Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate Melissa Santa Cruz in honor of her day of appreciation as enacted by the City of South Tucson, Arizona. A pillar of the local airwaves, Ms. Santa Cruz has accomplished just as much in her community as she has on the radio. Her driving passion both in her work and activism has endeared her to all of her many listeners.

With over 30 years as an on-air personality, Santa Cruz began her career in the town of Globe, Arizona, on the country music station KQSS 98.3 FM. She eventually moved back to the Tucson area, being a featured personality across many broadcast stations, and bringing music of all genres to the listeners of Southern Arizona. In her current role, Santa Cruz now serves as Program Director for Tejano 1600AM, while continuing on as a country and adult contemporary radio DJ on 97.1 The Bull and My 92.9, respectively.

A daughter of former South Tucson Councilman Reynaldo Santa Cruz, Melissa has always known the value of community. As a young girl, Santa Cruz saw both her father as well as her mother Lydia volunteer as members of Santa Cruz Church Parish, and has continued their work into her professional life. Santa Cruz has made it a point to keep her

community up to date on local benefits and functions, making a point to highlight families and non-profit organizations in need. She not only talks the talk, but walks the walk, and has emceed events for various Latinx organizations such as Chicanos Por La Causa, LULAC, and the League of Mexican American Women.

Melissa Santa Cruz has truly indebted herself to the City of South Tucson and to Southern Arizona as a whole. She truly serves as an inspiration to our community, broadcasting the music of the Borderlands across Tejano 1600AM while also being proactive on issues of importance to all Southern Arizonans. I am proud to stand here on the floor today on Melissa Santa Cruz Appreciation Day, in recognition of Melissa Santa Cruz as one of our community's most valuable citizens.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of Tucson, Arizona's four students who won first place at the National Endowment for the Humanities' National History Day contest. The young history buffs, Sean Choudhry, Elias Rice-Bensch, Zia Rice-Bensch, and Keona Wallen all attend the Accelerated Learning Laboratory in my district. Their website Radium Girls: From Jaw-Dropping Tragedy to Glowing Triumph earned the top prize in the contest that featured more than 3,000 students from across the country.

National History Day began in the 1970s and is the culmination of a yearlong academic program for students in grades 6 through 12 to engage in historical research. Students produce essays, exhibitions, films, performances, or websites to enter into local and state competitions. State winners move on to compete in the national finals at the University of Maryland at College Park. The National Endowment for the Humanities has been a sponsor and partner of National History Day for more than 30 years.

The theme for this year's competition was ``Triumph and Tragedy in History'' and more than a half million students submitted entries. On their website, Sean, Elias, Zia, and Keona state, ``The radium girls were young factory workers who unknowingly consumed lethal amounts of radium, often resulting in slow, painful deaths. Despite their tragic circumstances, their desire for change and persistence in court caused revolutionary change to workplace safety regulations and sparked monumental scientific advancements regarding radium and radioactivity.''

The students go on to document how radium was commonly used and recommended. At the focus of their website is the story of the women who, at the start of the 20th century, were exposed to high levels of radium in their work as they painted watch dials. Such exposure proved quickly fatal and resulted in physical deformities and cancer. The legal battles that followed were tumultuous and provided minor relief for the women who had been exposed to radium. Their legacy, however, lives

on today as workplace protections continue to be a focus on Capitol Hill.

These four incredible students have demonstrated truly admirable talent and skill in their deep dive into history. I am moved by their desire to shed light on an overlooked and long-forgotten story that still resonates today. I want to congratulate Sean, Elias, Zia, Keona, their families, and the educators who have helped them get where they are today. I expect great things from each of them in the near future and look forward to the positive impact they will have on our district and abroad.

Mr. Chair, my amendment would limit the Administration's ability to co-opt important public lands for an unnecessary, hateful, and expensive wall at our Southern border--my home region.

This amendment would defund Section 2 of the President's National Emergency Declaration by barring agencies from using the funds appropriated in this bill to turn parks, wildlife refuges, and other public lands into a militarized border zone administered by agencies lacking the expertise to take good care of them.

Our border lands are comprised of a diverse array of ecosystems that support over 100 different endangered or threatened species, per a 2016 Fish and Wildlife Service report.

The border wall would fragment important habitats, limiting the ability of animals to find food, water, and potential mates across their range.

We always need to be conscientious of the ways that any major federal project affects our natural world. But when the project is so hateful and useless, and when it impacts such vulnerable ecological communities, we must do something.

I refuse to stand by while our President abuses his powers to remove jurisdiction over our public lands from the agencies best able to take care of them. They are our heritage, not an expendable construction zone.

Trump's border wall is unnecessary, harmful and ineffective. Border communities remain some of the safest cities in the country, yet the continued militarization of our borderlands continues hurting border communities, commerce, and wildlife.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is currently exempt from all local, state and federal laws that exist to protect the environment, wildlife, historic and archaeological sites, Native American sacred sites, and religious practices-all of which negatively impact the borderlands.

More walls will not affect the flow of drugs into the country; instead we must modernize and invest in our crumbling infrastructure and ensure adequate staffing at our ports of entry.

I would like to thank the Chair and the committee for their work on this bill. I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this amendment, and I would urge all my colleagues to support this amendment.

