A bill to reaffirm the applicability of the Indian Reorganization Act to the Lytton Rancheria of California, and for other purposes.

Madam President, today I am introducing the Expanding Access to EAT Local Foods Act with Senators Brown, Booker, Wyden, Butler, Whitehouse, King, Blumenthal, Smith, Shaheen, Warren, Fetterman, and Welch. This bill would create a permanent grant program for State and Tribal governments to procure local foods for distribution to nearby hunger relief programs.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted national supply chains and highlighted the importance of resilient, local food systems. In response, the U.S. Department of Agriculture created the Local Food Purchase Cooperative Agreement, LFPA, Program, using nearly $900 million in one-time funds. Through LFPA, USDA has awarded grants to State and Tribal governments to buy local foods for distribution to nearby feeding programs. LFPA provides as access to food for those in need, creates economic opportunity for local and underserved producers, farmers, and fishermen, and strengthens our food supply chains.

This program is making a positive impact in communities across the country. In my home State of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management has worked with the nonprofit Farm Fresh Rhode Island to purchase food from 95 local producers, distributing that nutritious, local food to over 65,000 Rhode Islanders.

However, unless codified in law, this program will end when the one- time LFPA dollars are fully expended. And without sustained investment, we will lose the resilient local food systems that the LFPA program has been able to create.

The EAT Local Foods Act prevents us from losing ground by creating a permanent program for States and Tribes to purchase food from producers within their State's geographic bounds or within 400 miles of the final delivery destination for distribution through the hunger relief system.

This is a win-win-win. First, the bill supports local economic development by providing local producers with access to the hunger relief market. By establishing a new, reliable stream of orders for small, beginning, and underserved farmers, ranchers, and fishers, the bill will give these businesses the financial security to invest and further expand. Second, the bill would strengthen our domestic agriculture supply chain. By investing in local food distribution, the bill would help build local businesses that support durable and resilient local food systems. Third, the EAT Local Foods Act would help combat food insecurity by providing fresh, nutritious, local food to underserved communities, feeding more families and helping ease the strain on the hunger relief system.

I am pleased that the bill is supported by farmers, food hubs, coalitions, and business networks from across the country, including the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, the National Center for Frontier Communities, and the Wallace Center at Winrock International. In Rhode Island, the bill is supported by the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, Farm Fresh Rhode Island, the Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Food Policy Council, and Southside Community Land Trust. I hope that my colleagues will join me in supporting this legislation and in working to include it in the farm bill.

Mr. President, as if in legislative session, notwithstanding

rule XXII, I also ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 562, S. 3857.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment be withdrawn; that the Padilla substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to; and that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time.

I know of no further debate on the bill, as amended.

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

Mr. President, I want to thank you and our colleagues for your support of these two measures, which will help Tribes in my home State of California regain control of their rightful ancestral lands and help the Federal Government take steps to fulfill our sacred trust responsibility to Tribal nations.

The first of these bills that we just approved, the Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act, will establish in trust over 170 acres of land in San Diego County for the Jamul Indian Village of California.

For the Jamul people, what was once over 640 acres of ancestral lands has diminished to just 6 acres--one of the smallest reservations in the country.

In 2005, Tribal members voluntarily moved off the reservation to allow the Tribe to pursue economic development opportunities and become less reliant on the Federal Government. But in order to build a true homeland fitting for their Tribe, the Jamul Indian Village purchased four parcels of land--a combined 172 acres in total--in San Diego County.

By establishing this land in Federal trust, the U.S. Government is now fulfilling our obligation to the Jamul people and returning their Tribal members back to their permanent and proper homeland.

I want to take a moment to thank Representative Darrell Issa for his work in the House of Representatives as well as Senators Schatz and Murkowski here in the Senate.

I also want to thank all the members of the Jamul Indian Village who have been such honorable and relentless advocates for their community.

Thank you, colleagues, for supporting and passing this bill.

Madam President, I rise to introduce legislation to reaffirm the applicability of the Indian Reorganization Act to the Lytton Rancheria of California.

This legislation would provide clarity that the Lytton Rancheria of California is able to place land into trust via the Department of the Interior's standard land-to-trust process, 25 CFR part 151.

The Lytton Rancheria would like to place additional land into trust in order to build a proper homeland and provide housing for their members. The bill is needed to clarify that Lytton Rancheria is subject to the Indian Reorganization Act and, just like other Tribal governments, is able to put land into trust through the administrative process.

Madam President, I rise to introduce legislation to reaffirm the applicability of the Indian Reorganization Act to the Lytton Rancheria of California.

This legislation would provide clarity that the Lytton Rancheria of California is able to place land into trust via the Department of the Interior's standard land-to-trust process, 25 CFR part 151.

The Lytton Rancheria would like to place additional land into trust in order to build a proper homeland and provide housing for their members. The bill is needed to clarify that Lytton Rancheria is subject to the Indian Reorganization Act and, just like other Tribal governments, is able to put land into trust through the administrative process.

Mr. President, as if in legislative session, notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 510, S. 4000.

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.