HR-226-119
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
Sponsored by Charles Fleischmann (R-TN)
What it does
This bill would transfer specified lands and easements in Monroe County, Tennessee — including the Sequoyah Museum, the Chota Memorial, the Tanasi Memorial, and surrounding support land — into federal trust for the use and benefit of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) would retain its rights to conduct river control and flood operations on these lands, and any future development that reduces TVA hydropower capacity would require compensation to the TVA. Gaming would be prohibited on all lands taken into trust under this bill.
Who benefits
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, who would gain federal trust status over ancestral and culturally significant lands, providing legal protections and tribal sovereignty over those properties. Visitors and researchers interested in Cherokee history and culture, who would benefit from continued operation and support of the Sequoyah Museum, Chota Memorial, and Tanasi Memorial. Cultural preservation organizations with an interest in protecting Indigenous heritage sites. Local tourism-related businesses near these cultural landmarks.
Who is hurt
The TVA, which would face new administrative obligations related to environmental remediation and must obtain written consent before certain structures are built on flood-prone lands. Tennessee state and Monroe County governments, which would lose property tax revenue on lands converted to federal trust status. Competing land users or developers who might otherwise seek access to these parcels. Tribal gaming interests, who are explicitly barred from operating gaming facilities on these lands, unlike many other tribal trust lands.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that the Chota and Tanasi sites are among the most historically significant Cherokee ancestral lands in the eastern United States — once the location of the Cherokee Nation's capital — and that placing them in federal trust corrects a long-standing injustice stemming from forced removal. They contend that trust status provides the legal framework necessary to protect these irreplaceable cultural sites from future development or alienation, and that the bill's careful preservation of TVA operational rights and gaming prohibition demonstrate responsible, narrowly tailored land policy.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that transferring land into federal trust removes it permanently from state and local tax rolls, shifting the fiscal burden for public services onto remaining Monroe County taxpayers without compensation. They contend that the Indian Reorganization Act's trust land process already exists for this purpose, and that legislating individual land transfers outside that administrative framework sets a precedent for bypassing established review procedures — including environmental, zoning, and community input processes — that apply to other land-use decisions.