Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be a cosponsor of H.R. 1246, which would amend the Long-Term Leasing Act to authorize federally recognized Tribes to enter into lease agreements on their lands for periods of up to 99 years. As noted, currently under the Long-Term Leasing Act, Tribes are generally limited to lease agreement terms that are no more than 25 years with an option to renew for an additional 25 years. This has led so many Tribes to enter into very complex leasing agreements of 25 plus 25 when all of that puts a constraint on the economic development opportunities that Tribes must be taking advantage of and that they want to take advantage of. As you can imagine, Mr. Speaker, these limits are challenging, and they are not needed. For that reason, though, historically, Congress has passed noncontroversial bills to allow certain Tribes that come before them to have longer leases under the act. We have done this in a piecemeal fashion. In fact, as noted, since the passage of the Long-Term Leasing Act in 1955, some additional 60 Tribes have been added to the growing list of exceptions to the act. Last Congress, we authorized long-term leasing authority for the Seminole Tribe, and on the floor of the House, I called for legislation to make this applicable to all Tribes so we didn't have to do it one at a time. I am pleased today that, under the leadership of Chair Hageman, we are moving to make that a reality.…”