Norman D. Dicks: “I rise to urge passage of H.R. 1061, the Hoh Indian Tribe Safe Homelands Act, which I sponsored. The Hohs are one of…”

“I rise to urge passage of H.R. 1061, the Hoh Indian Tribe Safe Homelands Act, which I sponsored. The Hohs are one of eight tribes in the district I represent. This legislation is primarily for the safety of the Hoh Tribe to help them relocate out of a tsunami zone and floodplain. The legislation accomplishes this goal by transferring a small parcel of land in the Olympic National Park to the tribe. In addition, the legislation will place into trust this transferred park service land, along with other lands recently acquired by the tribe. The Hoh Tribe lives in an extraordinarily spectacular place on the Olympic Peninsula where the Hoh River empties into the Pacific Ocean. But with this spectacular beauty comes real danger. Throughout the year, the Hoh Tribe must deal with the threat of tsunamis. The Pacific Coast is an extremely active seismic zone. Every time there is an earthquake in the eastern Pacific area, the Hoh Tribe, along with other coastal tribes in Washington State, must be vigilant for a tsunami, which could prove devastating.”