Union Calendar No. 428

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4180

[Report No. 103–781]

A BILL

To prohibit the withdrawal of acknowledgement or

Alaska Native group, absent an Act of Congress.group or of the leaders of an Indian tribe orrecognition of an Indian tribe or Alaska Native

OCTOBER 3, 1994

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee

dered to be printedof the Whole House on the State of the Union, and or-
IB

Union Calendar No. 428

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4180

[Report No. 103–781]

To prohibit the withdrawal of acknowledgement or recognition of an Indian

tribe or Alaska Native group or of the leaders of an Indian tribe or

Alaska Native group, absent an Act of Congress.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 12, 1994

Mr. THOMAS of Wyoming (for himself, Mr. RICHARDSON, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, and Mr. BOEHLERT) introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on Natural Resources

OCTOBER 3, 1994

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 12, 1994]

A BILL

To prohibit the withdrawal of acknowledgement or recognition of an Indian tribe or Alaska Native group or of

the leaders of an Indian tribe or Alaska Native group,

absent an Act of Congress.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federally Recognized

3 Indian Tribe List Act of 1994’’.

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

5 For the purposes of this Act:

6 (1) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of

7 the Interior.

8 (2) The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ means any Indian

9 or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village

10 or community that the Secretary of the Interior ac11 knowledges to exist as an Indian tribe.

12 (3) The term ‘‘list’’ means the list of recognized

13 tribes published by the Secretary pursuant to section

14 4 of this Act.

15 SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

16 The Congress finds that—

17 (1) the Constitution, as interpreted by Federal

18 case law, invests Congress with plenary authority

19 over Indian Affairs;

20 (2) ancillary to that authority, the United States

21 has a trust responsibility to recognized Indian tribes,

22 maintains a government-to-government relationship

23 with those tribes, and recognizes the sovereignty of

24 those tribes;

25 (3) Indian tribes presently may be recognized by

26 Act of Congress; by the administrative procedures set
3

•HR 4180 RH

1 forth in part 83 of the Code of Federal Regulations

2 denominated ‘‘Procedures for Establishing that an

3 American Indian Group Exists as an Indian Tribe;’’

4 or by a decision of a United States court;

5 (4) a tribe which has been recognized in one of

6 these manners may not be terminated except by an

7 Act of Congress;

8 (5) Congress has expressly repudiated the policy

9 of terminating recognized Indian tribes, and has ac10 tively sought to restore recognition to tribes that pre11 viously have been terminated;

12 (6) the Secretary of the Interior is charged with

13 the responsibility of keeping a list of all federally rec14 ognized tribes;

15 (7) the list published by the Secretary should be

16 accurate, regularly updated, and regularly published,

17 since it is used by the various departments and agen18 cies of the United States to determine the eligibility

19 of certain groups to receive services from the United

20 States; and

21 (8) the list of federally recognized tribes which

22 the Secretary publishes should reflect all of the feder23 ally recognized Indian tribes in the United States

24 which are eligible for the special programs and serv-
4

•HR 4180 RH

1 ices provided by the United States to Indians because

2 of their status as Indians.

3 SEC. 4. PUBLICATION OF LIST OF RECOGNIZED TRIBES.

4 (a) PUBLICATION OF THE LIST.—The Secretary shall

5 publish in the Federal Register a list of all Indian tribes

6 which the Secretary recognizes to be eligible for the special

7 programs and services provided by the United States to In8 dians because of their status as Indians.

9 (b) FREQUENCY OF PUBLICATION.—The list shall be

10 published within 60 days of enactment of this Act, and an11 nually on or before every January 30 thereafter.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to provide for

the annual publication of a list of federally recognized Indian tribes.’’.