Reaffirming the Authority of the Secretary of the Interior to Take Land Into Trust for Indian Tribes

Floor Speech

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

Madam Speaker, as the gentlewoman described, this is a very complex issue with a long history behind it. H.R. 4352 would reverse a 2009 Supreme Court decision, Carcieri v. Salazar, which held that the Indian Reorganization Act does not authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire land in trust for Tribes that were not under Federal jurisdiction in 1934 when the act was passed.

The Carcieri decision created vast uncertainty over the fee-to-trust process for Tribes and impacted stakeholders. Since the decision was handed down, there has been no resolution in this incredibly complex issue.

Lands taken into trust are extremely important to Tribes. Tribes' desire to increase their Tribal land base and help their communities must be respected. There are certain benefits and advantages afforded to Tribes having lands that are held in trust.

But we should be clear that even prior to Carcieri, the fee-to-trust process was far from perfect. We should not ignore the larger need to improve the process.

Many have argued the current Bureau of Indian Affairs process provides very limited incentive for community stakeholders to be partners and places little requirement on the BIA to analyze the impacts of a fee-to-trust decision on nearby communities or Tribes, often resulting in unresolved conflicts and litigation at the local level.

For the last decade, county governments have been asking us to reform this process. Their concerns with the tax, zoning, and community impacts of trust land acquisition have been well documented.

While this bill addresses the immediate impacts of the Carcieri decision, if this bill becomes law, nothing will have changed to address the larger issues with the fee-to-trust process. Congress should address the impacts of the Carcieri decision and enact needed reforms to improve the fee-to-trust process. Tribes and all stakeholders deserve as much, and I look forward to working with them on this important issue.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Madam Speaker, I would like to offer my gratitude to the next speaker for the hard work she has put into this bill so that we can resolve this issue now and into the future.

I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum).

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Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar).

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Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole).

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Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Once again, I urge my colleagues to support this bill. We must remember that all we are doing is making sure that all Tribes have the same access to the existing statutory law that allows Tribes to take land into trust. We are not changing any of the other laws that would apply to that trust process.

I myself have engaged in numerous land into trust transactions when I was an attorney, and I can tell you they are not easy. You must show that you have a connection to the land; what you will be doing with the land; how you communicated and discussed the issue of taking land into trust with the nearby communities, with the local governments, with the State government; is this aboriginal land; what will you be doing with the land; let's go through the NEPA process.

It is not an easy process, but now every Tribe will be able to have the same access to the same statutory process when we pass this law.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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