Quinault Indian Nation Land Transfer Act

Floor Speech

I rise today in strong support of this bill, the Quinault Indian Nation Land Transfer Act, and I thank Chairman Westerman and Indian and Insular Affairs Subcommittee Chairman Hurd for the opportunity to speak about another bill before us today and for their thoughtful engagement with Tribal council members, Tribal President Capoeman, when he came before the committee, and Quinault Business Committee member Tyson Johnston, who testified to the importance of this legislation earlier this year.

This bill, for me, represents the kind of tangible, bipartisan work I believe that Congress should be doing every day: delivering real solutions, repairing historic injustices, and strengthening our relationships with sovereign Tribal nations.

Earlier this year, I reintroduced the Quinault Indian Nation Land Transfer Act in partnership with Senators Cantwell and Murray. I want to recognize the leadership of my predecessor, Representative Derek Kilmer, who worked diligently on this legislation in past Congresses.

This bill would return approximately 72 acres of land, as we have heard, known as Allotment 1157, to the Quinault Indian Nation by placing it into trust with the Department of the Interior.

To understand why this matters, we have to understand the history. Allotment 1157 was once part of the original Quinault Reservation, land guaranteed to the Nation under the Treaty of Olympia.

In 1928, during the era of forced allotment and fractioning, where ownership of Tribal land was divided, the land was taken out of trust and ultimately lost to the Tribe. It passed through private ownership to a timber company and, decades later, was acquired by the U.S. Forest Service.

Through all those years, the Quinault people were cut off from land that held deep cultural and ecological value.

Allotment 1157 includes some of the last remaining old-growth forest in the region, and it is a place where Quinault carvers once slid canoe hulls into the Salmon River, a place tied to traditional lifeways, craft, and history. It is sacred land.

Returning Allotment 1157 is not only historically justified. It is morally necessary. It restores the Quinault Nation land that was never meant to be taken. It reaffirms the United States' trust responsibility and treaty obligations. It allows the Tribe to continue stewarding an ecosystem that they have cared for since time immemorial.

The Quinault Nation plans to use this land as a place of education, a living museum where future generations can learn about their heritage, their connection to the Salmon River watershed, and their responsibility to protect the land.

This is self-determination in action. This is environmental stewardship in partnership with Tribal leadership. This is Congress fulfilling its promise.

I am proud to champion this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support its passage. Restoring Allotment 1157 is long overdue, and moving this legislation forward is a meaningful step toward justice.

I thank my partners in this work for their support, voices, and stories. They are essential as we work to uphold our commitments to Tribal nations. I thank the Natural Resources Committee members for giving this legislation the thoughtful attention that it deserves.

I respectfully ask all Members to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source