Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 504) to amend the Miccosukee Reserved Area Act to authorize the expansion of the Miccosukee Reserved Area and to carry out activities to protect structures within the Osceola Camp from flooding, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on H.R. 504, the bill now under consideration.

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

I rise in support of H.R. 504, the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act sponsored by Representative Gimenez. This bill would amend the Miccosukee Reserved Area Act, or MRAA, to include the Osceola Camp Tribal village as part of the Miccosukee Reserved Area. It would also direct the Secretary of the Interior to consult with the Tribe to protect the village from flooding.

The Miccosukee Tribe has a long history in Florida. Oral history has the Tribe initiating in the northern portion of Florida, but they later settled in the Everglades following the Seminole wars.

Congress passed the MRAA in 1998, which gave the Tribe permanent residency in the Everglades. The MRAA also declared the Miccosukee Reserved Area as Indian Country, yet the Federal Government still held the right to engage in restoration and protection activities in the area.

The area known as the Osceola Camp was not included in the MRAA despite serving as a residential Tribal village with key historical and ancestral ties to the Tribe. The National Park Service is already working with the Tribe to protect this residential area from flooding.

Once the camp is incorporated into the Miccosukee Reserved Area, the Tribe will be able to work alongside the Department of the Interior to prevent flooding, preserve the village's infrastructure, and ensure that the village can be inhabited for years to come.

I thank Representative Gimenez for his work on this important bill. I support the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

House of Representatives, Committee on Transportation and

Infrastructure,

Washington, DC, June 27, 2025.

Hon. Bruce Westerman,

Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,

Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Westerman: I am writing to you concerning

H.R. 504, the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act. The

bill was referred primarily to the Committee on Natural

Resources, with additional referral to the Committee on

Transportation and Infrastructure. Specifically, there are

provisions of H.R. 504 that fall within the Rule X

jurisdiction of the Committee on Transportation and

Infrastructure.

I recognize and appreciate your desire to bring this

legislation before the House of Representatives in an

expeditious manner, and accordingly, agree the Committee on

Transportation and Infrastructure shall be discharged from

further consideration of the bill. However, this is

conditional on our mutual understanding that by foregoing

consideration of H.R. 504 at this time, we do not waive any

jurisdiction over the subject matter contained in this or

similar legislation that falls with the Committee on

Transportation and Infrastructure's Rule X jurisdiction, and

the Committee will be appropriately consulted and involved on

this or similar legislation as it moves forward. Further,

this does not prejudice the Committee on Transportation and

Infrastructure with respect to the appointment of conferees

and should a conference on the bill be necessary, I would

appreciate your agreement to support my request to have the

Committee represented on the conference committee.

Finally, I would ask that a copy of this letter and your

response acknowledging our jurisdictional interest in the

bill be included in the Committee Report and Congressional

Record during consideration of H.R. 504 on the House floor.

Sincerely,

Sam Graves,

Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Gimenez), the lead sponsor of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation would amend the Miccosukee Reserved Area Act to include the Osceola Camp as part of the Miccosukee Reserved Area. This bill would also help with the important work to mitigate the impact of flooding on the structures in the area.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of H.R. 504 and yield back the balance of my time.

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

The Natural Resources Committee is entrusted with working on behalf of Indian Country. While we don't always agree on everything, we have a long history of bipartisan work and a shared commitment to advancing legislation that benefits Tribal communities. H.R. 504 is one clear example of this. It addresses longstanding challenges caused by past Federal policies, and it is an opportunity--I would argue, an obligation--to support the Miccosukee Tribe in their efforts to protect their homelands.

President Trump has undermined that work, vetoing this bill based on unrelated policy disputes and a fundamental misunderstanding of Tribal sovereignty.

H.R. 504 would expand the Miccosukee Reserved Area to include Osceola Camp, which would strengthen the Tribe's ability to self-govern and, importantly, to address serious flooding concerns facing the village. This bipartisan bill is narrow, targeted, and respects Tribal sovereignty.

After reviewing the President's statement regarding his veto, it is very clear that this decision was not limited to the merits of the bill or to any particular policy. Instead, his statement criticizes the Tribe for actions taken to protect the Everglades, their homelands, from environmental risks. It even takes issue with the Tribe's opposition to his administration's unpopular immigration policies.

Moreover, the statement reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of Tribal Nations and the obligations that the United States has to those sovereign governments. Let me be clear: Tribes are not special interests. They are not seeking special treatment. They are sovereign nations with legal and moral responsibilities to protect the well-being of their citizens, their homelands, and the United States has a government-to-government responsibility to work with them. Unrelated policy disagreements should never be used to undermine that relationship.

The Miccosukee Tribe has worked for generations to protect their homelands within the Everglades. H.R. 504 would ensure that a historic Tribal village is protected, while allowing for critical restoration efforts to move forward without displacing the community.

It is pretty straightforward. It is noncontroversial. It was broadly universally bipartisan. It never should have been vetoed.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 504. Vote ``yes'' on overriding this veto. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz).

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

Mr. Speaker, to state the obvious, this bill has nothing to do with immigration. It is a very important bill, though, about Tribal sovereignty. It is a well-crafted bill. It is bipartisan. It is noncontroversial. Someone in the White House has decided to use it as a hostage to play politics, very petty and personal politics because of score settling.

