More Indian Country bills slated for action on Capitol Hill

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A statue of Ponca Chief Standing Bear is located in the National Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol. Photo: Franmarie Metzler / U.S. House of Representatives

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Indianz.Com

Four more Indian Country bills are scheduled for passage in the U.S. House of Representatives this week.

All four will be considered under a suspension of the rules as soon as Wednesday afternoon, according to the Democratic House Majority Leader’s calendar. The process is typically used when bills are considered non-controversial, meaning they are likely to pass with overwhelming support in the chamber.

The bills scheduled for action are:

• H.R.478, the Blackwater Trading Post Land Transfer Act. The bill places about 55 acres in Arizona in trust for the Gila River Indian Community.

• H.R.810. The bill opens the door to create the Chief Standing Bear National Historic Trail, to trace the forced removal of the Ponca Tribe from its homelands in Nebraska to Oklahoma, and back. The trail would extend for about 550 miles.

• H.R.1688, the Native American Child Protection Act. The bill updates the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act, which first became law in 1990 to help tribes and the federal government address child abuse in Indian Country amid reports of widespread victimization.

• H.R.2208, the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas Equal and Fair Opportunity Settlement Act. The bill ensures that the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, also known as the Tigua Tribe, and the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe can engage in gaming on their lands in the same manner as other Indian nations.

All four bills were considered during the last session of Congress. None of them made it over the finish line in time for them to become law.

All four bills have been approved out of the House Committee on Natural Resources. All enjoy bipartisan support.

The House is schedule to consider legislation starting at 12pm Eastern on Wednesday and again at 12pm Eastern on Thursday. For any bills not yet considered, the chamber meets again at 9am Eastern on Friday.

House sessions can be viewed live at live.house.gov.