We must stop the false narrative of a violent and insecure border to justify border wall construction.

Mr. Chair, my amendment would prevent uranium from being considered as a critical mineral under the Trump Administration's critical mineral strategy.

Last year, the Interior Department included uranium on a list of critical minerals required under Executive Order 13817.

However, uranium does not meet the definition of a ``critical mineral'' in that executive order.

Under the order, the first criteria for a critical mineral is that it must be a ``non-fuel mineral'' or a ``mineral material.''

Uranium is neither.

Even the Department of the Interior understands that.

Earlier this month at a Natural Resources Committee hearing on my Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act, a senior official from the Department testified that, ``Uranium, like oil and gas, solar, wind, geothermal, and other energy sources, remains a vital component of a responsible and comprehensive energy strategy.''

Clearly, uranium is a fuel mineral, so it fails to meet that part of the critical mineral definition.

And a ``mineral material'' is defined by the Minerals Act of 1947 as common varieties of sand, stone, gravel, pumice, and other similar items.

The Bureau of Land Management also clearly tells people on their website that mineral materials are sold and not subject to the Mining Law of 1872.

Uranium, on the other hand, is subject to the Mining Law of 1872, and it is not a ``common variety'' of anything by any stretch of the imagination.

So uranium fails that test as well.

We don't even have to get into the fact that our supply chain for uranium comes mainly from friendly countries like Canada and Australia, and is not at risk.

Uranium very clearly does not meet the definition of a ``critical mineral'' under the executive order.

Yet it is on the list of critical minerals published by the Interior Department last year, and subject to all the production enhancements and incentives recommended by the Department of Commerce in its Critical Mineral Strategy.

We do not need to make it any easier to mine uranium in this country.

Already mining companies in the United States have a sweetheart deal in the form of the Mining Law of 1872, where they pay no royalties and have virtually unfettered access to public lands.

The administration has already taken unprecedented steps that help out the uranium industry, such as cutting Bears Ears National Monument by 85 percent at their request.

Now the new critical mineral strategy recommends reviewing existing mineral withdrawals with an eye towards eliminating or shrinking them, particularly in areas where they may be critical minerals.

Because uranium is incorrectly defined as a critical mineral, this puts the Grand Canyon right in the crosshairs.

The Obama administration put a 20-year withdrawal on the sensitive lands around the Grand Canyon so it could study the impacts of uranium mining in the region.

We are less than half of the way into that withdrawal, but the uranium companies are salivating at the possibility of ending those protections early and descending on uranium deposits around the Grand Canyon.

My Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act would protect this landscape and the residents who have called it home for centuries. Unfortunately, we may never get the chance to do this if President Trump continues to do the bidding of the uranium mining companies.

Given the legacy of uranium mining in the West, particularly the terrible health impacts experienced on the Navajo Nation from abandoned uranium mines, we should be holding

mining companies accountable, not handing them a blank check to more of our most special public lands.

That's why this amendment is so important.

It prohibits the administration from treating uranium as a critical mineral and using the actions identified in the Commerce Department's Critical Mineral Strategy in order to grease the skids for new uranium mines.

It doesn't affect any of the other minerals on the critical minerals list, and it doesn't prevent companies from staking new uranium claims or opening new uranium mines.

It just keeps the government from giving those companies any additional benefits beyond the too many that they already have.

I urge my colleagues to vote yes on the amendment.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of Tucson, Arizona's four students who won first place at the National Endowment for the Humanities' National History Day contest. The young history buffs, Sean Choudhry, Elias Rice-Bensch, Zia Rice-Bensch, and Keona Wallen all attend the Accelerated Learning Laboratory in my district. Their website Radium Girls: From Jaw-Dropping Tragedy to Glowing Triumph earned the top prize in the contest that featured more than 3,000 students from across the country.

National History Day began in the 1970s and is the culmination of a yearlong academic program for students in grades 6 through 12 to engage in historical research. Students produce essays, exhibitions, films, performances, or websites to enter into local and state competitions. State winners move on to compete in the national finals at the University of Maryland at College Park. The National Endowment for the Humanities has been a sponsor and partner of National History Day for more than 30 years.

The theme for this year's competition was ``Triumph and Tragedy in History'' and more than a half million students submitted entries. On their website, Sean, Elias, Zia, and Keona state, ``The radium girls were young factory workers who unknowingly consumed lethal amounts of radium, often resulting in slow, painful deaths. Despite their tragic circumstances, their desire for change and persistence in court caused revolutionary change to workplace safety regulations and sparked monumental scientific advancements regarding radium and radioactivity.''

The students go on to document how radium was commonly used and recommended. At the focus of their website is the story of the women who, at the start of the 20th century, were exposed to high levels of radium in their work as they painted watch dials. Such exposure proved quickly fatal and resulted in physical deformities and cancer. The legal battles that followed were tumultuous and provided minor relief for the women who had been exposed to radium. Their legacy, however, lives on today as workplace protections continue to be a focus on Capitol Hill.

These four incredible students have demonstrated truly admirable talent and skill in their deep dive into history. I am moved by their desire to shed light on an overlooked and long-forgotten story that still resonates today. I want to congratulate Sean, Elias, Zia, Keona, their families, and the educators who have helped them get where they are today. I expect great things from each of them in the near future and look forward to the positive impact they will have on our district and abroad.

