Winnebago Land Transfer Act of 2023

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1240, the Winnebago Land Transfer Act of 2023, introduced by my colleague from Iowa, Representative Feenstra.

This bill would return two tracts of land acquired through eminent domain by the Army Corps of Engineers back into the trust for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.

In 1865, the Winnebago Tribe and the United States signed a treaty promising the Tribe their reservation in Nebraska along the Missouri River for the cession of their Dakota lands.

The United States violated this treaty in the 1970s when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers acquired land from the reservation for flood control by invoking eminent domain without congressional approval or approval of the Secretary of the Interior.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has since held that the Army Corps of Engineers lacked the authority to exercise eminent domain over trust lands. Despite the court's decision, the land has never been returned to the Tribe and remains in the possession of the Army Corps of Engineers.

H.R. 1240 seeks to rectify this wrong by returning and reintegrating the land into the Winnebago Tribe's reservation.

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Mrs. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, I strongly urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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