Troy Downing

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Westerman for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Amendments Act, as this legislation will make crucial adjustments to the Crow Tribe of Montana's water settlement, ensuring the Tribe can provide clean drinking water for its members for generations to come.

In Montana, water rights and infrastructure are the lifeblood of our Tribal communities. Indian water rights settlements protect those rights by codifying them in Federal law and providing resources to promote water infrastructure development.

For the Crow Tribe in my home district, the Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2010 was a significant milestone. It settled the Tribe's water rights and authorized $460 million to design and construct a centralized municipal, rural, and industrial, or MR&I, water system for its reservation.

However, due to the project's complexity, rising costs, and extended estimated construction timelines, the initial MR&I pipeline system authorized by the settlement has proven unfeasible.

Without the ability to use settlement funds for water infrastructure, the Crow Reservation continues to face a clean water crisis. According to one BIA-funded water study, over 50 percent of Crow Reservation households have contaminated water. That is 50 percent. Moreover, multiple further studies have linked the Tribe's higher cancer rates with this lack of clean water access.

Senator Daines and I introduced the Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Amendments Act to directly address these challenges. The bill expands the scope of authorized water projects under the Crow Tribe's water settlement beyond the initial single mandated pipeline project to include a flexible array of smaller-scale regional water projects. In doing so, this legislation will dramatically reduce the timeline for delivering clean water to the reservation's communities.

S. 240 is a straightforward solution that does not alter any existing water rights and appropriates no new Federal spending. It simply provides necessary flexibility for the Tribe to meet the needs of its citizens.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Senator Daines for leading this effort with me. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this important legislation for the Crow Tribe.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise as a proud father to recognize my daughter on her graduation from the Montana State University's Mark and Robyn Jones College of Nursing.

I have watched her work for years and dedicate herself to a profession built on service and compassion.

Sarah has worked hard through her undergraduate degree, her master's, and now she has finished her last class in the nursing school all because she wants to care for others. I could not be prouder of her and all of her cohorts as they begin caring for patients and strengthening communities across Montana.

As I travel around the State, we have a huge need for practitioners, for nurses, and for doctors, and we have just strengthened Montana's Second District workforce by one.

Sarah's mother and I are incredibly proud of her. Our granddaughter, Lyla, has an incredible role model to look up to, and Montana is lucky to have her.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 7250, my legislation to reauthorize the Fort Peck Reservation Rural Water System Act. Passage of this bill will ensure the completion of a vital piece of water infrastructure for my constituents living in one of the most rural areas of the country.

Northeast Montana faces a variety of significant water access challenges, including regular droughts and contaminated groundwater. Towns, farms, ranches, and Tribes in the region need reliable water treatment facilities and infrastructure in order to overcome these issues.

To address these challenges, the Fort Peck Reservation Rural Water System Act of 2000 authorized a major water infrastructure partnership between the Assiniboine and Sioux Rural Water Supply System of the Fort Peck Reservation and the Dry Prairie Rural Water System in northeast Montana. It also provided funding and technical support for the project through the Bureau of Reclamation.

In the ensuing two and a half decades, the two water systems have successfully worked together with Federal partners to build an extensive network

of over 3,000 miles of water pipeline, along with multiple pumping stations and a water treatment plant to service the region's 18,000 residents.

The project is nearly finished, with only 2 out of Dry Prairie's 23 pipeline phases in need of completion. However, its current Federal authorization is set to expire at the end of the year.

My legislation, H.R. 7250, extends the water system's authorization by 2 years to provide the necessary time for the completion of these final phases of the project. Without an authorization to build, the project's completion would be jeopardized.

Notably, this legislation does not appropriate any additional Federal funds. It solely reauthorizes work already on the verge of completion.

H.R. 7250 will continue a critical infrastructure project that directly benefits rural and Tribal communities in northeast Montana. Moreover, passage of this bill will allow this congressionally directed project to carry through to completion, ensuring that taxpayer dollars are spent as they were initially intended.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important initiative for Montana.