Madam Chair, tribal energy resources are vast, largely untapped, and critical in our fight to move towards a secure and sustainable energy future. Despite this potential, many tribal homes lack access to electricity and affordable heating sources.

Our amendment increases the Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs by $2 million and reduces Fossil Energy Research and Development by $2.4 million. This increase should be allocated specifically for renewable energy.

This amendment ensures that we place a higher priority on energy needs and capabilities within tribal lands and communities, by slightly reducing a growing and outdated fossil fuel account.

The funding will provide financial and technical assistance to enable tribes to evaluate and develop their renewable energy resources and to reduce their energy costs through efficiency and weatherization.

Funds may be used to offer education and training opportunities designed to foster clean energy technology adoption, promote green jobs and growth, and strengthen overall native communities' self- determination.

Through these projects, tribes can continue to build the capacity to manage their energy needs. Many tribes' energy costs are higher than the national average, making installation of renewable energy a permanent improvement in their finances and lives.

Investing in renewable energy technologies provides many benefits for tribes:

It creates economic stability by protecting these communities from fluctuations of conventional energy sources and by providing steady revenue into the future.

It creates employment in manufacturing, operations, and maintenance. Installing wind turbines, solar heaters, and solar panels in the communities provide opportunities for hands-on education and training.

Onsite renewable power can contribute to tribal energy self- sufficiency by providing electricity in rural areas underserved by the existing power grid and save tribes revenues.

Developing local renewable energy resources can improve local air quality and health conditions, as well as improve the communities' response to climate change impacts and extreme weather disruptions.

This amendment will help Indian Country by moving a small amount of funding away from old energy sources that are leaving us reliant on out-date and harmful energy sources.

Despite the need to transition to a clean energy future, the Fossil Energy Research and Development account has increased $72 million since 2017.

Currently there are 573 recognized tribes, yet the Office Indian Energy is appropriated at only $25 million.

The longer we postpone an orderly transition away from fossil fuels the more vulnerable we become as a society--what better way to move forward than to present our Native nations with the opportunity to be leaders of our energy future.

This amendment will make a difference in the quality of life of American Indians and Alaska Natives by bringing renewable energy and energy efficiency options to their sovereign nations.

I would like to thank the chairman and the committee for their work on this bill. I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this amendment, and I would urge all of my colleagues to support this amendment.

Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment will direct $4 million within the International Boundary and Water Commission to clarify the responsibility for the maintenance of the International Outfall Interceptor, the IOI. This is in addition to, and separate from, the funding that currently exists for the long-overdue repairs of the IOI.

I think it is important to put some historical context into this amendment.

The amendment seeks to clarify responsibility, the responsibility of the community, the city of Nogales and the county of Santa Cruz, that make up the two major jurisdictions in that area most affected by the need for this amendment. It is an infrastructure issue; it is an interceptor.

In 1944, the United States and Mexico entered into an agreement in which waste treatment was going to occur in the United States for Nogales, Sonora in Mexico.

As time went by, since 1944, we now find that the waste coming from Mexico, 92 percent of the effort that the wastewater facility has to undertake is in Santa Cruz County and in Nogales.

I mention that because of how we have to transport the waste from Nogales, Mexico, to the United States for treatment under the treaty that Mexico and the U.S. signed is 8.5 miles of pipes are needed to transport this waste.

Over the last decades, and the people of those communities can attest to this, there is almost daily occurrences and seasonal occurrences during the rainy season of damage to this pipeline.

The infrastructure is as old as the treaty. The infrastructure and pipes are in dire need of repair. It has been identified by people through the State and Federal Government as an urgency, a public health risk. When there is discharge of waste into the drainage areas, into the streams, into the river, it creates an extraordinary public health risk for the people of Santa Cruz and Nogales, Arizona.

In 2017, the Governor of Arizona set to commence the disaster declaration process for the State of Arizona to secure Federal assistance to remedy and prevent raw sewage exposure to these Arizona residents.

My amendment seeks to clarify that very important issue of responsibility.

This is a treaty, an international treaty, sanctioned by the State Department that was established in 1944 that deals with an infrastructure that is falling apart and exposes issues of security for the area, it is on the border. There are issues of public health, and issues of liability for the county of Santa Cruz and the city of Nogales, a fiscal responsibility that they cannot undertake and a responsibility to repair that they cannot undertake.

Because it is a treaty and it needs to be treated as a responsibility of the Federal Government, my amendment seeks to address that issue.

This ongoing international issue that impacts the safety and the well-being of these communities across southern Arizona has been addressed in the past. Senators and Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle of the Arizona delegation have collaborated to remedy the situation.

Mr. Chair, I would like at this point to thank Senator McSally for bringing the companion legislation in the Senate. I also want to thank the chair of the committee and her staff for their work on the bill.

Mr. Chair, I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this amendment. I would urge my colleagues to support it, and we can finally begin to find a solution to the public health threat to the residents of the area, to security issues underlying the whole tunnel system and pipe system in Nogales, and establish the responsibility and accountability for transporting this waste from Mexico to be treated in the United States that was established by treaty, placing it squarely where the responsibility belongs, and that is with the Federal Government in the enactment of this treaty.

