Native American Heritage Month

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHRADER. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor and recognize Native American Heritage Month.

Oregon currently has nine federally recognized Tribes, three of which I am proud to represent here in Congress: The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. I work closely with these Tribal governments and with Tribal members, and I am proud to partner with them and support their work.

Oregon's Tribes do incredible work to protect precious natural resources, to save our salmon, to lift up Native youth, to keep our communities safe, and so much more.

I want to specifically thank Siletz Chairwoman Dee Pigsley, Grand Ronde Chairwoman Cheryle Kennedy, and Warm Springs Chairman Raymond Tsumpti for their leadership.

I also want to acknowledge that Grand Ronde, Siletz, and Warm Springs are confederations of Tribes that were terminated in 1954 in an insidious act that ended the government's recognition of Tribal sovereignty and dismissed the government's trust responsibility in western Oregon and across the country. Their restoration is only beginning.

Because of this, Congress must do more to ensure that we are honoring our commitments to Tribes and taking seriously our trust responsibility.

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