Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Project Lands Restoration Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my bill, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Project Lands Restoration Act.

I thank Chairman Westerman and Subcommittee Chairman Hurd for their partnership in bringing this important legislation to the floor. I am deeply honored to serve on the House Natural Resources Committee and the Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs. I am proud to represent a district that is home to 12 federally recognized Tribes, Tribes that led the Nation in co-stewardship, climate resilience, and ecosystem restoration.

Each time this Congress gathers to address land restoration and treaty reserved rights, we are doing incredibly meaningful work, not only alongside the Tribes that we serve, but in service of the integrity of our Federal Government's commitments.

I also want to extend a special thank you to Chairwoman Frances Charles of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe for testifying before the committee earlier this year on this bill. Chairwoman Charles has spent her career protecting the Lower Elwha's culture, preserving their language, and ensuring that treaty reserved hunting and fishing rights remain.

It strengthens the restoration of the Elwha watershed, which is one of the most iconic examples of climate resilience and ecological recovery anywhere in the country. This bill recognizes that the Lower Elwha people have lived on and cared for this land since time immemorial.

Transferring land into trust is one of the most impactful actions the United States can take to deliver on trust and treaty obligations. It is one of the clearest ways we can demonstrate respect for Tribal sovereignty and return land to the stewardship of the people who know it best.

This bill is straightforward, and it is long overdue. It aligns our policies with our values, and it honors the community that has spent decades repairing the damage caused by a Federal infrastructure that was built without Tribal consent.

As someone who has the honor of representing the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, I am proud to lead this legislation alongside Senators Cantwell and Murray. I recognize the dedication and work of my predecessor, Representative Derek Kilmer, who championed this bill in past Congresses prior to his retirement last year.

Chairwoman Charles' leadership has been essential to one of the most ambitious restoration projects in our country's history: the removal of the two dams on the Elwha River, the largest dam removal project of our Nation's history at the time, and the healing of a river system that has been blocked for a century.

Just this year, we celebrated an anniversary of the river being free, the return of the salmon through canoe journey. This is an endeavor in which Tribal canoe families journey from around the Salish Sea and British Columbia to come to land, to celebrate, to commemorate their history, and to promise to preserve the land, water, and ecosystem for seven generations forward.

This legislation is an important piece of that puzzle, transferring approximately 1,082 acres of Federal land into trust for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. These are lands once tied to the Federal hydroelectric project, lands acquired during the dam removal process, lands that include cultural sites, historic villages, and ecological areas directly connected to the Tribe's stewardship of the Elwha River.

Placing these lands into trust is not just a procedural act. It is a promise fulfilled. It affirms the Tribe's sovereign right to protect and manage sacred sites for generations to come.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in moving this bill forward so we can take the final step in returning these lands to the Lower Elwha people, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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