Another batch of Indian Country bills is making its way through the 118th Congress, with only about a week left for lawmakers to achieve success for tribes and their citizens.

The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed six bills of interest, affecting everything from tribal homelands to public health on reservations. But a leading Democrat, whose party will soon be out of control in the chamber, said the work is far from over as the clock winds down on the legislative session.

“We have passed an extraordinary number of bipartisan bills,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said of the efforts of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, where he serves as chair.

“But we’re not done,” Schatz added. “We have about a week left, and we have a number of bipartisan bills that have to get across the finish line.”

Two of the bills benefit tribes in California. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) stressed that both measures have the support of Republicans, whose party will be taking over on Capitol Hill.

Speaking on the floor, Padilla said his bills “will help tribes in my home state of California regain control of their rightful ancestral lands and help the federal government take steps to fulfill our sacred trust responsibility to tribal nations.”

S.3857, the Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act, bill authorizes the acquisition of about 172 acres in trust for the Jamul Indian Village in southern California. Padilla noted that the tribe’s current reservation consists of just six acres in San Diego County, down from 640 acres originally promised.

“By establishing this land in federal trust, the U.S. government is now fulfilling our obligation to the Jamul people and returning their tribal members back to their permanent and proper homeland,” Padilla said of S.3857.

S.4000 benefits the Lytton Rancheria, located in the northern part of the state, by resolving possible legal hurdles. The bill ensures that the tribe — whose nation-to-nation relationship was at one point terminated by the U.S. — can restore its homelands under the Indian Reorganization Act.

“The bill we just approved would simply provide clarity that the Lytton Rancheria of California is able to place land into trust through the Department of the Interior’s standard land-to-trust process,” Padilla said of S.4000.

Later in the day, Schatz came to the Senate floor to secure approval of four more bills of interest in Indian Country. In doing so, he addressed a concern he made shortly before the Thanksgiving holiday, when he said a significant number of tribal measures have been languishing in the chamber for “no good reason.”

“We’ve already had the most constructive and productive period for Native people in Congressional history,” Schatz said on Thursday — some three weeks after two Republicans went head-to-head over a sacred sites measure that one of them is blocking from passage.

“We have invested more in water, in transportation, in broadband, in energy, in culture, and in economic development,” Schatz added.

But S.2088, the Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act, is still not among the batch of bills advancing on Capitol Hill. The measure remains in limbo because Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) is holding it “hostage” — according to Sen. Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota), who is trying to protect 40 acres at the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre in South Dakota on behalf of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

The items approved on Thursday, however, have widespread impact for American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians across the country. All passed by unanimous consent, meaning no lawmaker objected.

“And then we will do more work next week on a bipartisan basis to finish out this Congress strong, to make sure we do everything we can for Native people from Hawaii, to Florida, and everywhere in between,” Schatz said.

Among those approved is S.2783, the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act. The bill adds an area known as Osceola Camp to the reservation of the Miccosukee Tribe in Florida.

“It would also authorize up to $14 million to protect the land from flooding caused by federal projects to restore the Everglades National Park ecosystem,” Schatz said of an area in southern Florida that would be protected should S.2783 become law.

S.2908, the Indian Buffalo Management Act, also was approved. The bipartisan measure establishes a permanent program at the Department of the Interior to help promote and develop tribal capacity to manage buffalo, or bison.

“It would establish a $14 million annual grant program for seven years within the Department of the Interior to help tribal nations play a pivotal role in this recovery effort, especially on their own lands,” Schatz said of S.2908.

Another bill passing on Thursday is S.4365, the Veterinary Services to Improve Public Health in Rural Communities Act. The bill authorizes the Indian Health Service to provide veterinary services — including spaying and neutering of domestic animals — to tribes and tribal organizations.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the vice chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, is the sponsor of S.4365. Native communities in her home state of Alaska are among those supporting the measure in order to “control domestic animal populations and to prevent the spread of rabies and other diseases to humans,” Schatz said on the Senate floor.

Finally, Murkowski is the sponsor of S.4370, the Tribal Forest Protection Act Amendments Act, which ensures that Native corporations in her home state can participate in stewardship of federal forest lands. The measure further addresses a requirement that has limited tribal participation on lands important to their communities.

“It also expands eligibility to include federal lands with special geographic, historical, or cultural significance to a tribe, and it authorizes up to $15 million annually through the fiscal year 2030,” Schatz said of S.4370.

Of the six bills approved on Thursday, the Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act has a related version that was already approved in the U.S. House of Representatives. H.R.6443 is sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California), who secured passage in his chamber by a voice vote on April 9.

However, S.3857 contains new language regarding the possible acquisition of another 1.1 acres in trust for the Jamul Indian Village. The House would need to take action on the Senate version before the bill can be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature.

The Indian Buffalo Management Act also has a companion version in the House. H.R.6368 has been ready for passage in that chamber since June following a favorable hearing last December but lawmakers could always take up S.2908 instead.

Likewise, the House has yet to advance H.R.5537, its version of the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act. The Republican-sponsored bill did not receive a hearing in the Republican-led chamber.

But the House could always pass S.2783 and send it to the White House for Biden’s signature. The same actions could be taken on S.4000, S.4365, and S.4370 before the end of the 118th Congress.

As Schatz pointed out, the 118th Congress is nearly over. During his remarks on Thursday, he indicated that work is continuing on S.2273, the Native American Child Protection Act, a bipartisan bill to protect victims and survivors of child abuse in Indian Country.

“We have to do some final clarifications with our counterparts on the Republican side, and I am hopeful that we will land that one as well,” Schatz said of S.2273.

Law enforcement bills from Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada) are in the pipeline as well, according to Schatz. That includes S.465, the Bridging Agency Data Gaps and Ensuring Safety (BADGES) for Native Communities Act, which is a bipartisan measure that seeks to improve public safety in Indian Country.

Finally, Schatz highlighted a bill that he said is “arguably the most important out of all of these in terms of its national impact.” That would be S.1723, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act.

The bipartisan bill, which has been ready for passage in the Senate since July, establishes a national commission to examine the impacts of the genocidal Indian boarding school era, during which tribal children were taken from their communities in an attempt to erase their cultures, languages and connections.

“This is a legacy of abuse at the hands of the federal government that we have to reckon with, and this would simply establish a commission to start to delve into this history and come through it to a place of healing — but we are not there yet on those bills,” Schatz said on Thursday.

The Senate is scheduled to return to work on Monday, December 16.