Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation Restoration Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 199, legislation that rights a historic wrong made against a Tribe in my district, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.

Right after I took office, Chairman Jackson and other leaders from the Leech Lake Band approached me with a longstanding issue. In the 1950s, the Secretary of Agriculture claimed land owned by Leech Lake under a dubious administrative transfer, ignoring pleas from the Tribe and upending the Tribal tradition of land ownership.

Landholdings such as these are the foundation of Tribal sovereignty. Therefore, this wrong had to be righted with an act of Congress that transfers the roughly 11,000 acres back from the Agriculture Department to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.

From the first conversation I had with the band, I supported this land exchange. This acreage was taken from Leech Lake and needed to be returned. Unfortunately, the legislation itself was flawed. It lacked any language allowing rural utilities access to longstanding rights of ways and easements to ensure maintenance for power and other services can be performed. It is crucial this transfer is done the right way, meaning electric cooperatives delivering power have the access they need for maintenance.

Therefore, I worked with the band and the rural electric cooperatives to achieve a win-win solution. Through a years-long negotiation, I am happy to see a signed memorandum of understanding between Leech Lake and the cooperatives delivering service in the area, which include Beltrami Electric, Lake Country Power, and Crow Wing Power.

After receiving and reviewing the memorandum to accompany the bill, I supported its passage through the House Natural Resources Committee. With it now on the House floor, I look forward to its passage and the President signing the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation Restoration Act into law.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source