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[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4653 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4653

 To settle Indian land claims within the State of Connecticut, and for 
                            other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 27, 1994

Mr. Gejdenson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To settle Indian land claims within the State of Connecticut, and for 
                            other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Mohegan Nation of Connecticut Land 
Claims Settlement Act of 1994''.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF POLICY.

    Congress finds and declares that--
            (1) the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut is a 
        successor in interest to the aboriginal entity known as the 
        Mohegan Indian Tribe which has existed in the State of 
        Connecticut from time immemorial and for which certain lands 
        were sequestered as tribal lands by the Colony and State of 
        Connecticut;
            (2) there is pending before the United States District 
        Court for the Southern District of Connecticut a lawsuit by the 
        Mohegan Indian Tribe which involves certain lands within the 
        State of Connecticut;
            (3) the pendency of the lawsuit may result in economic 
        hardships for residents of the State of Connecticut by clouding 
        the titles to lands in the State, including lands not now 
        involved in the lawsuit;
            (4) the State of Connecticut and the Mohegan Tribe have 
        executed agreements for the purposes of resolving all disputes 
        between them and settling the lawsuit, which agreements require 
        implementing legislation by the Congress of the United States;
            (5) in the agreements described above, the parties provide 
        for the assumption by the State of Connecticut of criminal 
        jurisdiction over the members of the Mohegan Tribe and on its 
        lands and to the submission of all gaming-related development 
        to the State of Connecticut State Traffic Commission; and
            (6) Congress shares with the parties to such agreements a 
        desire to settle all Mohegan Indian claims in the State of 
        Connecticut and to remove all clouds on titles resulting from 
        such lawsuits.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act, the term--
            (1) ``Mohegan Tribe'' means the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of 
        Connecticut, a tribe of American Indians recognized by the 
        United States pursuant to 25 C.F.R. 83 and by the State of 
        Connecticut pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes sections 
        47-59 (a) and (b) and further described in section 2(a);
            (2) ``State of Connecticut'' means the State of 
        Connecticut, its agencies, political subdivisions, 
        constitutional officers, officials of its agencies and 
        subdivisions;
            (3) ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the Interior;
            (4) ``Lands or natural resources'' means any real property 
        or natural resources, or any interest in or right involving any 
        real property or natural resources including, but not limited 
        to, minerals and mineral rights, timber and timber rights, 
        water and water rights, and rights to hunt and fish;
            (5) ``Lawsuit'' means the action in the United States 
        District Court for the District of Connecticut, entitled 
        ``Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut v. State of 
        Connecticut, et al., Case No. H77-434;
            (6) ``Agreement'' means that document entitled ``Agreement 
        between the Mohegan Tribe and the State of Connecticut'' 
        executed on April 25, 1994, by the Governor of the State of 
        Connecticut and the Chief of the Mohegan Tribe, and filed with 
        the Secretary of State of the State of Connecticut; and
            (7) ``Transfer'' includes, but is not limited to, any sale, 
        grant, lease, allotment, partition, or conveyance, any 
        transaction the purpose of which was to effect a sale, grant, 
        lease, allotment, partition, or conveyance, or any event or 
        events that resulted in a change of possession or control of 
        lands or natural resources.

SEC. 4. FINDINGS BY THE SECRETARY.

    Section 5 of this Act shall not take effect until the following 
events have occurred and the Secretary so finds--
            (1) the Governor of the State of Connecticut has entered 
        into a binding compact with the Mohegan Tribe providing for 
        tribal gaming operations, including class III gaming in 
        accordance with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 
        2701 et seq.) and the compact has received all the Federal 
        approvals required to be fully effective; and
            (2) the United States has accepted in trust for the Mohegan 
        Tribe the lands the Tribe has designated for including in their 
        initial Reservation as described in Exhibit B to the Agreement.

SEC. 5. APPROVAL OF PRIOR TRANSFERS AND EXTINGUISHMENT OF CLAIMS AND 
              ABORIGINAL TITLE INVOLVING THE MOHEGAN TRIBE.

