To direct the Secretary of the Interior to proclaim as reservation for the benefit of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians a parcel of land now held in trust by the United States for that Indian tribe.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent for the immediate consideration in the House of the bill (H.R. 2120) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to proclaim as reservation for the benefit of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians a parcel of land now held in trust by the United States for that Indian tribe.

Mr. Speaker, this measure addresses an inequity caused by the failure of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to act in a timely manner on a request first made in 1983. Introduced by our colleague, Representative Bart Stupak, this measure would declare land held in trust for a Tribe located in Michigan as part of the Tribe's reservation.

Shortly after the land was placed into trust in 1983, the Tribe made the first of several requests to have the land declared a part of its reservation. Eventually, the Bureau of Indian Affairs took various actions leading the Tribe to believe that the land was a part of the Tribe's reservation.

However, in February, 2006, the Interior Department reversed course and informed the Tribe that the land placed into trust in 1983 was not part of the Tribe's Reservation. The pending measure clarifies and rectifies the situation.

I urge my colleagues to support this measure.

The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, was read the third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the table.