Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act
Floor Speech
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Ms. HAGEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6443) to take certain land in the State of California into trust for the benefit of the Jamul Indian Village of California Tribe, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 6443
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act''. SEC. 2. LAND TO BE TAKEN INTO TRUST FOR THE JAMUL INDIAN VILLAGE OF CALIFORNIA TRIBE.
(a) In General.--The approximately 172.1 acres of land owned in fee by the Jamul Indian Village of California located in San Diego, California, and described in subsection (b) are hereby taken into trust by the United States for the benefit of the Jamul Indian Village of California.
(b) Land Descriptions.--
(1) Parcel 1.--Those parcels of land totaling approximately 161.23 acres, located in San Diego County, California, that are held in fee by the Jamul Indian Village of California, as legally described in Document No. 2022-0010260 in the Official Records of the Office of the Recorder, San Diego County, California, and recorded January 7, 2022.
(2) Parcel 2.--That parcel of land totaling approximately 6 acres, located in San Diego County, California, that is held in fee by the Jamul Indian Village of California, as legally described in Document No. 2021-0540770 in the Official Records of the Office of the Recorder, San Diego County, California, and recorded July 29, 2021.
(3) Parcel 3.--That parcel of land totaling approximately 4.03 acres, located in San Diego County, California, that is held in fee by the Jamul Indian Village of California, as legally described in Document No. 1998-0020339 in the Official Records of the Office of the Recorder, San Diego County, California, and recorded January 15, 1998.
(4) Parcel 4.--That parcel of land comprised of approximately 0.84 acres, located in San Diego County, California, that is held in fee by the Jamul Indian Village of California, as legally described in Document No. 2017- 0410384 in the Official Records of the Office of the Recorder, San Diego County, California, and recorded September 7, 2017.
(c) Administration.--Land taken into trust under subsection (a) shall be--
(1) part of the reservation of the Jamul Indian Village of California; and
(2) administered in accordance with the laws and regulations generally applicable to property held in trust by the United States for the benefit of an Indian Tribe.
(d) Gaming Prohibited.--Land taken into trust under subsection (a) shall not be used for any class II gaming or class III gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (as those terms are defined in section 4 of that Act (25 U.S.C. 2703)).
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Ms. HAGEMAN. 6443, the bill now under consideration.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 6443, the Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act, would place 172.1 acres of land owned in fee simple by the Jamul Indian Village into trust by the United States for the benefit of the Tribe.
The Jamul Indian Village is located in San Diego County and is part of the Kumeyaay people of southern California, otherwise known as the Mission Indians. While the Tribe's history dates back 12,000 years, it only received Federal recognition in 1981. The Tribe's reservation consists of approximately 6.04 acres, but the Tribe has continued to work to restore its land base.
Unfortunately, bureaucratic inefficiencies have delayed the process. The Tribe has submitted fee-to-trust applications for the parcels identified in this legislation, including one submitted in August 2015 that the Department of the Interior has not yet finalized.
This legislation would end that bureaucratic delay and place these parcels into trust. The legislation also would prohibit any class II or class III gaming pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act from occurring on the parcels to be placed into trust.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) for his work on this bill. I encourage the adoption of the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ.
Mr. Speaker, I rise also in support of H.R. 6443, the Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act.
The bill would take approximately 172 acres of land located in San Diego County, California, and owned in fee by the Jamul Indian Village of California, into trust for the benefit of the Tribe. The land in question contains four parcels, which include Tribal housing, council buildings, a historic church, and an ancestral cemetery. Each of these parcels is already within the Tribe's ancestral territory and is located near the Tribe's existing reservation.
I again want to acknowledge that land is the very essence of Tribal sovereignty, cultural survival, and economic prosperity in the future. That is why these land-into-trust transfers are so very important and why in Congress we should respond to them when they come before us and use them as another element of how we honor our trust responsibility to Tribes.
For that, I thank Representative Issa for bringing this legislation forward.
Once the 172 acres have been placed into trust, the Tribe will be able to increase Tribal housing, preserve and protect cultural sites, and better provide essential governmental operations, including healthcare services, administrative offices, law enforcement, and other community resources such as a grocery store and educational services.
This bill honors the connection of the Tribe to its ancestral land and is a win for their self-determination.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Ms. HAGEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I am prepared to close. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I also have no further requests for time, and I am prepared to close.
Mr. Speaker, as noted, this is a worthwhile bill for taking this land into trust.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Ms. HAGEMAN. Mr. Speaker, this legislation would take approximately 172.1 acres of land owned in fee simple by the Jamul Indian Village into trust by the United States for the benefit of this Tribe. I thank Mr. Issa for his work on this legislation to benefit his constituents.
Mr. Speaker, I urge the adoption of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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