To designate certain National Park System land in Olympic National Park as wilderness or potential wilderness, and for other purposes.

I rise to urge passage of H.R. 1162, the Quileute Tribe tsunami and flood protection bill.

I also want to thank the House Natural Resources Committee for its work in shepherding this bill to the floor today. And I am pleased that my good friend and colleague from Washington, Doc Hastings, the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, is on the floor here today to manage this bill as well as the gentleman from the

Northern Mariana Islands. I appreciate their comments and their leadership on this, along with Mr. Bishop and Mr. Grijalva.

The Quileutes are one of eight tribes living in the Washington State district that I represent here in Congress. Although the tribe's reservation at La Push is spectacularly beautiful, it also is a dangerous place to live. The threat of tsunamis is a harsh reality that the Quileute Tribe faces every day. The tribe lives on a one-square mile reservation along the Pacific coast of the Olympic Peninsula. Again, I cannot emphasize enough the breathtaking nature of their home.

The tribe has received much notice over the last few years due to the ``Twilight'' series of movies and novels. If you're not familiar with the ``Twilight'' phenomenon yourself, then I am sure that at least your children or grandchildren know about the Quileutes and their role in the ``Twilight'' world.

H.R. 1162 will provide land currently in Olympic National Park to the Quileute Tribe to enable the relocation of many facilities outside the tsunami zone. We need only look to the tragedy last year in Japan to see the loss of human life and horrific damage that tsunamis can cause.

Much of the Quileutes' infrastructure, including a day care center, the elder center, government offices, and Quileute tribal members' homes, are right in the path of a potential tsunami. This existential threat is compounded by damaging floods from the Quillayute River nearly every year.

The purpose of H.R. 1162 is to help the Quileutes move their buildings and people to safer land. The Olympic National Park would transfer land that is out of the tsunami zone to the tribe for the development of new infrastructure.

Of the 275 acres the Park Service would provide the tribe for this safety purpose, 222 are currently designated as wilderness. The legislation would de-designate those 222 acres.

The legislation also settles a long-standing dispute between the Olympic National Park and the tribe over the northern boundary of the reservation. The resolution of this dispute benefits the tribe, the Park Service, and the general public. The park would provide 510 acres to the tribe to settle the dispute.

The bill would place into trust these two parcels as well as another piece of non-Federal land the tribe had acquired earlier. The bill also guarantees access for the public to some of the most beautiful Washington State beaches.

I must note, however, that I am disappointed that a provision of H.R. 1162 was taken from the bill when the Natural Resources Committee passed it last October. The legislation as introduced mitigated the loss of wilderness designation for the 222 acres to be given to the tribe by designating other parcels already within Olympic National Park as wilderness. It was this provision designating new wilderness within the park that was removed. In response, I have introduced H.R. 3222 that would designate as wilderness those acres stripped from the underlying bill. The National Parks, Forest and Public Lands Subcommittee held a hearing on H.R. 3222 and other bills back in December, and I urge the committee to keep making progress on H.R. 3222.

In closing, I want to recognize the Quileute Tribe, its council and tribals chairs past and present, along with National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis and Olympic National Park Superintendent Karen Gustin for their hard work over many years to resolve this dispute and provide safer land for the tribe.

Again, I want to thank Congressman Hastings, the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee; and Todd Young and Todd Ungerecht of his staff. I want to thank National Parks, Forest and Public Lands Subcommittee Chairman Rob Bishop and Jim Streeter of his staff. On the Democratic side, I want to thank Ed Markey and the gentleman from the Northern Mariana Islands and their staff, Jeff Duncan and David Watkins, and Pete Modaff on my staff.

In closing, I urge the House to pass H.R. 1162 to provide the Quileute Tribe a safer home along the Pacific Coast in Washington State.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1162) to provide the Quileute Indian Tribe Tsunami and Flood Protection, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.

