To amend the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama and Coushatta Indian Tribes of Texas Restoration Act to allow the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Tribe to determine blood quantum requirement for membership in that tribe.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1387) to amend title 44, United States Code, to require preservation of certain electronic records by Federal agencies, to require a certification and reports relating to Presidential records, and for other purposes, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 1387, the Electronic Message Preservation Act, is another open- government bill that we are considering in celebration of Sunshine Week. This bill modernizes the requirements of the Federal Records Act and the Presidential Records Act to ensure that Federal agencies and the White House preserve emails and other electronic messages. H.R. 1387 was introduced by Representative Holt, and it is substantially similar to H.R. 5811, a bill that passed the House last year with bipartisan support.

This bill requires agencies and the White House to adopt and maintain records management and retention policies that are consistent with modern technology. Under current law, Federal agencies have broad discretion to determine how electronic messages are preserved.

In a 2008 report, the Government Accountability Office found that many agencies rely on unreliable ``print and file'' systems for preserving electronic records, including email. GAO reviewed the practices of senior agency officials and determined that emails were not retained in adequate recordkeeping systems, making the email records easier to lose or delete and harder to find and use.

Last week, the National Security Archive awarded its sixth annual Rosemary Award for worst open-government performance to the Chief Information Officers Council. The council was chosen because it has never addressed the failure of the government to save its email electronically.

H.R. 1387 directs the Archivist of the United States to issue regulations requiring agencies to preserve emails in an electronic format. These regulations must cover, at a minimum, the capture, management, preservation, and electronic retrieval of electronic messages.

The bill requires the Archivist to establish a process to certify the electronic records management systems used by the agencies.

At this time, Madam Speaker, I would urge my colleagues to join in passage of this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

I couldn't agree more with my friend from California. We hope this is the impetus to spur the development--the successful development of electronic medical records, because we know what the savings would mean to our health care system and we know that it can possibly save lives by reducing errors.

So at this time, Madam Speaker, I'd like to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns).

Let me also thank the ranking member for his participation. As we have stated earlier, this is Sunshine Week. It's time for openness and accountability. I appreciate participating with you in these series of bills.

In closing, let me also mention that in this bill we are also considering an amendment that makes a number of drafting corrections suggested by the National Archives. For example, the amendment clarifies that the bill addresses electronic Presidential records rather than all Presidential records. H.R. 1387 will make the government more accountable by protecting an important part of the historical record, and I urge every Member to join me in supporting this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlelady for yielding me this time, and the ranking member and the chairman for supporting this bill. It is a very important bill for us, for the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Tribe and Alabama and Coushatta Indian Tribes.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 5811, a bill I introduced to amend the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama and Coushatta Indian Tribes of Texas Restoration Act of 1987 to allow the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Tigua tribe the authority to determine the blood quantum requirement for membership in their tribe. Since

coming to Congress, I have been proud to represent the Tiguas and I have continually fought to lift this requirement.

My Congressional district in El Paso is home to the Tigua Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, the oldest community in Texas. They are one of the three Native American tribes and the only Pueblo tribe in the state. The Tiguas have maintained a significant presence in the El Paso region with tribal enrollment currently over 1,600 citizens. The Tiguas have also been very active participants in the regional business community for almost 40 years. The tribe strives to establish a business-friendly environment while maintaining their culture and traditions. The tribe owns and operates a diverse set of enterprises and corporations that provide employment for both tribal members and the El Paso community.

However, the Tiguas are one of a very few federally-recognized tribes still required by Federal law to use a specified degree of blood quantum to determine membership. If the current \1/8\ degree requirement remains in effect, Tigua tribal membership will decline significantly within three generations.

For decades, other tribal governments have used a variety of methods to determine membership. The decision to use a blood quantum requirement has been at the discretion of the tribe as a part of their tribal sovereignty. Tribes have also been able to determine if lineal and collateral descendents of members listed in their base rolls are eligible to be enrolled.

