Federally Recognized Tribe Leasing Authority

Floor Speech

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Ms. HAGEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1246) to authorize leases of up to 99 years for land held in trust for federally recognized Indian Tribes.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 1246

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED TRIBE LEASING AUTHORITY.

Subsection (a) of the first section of the Act of August 9, 1955 (69 Stat. 539, chapter 615; 25 U.S.C. 415(a)), is amended, in the second sentence, by inserting ``, land held in trust for any other Indian tribe included on the list published by the Secretary pursuant to section 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131)'' after ``Chehalis Reservation''.

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Ms. HAGEMAN. 1246, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, my bill, H.R. 1246, would amend the Long-Term Leasing Act to authorize any federally recognized Indian Tribe to lease land held in trust for the Tribe's benefit for up to and including 99 years, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.

In 1955, Congress passed the Long-Term Leasing Act, which authorized the Tribal owners to lease any lands held in trust for the benefit of the Tribes for nongrazing purposes, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, for only up to 25 years. Any nongrazing lease could be renewed up to one additional term of 25 years for a total of 50 years.

The restriction on the length of time a Tribe can lease their land can have a negative impact on a Tribe's ability to negotiate long-term commercial leases and, subsequently, a Tribe's economic development opportunities.

Congress has amended the Long-Term Leasing Act more than 50 times to adjust the terms and conditions of leases of Tribal lands and authorize specific Tribes or Tribal lands to lease for a term of up to 99 years, subject to approval of the Secretary of the Interior.

This legislation would put a stop to Tribes having to rely on Congress to pass specific legislation so that they can enter into long- term leases should they choose to do so.

H.R. 1246 would proactively extend leasing authority to all federally recognized Tribes while providing a more expedited path forward for economic development. This is commonsense legislation that will benefit Tribes long into the future.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage adoption of the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be a cosponsor of H.R. 1246, which would amend the Long-Term Leasing Act to authorize federally recognized Tribes to enter into lease agreements on their lands for periods of up to 99 years.

As noted, currently under the Long-Term Leasing Act, Tribes are generally limited to lease agreement terms that are no more than 25 years with an option to renew for an additional 25 years. This has led so many Tribes to enter into very complex leasing agreements of 25 plus 25 when all of that puts a constraint on the economic development opportunities that Tribes must be taking advantage of and that they want to take advantage of.

As you can imagine, Mr. Speaker, these limits are challenging, and they are not needed.

For that reason, though, historically, Congress has passed noncontroversial bills to allow certain Tribes that come before them to have longer leases under the act. We have done this in a piecemeal fashion. In fact, as noted, since the passage of the Long-Term Leasing Act in 1955, some additional 60 Tribes have been added to the growing list of exceptions to the act.

Last Congress, we authorized long-term leasing authority for the Seminole Tribe, and on the floor of the House, I called for legislation to make this applicable to all Tribes so we didn't have to do it one at a time. I am pleased today that, under the leadership of Chair Hageman, we are moving to make that a reality.

Today's bill, H.R. 1246, would strengthen Tribal sovereignty by allowing all federally recognized Tribes to enter into lease agreements for periods up to 99 years, providing Tribes the ability to pursue economic development activities for the benefit of their communities that have been typically limited under the Long-Term Leasing Act.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, as noted, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill and, in this manner, to support Tribal sovereignty and, once again, bipartisan legislation, which we often see coming out of the Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs. This is the way that we need to encourage to have work coming out of our committees in a bipartisan fashion that increases Tribal sovereignty and that leads us to honor our trust responsibility to our Tribes.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, my legislation would promote economic development for Tribes by ensuring that they are on the same playing field as other landowners who can enter into long-term leases on their land.

This legislation is a proactive step to support Tribes and their ability to create and pursue economic opportunity.

As the chairman of the Indian and Insular Affairs Subcommittee, I do and will continue to advocate for commonsense solutions for our Indian Tribes.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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