To repeal the Act entitled "An Act to confer jurisdiction on the State of Iowa over offenses committed by or against Indians on the Sac and Fox Indian Reservation".

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California for yielding and for his time managing today's floor debate.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1074, a bill I first introduced in the 114th Congress, which would repeal a 1948 law that granted the State of Iowa criminal jurisdiction over offenses committed by or against members of the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa.

Prior to this 1948 law, the Tribe had largely policed itself, and there was little, if any, Federal law enforcement on the Tribe's land.

Historically, determining who may exercise jurisdiction over crime in tribal communities is complex. Generally, crimes committed by or against Indians in Indian Country are under the jurisdiction of the United States, pursuant to various Federal statutes. The 1948 Act was passed at a time when the Federal Government was attempting to shift its responsibility and obligations from tribes to the respective States.

In 1953, Congress passed a law, commonly called Public Law 280, transferring criminal jurisdiction over all crimes, regardless of the Indian status of the offender or victim, in Indian Country of six States from the Federal Government to those States. Even though Iowa was not one of those States, for years it has been treated as if it were a Public Law 280 State.

With respect to the law enforcement on the settlement today, a lot has changed since 1948. Today, the Tribe has a fully-functional criminal justice system, which includes a full-time police department whose officers are certified by the State of Iowa. The Tribe maintains and employs law-trained judges and a prosecutor who, together with a probation department, handle all criminal cases which arise on tribal lands.

H.R. 1074, and its Senate companion bill, have bipartisan support from the entire Iowa delegation, as well as the support of the Iowa State Legislature, which passed legislation signed by then-Governor Terry Branstad in April 2016, that began this process of conferring jurisdiction to the Tribe and the Department of Justice.

As my friend from California previously mentioned, the entirety of the Meskwaki Settlement is located in Tama County, Iowa, in my district. Since I have come to Washington, I have gotten to know the Sac and Fox Tribal Council and their representatives, and I was happy to first introduce this bill in 2016 after its approval by then- Governor Branstad.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the adoption of this bill, and I hope it continues to move through the legislative process so that the Tribe may once again have jurisdiction over many of the crimes committed against their members on their land, and restore another portion of the Tribe's sovereignty, which has been removed since 1948.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1074) to repeal the Act entitled ``An Act to confer jurisdiction on the State of Iowa over offenses committed by or against Indians on the Sac and Fox Indian Reservation''.

Mr. Speaker, 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.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1074. This bill would rescind criminal jurisdiction from the State of Iowa over crimes committed by or against members of the Sac and Fox Tribe on their lands. In doing so, the Tribe or the Federal Government would exercise exclusive jurisdiction under the Major Crimes Act. This is the most common legal situation for most tribes in America today.

In 1948, Congress granted jurisdiction over all crimes committed by or against Indians on the Sac and Fox Reservation to the State of Iowa. In 1949, there was no mechanism in the Federal Government concerning criminal jurisdiction on the Tribe's land, and up until that point, the Tribe had largely policed themselves.

Today, the Federal Government has criminal statutory authority on Indian lands, the Tribe is again ready to police itself, and the State of Iowa has

agreed that its Federal grant of criminal jurisdiction can be repealed.

Accordingly, under H.R. 1074, the Federal Government will have criminal jurisdiction over crimes, especially major crimes, by or against Indians on the Tribe's lands. The Tribe would have jurisdiction over Indian offenders for crimes over which it exercises jurisdiction, and the State of Iowa would retain exclusive jurisdiction over crimes where both offender and victim are non-Indians.

I thank the sponsor of H.R. 1074, the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Blum), for his work on this bill, and I urge adoption of the measure.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Blum).

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

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

There are laws on the books that stand in the way of true tribal self-determination and self-governance. One of those laws is Public Law 80-846, known commonly as the 1948 Act. The 1948 Act targeted only one tribe, the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa, also known as the Meskwaki Nation, and gave the State of Iowa criminal jurisdiction over their tribal lands.

In 1948, the Nation did not have a formal mechanism for law enforcement and was not in a financial position to create one. This was used as the rationale for the stripping of these jurisdictional rights. But this has not been the case for many years. The Tribe has a full- time police department as well as a fully functioning court system.

The continued existence of the 1948 Act has resulted in an unfair system of crimes committed on Meskwaki land, whereby a Native-American defendant must face the possibility of two prosecutions, State and Tribal, but a non-Native defendant faces only State prosecution.

That is why I join my colleagues in supporting H.R. 1074. By passing this bill and repealing the 1948 Act, we will remove the inequity it has created, and bring the Meskwaki Nation in line with how criminal jurisdiction issues are addressed on other Native lands.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the adoption of H.R. 1074, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Indian Affairs Committee be discharged and the Senate proceed to immediate consideration of H.R. 1074.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time.

I know of no further debate on the bill.

I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.