Steve Pearce: “Mr. Speaker, this is a New Mexico day on the floor of the House, and my colleague and I are here to recommend that…”

“Mr. Speaker, this is a New Mexico day on the floor of the House, and my colleague and I are here to recommend that Senate 246 be passed. It places 4,484 acres of Federal land managed by the Bureau of Lands Management in trust for two pueblos in the State of New Mexico. Specifically 2,484 acres will be added to the Santa Clara Reservation and 2,000 acres to the San Ildefonso Reservation. The lands being transferred to the pueblos are basically surplus land that the BLM has classified as 'disposal property.' These lands are situated between the two pueblos in a manner that is not conducive to public access or use, and they are difficult for the BLM to manage. In fact, there has reportedly been almost no use of these lands except by the pueblos for cultural purposes. While the lands are deemed to be disposable property in the eyes of the Federal Government, they are valuable in the hearts of the two pueblos which have always asserted rights to them. Congress will be restoring land to the pueblos claimed as their ancestral homelands before the European settlers arrived. Recognizing the cultural, traditional, and religious importance of the land of the pueblos, the bill forbids any new commercial development as of the date of enactment.”