Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2839 will amend the Siletz Reservation Act to provide a process by which the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians and the State of Oregon may negotiate to amend or replace the 1980 agreement that currently serves as the final determination of the Tribe's hunting, fishing, trapping, and animal gathering rights. The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians is a confederation of more than 27 different Tribes and bands of Indians who, beginning in 1856, were removed throughout western Oregon and placed on the Siletz Coast Reservation. The Siletz Coast Reservation was repeatedly diminished by Federal action until the Siletz Tribe's Federal recognition was terminated by an act of Congress in 1954. In 1977, Congress enacted a bill to restore the Tribe's Federal recognition. This restoration was not without conditions. The Siletz Tribe's hunting, fishing, trapping, and animal gathering rights were limited through an agreement made with the State of Oregon. This agreement was finalized on May 2, 1980, by the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon as a consent decree. The 1980 consent decree was then incorporated into the Siletz Reservation Act of 1980. The agreement provided limited allocations for salmon fishing and deer and elk hunting while otherwise prohibiting Tribal hunting, fishing, gathering, and trapping, except as authorized under Oregon State law. H.R.…”