Authorizing the Seminole Tribe of Florida to Lease or Transfer Certain Land

Floor Speech

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

Madam Speaker, I thank Chairman Grijalva and Chairwoman Leger Fernandez for working together on this bill. I rise in support of S. 108. It is a bill that authorizes the Seminole Tribe of Florida to lease or transfer certain land, and for other purposes.

As Ms. Leger Fernandez described, this bill would exempt lands held in fee by the Seminole Tribe of Florida from the limitations imposed by the Indian Nonintercourse Act, which restricts a Tribe from leasing or conveying any lands a Tribe owns without Federal approval.

The act has generated a great deal of confusion and litigation about whether a Tribe can buy, sell, or lease land that it owns. The bill states that the act does not authorize the Tribe to lease, sell, convey, warrant, or otherwise transfer all or any portion of any interest in any real property that is held in trust.

This bill was introduced in response to real estate investment issues encountered by the Seminole Tribe, since at least two title insurance companies would not grant the Tribe insurance.

The bill ensures that the act does not interfere with the ability to convey fee land owned by the Tribe, which would impede the Tribe's economic development activities and hinder job creation.

Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close. I urge adoption of the measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Madam Speaker, I am grateful for this bipartisan legislation. I also think it gives us a path forward on what we might need to do for all Tribes who encounter this issue, but for now I am very much in support of S. 108 and urge my colleagues to support the legislation.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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