[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 163 (Monday, September 21, 2020)] [House] [Pages H4565-H4566] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] NULLIFYING SUPPLEMENTAL TREATY BETWEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND CONFEDERATED TRIBES AND BANDS OF INDIANS OF MIDDLE OREGON Ms. HAALAND. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 832) to nullify the Supplemental Treaty Between the United States of America and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of Indians of Middle Oregon, concluded on November 15, 1865. The Clerk read the title of the bill. The text of the bill is as follows: S. 832 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. NULLIFICATION OF TREATY. The Supplemental Treaty Between the United States of America and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of Indians of Middle Oregon, concluded on November 15, 1865, and entered into pursuant to the Senate resolution of ratification dated March 2, 1867 (14 Stat. 751), shall have no force or effect. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Haaland) and the gentlewoman from Wyoming (Ms. Cheney) each will control 20 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from New Mexico. General Leave Ms. HAALAND. Madam 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 measure under consideration. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from New Mexico? There was no objection. Ms. HAALAND. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, S. 832, introduced by Senator Merkley of Oregon, will nullify the supplemental treaty of 1865 between the United States and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of Indians of Middle Oregon. The Warm Springs Confederated Tribe signed a treaty with the United States in 1855 in which they relinquished millions of acres of their land but reserved the Warm Springs Reservation for their exclusive use, as well as off-reservation fishing, hunting, and gathering rights. After the treaty's signing, the Tribes maintained their accustomed practice of traveling regularly to the Columbia River to harvest salmon. However, non-Indian settlers in the area convinced the Oregon Superintendent of Indian Affairs to pursue efforts to keep the Tribes away. [[Page H4566]] As a result, in 1865, a small number of Warm Springs members were fraudulently made to sign a supplemental treaty that claimed to strip the Tribe's off-reservation rights and to prohibit their members from leaving the reservation without a written permit issued by the Federal Indian agent. Both the Indians of the Warm Springs Reservation and the United States Government recognized that this was a deceptive action and have consistently ignored the 1865 agreement while also reaffirming the Tribes' off-reservation treaty rights. Passage of S. 832 will finally officially correct this historic injustice and nullify the 1865 treaty. Madam Speaker, I thank and congratulate Senator Merkley for his work on moving this bill through the Senate. I also want to thank our colleague from Oregon, Representative Greg Walden, for his work on the House version of the legislation. Madam Speaker, I urge quick adoption of this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time. Ms. CHENEY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of S. 832. As my colleague has described, the bill would nullify an 1865 supplement to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation. It was signed after the original 1855 treaty. This supplemental treaty further restricted the rights of Tribal members to the extent that, among other things, they could not leave the reservation without written permission from the Federal agency superintendent. According to the Tribe, this supplemental treaty was in response to non-Indian settler concerns with Tribal members using their usual and accustomed areas to hunt and fish. The State of Oregon has indicated it has no intention of enforcing this antiquated and discriminatory treaty, but it does remain on the books, Madam Speaker, and I support the Tribes' request to have it struck. Madam Speaker, I thank the sponsor of the House companion of this bill, Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Walden, for his efforts to see this offensive provision removed. Madam Speaker, I urge the adoption of this measure, and I yield back the balance of my time. Ms. HAALAND. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Haaland) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, S. 832. The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed. A motion to reconsider was laid on the table. ____________________