President Donald J. Trump has vetoed H.R. 504, known as the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act, which addressed flooding and infrastructure issues in the Osceola Camp section of Everglades National Park.
In a statement explaining his decision, President Trump outlined the history of the Osceola Camp, noting that it was built in 1935 without authorization and originally served as a family residence and gift shop before becoming a site for air-boat rides. He emphasized that “none of the current structures in the Osceola Camp are over 50 years old, nor do they meet the other criteria to be considered for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.”
The original Miccosukee Reserved Area Act, passed by Congress in 1998, allowed the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida to permanently occupy certain areas within Everglades National Park but did not include Osceola Camp. The residential community there currently faces periodic flooding and includes infrastructure for wastewater treatment and water supply. H.R. 504 would have required the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the tribe, to take measures to protect structures within Osceola Camp from flooding.
Trump stated that a plan developed by a previous administration aimed to protect and replace unauthorized infrastructure at Osceola Camp at an estimated cost of up to $14 million. He also expressed concerns about federal funding for what he described as special interests.
“My Administration is committed to preventing American taxpayers from funding projects for special interests, especially those that are unaligned with my Administration’s policy of removing violent criminal illegal aliens from the country,” Trump said. “Ending the massive cost of taxpayer handouts and restoring fiscal sanity is vital to economic growth and the fiscal health of the Nation. This principle carries especially heavy weight here; it is not the Federal Government’s responsibility to pay to fix problems in an area that the Tribe has never been authorized to occupy.”
He concluded: “For these reasons, I cannot support the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act. Therefore, it is my duty to return H.R. 504 to the House of Representatives without my approval.”
The vetoed bill will now return to Congress for further consideration.