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

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Tucson Botanical Gardens for their achievement in bringing a piece of Tucson's rich cultural heritage to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and recreating their Barrio Garden in the U.S. Botanical Gardens. For 55 years, the Tucson Botanical Garden has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to connecting people with plants and nature through art, science, history, and culture, and I'm proud their work will be shared in the heart of our nation's capital.

As the oldest botanical gardens in North America, the U.S. Botanical Garden's displays include plants and visual elements to provide visitors with a deeper understanding of the variety of flora and garden cultures found across the country--including their styles, regional characteristics, and missions.

The theme of this year's exhibit is Gardens Grow Diversity, and I can think of no better representative of this than the Tucson Botanical Gardens. As one of only 14 public gardens to be selected, the Tucson Botanical Garden will share Tucson's own Barrio culture and the rich local heritage it represents with the millions of guests who visit Washington, D.C. every summer.

Founded in 1964, the Tucson Botanical Garden has been committed to creating a garden that was aesthetically appealing and educational. Containing an extensive collection of over 5,400 plants, this garden serves to showcase the local community and the diversity it reflects. The Tucson Botanical Garden has received numerous honors and was named one of the top ten gardens to visit in North America by Readers Digest and the Canadian Garden Council.

I am especially grateful for their dedication to creating a community resource for Tucson's learners of all ages, knowledge levels, and abilities. In hosting events such as farm to fork feasts, dog days, and exhibits showcasing local and national art, the garden has lived up to their mission, and is an invaluable resource to the Tucson community.

I congratulate the Tucson Botanical Gardens on being selected for this honor, and am excited to see a piece of Southern Arizona's Sonoran Desert culture in Washington, D.C.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the Fred G. Acosta Job Corps Center in Tucson, Arizona. Over these past forty years, thousands of young people have benefited from the Fred G. Acosta Job Corps Center's comprehensive residential, academic and career technical training program.

Each year, the Fred G. Acosta Job Corps Center serves hundreds of young adults by providing a career in technical education and a path to a high school diploma. Furthermore, the center provides social skills training and other services to empower young men and women to start a career, enroll in advanced training, enroll in college, or enter the Armed Forces. I am specifically grateful for the Center's accomplishments in breaking the cycle of poverty, strengthening local communities, improving the quality of life of thousands, and for its continued contributions in educating and training the youth of Arizona's 3rd District. For these reasons, I move that the United States House of Representatives celebrate the Fred G. Acosta Job Corps Center today, on Fred G. Acosta Job Corps Center Day which is celebrated in July 10th.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Ms. Betty Liggins, a nurse and community civil rights activist, whose work tackling rampant crime and drugs in her neighborhood helped create a safe environment for families to thrive and grow.

Although she lost her final battle on May 8, 2019, her legacy as a nurse working out of her mobile health clinic and helping those in need lives on. Ms. Liggins' service was inspired by a chance meeting with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at a civil rights march in Chicago, where Dr. King encouraged her to go back to school, finish her education, and help others. Inspired by his words, she attended the University of Arizona where she received her degree and became a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) and vowed to use her talents to champion the causes of the voiceless.

Ms. Liggins received many awards for her service to our community. She received the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ``Drum Major Award'' and the National Jefferson Award in 1993 which was awarded in our nation's capital. Her activism and leadership helped lift our community beyond what we could ever imagine, and she was recognized as one of the 25 Most Influential African Americans in Southern Arizona.

Ms. Liggins also took pride in her political activism and worked tirelessly to register voters and use the ballot box for change. An active member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), she continually advocated for criminal justice reform to give incarcerated young African Americans a chance at a better life. Bearing witness to the blatant racism and prejudice of her youth endowed her with the grit and determination to ensure that that mistakes and trauma of the past were not inflicted on future generations.

In that vein, she took on the education system and advocated for better policies to improve the graduation rates of African American students. Instead of being discouraged by a justice system that sometimes turned a critical eye to the poor, and a health system that put corporate interests over the health of her community, she remained motivated to create positive change.

Betty Liggins didn't hold back. Her life is an example of how ordinary citizens with ordinary means can always stand up against the evils of injustice and poverty and accomplish extraordinary things.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the following Congressional Budget Office communication regarding H.R. 312.

U.S. Congress,

Congressional Budget Office,

Washington, DC, May 16, 2019.

Hon. Raul M. Grijalva,

Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources, House of

Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has

prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 312, the Mashpee

Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act.

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be

pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jon Sperl.

Sincerely,

Mark P. Hadley,

(For Keith Hall, Director).

Enclosure.

H.R. 312, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act--May

15, 2019

[By fiscal year, millions of dollars] ------------------------------------------------------------------------

2019 2019-2024 2019-2029 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Direct Spending (Outlays).............. 0 0 0 Revenues............................... 0 0 0 Deficit Effect......................... 0 0 0 Spending Subject to Appropriation 0 * n.e. (Outlays)............................. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pay-as-you-go procedures apply? No

Increases on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive

10-year periods beginning in 2030? No

Mandate Effects

Contains intergovernmental mandate? Yes, Under Threshold

Contains private-sector mandate? Yes, Under Threshold

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the following article from The Washington Post regarding consideration of H.R. 312.