    (a) If the Secretary finds that the conditions set forth in section 
4 of this Act have been satisfied, he shall publish such findings and 
the Agreement in the Federal Register, and upon such publication:
            (1) The transfers, waivers, releases, relinquishments, and 
        other commitments made by the Mohegan Tribe in paragraph (1) of 
        its Agreement with the State of Connecticut shall be of full 
        force and effect on the terms and conditions therein stated.
            (2) The transfers, waivers, releases, relinquishments, and 
        other commitments validated by paragraph (1) of the Agreement 
        and of this section and the transfers and extinguishments 
        approved and validated by subsection (b)(1) and (2) shall be 
        deemed to have been made in accordance with the United States 
        Constitution and all laws of the United States that are 
        specifically applicable to transfers of lands or natural 
        resources from, by, or on behalf of any Indian, Indian nation, 
        or tribe of Indians (including but not limited to the Trade and 
        Intercourse Act of 1790, Act of July 22, 1790, ch. 33, sec. 4, 
        1 Stat. 137, and any amendments thereto and all subsequent 
        versions thereof), and Congress does hereby approve any such 
        transfers effective as of the date of said transfers.
    (b)(1) All claims to lands within the State of Connecticut based 
upon aboriginal title by the Mohegan Tribe, or any predecessor or 
successor in interest, are hereby extinguished, as are any and all 
other claims the Mohegan Tribe might have to any public or private 
lands or natural resources in Connecticut, such as claims or rights 
based on recognized title, including but not limited to--
            (A) any claim the Mohegan Tribe might have to the tribal 
        sequestered lands bounded out to the Tribe in 1684, consisting 
        of some 20,480 acres lying between the Thames River, New London 
        bounds, Norwich bounds, and Colchester bounds;
            (B) any claim the Mohegan Tribe might have based on a 
        survey under the authority of the Connecticut General Assembly 
        in 1736 of lands reserved and sequestered by the General 
        Assembly for the sole use and improvement of the Mohegan Indian 
        Tribe; and
            (C) any claim the Mohegan Tribe might have based on any 
        action by the State in 1860, 1861, or otherwise to allot, 
        reallot, and/or confirm any lands of the Mohegan Tribe to 
        individual Indians or other persons. Any transfer of lands or 
        natural resources located anywhere within the State of 
        Connecticut including, but not limited to, transfers pursuant 
        to the statute or treaty of or with any State or the United 
        States, by, from, or on behalf of the Mohegan Tribe, or any 
        predecessor or successor in interest, shall be deemed to be in 
        full force and effect, as provided in subsection (a)(2): 
        Provided, however, That nothing herein shall be construed as 
        extinguishing any aboriginal right, title, interest, or claim 
        to lands or natural resources solely to the extent of the 
        rights or interests defined as ``excepted interests'' in 
        paragraph 1a of the Agreement between the Mohegan Tribe and the 
        State of Connecticut, agreed to April 25, 1994.
    (2) By virtue of the approval of a transfer of lands or natural 
resources effected by this section, or an extinguishment of aboriginal 
title effected thereby, all claims against the United States, any State 
or subdivision thereof, or any other person or entity, by the Mohegan 
Tribe, arising subsequent to the transfer and based upon any interest 
in or right involving the claims described in paragraph (1) above in 
lands or natural resources, including, but not limited to, claims for 
trespass damages or claims for use and occupancy, shall be regarded as 
extinguished as of the date of the transfer, provided that this 
limitation shall not apply to any interest in lands or natural 
resources subsequently and lawfully acquired by the Mohegan Tribe or 
its members.
    (c) No provision of this section shall be construed to offset or 
eliminate the personal claim of any individual Indian which is pursued 
under any law of general applicability that protects Indians as well as 
non-Indians.

SEC. 6. TRANSFER OF LANDS TO THE MOHEGAN TRIBE.

    (a) The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to 
accept the transfer to the United States of the lands described in 
exhibits A and B of the agreement between the State of Connecticut and 
the Mohegan tribe to be held in trust for the use and benefit of the 
Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut as an Indian reservation, 
notwithstanding the existence of any clouds on title or any liens 
agreed to by the Tribe.
    (b) The lands transferred to the United States in trust for the 
Mohegan Tribe under subsection (a) shall be subject to the laws of the 
United States relating to Indian lands, including section 177 of this 
title.

SEC. 7. STATE JURISDICTION OVER RESERVATION.

