North Dakota Trust Lands Completion Act of 2026

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2252 would allow the State of North Dakota to relinquish parcels of State land within the boundaries of a Tribal reservation in exchange for one or more parcels of unappropriated Bureau of Land Management land of substantially equivalent value.

All relinquished State lands will be held in trust by the Secretary of the Interior on behalf of the Tribe whose reservation includes those lands.

The process established by this legislation will help make reservations whole and fulfill obligations made to the State of North Dakota when it was entered into the Union in 1889.

The chair mentioned a win-win, and I want to reemphasize that here. This bill will help fulfill our Tribal treaty responsibilities and will benefit North Dakota schools, with the land acquired managed as school trust lands.

I commend and thank my friend, Representative Fedorchak, for her work on this bill, which includes updates to ensure that the land exchanges are transparent and fair.

The bill also includes important safeguards for land with wilderness characteristics and other important conservation designations. Most importantly, Mr. Speaker, this bill is supported by the impacted Tribes, including the Spirit Lake Tribe and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. ELFRETH. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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