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

The Quileute Indian Reservation is located along the coast of the Olympic Peninsula in my home State of Washington. It consists of approximately 880 acres and is home to about 375 residents. Most of the reservation is located within the flood zone, and much of the tribal infrastructure, including their school, elder center, and housing, is within the tsunami zone. Recent tsunamis in the Pacific clearly demonstrate the risk faced by the tribe and the need to move housing and infrastructure inland.

For the safety of this small tribe, legislation is needed that would transfer a few hundred acres from the vast Olympic National Park to the tribe. This will allow them to move their school and other structures to safer land away from the threat of frequent flooding and tsunami risk.

There are no park-owned facilities or trails in the transferred land, and there are few opportunities in this transferred land for park visitors. To expedite the passage of the key objective of this bill and to allow it to move forward promptly, the Natural Resources Committee deleted a potentially controversial 4,000-acre wilderness designation that is of no benefit to the tribe. The committee also added language borrowing transferred land from being used for gaming purposes, and the tribe does not oppose this limitation.

I believe these two changes have removed all potential obstacles that could threaten the timely passage of this needed legislation that has been offered by my friend and the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, Mr. Dicks. I urge the adoption of H.R. 1162, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I advise my friend I have no more requests for speakers if he is prepared to yield back.

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

I'm pleased that this legislation is moving forward. I know this has been something that has been worked on by my friend and colleague from Washington for some time, and I'm glad we have finally gotten this far. And hopefully now that it's a clean bill that really deals with the safety of the Quileute Tribe, which is the important part and that's the reason for the bill, I hope it can move very fast through this House and obviously through the Senate.

With that, I urge adoption of H.R. 1162, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1162, which authorizes the transfer of lands within and around the Olympic National Park in the state of Washington. H.R. 1162 would incorporate specified federal lands within the Olympic National Park and specified land owned by the Quileute Tribe into the Quileute Indian Reservation, held in trust by the federal government.

The Quileute people and their reservation are in danger. Most of the reservation is located within the flood zone and most of the tribal infrastructure, including their school, elder centers, and housing, is within the tsunami zone. This legislation will provide protection to the 375 residents of the Quileute Indian Reservation by transferring a few hundred acres from the vast Olympic National Park to the Tribe.

As a member of the Native American Caucus, I have worked with my colleagues in Congress to address the needs of Native Americans. This legislation will provide the Quileute Indian Tribe with approximately 275 acres of land currently located within the Olympic National Park and approximately 510 acres of land along the Quillayute River.

Mr. Speaker, the proposed land transfer will allow the people of Quileute Indian Tribe to relocate their schools and other structures to safer lands. Based on information from the Department of Interior, CB0 estimates that H.R. 1162 would have no significant impact on the federal budget.

California is home to over one hundred federally recognized tribes. Tribes from my state and from other states such as the Quileute Indian Tribe from the state of Washington need protection from natural disasters such as tsunamis and floods.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 1162 and allow the Quileute Indian Tribe to relocate their people and reservation to safer land away from the frequent tsunami risk that threaten the Tribe.

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

(Mr. SABLAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

I rise in support of H.R. 1162, legislation sponsored by the esteemed ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Dicks).

Events in Japan, Indonesia, and elsewhere have demonstrated the devastation that can be caused by tsunamis. The Quileute people live in a dangerous zone, and we fully support this legislation to allow the Quileute to move key facilities to higher ground.

I would note, however, that this version of H.R. 1162 is only half of the bill, as introduced. The Quileute, Mr. Dicks, the National Park Service, and other stakeholders had negotiated over many years a version of this legislation that not only provided safety for the Quileute but also sought to address the resource needs of Olympic National Park. The park portion of this bill was removed by the majority despite the fact that the bill represented a popular negotiated compromise. During consideration of this measure in the Natural Resources Committee, the chairman suggested that the park portion of the original bill be introduced as a second bill to be moved separately. Mr. Dicks has taken this advice, and we hope to see H.R. 3222 on the House floor in the very near future.

Mr. Dicks is to be commended for his diligent work on behalf of the Quileute people and Olympic National Park.

I urge adoption of H.R. 1162, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Dicks), the esteemed ranking member of the Appropriations Committee.

(Mr. DICKS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

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