Oregon Tribal Economic Development Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 1285) to allow the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, the Klamath Tribes, and the Burns Paiute Tribes to lease or transfer certain lands.

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, it is my pleasure to speak to this particular piece of legislation.

This bill will clarify that five recognized tribes in the State of Oregon may buy, sell, lease, or otherwise convey land that they own in fee without approval from the Federal Government.

Some of the earliest laws passed by Congress after the ratification of the Constitution reserves to the United States the exclusive right to acquire Indian lands. These laws are commonly called the Trade and Intercourse Acts.

The acts were meant to protect Indian tribes by preventing the loss of their lands, except by treaty. It does so by preventing the transfer, sale, lease, or other conveyance of land owned by an Indian tribe to third parties without Federal approval.

This bill, S. 1285, would clarify that the five tribes named in this bill may do this job without Federal review or approval.

The bill benefits other tribes in a similar fashion were also considered by the Natural Resources Committee and enacted into law during the 106th, 113th, and 114th Congresses as well. This particular bill, which passed by unanimous consent in December, truly shows that despite what some Members are quoted as saying in the press, the Natural Resources Committee is, in fact, still a productive committee after all.

In fact, we have been the most active House committee next to the Rules Committee. We have already marked up 147 bills and reported out 114 of these bills. No other committee has reached the 100 mark. I guess that is a plus. If it is, then we did it. The House has passed 92 of these bills, and 23 have been signed into law. We hope to change that to 93 and 24 respectively.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1285, the Senate companion to my bipartisan bill, H.R. 3225, the Oregon Tribal Economic Development Act.

Last year a federally-recognized tribe in my District, the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw, alerted me that it was unable to obtain a commercial mortgage to purchase a storage unit facility.

A local financial institution was concerned that under the arcane Indian Non-Intercourse Act (INIA), it was afraid it would not be able to repossess the property should the tribe be unable to make mortgage payments.

Many of my colleagues are not familiar with the INIA, with good reason. The law is over 180 years old, and prohibits a tribe from buying, selling or leasing land. Under the law, Congress, not the Bureau of Indian Affairs, is required to approve every potential transaction.

Typically, the INIA has not prevented tribes from buying, selling or leasing land. However, some financial institutions, as in the case in my District, have interpreted it to mean that Congress act.

Over the years, Congress has appropriately passed laws excluding individual tribes from the INIA. First, the INIA is completely unworkable. Congress has a hard enough time passing legislation, for better or worse, that affects thousands or millions of Americans. It is not remotely possible we could pass a law every time a tribe requests to buy, sell or lease property.

Additionally, the INIA is a road block to a tribe's economic development. For hundreds of years, terrible federal Indian policy decimated tribes through displacement, disease, and discrimination. In my District, the INIA made it impossible for the Tribe to function as the sovereign nation it is to benefit its members. S. 1285 would clarify that INIA does not apply to five Oregon tribes, and only in the case of fee land. Land held in trust is not affected by this bill. It is bipartisan, and does not cost the government a dime.

It is past time to ensure Oregon tribes are allowed to engage in real property transactions without the threat of a 180 year-old law standing in the way.

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

First, I want to congratulate the chairman on having a productive committee. I appreciate that one of those bills was from our own office. We will keep them coming, hopefully.

Back to the bill at hand. Almost 200 years ago, the Indian Nonintercourse Act was enacted with the intention of protecting Indian tribes by preventing the loss of their lands. It does so by preventing the transfer, sale, lease, or other conveyance of any land owned by an Indian tribe to third parties without Federal approval. This prohibition applies to both trust and tribally owned fee lands.

Although a number of laws have been passed over the centuries that effectively supersede the Nonintercourse Act, the actual act has never been repealed. Therefore, relief from the act is sometimes necessary so that a tribe may manage their fee lands efficiently and put them to productive use.

This is what S. 1285 would do. It clarifies that these seven Oregon tribes have the authority to lease, sell, convey, warrant, or otherwise transfer their tribally owned fee lands without approval from the Federal Government. The bill also clarifies that this authority does not apply to trust lands. Congress has previously enacted similar laws for other Indian tribes, so this measure is not unprecedented.

In closing, I want to thank our colleague from Oregon, Congressman Peter DeFazio, for his sponsorship of the House version of this bill and his leadership on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill. I have no other speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.