On the recordFebruary 14, 2017
First, let me thank Chairman Bishop for not only yielding me the time, but for his patience and diligence and understanding this issue, and I also want to thank Subcommittee Chairman McClintock for the work that he has put into it. The Natural Resources Committee has conducted hearings on this issue. They have reported out bills related to this issue in the last two Congresses, and last Congress, the whole House voted for a bill that deals with this issue. I am grateful to Chairman Bishop and Subcommittee Chair McClintock for all of that effort. Mr. Speaker, this bill is just a small sliver of what this House has passed before. This bill requires the Federal Government to do what the Federal Government should have done long ago, and that is to conduct a survey along the Red River following the instructions of the United States Supreme Court. That is all this bill does. It does not dispose of any land; it does not alter the rights or claims of any State, any tribe, any individual. It just says the Federal Government has a responsibility to know what the Federal Government is supposed to be controlling. They have never, ever conducted a survey of this area, and so this bill says: You will have a survey conducted using the method that the United States Supreme Court has repeatedly held is a method you ought to use. I am a little taken aback, Mr. Speaker, on why that should be controversial. We could go on at some length about how this came to be.…
