Doc Hastings

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, again, a lot of these bills can be very complex, and I am glad there is a solution to it. I urge adoption of the bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2455) to provide for the sale or transfer of certain Federal lands in Nevada, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Amodei), the author of this legislation.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. First, I would like to commend the sponsor of this bill, Mr. Amodei from Nevada, for his tireless work on this important piece of legislation. Because he will speak further on the details of this legislation, I will provide a very brief summary of the bill. H.R. 2455, as amended, requires that 45,000 acres of Federal land be held in trust by the U.S. to expand the reservations of several tribes residing in Nevada while requiring that this land may not be used for gaming purposes. The bill also directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey 275 acres of Federal land to the county of Elko, Nevada, to be used only as a motocross, bicycle, off-road vehicle, or stock car racing area. Again, I would like to thank the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Amodei) for his legislation. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, once again, this is a good piece of legislation addressing a complex issue. I urge its adoption, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 2040) to exchange trust and fee land to resolve land disputes created by the realignment of the Blackfoot River along the boundary of the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, and for other purposes.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Simpson), the author of the companion House bill to this legislation.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to, once again, acknowledge the work of the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Simpson) for his work on the House companion to this bill, H.R. 5049, which was ordered favorably reported from the Natural Resources Committee by unanimous consent. S. 2040 addresses a land dispute caused by the realignment of the Blackfoot River along the boundary of the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in Idaho by requiring an exchange of Indian lands for non-Indian lands. Specifically, S. 2040 authorizes the Federal Government to take into trust certain non-Indian lands on behalf of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in Idaho. In exchange, the government would then convey certain Indian lands. Finally, in recognition of this land exchange, the bill extinguishes claims that would be asserted by the tribes against the Federal Government. It is a complex solution, Mr. Speaker, to a complex problem, and I am glad we will be able to resolve that problem with this bill. With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, this is a good piece of legislation. I urge its adoption, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Simpson), the author of this legislation.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to thank the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Simpson), my colleague, for his hard work and leadership on H.R. 5050. He will be speaking on the bill later, so I will just provide a brief summary. Under the Act of May 31, 1918, the Secretary of the Interior was authorized to set aside land for town-site purposes within the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in the State of Idaho. The town-site envisioned under the 1918 Act never came to fruition, and the land is now owned by a county. The tribe seeks restoration of the land into tribal ownership because the parcel is centrally located on the reservation and can't be used for economic development. This bill removes this unused reservation so that the land may be fully utilized by the tribe. Again, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, Mr. Simpson, for his work on behalf of the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5050) to repeal the Act of May 31, 1918, and for other purposes.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, this is a good piece of legislation. I urge its adoption, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar), the author of this legislation.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, our colleague from Arizona (Mr. Gosar) is the author of H.R. 4924, which is cosponsored by the entire bipartisan Arizona House delegation. The bill authorizes and codifies two water rights settlement agreements. The bill will provide some water supply certainty for the Hualapai Tribe, a mining company, the Arizona Game and Fish Commission, and the Federal Government. Due to Federal trust responsibility for the tribe, congressional authorization and ratification of these agreements are necessary. The bill does not impact Winters Doctrine rights, which are tribal water rights set forth in a landmark 1908 Supreme Court case, nor does it authorize Federal expenditure of any kind since this bill involves just the first phase of an agreement. This creative bill provides benefits to all parties involved in these settlements without any Federal expense. I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4924) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to enter into the Big Sandy River-Planet Ranch Water Rights Settlement Agreement and the Hualapai Tribe Bill Williams River Water Rights Settlement Agreement, to provide for the lease of certain land located within Planet Ranch on the Bill Williams River in the State of Arizona to benefit the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program, and to provide for the settlement of specific water rights claims in the Bill Williams River watershed in the State of Arizona.