They have chosen to do that, but that doesn't mean that all of us have to be used as pawns to advance that nastiness. This veto signal sends a terrible message, and it comes after a year of uncertainty in Indian Country, which included significant funding cuts, workforce reductions, and a withdraw of key executive orders that were designed to support Tribes.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to do the right thing by the Miccosukee Tribe and pass this veto override. Let's ensure that this Tribe continues to have access to the historic Osceola Camp and their homelands remain protected for future generations.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, it is disappointing that I must rise to support this veto override of the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act.

It is a very commonsense bill, as our unanimous vote in both houses of Congress clearly demonstrated. It is simple. This act would absorb the Osceola Camp into the Miccosukee Reservation and directs the Tribe and Department of the Interior to jointly protect the camp from flooding.

This work is already underway, as we speak, but let's address the erroneous reasons that it was vetoed.

First, it does not appropriate or authorize any new spending. The Congressional Budget Office verified that.

This bill in no way bestows special treatment, as it was alleged in the veto message, because the site wasn't authorized when it was inhabited.

On these points, it appears the President's staff gave him bad advice, bad facts, or both.

The reality is, the Tribe came to the Everglades after being driven from their homes in the early 1800s. As the Miccosukee moved to what is now Everglades National Park, they formed temporary camps on tree islands. The water that flows through our River of Grass was a source of food, water, and a means of transit.

Depot Tiger settled on a tree island at the turn of the 20th century. Her son, John Tiger Poole, was born there and later helped found the Osceola Camp. However, the construction of a new major roadway split their camp, and it dried up the water that they relied upon, forcing the family to move to a different part of their camp.

Family members still live, visit, and protect the land where Depot Tiger's home once stood.

None of these facts are in dispute, as my Republican colleagues, who sponsored and voted for this, well know.

Protecting this land and the Miccosukees' ability to live there must never be sacrificed by party politics or revenge.

This bill was introduced by House and Senate Republicans, backed by the Florida delegation, and approved unanimously. This is hardly a candidate for a veto.

Our Nation made a commitment to the Miccosukee, and hundreds of other Tribes, to protect their lands, resources, and sovereignty. Congress must stand by that commitment and override the President's veto.

The sanctity of Native-American lands is something that is of the utmost importance to Native-American Tribes, and all of us in this country that represent Native-American lands and Native Americans make a commitment regularly that we are going to help protect those rights.

Allowing this veto to stand flies in the face of that, especially because each of us, in both Houses of Congress, lent our votes to this legislation. There are times for vetoes, and I have seen Presidents in both parties issue a veto and then robust and healthy debate plays out on this floor for good reason and Members decide where they want to land, but that is always when we have seen a result that was mixed, where there were people who voted against the bill. No one voted against this bill.

This bill is entirely noncontroversial, and it is so narrowly focused that it makes absolutely no sense other than the interest in vengeance that seems to have emanated in this result.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote to override this inappropriate and unfortunate veto.

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Huffman), the ranking member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume.

General Leave

Mr. 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 veto message of the President of the United States to the bill H.R. 504.

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

Mr. Speaker, we are here today as President Trump has returned H.R. 504, the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act, to the House of Representatives without his approval.

H.R. 504, sponsored by Representative Gimenez, would amend the Miccosukee Reserved Area Act, or MRAA, to include the Osceola Camp, a Tribal village within the Everglades, as part of the Miccosukee Reserved Area. It also directs the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Tribe, to safeguard structures within the Osceola Camp from flooding events.

The Miccosukee Tribe is currently located in the Greater Everglades in southern Florida. Following Federal recognition of the Tribe in 1962, the Miccosukee's northernmost villages within what became Everglades National Park were managed under a special use permit until 1998, when Congress placed that permit framework with the MRAA, authorizing the Tribe's use of the area and noting it as Indian Country.

The original law did not include Osceola Camp. H.R. 504 would include the Osceola Camp in the Miccosukee Reserved Area and formalize a partnership between the Tribe and the Federal Government to address flooding risk in the area.

H.R. 504 passed the House Committee on Natural Resources in June 2025 and the House of Representatives in July 2025.

However, I respect the President's views on this legislation and his commitment to fiscal responsibility, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I respect the administration's views on this legislation. I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question.

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

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 504 would amend the Miccosukee Reserved Area Act to expand the boundaries of the Miccosukee Reserved Area within the Everglades National Park. This expansion would ensure that the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida can access the Osceola Camp, a historic Tribal village that was, unfortunately, excluded from the original reserved area, without requiring the Tribe to obtain special use permits.

H.R. 504 would also direct the Department of the Interior to implement needed flood control measures to protect homes and structures within this village.

For centuries, the Miccosukee Tribe's way of life has been challenged through forced relocation, damage to wetland drainage projects, and the need to acquire special use permits to reside in their own villages.

In 1998, Congress established the Miccosukee Reserved Area, granting the Tribe rights to much of their ancestral lands within the park while supporting environmental restoration. However, not all of the Tribe's villages were included within the reserved area.

H.R. 504 would correct this oversight by incorporating Osceola Camp into the reserved area, a critical step toward honoring Tribal sovereignty, addressing ongoing governance concerns and environmental challenges.

This bill underscores the importance of righting historical wrongs and supporting Tribal communities. I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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