Winnebago Land Transfer Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Mr. FEENSTRA. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Westerman for bringing this important bill to the floor.

The Winnebago Reservation was established by two treaties in 1865 and 1874 and has been the home of the Winnebago Tribe ever since.

In 1975, more than 100 years later, the Army Corps of Engineers took two small pieces of land within the Missouri River away from the Winnebago Tribe. Since then, the Federal Government has ignored the land and has not made any plans to develop it. The bill would make things right by returning the land that was taken by the Army Corps of Engineers and give it back to the Winnebago Tribe.

During this process, I have gotten to know many of the people of the Winnebago Tribe. I have learned about the great work and the things they do in agriculture, business, and community development.

It is wonderful to see several of them in our gallery today, and I thank them for coming.

This is so important to them and for our land. From my conversations with them, the Winnebago Tribe plans to use this land for conservation that will be open to the public, and I am excited to see their plans for how they will improve this land.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to lead this effort in the House, I encourage my colleagues to support this important bill, and I thank the chairman for yielding me time.

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