Political Quotes

“I am proud to rise in support of my bill, H.R. 387, the Economic Development Through Tribal Land Exchange Act. This non-controversial, bipartisan bill passed unanimously out of the House Natural Resources Committee and is supported by the Department of the Interior. The bill would aid economic development in the city of Banning, California, through a land swap that is supported by all of the parties involved. Currently, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and a private landowner, Mr. Lloyd Fields, would like to exchange two parcels of land which are nearly identical in size and value, but they are restrained from doing so because one of the parcels is currently held in trust by the United States on behalf of the tribe. My bill facilitates an equitable land swap between the Morongo tribe and the landowner to provide more consolidated reservation land for the tribe and commercial development opportunities for the landowner, the city of Banning, and Riverside County. This bill serves as a model for how land use issues can be addressed by communities coming together while upholding the sacred government- to-government relationship between the Federal Government and Indian tribes. I would like to thank Chairman Robert Martin of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and the city of Banning for bringing this issue to my attention.…”