Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1285, the Senate companion to my bipartisan bill, H.R. 3225, the Oregon Tribal Economic Development Act. Last year a federally-recognized tribe in my District, the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw, alerted me that it was unable to obtain a commercial mortgage to purchase a storage unit facility. A local financial institution was concerned that under the arcane Indian Non-Intercourse Act (INIA), it was afraid it would not be able to repossess the property should the tribe be unable to make mortgage payments. Many of my colleagues are not familiar with the INIA, with good reason. The law is over 180 years old, and prohibits a tribe from buying, selling or leasing land. Under the law, Congress, not the Bureau of Indian Affairs, is required to approve every potential transaction. Typically, the INIA has not prevented tribes from buying, selling or leasing land. However, some financial institutions, as in the case in my District, have interpreted it to mean that Congress act. Over the years, Congress has appropriately passed laws excluding individual tribes from the INIA. First, the INIA is completely unworkable. Congress has a hard enough time passing legislation, for better or worse, that affects thousands or millions of Americans. It is not remotely possible we could pass a law every time a tribe requests to buy, sell or lease property.…”