A bill to amend the Act of August 9, 1955, to modify a provision relating to leases involving certain Indian tribes.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and I rise in strong support of S. 2906, a bill introduced by Senator Cantwell that is the companion to H.R. 4401, which I introduced in the House last year.

S. 2906 amends the Indian Long-Term Leasing Act for the benefit of three federally recognized Tribes in the State of Washington: the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, the Kalispel Tribe of Indians, and the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, which is in my district.

Specifically, this legislation amends the leasing act to allow the Puyallup Tribe and the Kalispel Tribe to enter into 99 year business leases. Currently, these Tribes are limited to 25 year business leases.

Additionally, S. 2906 eliminates the requirement that the Puyallup Tribe, the Kalispel Tribe, and the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community seek the approval of the Secretary of the Interior for every business deal involving tribal lands.

Under S. 2906, the Tribes will adopt leasing regulations, to be approved by the Department of the Interior. Once the Department approves the Tribal regulations, the Department will be relieved of its obligations to approve the Tribes' leases of less than 75 years and the Tribe will then be required to follow its own leasing regulations for leases of its land. The Department will still retain the authority to review and approve leases of Tribal lands for more than 75 years.

This bill is tremendously important to the Puyallup Tribe in my district, as it will enable the Tribe to move forward with its plans to develop a marine terminal on its land in the Port of Tacoma.

The shipping terminal will be the largest economic development and job-creation project the Tribe has undertaken, and when fully constructed, will be the largest international container terminal facility in the Pacific Northwest. This project will provide tremendous benefits both to the Puyallup Tribe as well as the South Puget Sound economy.

Unfortunately, until now, the Tribe has found it difficult to engage and move forward with business partners in furthering the terminal project because of the burdensome and uncertain bureaucratic process of obtaining Interior approval for the deals.

Passage of S. 2906 will ensure that that the Tribe and its business partners will have certainty in moving forward with this and other business opportunities that will enhance the economy of the Puyallup Tribe and the Port of Tacoma, and will help to spur job creation in the South Puget Sound region.

I thank the Chairman and Ranking Member for their help in advancing this legislation, and I ask for my colleagues' support for the passage of S. 2906.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of S. 1448, legislation that will allow five Indian Tribes--the Coquille Indian Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Suislaw, the Klamath Tribes, and the Burns Paiute Tribe--to enter into long-term leases for trust land.

First, I want to commend Senator Jeff Merkley for his leadership on this issue. I also want to thank Senator Ron Wyden, Representative Peter DeFazio, and Representative Kurt Schrader, for their support and advocacy on behalf of the five Indian Tribes in the State of Oregon that are the subject of this legislation.

Historically, since 1834, Congress prohibited land transactions with Indian Tribes unless specifically permitted. In 1955, under the Long- Term Leasing Act, Congress permitted the leasing of Indian lands, but restricted the term of leases to no more than 25 years. Conditions for economic development and business opportunities have changed significantly and leases with terms of more than 25 years are now more desirable. As a result, 50 Indian Tribes have already petitioned Congress and have been granted authority to enter into long-term leases through amendments to the Long-Term Leasing Act. Another bill, S. 2906, to be considered later will add two more Indian Tribes from the State of Washington. I want to register my support for these bills.

Extending the privileges of the Long-Term Leases Act to these Indian Tribes is very important since economic development and business opportunities underscore our government's longstanding responsibility to the Indian Tribes. This longstanding responsibility is to provide assistance to the Indian people in their efforts to break free from the devastating effects of extreme poverty and unemployment and achieve lasting economic self-sufficiency. Yet, high rates of unemployment and poverty continue to exist among Indian Tribes. And one of the main reasons has been the lack of effective control by the Indians over their own lands and resources.

I urge my colleagues to support this important piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, S. 1448 is identical to legislation that I introduced in the House of Representatives with Representative Schrader in March. The bill accomplishes two things: (1) It corrects a disparity between federally recognized tribes in Oregon in how these tribes lease land held in trust, and (2) it incentivizes long-term investment that will attract businesses and create jobs for Oregon tribes and nearby communities.

Currently, four of the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon are able to lease land held in trust by the Federal Government for up to 99 years without going through a maze of bureaucracy and red tape at the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The 99-year lease authority is crucial to attracting and retaining long-term investment, incentivizing economic development projects on trust land, and creating jobs for communities that need them the most.

But five of Oregon's nine federally recognized tribes--the Coquille, the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz, the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw, the Klamath, and the Burns Paiute do NOT have this important authority. These tribes are limited to 25-year leases or must rely on a lethargic BIA to approve longer leases on an individual basis.

S. 1448 fixes this disparity and gives all nine federally recognized tribes the same authority to pursue economic development and job- creating activities on land held in trust.

The bill enjoys bipartisan support, has no opposition in the State of Oregon, and passed the U.S. Senate without amendment and by unanimous consent. This is a no-brainer. It's good for the Tribes. It's good for rural and tribal communities. The bill will create jobs and incentivize financial investment. I ask my colleagues to pass this bill today on suspension and send it to President Obama for his signature.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 1448) to amend the Act of August 9, 1955, to authorize the Coquille Indian Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw, the Klamath Tribes, and the Burns Paiute Tribe to obtain 99- year lease authority for trust land.

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.

Under what is known as the Long Term Leasing Act, lands held in trust for Indian tribes may be leased for a variety of purposes for a term of no greater than 25 years, with an option for an additional 25 years if approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Often, tribes find that in order to operate more efficiently and to sustain economic development activities, they need to be able to lease trust lands for longer periods. In fact, through various acts of Congress, approximately 50 tribes have been granted the ability to issue leases not to exceed 99 years.

The pending legislation would afford this extended leasing authority to several tribes in the State of Oregon.

I want to commend our colleagues, Mr. DeFazio and Mr. Schrader from Oregon, for their work in getting this bill to the floor. I ask Members to support it.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, again I want to urge our colleagues to support S. 1448, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2906, legislation to amend certain provisions of the Long-Term Leasing Act of 1955 for the benefits of the three Washington State Indian tribes, the Kalispel Tribe and the Puyallup Tribe, and the Swinomish Tribal Community.

First I want to commend Senator Maria Cantwell for her leadership. I also want to thank Senator Pat Murray, Representative Adam Smith, and Representative Norman Dicks, for their support and advocacy on behalf of the Indian Tribes in the State of Washington.

Similar to S. 1448, this bill will amend the Long-Term Leasing Act of 1955, to add three more Indian Tribes from the State of Washington to the list of Indian Tribes that have been granted authority to enter into long-term leases of up to 99 years.

Conditions for economic development and business opportunities have significantly changed since Congress passed the Long-Term Leases Act in 1955. The current economic downturn has certainly exacerbated already deteriorating economic conditions for many of the Indian tribes. As such, extending the privileges of the Long-Term Leases Act is essential for economic development and business opportunities. It is the longstanding responsibility of our Federal Government to provide assistance to the Indian people in their efforts to improve their economic conditions and maximize business opportunities for the betterment of the Indian people.

I urge my colleagues to pass S. 2906.