Political Quotes

“The Quileute Indian Reservation is located along the coast of the Olympic Peninsula in my home State of Washington. It consists of approximately 880 acres and is home to about 375 residents. Most of the reservation is located within the flood zone, and much of the tribal infrastructure, including their school, elder center, and housing, is within the tsunami zone. Recent tsunamis in the Pacific clearly demonstrate the risk faced by the tribe and the need to move housing and infrastructure inland. For the safety of this small tribe, legislation is needed that would transfer a few hundred acres from the vast Olympic National Park to the tribe. This will allow them to move their school and other structures to safer land away from the threat of frequent flooding and tsunami risk. There are no park-owned facilities or trails in the transferred land, and there are few opportunities in this transferred land for park visitors. To expedite the passage of the key objective of this bill and to allow it to move forward promptly, the Natural Resources Committee deleted a potentially controversial 4,000-acre wilderness designation that is of no benefit to the tribe. The committee also added language borrowing transferred land from being used for gaming purposes, and the tribe does not oppose this limitation.…”