Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas Equal and Fair Opportunity Act

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2208) to restore an opportunity for tribal economic development on terms that are equal and fair, and for other purposes.

Madam 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 measure under consideration.

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

Madam Speaker, H.R. 2208, introduced by Representative Veronica Escobar from Texas, amends the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama and Coushatta Indian Tribes of Texas Restoration Act of 1987 to clarify that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act applies to both the Pueblo and the Tribe.

The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas was federally terminated in 1954. This wrong was followed in 1968 by termination of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, also known as the Tigua Tribe. Congress rightfully restored both the Pueblo and the Tribe by enacting the aforementioned Restoration Act of 1987.

The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was enacted just one year later, in 1988. The framework that it created should have applied to both the Pueblo and the Tribe, just as it did to every other Tribe.

However, since the Restoration Act was passed at a time when Indian gaming was just emerging and Federal regulations had not yet been implemented, it contains a section regarding gaming.

We know from the Congressional Record that the intent of this section of the Restoration Act was to clarify Indian gaming policy at the time, not to completely prohibit gaming on these lands in perpetuity.

But that is what is occurring. The language in the Restoration Act has been used by the State of Texas to repeatedly stymie the Pueblo's and the Tribe's ability to engage in class II gaming, much to the detriment of the economic health and well-being of both the Pueblo and the Tribe.

Additionally, the only other federally recognized Tribe in Texas, the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe, is allowed to operate a class II gaming facility, as they were restored by Congress in 1983, without any type of gaming restrictions.

H.R. 2208 remedies this inequality by clarifying that the Pueblo and the Tribe, like the Kickapoo, have the same rights and responsibilities under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act as virtually every other federally recognized Tribe in the United States.

This legislation confers no new or special rights to the Pueblo or the Tribe, nor does it in any way limit the existing rights of the State of Texas. This is simply a matter of parity and fairness, and I urge adoption of this legislation.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Escobar).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank both Representative Escobar and Representative Gonzales for their leadership to right this wrong, this injustice.

I thank the dean of the House, Representative Young, for his very informative history lesson on the legislation. I also thank Ranking Member Westerman for his bipartisan support.

Mr. Speaker, I urge our colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call on my colleagues to support H.R. 2208, the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas Equal and Fair Opportunity Act.

On March 26 of this year, I introduced this important bipartisan bill with my colleague, Representative Tony Gonzales from the Texas 23rd Congressional District, to ensure that Native American Tribes are covered by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

Specifically, this bipartisan bill aims to correct a problem of exclusion that has been affecting only two Tribes in the entire United States--the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Tribes of Texas--since 1987, when Congress passed the Restoration Act and the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

The passage of these 1987 laws inadvertently created uncertainty about which law these Tribes were covered under and what gaming activities they were allowed to offer on their reservations.

Passed in this Chamber during the 116th Congress, this bill offers a commonsense solution that will ensure that the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama-Coushatta Tribes are covered by the Indiana Gaming Regulatory Act, which would provide these Native American communities with a critical economic lifeline and an opportunity to recover from the harmful inequity that they have faced.

Simply put, this bill would provide fairness for these two Tribes, like the only other federally recognized Tribe in our State, the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas.

I urge my colleagues to join me in protecting our Native American Tribes' sovereignty and ensuring that they have the ability to engage in the same way other Tribes are able to.

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted everyone, but the economic and health crisis has been devastating to our Tribes, and this bill offers an opportunity for them to safely rebuild their economies. The reason our Tribes have suffered so disproportionately is because of long-term disinvestment and generational lack of adequate access to healthcare and economic assistance.

Communities around the country are eager to repair their economies following the impact of COVID-19, and our Tribes are no different. But they need the clarity this bill would provide so that they can better control their economic future.

The parity this bill would create for these Tribes would also create long overdue opportunities for them to succeed by supporting job creation and their ability to generate revenue that would fund new housing, educational programs, and medical facilities for their people and the surrounding communities, among so many other things.

Now, more than ever, more must be done to protect other Native American Tribes, their families, businesses, and their economic prosperity.

By passing this bill, Congress would finally grant the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes the rights, opportunities, and stability they have long been denied.

Therefore, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this important piece of legislation, and I am grateful to the leaders in the committee for their support.

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

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2208, sponsored by my colleague from Texas (Ms. Escobar), would amend the act of Congress that restored the Federal recognition of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas.

The amendment would override a gaming limitation imposed by Congress on the Tribes, thereby authorizing the Tribes to operate casinos regulated not under Texas law, as Federal law currently provides, but under the Federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988.

The question of whether Texas law or the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act applies to the two Tribes is no longer under serious dispute. Federal courts have settled the question, and the result of the litigation is that the two Tribes may not conduct gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, unless Congress enacts a measure to allow them to do so.

The bill enjoys significant local support in the communities around the reservations of the two Tribes, and the members who represent the Tribes strongly support enactment of the measure.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), the dean of the House.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I support this bipartisan bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member, chairman, and the sponsor for this legislation.

It is a strange thing. If you hang around here long enough, you keep seeing the other end of your tail. We introduced these bills, and there was never any intention to exclude these two Tribes, never.

When Mo Udall and I started the gaming law, everybody thought we were nuts. It has worked. But never were these two Tribes to be excluded. In fact, this legislation rectifies that problem.

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to be a sponsor of the legislation, who worked with you to try to get this done. This will be justice served to all.