[From the Washington Post, May 13, 2019]

A Riddle in New England: A Casino, 321 Acres of Indian Tribal Land and

a Presidential Tweet

(By Marc Fisher)

Between a boast about bringing jobs to Ohio and a statement

of sympathy for victims of a school shooting in Colorado,

President Trump last week found time to tweet about an

obscure House bill that would assure a Massachusetts Indian

tribe control of 321 acres of land it wants to use for a

gambling casino.

The president was against the bill, he wrote, because it

was ``unfair and doesn't treat Native Americans equally!''

Presidents don't usually get involved in local tiffs over a

planned 900-room casino hotel. And even though this president

has a four-decade-long record of slamming American Indian

casinos as scams that pose unfair competition to other

gambling enterprises, notably his own, Trump's decision to

weigh in on a measure that had strong bipartisan support

seemed unusual for a chief executive who doesn't like to be

bothered with the little stuff.

But a closer look at House Bill 312 and the favor it would

do for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe reveals a sprawling

network of Trump-related interests, from the National

Enquirer to a Rhode Island casino company--a small but

strikingly intricate example of the ways this president's

business dealings, personal bonds and political alliances can

complicate and color the ordinary doings of government.

On the surface, the matter is a simple dispute over who

wants a casino and who doesn't. The Mashpee Tribe seeks to

build a casino in southeastern Massachusetts. If the federal

government decreed the land to be the tribe's sovereign

property, the casino would be exempt from many taxes.

But some residents of the town where the casino would be

built sued over the project, and after the tribe broke

ground, a federal judge sided with the residents, ruling

that, because of the history of that parcel of land, the feds

didn't have the authority to guarantee it to the tribe.

So far, no Trump connection. But the tribe's site is about

18 miles from Rhode Island, and that state's politicians

aren't keen to have a new competitor go up against their two

casinos, both of which are run by Twin River Worldwide

Holdings, a public company with strong Trump ties.

Twin River's president, George Papanier, was a finance

executive at the Trump Plaza casino hotel in Atlantic City

earlier in his career, and Twin River's chief marketing

officer, Phil Juliano, also lists experience at a Trump

casino on his resume.

For decades, Trump, whose Atlantic City casinos were his

first big venture outside New York--they became some of his

biggest failures when they suffered bankruptcies in the early

1990s--has spoken of casinos built by Indian tribes as

fraudulent ventures: ``the biggest scandal ever,'' he said.

In 1993, concerned about competition from the Foxwoods

Resort Casino in Connecticut, Trump urged a House committee

on native affairs to investigate whether members of the tribe

that operates that resort were really Native Americans.

``They don't look like Indians to me,'' Trump said. In an

earlier interview, he opined that ``I might have more Indian

blood than a lot of the so-called Indians that are trying to

open up the reservations'' to gambling.

In 2000, when New York state considered expanding Indian

casinos in the Catskill Mountains north of New York City,

Trump, working through his longtime ally Roger Stone, funded

a group that paid for TV and print ads accusing prominent

members of the Mohawk Indian tribe of having mob connections

and criminal records. Trump and Stone failed to report their

spending on the ads as lobbying, as the state required, and

state regulators imposed their largest-ever civil penalty,

$250,000, on Trump, who was forced to issue a public apology.

But Trump has not always opposed Indian casinos. In 1997,

he cut a deal with another Connecticut tribe, the Paucatuck

Indians, who agreed to pay him a management fee in exchange

for his efforts to win the tribe the federal recognition it

needed to open a casino.

In the Mashpee case, Twin River, the operator of the two

Rhode Island casinos, has hired Matthew Schlapp, chairman of

the American Conservative Union and a vocal Trump supporter,

to lobby for it on the land issue. Schlapp's wife, Mercedes,

is director of strategic communications at the White House.

Matthew Schlapp said last week that his wife played ``no

role in my advocacy'' and that he lobbied against the casino

because it was a ``terrible idea.''

The lobbyist apparently focused Trump's attention on the

casino bill by connecting it to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-

Mass.), who is seeking her party's presidential nomination

and has been for years a favorite target of Trump's because

of her since-retracted claim to be Native American. But there

is no Senate version of the House bill, which the House is

scheduled to vote on this week, and Warren has made no

statement on the casino project.

Twin River has paid Schlapp's company, Cove Strategies,

$30,000 this year, according to federal records. Another

lobbyist, Black Diamond Strategies. also got $30,000 from the

casino firm to work on the Mashpee case, records show. One of

Black Diamond's lobbyists working for Twin River, Doug

Davenport, was a delegate strategist for Trump's 2016

campaign and formerly worked for ex-Trump campaign manager

Paul Manafort's lobbying company, where he handled public

affairs for clients including Trump.

As a candidate, Trump repeatedly promised to ``drain the

swamp,'' describing Washington as a den of elite thieves--

politicians, lawyers, lobbyists, domineering corporations--

whose interlocking interests were more powerful than any

political party or ideological allegiance.

But as president, Trump has embraced the very structures he

railed against in the 2016 campaign, for example picking more

than 350 former lobbyists to serve in his administration,

most in agencies that they used to lobby.

Spokesmen for the White House and Twin River did not

respond to requests for comment.

The intersections between Trump and entities involved with

Twin River can be complex.

Among Twin River's major investors is a $4 billion New

Jersey-based hedge fund called Chatham Asset Management and

its founder, Anthony Melchiorre, according to SEC records.

