Oregon Tribal Economic Development Act

Floor Speech

First, I want to congratulate the chairman on having a productive committee. I appreciate that one of those bills was from our own office. We will keep them coming, hopefully.

Back to the bill at hand. Almost 200 years ago, the Indian Nonintercourse Act was enacted with the intention of protecting Indian tribes by preventing the loss of their lands. It does so by preventing the transfer, sale, lease, or other conveyance of any land owned by an Indian tribe to third parties without Federal approval. This prohibition applies to both trust and tribally owned fee lands.

Although a number of laws have been passed over the centuries that effectively supersede the Nonintercourse Act, the actual act has never been repealed. Therefore, relief from the act is sometimes necessary so that a tribe may manage their fee lands efficiently and put them to productive use.

This is what S. 1285 would do. It clarifies that these seven Oregon tribes have the authority to lease, sell, convey, warrant, or otherwise transfer their tribally owned fee lands without approval from the Federal Government. The bill also clarifies that this authority does not apply to trust lands. Congress has previously enacted similar laws for other Indian tribes, so this measure is not unprecedented.

In closing, I want to thank our colleague from Oregon, Congressman Peter DeFazio, for his sponsorship of the House version of this bill and his leadership on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill. I have no other speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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