I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5268 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prevent individuals who are 

not members of Indian tribes from receiving Indian tribal benefits, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 26, 2019 

Mr. CLAY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prevent individuals 

who are not members of Indian tribes from receiving 

Indian tribal benefits, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stolen Heritage Pre5 vention Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FRAUDULENT RECEIPT OF TRIBAL BENEFITS; TRIB7 AL IDENTIFICATION CARDS. 

8 (a) WIRE FRAUD.—Section 1343 of title 18, United 

9 States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘Whoever, having’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL—Whoever, having’’; 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘violation occurs in relation to,’’ 

4 and all that follows through ‘‘30 years, or both.’’ 

5 and inserting the following: ‘‘violation— 

6 ‘‘(1) occurs in relation to, or involving any ben7 efit authorized, transported, transmitted, trans8 ferred, disbursed, or paid in connection with, a 

9 presidentially declared major disaster or emergency 

10 (as those terms are defined in section 102 of the 

11 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 

12 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122)); 

13 ‘‘(2) affects a financial institution; or 

14 ‘‘(3) occurs in relation to, or involving any ben15 efit authorized, transported, transmitted, trans16 ferred, disbursed, or paid in connection with, special 

17 programs and services provided by the United States 

18 to Indians because of their status as Indians; 

19 shall be fined not more than $1,000,000, imprisoned not 

20 more than 30 years, or both.’’; and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

23 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Indian’ means any individual 

24 who is a member of an Indian tribe; and 

25 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Indian tribe’— 


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1 ‘‘(A) has the meaning given the term in 

2 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 

3 Education Assistance Act; and 

4 ‘‘(B) includes, for purposes of this section 

5 only, an Indian group that has been formally 

6 recognized as an Indian tribe by— 

7 ‘‘(i) a State legislature; 

8 ‘‘(ii) a State commission; or 

9 ‘‘(iii) another similar organization 

10 vested with State legislative tribal recogni11 tion authority.’’. 

12 (b) IDENTIFICATION CARDS.—Section 1159 of title 

13 18, United States Code, is amended— 

14 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘prod15 ucts’’ and inserting ‘‘products; misrepresen16 tation of membership in an Indian tribe’’; 

17 (2) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

18 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 

19 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(c) TRIBAL IDENTIFICATION CARDS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whoever knowingly sells an 

23 Indian tribal identification card to an individual who 

24 is not a member of an Indian tribe without dis25 closing on such card that the individual is ineligible 


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1 for any special programs and services provided by 

2 the United States to Indians because of their status 

3 as Indians shall be fined under this title, imprisoned 

4 not more than 5 years, or both. 

5 ‘‘(2) AGGRAVATING FACTOR.—Whoever com6 mits an offense under paragraph (1), with the intent 

7 to defraud the Federal Government for the purpose 

8 of receiving as a benefit, or causing another to re9 ceive as a benefit, special programs and services pro10 vided by the United States to Indians because of 

11 their status as Indians and is otherwise ineligible for 

12 such a benefit shall be fined under this title, impris13 oned not more than 15 years, or both.’’. 

Æ 


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