Chatham also owned about 80 percent of American Media Inc.,

the publisher of the National Enquirer, the supermarket

tabloid that took payments from Trump's longtime lawyer and

fixer, Michael Cohen, to make certain that no stories were

published about two women's allegations that they had affairs

with Trump.

A spokesman for Chatham declined to speak on the record

about Twin River's involvement in the Mashpee Indian matter,

but Chatham and Twin River have been embroiled in a lawsuit

in Delaware, where Chatham accused top executives at the

casino company of self-dealing and ``placing their personal

financial interests above those of Twin River's

stockholders.'' Twin River has denied the allegations.

David Pecker, American Media's chief executive and a

longtime ally of Trump's, has said that Chatham saved his

company from financial collapse. Pecker last fall signed an

agreement to cooperate with federal prosecutors in New York

who were investigating the

payments made to Trump's accusers. As part of the agreement,

Pecker and the Enquirer's chief content officer, Dylan

Howard, admitted to paying the women to ``influence the

election.''

According to the company's website, AMI's four-person board

of directors consists of Pecker, two Chatham executives and a

former chief financial officer of Trump Entertainment

Resorts, David R. Hughes.

American Media agreed last month to sell the Enquirer to

the chief executive of Hudson News, a chain of airport

newsstands, for $100 million. The sale was prompted by

Melchiorre's unhappiness with the Enquirer's actions on

Trump's behalf, including the so-called ``catch and kill''

gambit in which the tabloid bought the two accusers' stories

and then published nothing about them, and the Enquirer's

exposeV an extramarital affair conducted by Amazon

billionaire Jeff Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post.

American Media's board and Melchiorre ``didn't want to deal

with hassles like this anymore,'' according to an individual

familiar with the board's deliberations who spoke on the

condition of anonymity to discuss private talks.

That individual said Trump ``has been somewhat estranged

from Pecker'' since the Enquirer executive began talking to

federal prosecutors.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the following article from The Washington Examiner regarding consideration of H.R. 312.

[From the Washington Examiner, May 13, 2019]

House Democrats Reschedule Votes on Tribal Bills Pulled After Trump

Tweet

(By Naomi Lim)

House Democrats have rescheduled votes on two Native

American tribal bills this week after they were yanked from

the floor at the last minute following pressure from

President Trump.

Democratic leadership has set a vote for Wednesday on H.R.

312, legislation co-sponsored by Rep. William Keating, D-

Mass., maintaining the status of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe

reservation in the Bay State.

A second proposal, H.R. 375, introduced by Rep. Tom Cole,

R-Okla., would reaffirm Interior Secretary David Bernhardt's

authority to take land into trust on behalf of Indian tribes.

That measure is also due to be considered Wednesday, but

under a streamlined process requiring two-thirds support in

the House. As such, it needs the backing of House

Republicans.

``Both of the bills pulled from the floor of the House,

H.R. 375 and H.R. 312, are important to Indian Country,''

Cole told the Washington Examiner in a statement on Monday.

``I support both of the bills and look forward to working

with my Republican and Democratic colleagues to pass them on

the floor. I believe we will be successful in doing so.''

But GOP lawmakers like Western Caucus Chairman Paul Gosar,

R-Ariz., have said they will not help the legislation pass

the chamber. A spokeswoman for Gosar told the Washington

Examiner on Monday her boss, who sits on the House Natural

Resources Committee with Cole, was ``strongly opposed'' to

the proposals and would vote against them ``in their current

form.''

``Gosar has been leading the charge against these bills

since they were first brought up in Natural Resources

Committee. He offered two amendments to both bills in

committee--both failed,'' the spokeswoman said.

H.R. 312 and H.R. 375 were originally scheduled for votes

on May 8, but were yanked after Trump tweeted that they would

be ``unfair'' to Native Americans.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe wants to build a $1 billion

casino on its land, but the deal has been delayed by the

Interior Department and Rhode Island lawmakers worried the

development will undercut profits generated by its own casino

industry.

The opposition has resulted in the Massachusetts

congressional delegation, including Democratic 2020

presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, to push for the

measure so the tribe can have full control of the

reservation. Matt Schlapp, American Conservative Union

chairman and husband of White House communications director

Mercedes Schlapp, additionally runs a firm that lobbied

against the casino.

``Republicans shouldn't vote for H.R. 312, a special

interest casino Bill, backed by Elizabeth (Pocahontas)

Warren,'' Trump tweeted last Wednesday. ``It is unfair and

doesn't treat Native Americans equally!''

Schlapp did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the following article from the Daily Beast regarding consideration of H.R. 312.

[From the Daily Beast, May 14, 2019]

A Dark Money Group Is Running Stunningly Racist Elizabeth Warren Ads in

Order To Kill a Casino

A racist ad targeting Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and an

obscure bill to allow a Native American tribe to open a

casino in Massachusetts is connected to a longtime

conservative, dark money operative, The Daily Beast has

learned.

The Coalition to Restore American Values has been running

ads since November 2018 that, among other things, feature

Warren in an Indian headdress and warn against her ``casino

plan.'' The group was registered to David R. Langdon, a long

time culture warrior, in July 2018, according to Ohio state

records.

