Earl Pomeroy: “This bill corrects a long overdue problem. When the Missouri River was dammed in North Dakota as part of the Pick-Sloan…”

“This bill corrects a long overdue problem. When the Missouri River was dammed in North Dakota as part of the Pick-Sloan water project, the resulting flood created a lake about the size of Rhode Island. The lake is still with us. A number of communities were flooded out in the course of creating the reservoir. One of them, Elbowoods, was a community that was part of the Three Affiliated Tribes Reservation in western North Dakota. Elbowoods had a hospital, a 28-bed, 35,000 square foot hospital, a most significant medical facility in that rural part of North Dakota, certainly the most significant medical facility serving the reservation. In order to persuade the Three Affiliated Tribes, Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikare nations, to vote in favor of the dam and give up 156,000 acres under this reservoir, the Federal Government made a commitment to replace the hospital. The tribes in western North Dakota are still waiting. This authorization will authorize up to $20 million for the construction of this medical facility. My colleagues, I am very familiar with this area. I have been there many, many times. I am acquainted with their medical facilities. They are grossly inadequate. This is an area where there are significant health needs and grossly inadequate facilities in which to meet them and a 50-year promise unmet by the Federal Government.”