Winnebago Land Transfer Act of 2023
Floor Speech
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Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1240) to transfer administrative jurisdiction of certain Federal lands from the Army Corps of Engineers to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to take such lands into trust for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 1240
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Winnebago Land Transfer Act of 2023''. SEC. 2. LAND TO BE TAKEN INTO TRUST.
(a) In General.--Subject to all valid existing rights, all right, title, and interest (including improvements and appurtenances) of the United States in and to the Federal lands described in subsection (b), those Federal lands--
(1) are declared to be part of the Winnebago Reservation created by the Treaty between the United States and the Winnebago Tribe in 1865; and
(2) shall be held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska subject to the same terms and conditions as those lands described in the Treaty with the Winnebago Tribe, 1865 (14 Stat. 671).
(b) Federal Lands Described.--The Federal lands described in this subsection are the following:
(1) That portion of Tract No. 119, the description of which is filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa (Western Division), Civil Case No. 70-C- 3015-W, executed May 11, 1973, said tract being situated in Section 8 and the accretion land thereto, the Southwest Quarter of Section 9, the West Half of Section 16, the East Half of Section 17, Township 86 North, Range 47 West of the Fifth Principal Meridian, Woodbury County, Iowa, lying Easterly of the Nebraska/Iowa State Line and Southerly of the Easterly extension of the North line of the Winnebago Reservation.
(2) Tract No. 210, as described in Schedule ``A'' of the ``Declaration of Taking, Legal Description of Tract 210 and Judgment on Stipulation and Order of Distribution'', filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa (Western Division), Civil Case No. 70-C-3015-W.
(3) Tract No. 113, as described in the ``Judgment on Declaration of Taking and Legal Description of Tract 113'', filed in the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska, Civ. No. 03498.
(c) Gaming Prohibition.--Class II and class III gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) shall not be allowed at any time on the land taken into trust under subsection (a).
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Mr. WESTERMAN. 1240, the bill now under consideration.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1240, the Winnebago Land Transfer Act of 2023, would replace approximately 1,600 acres of land into trust for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.
The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska is one of the federally recognized Tribes of the Ho-Chunk people. Their reservation encompasses 117,000 acres of land located in Thurston and Dixon Counties in Nebraska and Woodbury County in Iowa.
The treaties of 1865 and 1874 between the Tribe and the U.S. Government established the land that is now known as the Winnebago Tribe's reservation.
In 1970, the Army Corps of Engineers condemned tracts of land on the eastern boundary of the Winnebago Reservation in Nebraska and Iowa through eminent domain for the use of the Snyder-Winnebago Oxbow Lake Recreation Complex project. The Tribe challenged this taking in Federal Court. In Nebraska, the District Court ruled in favor of the Tribe, and the parcels in the State were returned.
That was not the case in Iowa. A failure to properly preserve a right of appeal meant that the Eighth Circuit Court could not return the land to the Tribe through a court order, even though they won their case. The land would have to be returned to the Tribe through an act of Congress.
H.R. 1240 would right the wrong that occurred in 1970 by returning the land and placing it into trust. An additional 60-acre tract that was condemned by the Army Corps of Engineers would also be placed into trust as it would be landlocked by the main parcels being placed into trust.
The land is currently woodland and marsh and has recreational, hunting, and fishing values. The Tribe testified they intend to manage the land under their Winnebago Wildlife and Parks Department and plan to make few, if any, changes to the conservation measures currently in place. Under this legislation, the land would be ineligible for gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Feenstra) for his work on the bill, I encourage adoption of the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, I am prepared to close, and I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, as has been stated, the Winnebago Tribe has been working for more than 50 years to have these approximately 1,600 acres restored to their reservation. I am hopeful that in this Congress we can finally get it done.
Mr. Speaker, I, again, want to thank Congressman Feenstra and the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska for their hard work on this legislation. I urge adoption of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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