My bill will allow the Tiguas the same opportunity as other recognized tribes to use these methods, and specifically blood quantum levels, to determine membership. With H.R. 5811, individuals removed from the rolls in previous years and others will be able to petition for enrollment. Historically, many of these members would normally have been included as members of the tribe.

This bill is the life blood of the tribe. By modifying the tribal enrollment requirements, the Tiguas will be able to preserve the unique character and traditions of their tribe based on shared history, customs, and language in addition to tribal blood. This bill will ensure their survival as the oldest community in Texas and the only Pueblo still in existence in the State. This bill has passed twice before in the House of Representatives, and I urge my colleagues to support passage of this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the bill. I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, this is a classic example of trying to work together to open up the system, allow the transparency that the American people are demanding, and I strongly support its intention and its execution.

Madam Speaker, you may remember, when we got here in 1995, that there were Members of Congress who could not understand the concept of sending electronic emails between offices or outside. It was alien to Washington to be so technologically plugged in. It just shows you how times have changed. Now we're finally starting to address the technology. I think the gentleman from Missouri even recognized that we need to really push harder at opening up the system, embracing the new technologies that allow not only the public to know better, but also the representatives of the public to be able to function in a much more efficient manner.

This bill is truly one that we have been trying to work on for years. It's one that was controversial in certain circles, but I think it's one that we need to move forward with. I hope, again, that this is another one of those steps that the Government Oversight Committee is looking to to set an example for the rest the Congress and the rest of Washington to find reasons to get to ``yes,'' to find reasons to work together, and to find reasons to do it better. I think that that is one thing we can do here.

Madam Speaker, I have to say while speaking on this item that it's sad that, on the down side, we have been trying for over a decade to do something the new President has talked a lot about, and that's using e- technology for electronic medical records. And the fact is, the Federal Government has been trying to develop that for our veterans and our active duty military for over a decade and still has not been able to implement it. So I hope this is one step towards becoming comfortable with reviving, restoring, and really redesigning the way we approach e- technology and new technology and that we will embrace it rather than being terrified by it, like some people were in the nineties when we showed up.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I would like to close by thanking the ranking member and full committee chairman for allowing the minority to participate in the formation of this bill. There are so many committees that aren't allowing the minority to participate. I think this is really a nice example of the cooperation that I think the American people want to see and don't see enough of. I want to thank the chairman and ranking member for allowing us to participate in the process.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5811) to amend the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama and Coushatta Indian Tribes of Texas Restoration Act to allow the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Tribe to determine blood quantum requirement for membership in that tribe.

Mr. 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.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

One of the greatest exercises of tribe sovereignty is the ability of a tribe to determine its tribal membership. This measure would allow a Texas tribe to determine the blood quantum requirement for membership in that tribe.

My colleague, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes), introduced H.R. 5811 to restore the tribe's right to determine its own membership requirements by deleting a blood quantum requirement specified in a 1987 law. Passage of this legislation would extend to the tribe the same sovereign right possessed by all other Indian tribes: The ability to determine who is and who is not a member of that tribe.

This measure is long overdue. I commend my colleague for introducing it. Similar legislation passed the House last Congress by unanimous consent. I urge Members to support this measure.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the sponsor of this legislation, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes).

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5811, which allows the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Tribe to determine the blood quantum requirement for membership in their tribe. I thank my colleague, Congressman Reyes for introducing this legislation.

This legislation will specifically allow the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Indian tribe to determine their membership. Native American tribes should be afforded the opportunity to determine the qualifications for membership in their tribes.

Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Native American Caucus, I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress to address the unique needs of Native Americans.

California is home to over one hundred federally recognized tribes. Earlier this month, I was able to meet with the Pauma Band of Mission Indians. The reservation is located in Pauma Valley, California. The Pauma Band of Mission Indians and others across the nation should be permitted to determine their requirements to be a member, rather than having to rely on some outside body to make this determination.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 5811.