February 26, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 38 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session
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CHIEF STANDING BEAR NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL FEASIBILITY STUDY; Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 38
(House of Representatives - February 26, 2020)
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[Pages H1206-H1207] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] CHIEF STANDING BEAR NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL FEASIBILITY STUDY Mr. NEGUSE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2490) to amend the National Trails System Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study on the feasibility of designating the Chief Standing Bear National Historic Trail, and for other purposes, as amended. The Clerk read the title of the bill. The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 2490 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. CHIEF STANDING BEAR NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL FEASIBILITY STUDY. Section 5(c) of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(xx) Chief standing bear national historic trail.--The Chief Standing Bear Trail, extending approximately 550 miles from Niobrara, Nebraska, to Ponca City, Oklahoma, which follows the route taken by Chief Standing Bear and the Ponca people during Federal Indian removal, and approximately 550 miles from Ponca City, Oklahoma, through Omaha, Nebraska, to Niobrara, Nebraska, which follows the return route taken by Chief Standing Bear and the Ponca people.''. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse) and the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock) each will control 20 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Colorado. General Leave Mr. NEGUSE. 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 gentleman from Colorado? There was no objection. Mr. NEGUSE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, H.R. 2490, introduced by Representative Fortenberry of Nebraska, would direct the Secretary of the Interior to study the feasibility of designating the Chief Standing Bear National Historic Trail. The proposed trail would extend approximately 550 miles from Niobrara, Nebraska, to Ponca City, Oklahoma, tracing the route taken by Chief Standing Bear during Federal Indian removal and their return to Nebraska. The trail would commemorate and elevate the story of Chief Standing Bear, and the trail would memorialize the honor, the courage, and the fortitude of Chief Standing Bear and the Ponca people as they struggled to return to their homeland. It would serve as a reminder of their fight to achieve justice, freedom, and equality. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Fortenberry for championing this important legislation and for his efforts to bring about a greater understanding of Tribal sovereignty and rights. Madam Speaker, I certainly urge my colleagues to support this important bill, and I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. McCLINTOCK. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. The statue of Chief Standing Bear can be found in this Capitol, honored by the State of Nebraska as one of its favorite sons. Chief Standing Bear led the Ponca Tribe through the crisis that began with its displacement by a flood of westward-bound settlers encouraged by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The Tribe was pressured to abandon its most productive lands and, essentially, made wanderers by a series of broken promises by the United States Government. When they sought refuge on the Omaha Reservation, Chief Standing Bear and his surviving tribesmen were arrested and detained at Fort Omaha, with no legal recourse. The legal case that followed established, in 1879, the legal principle that American Indians were indeed American citizens protected under the Constitution and accorded all the due process rights enshrined in it. During that case, the words of Chief Standing Bear, pleading on behalf of his Tribe, moved the entire Nation and endure to this day. H.R. 2490, authored by Congressman Fortenberry, directs the Secretary of the Interior to study the feasibility of designating the Chief Standing Bear National Historic Trail. The Chief Standing Bear Trail, extending approximately 550 miles from Nebraska to Oklahoma, follows the route taken by Chief Standing Bear and the Ponca people during their forced removal. If supported by this study, any designation of the trail would require additional action from the Committee on Natural Resources and the Congress. This legislation passed the House in the 114th Congress. It is long overdue to become law. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Fortenberry), the author of the measure. Mr. FORTENBERRY. Madam Speaker, first of all, let me thank Chairman Neguse for his profound words, generous words, kind words, and committed support to this bill. I also thank Ranking Member McClintock for his review of this impactful history of our Nation. This is the reason that Nebraska chose to honor Chief Standing Bear and to share his legacy with the entire United States with a statue recently placed in Statuary Hall. In fact, Madam Speaker, I was walking through there recently, and I stopped for a moment and paused. I watched the young children gather around the Chief Standing Bear statue because it is so impressive and so dignified, and the words that are below it are so impactful: ``I am a man.'' You see, as Ranking Member McClintock traced some of this history, in 1877, the Ponca people were forced off their land in Niobrara, Nebraska, forcibly relocated in a harsh march down to Oklahoma--Indian territory, as it was called at the time. Chief Standing Bear's little child, his daughter, died along the way. His son later became ill, perhaps because of the trauma of the journey. But he promised his son that he would bury him in their native homeland, and that is what led to this tale. That really is what led us here today, Chief Standing Bear honoring a promise to his son. With other members of the Tribe, in the winter of 1878, they started northward back to Nebraska in the harshest of weather conditions. He was arrested for leaving the reservation. The predecessor to today's paper in Nebraska, the Omaha World-Herald, picked up on the story. It became a famous court case that was followed throughout America. At the end of the trial, Chief Standing Bear simply raised his hand and said this: That hand is not the color of yours, but if I pierce it, I shall feel pain. If you pierce your hand, you also feel pain. The blood that will flow from mine will be the same color as yours. I am a man. God made us both. With that profound statement, the court was so moved that the judge ruled, as Ranking Member McClintock said, that Native Americans for the first time--this was 1879--would be declared persons for purposes under the law. It is an amazing, traumatic, difficult, but poignant civil rights story. Today, what we are doing is potentially talking about the establishment [[Page H1207]] of the Chief Standing Bear National Historic Trail that would honor both the courage of this brave individual and his great contribution to the idea of freedom and civil liberties for all Americans. This bill is a first important step toward establishing this trail, and I am really thankful to my colleagues for their support. Mr. McCLINTOCK. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. NEGUSE. Madam Speaker, I again thank my colleague from Nebraska for his leadership and for bringing this important bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2490, as amended. The question was taken. The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds being in the affirmative, the ayes have it. Mr. NEGUSE. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays. The yeas and nays were ordered. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. ____________________
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