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Floor Speech

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Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Pechanga Band of Indians Land Transfer Act. This bill would transfer 860 acres of Federal land in Riverside County, CA, currently administered by the Bureau of Land Management and adjacent to Tribal land, to be held in trust for the Pechanga Band of Indians.

The Pechanga Band of Indians have worked to acquire isolated parcels of land nearby and adjacent to Tribal land in Temecula to better protect, preserve, and restore sites sacred to the Tribe, including by fighting against the development of an open-pit mine quarry that would have caused air pollution across the valley and destroyed the sacred Pu'eska Mountain.

The transfer of these 860 acres would unify the Tribe with the land near this mountain to be managed consistent with the Tribe's cultural traditions and land management practices.

This legislation will support the Tribe's restoration efforts, allow for greater protection of culturally significant sites, and improve environmental monitoring and natural resource management on land that has been significant to the Tribe for over 10,000 years.

I want to thank Senator Schiff for joining me in cosponsoring this legislation, and I thank Congressman Darrell Issa for introducing companion legislation in the House. ______

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