The online ad was one of the first public salvos linking

Warren to the project in an attempt to rally conservatives

against legislation recognizing a Native American tribe

seeking a new casino in Massachusetts. President Donald Trump

himself has since declared his opposition to the legislation

last week in a tweet that dubbed Warren ``Pocahontas.''

The Coalition to Restore American Values has been trying to

tie Warren to the measure since last year. In September, it

ran an ad in The Hill newspaper, declaring in block letters

``Pocahontas' End Run On POTUS and the U.S. DOI'', using

President Trump's favorite racist nickname for the

Massachusetts Senator. An accompanying website,

nofauxcasino.com, features Warren in Native American garb

beside a graphic depicting ``The Fauxcahontas Casino.''

Langdon is an Ohio-based lawyer who also serves as

treasurer for the Campaign for American Principles, the

political arm of the American Principles Project, a

conservative advocacy outfit. And APP, it turns out, put the

Coalition to Restore American Values ad on Congress's radar.

Last week, Jon Schweppe, APP's director of government

affairs, reached out to Jeff Small, executive director of the

Congressional Western Caucus and a senior adviser to Rep.

Paul Gosar (R-AZ), urging the congressman to oppose

legislation recognizing the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe in

Massachusetts. The tribe plans to build a casino in Taunton,

MA, and Schweppe explicitly invoked Warren in pressing for

Gosar to oppose the measure.

``Warren's involvement is especially strange, given her

past ideological opposition to casino gambling and her record

of voting against gambling expansion--could this be about

image rehabilitation after years of embellishing her fake

Native American ancestry?'' Schweppe wrote, before linking to

the Coalition to Restore American Values ad.

Warren, who was a co-sponsor of the bill in the last

Congress, is not actually involved in the bill at issue. In

fact, the legislation doesn't even have a Senate companion.

But when Gosar circulated a ``Dear Colleague'' letter last

week urging his colleagues to oppose the bill, he too invoked

Warren's supposed involvement. He also included a link to

Schweppe's email.

In an email to The Daily Beast, Schweppe downplayed ties

between APP and CRAV. ``I'm fairly certain [Langdon] does

work for dozens of groups on the conservative side of

things,'' he wrote.

Langdon did not respond to a request for comment.

But the connections don't end there. CRAV's website was

designed by the Drogin Group, a conservative digital vendor,

according to the firm's website. That website also boasts a

testimonial from APP executive director Terry Schilling, who

touts Drogin as ``a well-rounded digital media vendor that is

technically savvy and can also offer website design, brand

strategy and messaging.'' The Campaign for American

Principles engaged Drogin's services as late as October 2018

for digital advertising attacking Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA),

according to Federal Election Commission records.

Schweppe did not respond when asked directly if his group

has any affiliation with CRAV.

Langdon's and American Principles Project's involvement in

the push against

the bill shows the degree to which the 2020 election is

injecting itself into issues as seemingly obscure and

regional as the recognition of a Native American tribe and

its plans for a casino. Warren has been routinely criticized

by Trump and others for claiming Native American heritage--

though there's no evidence it secured her a post or a job.

But some opposition to the casino measure seems to be

rooted in money as much as politics.

Several Trump-connected lobbying groups have been hired on

behalf of Twin River Management Group, which owns a Rhode

Island-based casino that would compete with Mashpee

Wampanoag's casino if they get the greenlight from Congress.

One firm hired by Twin River is run by Trump adviser Matt

Schlapp, who has, since January, been lobbying Congress and

the White House on their behalf. Twin River has paid his

firm, Cove Strategies, $30,000 for its work so far this year.

An hour after Schlapp tweeted his opposition to the bill

last Wednesday, President Trump himself tweeted his own call

to kill the legislation--a move that effectively scuttled

Republican support and stalled its progress on the House

floor.

The legislation is expected to be up for a vote again on

May 15. Without congressional action to enshrine their tribal

rights, the casino deal in Taunton, Massachusetts will fall

through.

Unlike Schlapp, APP doesn't appear to have a vested

financial interest in the Mashpee Wampanoag issue. Its top

donors over the past few years include major conservative

funders such as the Mercer family, the Lynde and Harry

Bradley Foundation, Missouri roofing magnate David Humphreys,

and Equinox Partners president Sean Fieler, according to

financial records left unredacted on the website of Florida's

secretary of state.

None of those funders appear to have an immediate interest

in the construction of a new Massachusetts casino. Instead,

APP's opposition appears rooted entirely in Warren's

perceived involvement in the issue--and her ongoing campaign

for the White House.

The legislation pulled from the House floor last week,

Schweppe wrote, ``amounted to a taxpayer bailout for a

corrupt casino conglomerate, which wouldn't stand to benefit

American families but would stand to benefit Senator Liz

Warren, one of the leading Democratic candidates for

President.''

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the following article from The Washington Examiner regarding consideration of H.R. 375.

[From The Washington Examiner, May 13, 2019]

House Democrats rescheudle votes on tribal bills pulled after Trump

tweet

(by Naomi Lim)

House Democrats have rescheduled votes on two Native

American tribal bills this week after they were yanked from

the floor at the last minute following pressure from

President Trump.

Democratic leadership has set a vote for Wednesday on H.R.

312, legislation co-sponsored by Rep. William Keating, D-

Mass., maintaining the status of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe

reservation in the Bay State.

