 
plagued the tribe for generations--even this generation.
  This mistreatment was not unique, as I have indicated, to Standing 
Rock. Indeed, there are tribes all across the Nation with very similar 
histories. We have them in Nevada.
  Yesterday's decision will not make up for the past, but the 
President's action was a huge step toward correcting a terrible wrong. 
Money, profits, and not human dignity, was the direction of the 
pipeline. The Obama administration changed that.
  For far too long, the pleas for justice for Native Americans have 
gone unanswered. At least now, on this occasion, the Standing Rock 
Sioux and Native Americans throughout this country know that someone is 
listening and their concerns are being addressed by the U.S. 
Government.
  I admire the support of those who locked arms with the Standing Rock 
Sioux. Appropriately enough, these people call themselves water 
protectors. Native Americans from all over America, politicians from 
all over America, entertainers from all over America, and other 
celebrities were some of the water protectors, and we must recognize 
the more than 2,000 veterans who traveled to Standing Rock from across 
America to protect the protestors from violence.
  It is also important to note that speech after speech and 
demonstration after demonstration were peaceful. All the leaders of 
this demonstration said time after time after time that it would be 
peaceful, and it has been. The only aggression has not been from the 
Indians but from those people who are pushing the pipeline.
  It is no surprise that many of these veterans are Native Americans 
because American Indians serve in our Nation's Armed Forces in greater 
numbers per capita than any other ethnic group.

[[Page 15690]]

Going back to World War II, of course, the great Ira Hayes, who was 
made famous by Johnny Cash--they have a long history of serving in all 
of our wars and stepping forward.
  I am gratified at the strength of the Standing Rock Sioux. Their 
ancestral burial grounds will remain protected and their water clean.
  I thank President Obama and his administration and the Army Corps of 
Engineers for their action. This victory was the culmination of months 
and months of analysis and deliberation. I appreciate the conclusion 
reached.
  But everyone should know that this fight isn't over. We know from 
long experience that our decisionmakers keel over for fossil fuel 
interests. We must remain vigilant. My only hope is that the Trump 
administration will not undo the justice the Native Americans have 
finally received. All of us must support the Standing Rock Sioux and 
help them protect their history and their land and their water.
  As one aside, many decades ago I was the Lieutenant Governor of the 
State of Nevada, and we had our Lieutenant Governors' conference in 
Oklahoma. It was a wonderful week that we spent in Oklahoma. One of the 
highlights of that trip was an education that I received one night of 
a--I assume it is still going on; I don't know--a wonderful pageant 
that took place in a place that I believe is called Tahlequah--I 
believe that was the name of the place--where in such detail and in 
such magnificence was described how Oklahoma has so many Native 
Americans who came from Florida. It was a wonderful story. I was very 
impressed with the Native Americans whom I met and have met since that 
time in Oklahoma. And a memento I was given there in Oklahoma--frankly, 
someone stole it from me, but each one of us, each Lieutenant Governor, 
was given a little painting by a famous Oklahoman--at the time, at 
least--whose time was Tiger. I don't know what his real name was, but 
he was a famous artist. It was a beautiful Indian scene he had painted. 
We all got one. It was an original. I am sorry someone took it out of 
my office. But I have fond memories of that convention in Oklahoma 
where I learned so much about the people of Oklahoma.
  Some of us in the West have had over the years kind of a negative 
impression of Oklahoma--the Okies coming into California, all of these 
uneducated people causing trouble--but that was a wonderful trip to 
Oklahoma. I was terribly impressed at the time and have always been 
impressed with the people of Oklahoma.
  Just a little aside here: I have had some good fortune at being able 
to legislate things here in Washington. One of the things that can be 
looked at as good or bad--and maybe I won't get a lot of pats on the 
back for this with the new administration--but a Senator from Oklahoma 
and I did some very good work. The Congressional Review Act was Reid-
Nichols legislation. That was hard to do, but what it basically said is 
if there is a regulation promulgated by an administration, we as a 
Congress have an opportunity to look it over again to determine if, in 
fact, we have the ability, with enough folks, to overturn that 
regulation.
  So, again, as the Presiding Officer is from Oklahoma, I want him to 
understand my affection for the State of Oklahoma and the people of 
Oklahoma. I have had some difficult tussles with people from Oklahoma 
over the years. There is no better example of that than Dr. Coburn. But 
having said that, I have never found more of a gentleman than Dr. 
Coburn. Even though we disagreed on some policy issues, he was always a 
gentleman and I have appreciated the things I learned from him.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________