The Billy Frank, Jr., Tell Your Story Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Speaker, we hear a lot about rap sheets these days. We hear of a lot of young people defined simply by their brushes with the law. But for this man, Billy Frank, Jr., his story was so much more than the crimes for which he was arrested--not convicted I might add. His rap sheet, Martin Luther King's rap sheet, Rosa Park's rap sheet, and Congressman John Lewis' rap sheet are just a piece of a larger narrative about the struggle for social justice.

Billy Frank, Jr., was the Pacific Northwest's foremost advocate for restoration of Native American fishing treaty rights, a dream he lived and saw realized. He cherished clean water and salmon, and he was a key voice in the recovery of the Puget Sound, the largest estuary in the United States of America. Billy was also a proud patriot. He served in the United States Marine Corps where, ironically, he was a member of the military police.

Billy passed away a year ago May 5. But he really isn't gone. His story is here in the Halls of Congress, in which he was so often seen and which he roamed on behalf of his beloved causes, including protecting the Puget Sound, our fisheries, and the cause of clean water.

His story is in the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, which we now protect to give our wildlife a clean and sustainable place to live and which was made possible by a great former Member of the House of Representatives, Norm Dicks. Billy was born, raised, and grew up at Frank's Landing, which was literally just a hop, skip, and a jump from the wildlife refuge and is where his family lived for perhaps thousands of years. He fished in the Nisqually River, which snakes through the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, and that is the location of where he was arrested more than a dozen times--well, okay, it was actually 59 times.

The bill I introduced this week, H.R. 2270, will rename that refuge after Billy Frank, Jr., and it will also make the place of the signing of the Treaty of Medicine Creek a National Historic Site. It will make sure that the story of that site is told, especially by the descendants of those who lived that history. Those tribes will be involved in the development and the understanding behind that site and what it means to them now and before.

Mr. Speaker, Billy was often asked, How do you do this? How do you effectively advocate on behalf of clean water and salmon--as he did--over so many decades? Billy always had the same answer. He would say, ``Tell your story. Tell your story.''

So when people go to the Billy Frank, Jr., Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, they will be able to see why--why--he held fish-ins. They will see why he risked arrest so many times. They will see why he ultimately worked with others to help protect his home and the home of the fish. They will see why he did all these things.

Like many young people today, he fought for what he believed in, and later in his life he worked with lawmakers to build consensus. In fact, he was a master consensus builder. How do I know this? Well, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He actually won the extremely prestigious Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism award, and he has had not one but two books written about him.

So my hope is that when people drive by the sign that directs them to the refuge, maybe they will feel a little bit of that Billy Frank, Jr., magic. Maybe they will wonder who he was, what he did, and find out about his story. For those of us who knew him, it will be a great reminder of a hero. In fact, I would count Billy Frank, Jr., a man I knew many decades and loved, more than a hero. He was truly a great man. He was the Pacific Northwest equivalent of Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King, Jr. or Desmond Tutu.

That is how great a man he was. Here is what Billy said: ``I don't believe in magic. I believe in the Sun and the stars, the water, the tides, the floods, the owls, the hawks flying, the river running, the wind talking. They are measurements. They tell us how healthy things are because we and they are the same. That is what I believe in. Those who learn to listen to the world that sustains them can hear the message brought forth by the salmon.''

Billy Frank, Jr., and his stories have to be told, and that is why I invite my colleagues today to join in cosponsorship of H.R. 2270. Join me and all the members of the Washington State House delegation, and Mr. Cole and Ms. McCollum, the co-chairs of the Native American Caucus, in cosponsoring the Billy Frank, Jr., Tell Your Story Act.

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