Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the bipartisan Recreation and Public Purposes Tribal Parity Act to correct a long- standing and unjust oversight that prevents Tribal governments from having the same opportunities as State and local governments do to buy and lease public lands for recreational purposes.

Current law allows the Bureau of Land Management to lease or sell certain public lands to State and local governments or qualifying nonprofits if those lands will be used for explicit public and recreational purposes. These lands are used for a variety of public and recreational purposes, like historic monument sites, schools, firehouses, law enforcement facilities, courthouses, health facilities, hospitals, and parks. However, the law does not allow the BLM to sell or lease these lands to Tribal governments.

Our bill would allow Tribal governments to participate in the program in the same way that State and local governments do. Doing so would help ensure Tribal nations enjoy the same opportunities for land acquisition as State and local governments and nonprofit organizations do.

Tribal governments were not considered when the Recreation and Public Purposes Act became law in 1926. The omission leaves Tribes without the same opportunities as other governments to use public lands for these beneficial purposes. This disadvantage is clear, as the sale and lease of public lands is often at a discount compared to fair market value. This issue is part of the greater need to correct longstanding barriers that undermine the sovereignty of Tribal governments and our efforts to right historic wrongs.

The Federal Government owns about 640 million acres of land, about 28% of the total land in the United States. Public lands potentially available for disposal by the Bureau of Land Management alone are located across at least 18 States. The exclusion of Indian Tribes from qualifying for acquisition of these lands is not based on any clear policy rationale.

As our Nation works to strengthen Tribal sovereignty and self- determination, it is important that we ensure our laws treat Tribal governments in equal regard as State and local governments and ensure they have the opportunity for positive and productive land use activity.

I thank Senator Feinstein for introducing this legislation with me in the Senate, and Congressman LaMalfa for championing this effort in the House of Representatives. I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact this commonsense bill as quickly as possible. ______

By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Tillis, and Mr. Grassley):

S. 4430. A bill to amend title 35, United States Code, to establish an interagency task force between the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Food and Drug Administration for purposes of sharing information and providing technical assistance with respect to patents, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.

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