Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chair and ranking member for bringing this bill here today.

Mr. Speaker, as Californians, our relationship with our Tribes and bands is different from that of many other places in the United States. The Kumeyaay Indians, including the Jamul band, were landless for decade after decade after decade. In fact, if not for the generosity of one landowner who allowed some of the Jamul Indians to get the 6 acres that they originally placed in trust, they might still be landless.

Those 6 acres were all they had to live on, and it wasn't enough for the various members because, unlike some immigrants, Native Americans lived here for thousands of years, and in those 13,000 years, they built a bond that could not be broken by the Spaniards and could not be broken by America as we annexed California.

In fact, as a landless Tribe, the Kumeyaay continued to practice their language and traditions even though they had to do so on whatever land they could find, usually not their own.

Since the 1980s, the Jamul band of Kumeyaay Indians has, in fact, clung to those 6 acres and amassed an ability to find additional plots of land.

It is ironic that one of the pieces of land we are considering today is, in fact, where they have been buried for more than 100 years, where they practice their Western faith taught to them by the Spaniards there on their land.

The other piece contains a farmhouse. It is a farmhouse where those Jamul Indians came to work in the fields of another man for decades. They have had the opportunity to buy that land now.

Many will say: But is there a conflict? Is there a reason for the Department of the Interior to take so long?

I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that there is no conflict about taking a cemetery where your dead are buried, or at least there shouldn't be.

The other piece of land was entitled by the County of San Diego to have more than twice as many homes on it as there are Jamul Indians. In fact, their intention is to preserve that farmhouse for all generations so that they can understand what life was like in San Diego County 100 years ago and so that their Tribal members will continue to celebrate those who treated them well when they had no land and no money.

Today, hopefully, we will put land in trust, but we will also celebrate the resilience of the Native Americans of California who stayed in the land of their birth even though they had their land taken from them for more than 600 years.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6443) to take certain land in the State of California into trust for the benefit of the Jamul Indian Village of California Tribe, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 6443, the bill now under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 6443, the Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act, would place 172.1 acres of land owned in fee simple by the Jamul Indian Village into trust by the United States for the benefit of the Tribe.

The Jamul Indian Village is located in San Diego County and is part of the Kumeyaay people of southern California, otherwise known as the Mission

Indians. While the Tribe's history dates back 12,000 years, it only received Federal recognition in 1981. The Tribe's reservation consists of approximately 6.04 acres, but the Tribe has continued to work to restore its land base.

Unfortunately, bureaucratic inefficiencies have delayed the process. The Tribe has submitted fee-to-trust applications for the parcels identified in this legislation, including one submitted in August 2015 that the Department of the Interior has not yet finalized.

This legislation would end that bureaucratic delay and place these parcels into trust. The legislation also would prohibit any class II or class III gaming pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act from occurring on the parcels to be placed into trust.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) for his work on this bill. I encourage the adoption of the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa).

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

Mr. Speaker, this legislation would take approximately 172.1 acres of land owned in fee simple by the Jamul Indian Village into trust by the United States for the benefit of this Tribe. I thank Mr. Issa for his work on this legislation to benefit his constituents.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the adoption of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise also in support of H.R. 6443, the Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act.

The bill would take approximately 172 acres of land located in San Diego County, California, and owned in fee by the Jamul Indian Village of California, into trust for the benefit of the Tribe. The land in question contains four parcels, which include Tribal housing, council buildings, a historic church, and an ancestral cemetery. Each of these parcels is already within the Tribe's ancestral territory and is located near the Tribe's existing reservation.

I again want to acknowledge that land is the very essence of Tribal sovereignty, cultural survival, and economic prosperity in the future. That is why these land-into-trust transfers are so very important and why in Congress we should respond to them when they come before us and use them as another element of how we honor our trust responsibility to Tribes.

For that, I thank Representative Issa for bringing this legislation forward.

Once the 172 acres have been placed into trust, the Tribe will be able to increase Tribal housing, preserve and protect cultural sites, and better provide essential governmental operations, including healthcare services, administrative offices, law enforcement, and other community resources such as a grocery store and educational services.

This bill honors the connection of the Tribe to its ancestral land and is a win for their self-determination.

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

Mr. Speaker, I also have no further requests for time, and I am prepared to close.

Mr. Speaker, as noted, this is a worthwhile bill for taking this land into trust.

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

Mr. Speaker, S. 3857, the Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act is a technical correction to my bill, H.R. 6443, which passed out of the House by voice in April of 2024.

The bill is a traditional fee-to-trust agreement that will allow tribal members to move back onto their ancestral lands--so they can raise their families, carry forward their culture, and add to their history.

This is the right thing to do, the smart thing to do, and it empowers not government, but individuals to take new charge and best care of their lives.

I ask for passage of this bill, and I thank Chairman Westerman, Ranker Grijalva, and Senator Padilla for their support.