I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3558 

To amend the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Equitable Compensation Act 

to provide compensation to members of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe 

for damage resulting from the Oahe Dam and Reservoir Project, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 28, 2005 

Ms. HERSETH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Equitable Compensation Act to provide compensation to members of 

the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe for damage resulting 

from the Oahe Dam and Reservoir Project, 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 ‘‘Cheyenne River Sioux 

5 Tribe Equitable Compensation Amendments Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 
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1 (1) the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin pro2 gram, authorized by section 9 of the Act of Decem3 ber 22, 1944 (commonly known as the ‘‘Flood Con4 trol Act of 1944’’) (58 Stat. 891), was intended to 

5 promote the general economic development of the 

6 United States; 

7 (2) the Oahe Dam and Reservoir Project— 

8 (A) is a major component of the Pick9 Sloan Missouri River Basin program; and 

10 (B) contributes to the national economy; 

11 (3) the Oahe Dam and Reservoir Project flood12 ed the fertile bottom land of the Cheyenne River 

13 Sioux Reservation, which greatly damaged the econ14 omy and cultural resources of the Cheyenne River 

15 Sioux Tribe and caused the loss of many homes and 

16 communities of members of the Tribe; 

17 (4) Congress has provided compensation to sev18 eral Indian tribes, including the Cheyenne River 

19 Sioux Tribe, that border the Missouri River and suf20 fered injury as a result of 1 or more of the Pick21 Sloan projects; 

22 (5) on determining that the compensation paid 

23 to the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe was inadequate, 

24 Congress enacted the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe 

25 Equitable Compensation Act (Public Law 106–511; 
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1 114 Stat. 2365), which created the Cheyenne River 

2 Sioux Tribal Recovery Trust Fund; and 

3 (6) that Act did not provide for additional com4 pensation to members of the Cheyenne River Sioux 

5 Tribe that lost land as a result of the Oahe Dam 

6 and Reservoir Project. 

7 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

8 (1) to provide that the Cheyenne River Sioux 

9 Tribal Recovery Trust Fund may be used to provide 

10 compensation to members of the Cheyenne River 

11 Sioux Tribe that lost land as a result of the Oahe 

12 Dam and Reservoir Project; and 

13 (2) to provide for the capitalization of the Chey14 enne River Sioux Tribal Recovery Trust Fund. 

15 SEC. 3. CHEYENNE RIVER SIOUX TRIBE EQUITABLE COM16 PENSATION. 

17 (a) FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.—Section 102 of the 

18 Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Equitable Compensation Act 

19 (Public Law 106–511; 114 Stat. 2365) is amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (a)(3), by striking subpara21 graphs (A) and (B) and inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) the United States did not justify, or 

23 fairly compensate the Tribe and member land24 owners for, the Oahe Dam and Reservation 

25 project, under which the United States acquired 
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1 104,492 acres of land of the Tribe and member 

2 landowners; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the Tribe and member landowners 

4 should be adequately compensated for that 

5 land;’’; and 

6 (2) in subsection (b)(1), by inserting ‘‘and 

7 member landowners’’ after ‘‘Tribe’’ each place it ap8 pears. 

9 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 103 of the Cheyenne 

10 River Sioux Tribe Equitable Compensation Act (Public 

11 Law 106–511; 114 Stat. 2365) is amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

13 paragraphs (4) and (3), respectively, and moving the 

14 paragraphs so as to appear in numerical order; and 

15 (2) by inserting before paragraph (3) (as redes16 ignated by paragraph (1)) the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) MEMBER LANDOWNER.—The term ‘mem18 ber landowner’ means a member of the Tribe (or an 

19 heir of such a member) that owned land (including 

20 land allotted under the Act of February 8, 1887 (24 

21 Stat. 388, chapter 119)) located on the Cheyenne 

22 River Sioux Reservation that was acquired by the 

23 United States for the Oahe Dam and Reservoir 

24 Project. 
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1 ‘‘(2) POWER PROGRAM.—The term ‘power pro2 gram’ means the power program under the Pick3 Sloan Missouri River Basin program.’’. 

4 (c) CHEYENNE RIVER SIOUX TRIBAL RECOVERY

5 TRUST FUND.—Section 104 of the Cheyenne River Sioux 

6 Tribe Equitable Compensation Act (Public Law 106–511; 

7 114 Stat. 2365) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(b) FUNDING.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

12 Treasury shall deposit into the Fund an amount 

13 equal to 25 percent of the amount deposited into the 

14 Treasury from the power program during the pre15 ceding fiscal year for the period— 

16 ‘‘(A) beginning on October 1, 2004; and 

17 ‘‘(B) ending on the last date of the fiscal 

18 year during which the total amount deposited 

19 into the Treasury from the power program 

20 equals the amount described in paragraph (2). 

21 ‘‘(2) DESCRIPTION OF AMOUNT.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The amount referred 

23 to in paragraph (1)(B) is an amount equal to 

24 the sum of— 

25 ‘‘(i) $290,722,958; and 
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1 ‘‘(ii) an amount equal to the amount 

2 of interest or earnings that would have ac3 crued on the amount described in clause (i) 

4 if that amount had been invested in ac5 cordance with subsection (c) as of October 

6 1, 2001. 

7 ‘‘(B) CALCULATION OF INTEREST.—The 

8 amount of interest and earnings described in 

9 subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be determined by ap10 plying the Lehman Government Bond Index (or 

11 a similar index, as determined by the Secretary 

12 of the Treasury, in consultation with the Tribal 

13 Council).’’; 

14 (2) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘Beginning 

15 on the first day of the 11th fiscal year after the date 

16 of enactment of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘Beginning 

17 on October 1, 2005,’’; and 

18 (3) in subsection (f)— 

19 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and 

20 (4) as paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively; and 

21 (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(3) MEMBER LANDOWNERS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The plan may provide 

25 for the payment of additional compensation to 
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1 member landowners for acquisition of land by 

2 the United States for use in the Oahe Dam and 

3 Reservoir Project. 

4 ‘‘(B) PROVISION OF RECORDS.—To assist 

5 the Tribe in processing claims of heirs of mem6 ber landowners for land acquired by the United 

7 States for use in the Oahe Dam and Reservoir 

8 Project, the Secretary of the Interior shall pro9 vide to the Tribe any record requested by the 

10 Tribe to identify the heirs of member land11 owners by the date that is 60 days after the 

12 date of receipt of a request from the Tribe.’’. 

13 (d) ELIGIBILITY OF TRIBE FOR CERTAIN PROGRAMS

14 AND SERVICES.—Section 105 of the Cheyenne River Sioux 

15 Tribe Equitable Compensation Act (Public Law 106–511; 

16 114 Stat. 2365) is amended in the matter preceding para17 graph (1) by inserting ‘‘or any member landowner’’ after 

18 ‘‘Tribe’’. 

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