Eni Faleomavaega: “Mr. Speaker, having personally experienced what it means to go through an earthquake and a tsunami, I rise in strong…”

“Mr. Speaker, having personally experienced what it means to go through an earthquake and a tsunami, I rise in strong support of this proposed legislation for the Hoh Indian Tribe Safe Homelands Act, a bill that transfers certain Federal lands in the State of Washington to be held in Federal trust for the Hoh Indian Tribe. While this bill serves primarily to transfer the acreage to the Hoh Indian Reservation, it also carries out a greater purpose and message: to support the welfare of the tribal members while reinforcing our longstanding responsibility to the first Americans. Established by an Executive order in 1893, with only a square mile of land, the Hoh Indian Reservation is home to a tribe of nearly 300 members whose livelihood depends primarily on fishing.”