OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

May 31, 1918 Act Repeal Act

Floor Speech

Date: Dec. 1, 2014
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Environment

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Hastings for bringing this bill and the subsequent bill that will follow to the floor and see rapid action. I thank the gentleman for his support of this.

Let me also say that this is the last year that Chairman Hastings will be in Congress. He has chosen to retire at the end of this year, and it has been a pleasure to work with him on both resource issues and on energy and water issues that I am involved with. We are going to miss him and his 20 years of service representing Washington and all the people in this country. So I appreciate the work that you have done, and we will miss you.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5050, the May 31, 1918 Act Repeal Act. This is a simple but significant piece of legislation addressing issues that impact the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in Idaho.

As its name suggests, H.R. 5050 would repeal the 1918 Act that gives the Federal Government authority to unilaterally take Shoshone-Bannock tribal land out of trust and transfer it to a local government for use as a township. This act is antiquated, and any purpose it may have served toward its stated goal of providing trading opportunities for the tribes has long since expired. Today, thanks to an MOU dating back to 2009, the local county government has granted jurisdiction over the remaining town-site to the tribes for law enforcement, emergency services, roads, and infrastructure.

It is time to wipe this 1918 law off the books. From a practical standpoint, the tribes are already managing the land in question, for which the county has no interest in being responsible.

From a more general point of view, allowing the Federal Government the authority to unilaterally take tribal land out of trust violates the spirit of the relationship the government should have with the tribes. Repealing this act is the right and sensible thing to do.

Mr. Speaker, as I conclude today, I would like to take note that H.R. 5050 has been introduced by my colleagues in the Senate and was unanimously passed out of the committee, and I am hopeful that the Senate would take action on this quickly so that this bill and the subsequent bill can be signed into law and the tribes can move on these issues.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT


Source
arrow_upward