A second proposal, H.R. 375, introduced by Rep. Tom Cole,

R-Okla., would reaffirm Interior Secretary David Bernhardt's

authority to take land into trust on behalf of Indian tribes.

That measure is also due to be considered Wednesday, but

under a streamlined process requiring two-thirds support in

the House. As such, it needs the backing of House

Republicans.

``Both of the bills pulled from the floor of the House,

H.R. 375 and H.R. 312, are important to Indian Country,''

Cole told the Washington Examiner in a statement on Monday.

``I support both of the bills and look forward to working

with my Republican and Democratic colleagues to pass them on

the floor. I believe we will be successful in doing so.''

But GOP lawmakers like Western Caucus Chairman Paul Gosar,

R-Ariz., have said they will not help the legislation pass

the chamber. A spokeswoman for Gosar told the Washington

Examiner on Monday her boss, who sits on the House Natural

Resources Committee with Cole, was ``strongly opposed'' to

the proposals and would vote against them ``in their current

form.''

``Gosar has been leading the charge against these bills

since they were first brought up in Natural Resources

Committee. He offered two amendments to both bills in

committee--both failed,'' the spokeswoman said.

H.R. 312 and H.R. 375 were originally scheduled for votes

on May 8, but were yanked after Trump tweeted that they would

be ``unfair'' to Native Americans.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe wants to build a $1 billion

casino on its land, but the deal has been delayed by the

Interior Department and Rhode Island lawmakers worried the

development will undercut profits generated by its own casino

industry.

The opposition has resulted in the Massachusetts

congressional delegation, including Democratic 2020

presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, to push for the

measure so the tribe can have full control of the

reservation. Matt Schlapp, American Conservative Union

chairman and husband of White House communications director

Mercedes Schlapp, additionally runs a firm that lobbied

against the casino.

``Republicans shouldn't vote for H.R. 312, a special

interest casino Bill, backed by Elizabeth (Pocahontas)

Warren,'' Trump tweeted last Wednesday. ``It is unfair and

doesn't treat Native Americans equally!''

Schlapp did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 375) to amend the Act of June 18, 1934, to reaffirm the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for Indian Tribes, 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, 10 years ago, the Supreme Court handed down what is known as the Carcieri decision. In that decision, the Court determined that trust land acquisition under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 only applies to Tribes that were under Federal jurisdiction in 1934.

Mr. Speaker, up until 2009, the Department of the Interior, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, had consistently construed that the IRA authorizes the placement of land into trust for any Tribe so long as the Tribe is federally recognized at the time of the trust application.

The decision overturned 75 years of agency practice, both Democratic and Republican administrations, and created a two-tiered system for trust land acquisition. This also opened up the Tribes to frivolous lawsuits on land

that they had held in trust for years, sometimes decades.

While this has been great for lawyers and their firms, it is detrimental to the health of a Tribe. The money to defend these lawsuits could, instead, be used to provide and improve the lives of their members.

We have had to pass standalone bills for individual Tribes on a piecemeal basis to protect their lands, and we should, since these Tribal lands are under direct assault right now. We must also address this going forward so that other Tribes do not find themselves in the same dire straits.

Passage of H.R. 375 will restore clarity and stability for all federally recognized Tribes by ensuring they are all treated equally, regardless of date of recognition.

Let's not forget history and the decimation of Tribes and their homeland by the hand of the Federal Government. It has taken almost a century for us to even attempt to undo the damage we inflicted upon the indigenous peoples of this Nation.

This work is not complete. We are still federally acknowledging Tribes to this day. We are still striving to return merely a portion of the land back to Tribes. To say that Tribes that were recognized after 1934 are somehow inferior to Tribes that were recognized by 1934 is dangerously ignorant of history.

H.R. 375, introduced by Representative Cole of Oklahoma, is short, simple, and to the point. It will amend the IRA to ensure that all federally recognized Tribes are treated equally, regardless of their date of recognition.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, we have one speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gallego), my colleague and chair of the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy).

Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. Speaker, when a Tribe applies to have land taken into trust through the Department of the Interior, local concerns are already strongly considered, even more so when the land is located away from existing reservation lands.

However, I do recognize there is a desire from some Members on both sides of the aisle to work on stand-alone legislation that would codify some of the process.

I agree with the gentleman's statement about veto abilities. Any provision which would give counties or local governments veto power over trust land decisions is, frankly, a nonstarter. Local input is vital to these decisions and should be taken into account. However, Tribal consultation is solely the responsibility of the Federal Government, as is any final decision on transferring land into trust.

And I think because of the national implications of the question of trust land and the role that communities, i.e., counties and municipalities, would play, I think there is a need to somehow accommodate a level of Tribal consultation, because they are going to be the most affected party by any decision that is made.

With that said, I do commit, Mr. Speaker, to looking at any proposal on the issue and to work moving forward if it is to the betterment of all the stakeholders and I would assist the legislation in its final passage.

Mr. Speaker, for 10 years, the Carcieri decision has caused anxiety and confusion in Indian Country, creating dangerous legal ambiguities related to Indian trust lands.

Today, we can finally end all that. We can remove the ambiguity and uncertainty, and finally offer Tribal nations peace of mind that their lands are protected.

Mr. Speaker, I urge swift passage of H.R. 375, and I yield back the balance of my time.