Grand Ronde Reservation Act Amendment of 2023

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1722) to amend the Grand Ronde Reservation Act, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 1722, the bill now under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1722, the Grand Ronde Reservation Act Amendment of 2023, would amend the Grand Ronde Reservation Act to reflect that the Grand Ronde Tribe's extinguishment of land claims against the United States only applies to an 84-acre parcel of land known as the Thompson Strip.

Alongside many Tribes in western Oregon, the Grand Ronde Tribe entered into treaties with the United States in the 1850s. President James Buchanan established the Grand Ronde Reservation in 1857, which consisted of more than 60,000 acres. This solidified the Federal Government's treatment of the Grand Ronde as a single Tribe for Federal services and benefits.

However, in 1954, the Western Oregon Indian Termination Act was signed into law which severed the trust relationship between the Federal Government and the Tribe.

In 1983, the Tribe was successful in obtaining a restoration of Federal recognition through enactment of the Grand Ronde Reservation Act. This legislation also reestablished a reservation for the Tribe in Yamhill County, Oregon.

On October 31, 1988, the Bureau of Land Management discovered several

surveying errors on a parcel of land known as the Thompson Strip, which was located along the southeast boundary of the Tribe's reservation.

The BLM worked toward a resolution with the Tribe, which concluded in 1994 when Congress authorized a land transfer between the BLM and the Tribe. While that legislation corrected the survey error, the Tribe later determined that the phrase ``extinguishment of claims'' in the bill would include all, and potential future, land claims within the entire State of Oregon for the Tribe.

The Grand Ronde contends that this was done in error and that there was no intention to bar them from future land claims beyond the Thompson Strip.

H.R. 1722 would amend current law in order to specify that the Tribe is only barred from bringing land claims related to the 84-acre Thompson Strip parcel, not all lands within the State of Oregon.

Additionally, H.R. 1722 would add a gaming prohibition for any future land claims and prohibits the use of any money received as part of a land claim settlement from being used to purchase land for gaming purposes under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Salinas for her work on the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, again, this legislation clarifies the land claims of the Grand Ronde Tribe so they can pursue and ensure certainty, and it does ensure certainty regarding gaming. I appreciate the gentlewoman for bringing this legislation and Ranking Member Grijalva's work to move this in a bipartisan manner.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the bill, 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 yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1722, the Grand Ronde Reservation Amendment Act of 2023 offered by my colleague from Oregon (Ms. Salinas).

This legislation will correct a decades-old error that restricted the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in raising land claims in the State of Oregon.

During the ``termination era,'' a shameful time for our country, the Confederated Tribes, and other Tribes in Oregon, had their Federal recognition terminated by Congress in 1954. The Grand Ronde Tribe was later restored in 1983 with the passage of the Grand Ronde Restoration Act.

However, in 1988, the Bureau of Land Management discovered a land surveying mistake on the eastern boundary of the Tribe's original reservation. The survey excluded an 84-acre piece of land known as the Thompson Strip.

To compensate the Grand Ronde Tribe for the loss incurred by that error, the Bureau of Land Management subsequently arranged a land exchange with the Tribe to be approved by Congress.

Unfortunately, through that legislation in 1994, the Grand Ronde saw their rights further restricted with language that prohibited the Tribe from making any additional land claims if new errors were delivered.

Today's bill would end this unfair restriction on the Tribe so that they may pursue recourse if additional survey errors are ever found. No other Tribe in the State of Oregon faces this kind of legal restriction.

This legislation has bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, having passed out of committee by voice vote in the Senate, and unanimously here in the House.

The passage of this legislation would be immensely consequential for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Salinas), the sponsor of this bipartisan legislation.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1722, the Grand Ronde Reservation Act Amendment of 2023.

My district is the proud home of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde community, who, like Oregon's other indigenous peoples, were the original stewards of our land and abundant natural resources, yet they have also faced tremendous injustices at the hands of the Federal Government.

The Grand Ronde Reservation was established in 1857. In 1871, during a survey of the reservation, an 84-acre piece of land known as the Thompson Strip was mistakenly excluded. It took over 100 years for this error to be delivered, and rectifying it does require an act of Congress.

At some point in the process of drafting legislation, language was erroneously inserted that took away Grand Ronde's right to bring any further land claims in the entire State of Oregon, not just around the Thompson Strip.

The Grand Ronde community is to this day the only Tribe in Oregon that is subject to this prohibition.

H.R. 1722 will finally correct this decades-old error and restore Grand Ronde's ability to pursue land claims. This legislation enjoys strong bipartisan support in both the House and Senate.

I thank my colleagues here today from the Natural Resources Committee, as well as the support of the entire Oregon delegation.

Passage of H.R. 1722 would be enormously consequential for the Grand Ronde community. It would also represent a historic step forward for indigenous peoples' rights in America. I have always believed that while we are not responsible for the ills of the past, we are responsible for remedying them today.

Mr. Speaker, my amendment to the Grand Ronde Reservation Act aligns with that important pursuit. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in supporting this bill.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 1722, which was received from the House and is at the desk.

I further ask that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.