Witness list for House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs hearing on five bills

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House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs: Legislative Hearing on H.R. 681, H.R. 3654, H.R. 3903, H.R. 3925, H.R. 4463

Monday, September 8, 2025

Indianz.Com

The House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs is meeting on Tuesday afternoon for a legislative hearing in the nation’s capital.

The subcommittee will be taking testimony on five bills benefiting tribes and Alaska Natives. The list of legislation follows:

H.R.681, A bill to authorize leases of up to 99 years for land held in trust for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), both in Massachusetts. Similar bills have been enacted into law for other Indian nations who want to make decisions affecting their lands without seeking federal approval for every action.

H.R.3654, the Tribal Emergency Response Resources Act, or the TERRA Act. The bill establishes a government-wide framework to help tribes address climate change, natural disasters and other extreme weather events.

H.R.3903, the Chugach Alaska Land Exchange Oil Spill Recovery Act of 2025. The bill authorizes a land exchange between the federal government and Chugach Alaska Corporation, a Alaska Native corporation whose communities were impacted by the Exxon Valdez oil spill on March 24, 1989.

H.R.3925, the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation Land Exchange Act. The bill authorizes a land exchange between the federal government and the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation. The tribe would receive about 1,475 of federal forest land in southern California. The United States would receive about 1,460 acres from the tribe. The land exchange has been under consideration by the U.S. Forest Service.

H.R.4463, a bill to amend the Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina Land Claims Settlement Act of 1993. The bill ensures the Catawba Nation can make decisions affecting its membership criteria without conditions that were enacted into law more than three decades ago.

Hearing Notice

Hearing Memo

The hearing takes place at 2pm Eastern in Room 1324 of the Longworth House Office Building in Washington, D.C. The witness list — with some additions anticipated — follows:

Panel I (Members of Congress)
To Be Announced

Panel II (Administration Witnesses)
Mr. Bryan Mercier [H.R.681, H.R.3654, H.R.3925, and H.R.4463]
Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs
U.S. Department of the Interior
Washington, D.C.

Mr. John Crockett [H.R.3903 and H.R.3925]
Deputy Chief for State, Private, and Tribal Forestry
U.S. Forest Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Washington, D.C

Panel III (Outside Experts)
Ms. Sheri Buretta [H.R.3903]
Chairman of the Board
Chugach Alaska Corporation
Anchorage, Alaska

Mr. Joe Maarango [H.R.3925]
Councilman
Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation
Highland, California

The Hon. Brian Harris [H.R.4463]
Chief
Catawba Nation
Rock Hill, South Carolina

The Hon. Cheryl Andrews-Maltais [Minority Witness] [H.R.681]
Chairwoman
Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah)
Aquinnah, Massachusetts

The Hon. Quintin Swanson [Minority Witness] [H.R.3654]
Chairman
Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe
Tokeland, Washington

A boundary marker at the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) in Aquinnah, Massachusetts. Photo: John Pittman

The subcommittee’s last hearing took place on July 16 although the subject was not Indian Country. Before that, the panel took testimony on four tribal and Alaska Native bills on June 11.

Separately, the House Committee on Natural Resources held a joint oversight hearing with the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on June 24. The topic was alleged misconduct at two tribal colleges: Haskell Indian Nations University (HINU) and the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI).

The House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs is part of the House Committee on Natural Resources. The subcommittee did not hold any Indian Country hearings in July.

The U.S. House of Representatives then went on recess for the month of August 2025. Lawmakers returned to work in D.C. on September 2.

House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs Notice

Legislative Hearing on H.R. 681, H.R. 3654, H.R. 3903, H.R. 3925, H.R. 4463 (September 9, 2025)