Hill Creek Cultural Preservation and Energy Development Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 356) to clarify authority granted under the Act entitled ``An Act to define the exterior boundary of the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation in the State of Utah, and for other purposes''.

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

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 356 is called the Hill Creek Cultural Preservation and Energy Development Act, and it's to promote economic development within the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation and to increase funding for public education within the State of Utah, as well as to protect some culturally and environmentally sensitive lands that are within that particular reservation.

This is a bipartisan bill. It's supported by the entire Utah congressional delegation, the oil and gas industry, the Ute Tribe, the Wilderness Society. Actually, everybody with an IQ over 7 is in support of it. It's a noncontroversial measure that will authorize the Secretary of the Interior to resolve a decades-old land tenure issue in a manner that's supported by all parties.

In 1948, Congress extended the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, surrounding about 18,000 acres of school trust lands and mineral leases that were within that portion. In 1955, Congress attempted to solve the dispute amongst some of these lands, and actually failed in doing so. So the Ute Tribe has long protected the southern portion of this Hill Creek area for cultural and environmental reasons. It's also in an area that's known as the Book Cliffs, which is one of the most remote and rugged places within the State of Utah.

The Utah School Institutional Trust Lands Administration, or SITLA, which manages the school lands in Utah, has a constitutional mandate to generate income from trust lands to fund the public education.

So, to achieve the desires of the State, for funding education, and the Tribe, to promote their cultural areas, both parties have worked together in a

cooperative way to craft a plan that authorizes the Secretary to exchange land so that areas that are now with SITLA in the southern part that want to be preserved will be sent over to the reservation.

Areas in the northern part that have mineral resources on them will be given over to SITLA on an acre-by-acre basis. And once the exchange is complete, both the tribe and SITLA will jointly develop oil and gas resources located within the northern portion of Hill Creek and share in that revenue. American taxpayers will also share in the mineral revenue.

So, Mr. Speaker, Congress needs to take note that this model of how you resolve land tenure issues is an extremely effective one. Divisive issues in the past can be resolved through a collaborative process that allows for all points of view to be considered and heard, as was done in this particular bill. In this example, we're able to balance these multiple views and, as a result, we will protect some of our wildest places in Utah and also allow for responsible oil and gas production that will help in funding the education system in Utah.

So I'm hoping to replicate this collaborative model to resolve some of the other longstanding issues that are public land conflicts in my home State of Utah.

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

Mr. Speaker, the State and the tribe have been trying to get Congress to act on this measure for a number of years. It's a widely popular proposal. It's supported by the State. It's supported by local governments. It's supported by the tribes. It is a bipartisan bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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.)

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 356 clarifies existing law regarding the Federal Government's authority to permit land exchanges within the boundaries of the Ute Indian Reservation in northeastern Utah and resolve the tribe's split estate problem caused by Federal error over 50 years ago.

The legislation returns the subsurface mineral estate to the Ute Tribe in a portion of its reservation that the tribe considers culturally and environmentally significant and, thus, preserves the area's pristine wilderness from development.

Last Congress, the House passed a virtually identical bill under suspension of the rules by voice vote, and again, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 356.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the energy committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 291 and H.R. 356; that the Senate proceed to their consideration and the consideration of the following calendar number items en bloc: Calendar No. 256, H.R. 255; Calendar No. 226, H.R. 330; Calendar No. 359, H.R. 507; Calendar No. 353, H.R. 697; Calendar No. 361, H.R. 876; Calendar No. 362, H.R. 1158; Calendar No. 399, H.R. 2337; Calendar No. 369, H.R. 3110; Calendar No. 54, S. 247; Calendar No. 57, S. 311; Calendar No. 60, S. 354; Calendar No. 129, S. 363; Calendar No. 118, S. 476; and Calendar No. 120, S. 609.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee- reported amendments to S. 247, S. 311, S. 476, and S. 609 be agreed to; the Coburn amendment to S. 311 be agreed to; that the bills be read three times and passed en bloc; and the motions to reconsider be considered made, with no intervening action or debate.