lujan. mr. chairman, thank you so much for calling this hearing. i ask unanimous consent that my opening statement be made part of the record. >> without objection. >> mr. chairman, this is not a new issue, as you know. we've been through this quite a number of years, since of time of ben nighthorse campbell, when he was a member of this very committee before he went on to become a united states senator. i think with an understanding of the institutional history in terms of our treatment of native american peoples, mr. chairman, you probably, more than anybody in this committee and in this congress, understands and appreciates the problems that the native american communities have had to endure and to go through as part of the history of our country. it's interesting to know, mr. chairman, that our first national policy towards the native american indians was to kill the indians. the only good indian was a dead indian is my understanding of our history. and then the next phase of our history dealing with the indians is let's assimilate the indians

lujan and the position he's had. it makes me feel good about that side of the aisle and the people who worked with me over the years. i will miss mr. barnes but i'm confident this young man will fill his shoes. if he doesn't, i'll use the gavel so that will take care of it. welcome. the subcommittee already came to order. the subcommittee on indian and alaska native affairs is meeting to hear testimony on the standards and procedures on whether and how indian tribes should be newly recognized by the federal government. opening statements for the chairman and ranking member of the subcommittee so we can hear from the witnesses more quickly. i ask unanimous consent if submitted by the clerk by the close of business today. hearing no objection, so ordered. i ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from virginia, mr. whitman from california, mr. thompson and florida mr. miller be allowed to join us and participate in the hearing. without objection, so ordered. in today's hearing we will hear the perspective of several g

lujan in the position that he has had. it makes me feel good about that side of the aisle and the people that have worked with me over the years. i'm going to miss mr. bourn but i'm confident this man will fill his shoes and if he does i will use the gavel. welcome. the subcommittee has already come to order. the subcommittee on the union and native affairs to hear testimony on the authorization standards and procedures on whether and how and when indian tribes should be recognized by the federal government. on the committee ruled for f so they can hear from the witness more quickly. however i ask unanimous consent to include any other member's opening statement in the record submitted by the clerk. hearing no objection, so ordered. i ask unanimous consent the gentleman from virginia, from california mr. thompson and florida mr. miller be allowed to join us on the dying is and participate in the hearing. without objection so ordered. in today's hearing we will hear the perspective of several groups seeking recognition as t

lujan, the ranking member and my

lujan. >> mr. chairman, two quick questions. >> go ahead. >> mr. gabaldon, the -- one of the criteria of 25 cfr-83, 83.7g. it states that the petitioner demonstrates that neither the petitioner nor its members are the subject of a congressional legislation that has expressly terminated or forbidden the federal relationship. >> i'm sorry. i didn't hear the question. >> section g states that the -- if you don't meet this criteria, there's no administrative relief. you don't have the opportunity to pursue something administratively. what this states is the criteria is the petitioner demonstrates that neither the petitioner nor its members are the subject of congressional legislation that has expressed -- that has expressly terminated or forbidden the federal relationship. would your tribe fall into that? you wouldn't meet that criteria? >> we don't meet the criteria because of the g. that's why we weren't able to use the petition process. >> i think that's important to note as we talk about this. some of the aspects associated with judicial i think re

lujan. the chair: the gentleman from new mexico is recognized for 90 seconds. mr. lujan: mr. chairman, thank you so much. this amendment is straightforward. it's about protecting hunting and fishing, not -- how simple this is. sadly a similar amendment was rejected by the rules committee when we had a similar debate on oil and gas leasing. but i rise in strong support of the grijalva amendment and i urge my republican colleagues to take a step back and consider the true impacts their policies are having on public lands. public lands are just that. lands for the public to enjoy and use for the great benefits that they provide. generations of new mexicans have used our state's lands for hunting, fishing, recreation and grazing. mineral development is important but let's do it where it makes sense. we have seen bill after bill on this floor that are giveaways to big oil companies, mining companies and corporate interests that don't consider the long-term detrimental impacts to wildlife habitat and public use for recreational use. today's bill would require the federal government

yesenia lujan lives in the apartment building where he lives. >> we see everybody faces. >> but you never saw his face. >> never once. i lived here about eight months. never once seen his face. >> holmes didn't leave much of a footprint online, no facebook or twitter account. no manifesto or warnings what was coming. a resume on monster.com suggests high intellectual functioning. he was a phi beta kappa neuroscience major at the university of california riverside, as well as a camp counselor providing a positive role model for kids. according to his resume. but another online posting paints a much different picture. that's him with dyed red hair on the adult friend finder. a few weeks before the massacre. saying he's looking for a casual sex gal and asking, will you visit me in prison? >> the owner of a private gun range here tells us he received an application just last month from holmes asking to join the range. the range owner called the phone number listed. no answer. but says he was struck by what he says was a freakish voice mail greeting with a really weird voice. norah, charlie? >

lujan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new mexico is recognized for a minute and a what -- half. -- half. mr. lujan: mr. speaker, this republican majority's effort to repeal the affordable care act is bad legislation that would undermine significant advancements to the delivery of health care services to all americans. but let me be clear. this bill would repeal the single most important federal law that governs the delivery of health care to our first americans, native americans. it's an assault on our federal responsibility to tribal communities who without the indian health care system would not have meaningful access to health care services. our republican majority swept the rug out of native american women and took them out of the act to protect them from domestic violence. this act the republicans put before us would hurt people in a very serious way. the act makes possible long-awaited improvements to the indian health care delivery system by providing authority to provide

lujan, mr. napolitano, mr. costa, we have a very serious problem and i'm really to name it. the problem we have impacted lands across this country is climate change. if you think storms and drop conditions of catastrophic wildfires are random feet prevent coming you are in deep, deep denial. when sigmund freud said a denial come he suggested when people are forced to face unpleasant facts, they are prone to deny the reality of the fact outright. to come them in a may seriousness of the issue. or three, project responsibility of the unpleasant situation of someone else. this is an apt analogy to how the climate deniers have chosen to deal a severe weather events, drought and wildfire. for months the majority has denied that there is a problem. not the majority apparently is willing to accept part of the reality that we are approaching dustbowl like drought conditions and fires are becoming larger and more severe, but they still denied the group cause of the push to the extremes is actually caused by climate change. instead, they are going to project the responsibility of wild

chairman hastings and ranking member markey as well as subcommittee chairman young and ranking member lujangiving my legislation a fair hearing and moving the bill through the committee. mr. speaker, the bridgeport indian colony is a federally recognized indian tribe with a reservation located near the bridgeport -- near the town of bridgeport in california. the tribe's reservation is approximately 40 acres and was established by federal law in 1974. however, the size of the current reservation is insufficient for the tribe's housing and community development needs. in order to create space for economic development and housing, my legislation proposes to transfer from the b.l.m. to the b.i.a. to hold in trust for the tribe one parcel of land contingent to the tribe's existing area. on this parcel the tribe plans to construct an r.v. park, gas station, convenience store and residential housing for tribal members as well as a recreational center to serve the greater community. mr. speaker, many tribal members have expressed interest in moving back to the reservation if housing and job opportu