Speech #910024024

Make no mistake about this: the power to grant rightsofway over Indian tribal land is the power to grant away permanently whole Indian reservations. The area of Indian tribal land in the lower 48 States has shrunk to approximately 39 million acres. This seems like a lot of land. but it is not good land. The most productive areas were taken away from the Indians a century or more ago. What they have left is generally only what the white immigrants did not want. It is largely desert. suitable only for grazing one cow per 40 acres. Despite widespread belief to the contrary. only a small part of it produces oil or other minerals.