    (a) Notwithstanding other provisions of Federal law, including but 
not limited to 25 U.S.C. 1312-1326, the Mohegan Tribe of Indians agrees 
to and consents to the assumption by the State of Connecticut of 
criminal jurisdiction over the Mohegan tribal members and all Indians 
on land or other natural resources presently owned by the Tribe, or 
which are included in any Federal legislation relating to Mohegan tribe 
land claims, or any annexation thereto and any other land that may now 
or hereafter be owned by or held in trust for said Tribe or its 
members. Such criminal jurisdiction shall extend to the criminal laws 
of the State of Connecticut and to the criminal jurisdiction of the 
courts of the State of Connecticut to the same extent as such criminal 
law jurisdiction and criminal court jurisdiction which empower the 
State with respect to any other person or lands or other natural 
resources within and subject to the jurisdiction of the State of 
Connecticut. The Congress consents to this assumption of criminal 
jurisdiction by the State of Connecticut.
    (b) Notwithstanding other provisions of Federal law, including but 
not limited to 25 U.S.C. sections 1321-1326, the Mohegan Tribe of 
Indians agrees to and consents to the assumption of jurisdiction by the 
State of Connecticut State Traffic Commission over all gaming-related 
traffic control matters to the same extent as the State Traffic 
Commission has jurisdiction over traffic control within the State of 
Connecticut as set out in chapter 249 of the Connecticut General 
Statutes, sections 14-297 to 14-314C. The Congress consents to this 
assumption of traffic control jurisdiction by the State of Connecticut.

SEC. 8. GENERAL DISCHARGE AND RELEASE OF STATE OF CONNECTICUT.

    Except as expressly provided herein, this Act shall constitute a 
general discharge and release of all obligations of the State of 
Connecticut and all of its political subdivisions, agencies, 
departments, and all of the officers or employees thereof arising from 
any treaty or agreement with, or on behalf of the Tribe of the United 
Sates as trustee therefor.

SEC. 9. REVOCATION OF AGREEMENT.

    In the event the Agreement between the Mohegan Tribe and the State 
of Connecticut is invalidated, or if the gaming compact provided in 
section 4(a) of this Act, or any implementing agreements between the 
parties thereto, is invalidated by a court of competent jurisdiction, 
the transfers, waivers, releases, relinquishments and other commitments 
made by the Mohegan Tribe in paragraph 1a of the Agreement shall no 
longer be of any force or effect, section 5 of this Act shall be 
inapplicable to the lands, interests in lands or natural resources of 
the Mohegan Tribe and its members as if never enacted, and the 
approvals of prior transfers and the extinguishment of claims and 
aboriginal title of the Mohegan Tribe otherwise effected by section 5 
shall be void ab initio. In any such event, the Mohegan Tribe shall 
have the right to reinstate its land claim within a reasonable time, 
which period shall be defined as the later of 6 months after the 
Mohegan Tribe receives written notice of such determination, or if 
appealed, 6 months after entry of judgment by the court of last resort, 
and, if the suit is reinstated within that time, no defense, such as 
laches, statute of limitations, law of the case, res judicata, or prior 
disposition shall be asserted based on the withdrawal of the lawsuit 
and commencement of the resumed litigation, nor shall the substance of 
discussions leading to the Agreement be admissible in any subsequent 
litigation: Provided, however, That if any such suit is reinstated, any 
defense which would have been available to the State of Connecticut at 
the time the lawsuit was withdrawn may be asserted, and is not waived 
by anything in the Agreement or by subsequent events occurring between 
the withdrawal of the lawsuit and commencement of the resumed 
litigation.

SEC. 10. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any action to contest 
the constitutionality of this Act or the validity of any agreement 
entered into under the authority of this Act or approved by this Act 
shall be barred unless the complaint is filed within 180 days after 
____. Exclusive jurisdiction over any such action is hereby vested in 
the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut.

SEC. 11. JUNE 16, 1994, AGREEMENT.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law--
            (1) the Mohegan Tribe is authorized to make payments to the 
        town of Montville according to the terms of the Tribe's June 
        16, 1994, agreement with the town, subject to modification by 
        mutual agreement of the parties; and
            (2) the Secretary of the Interior is authorized and 
        directed to approve that agreement, thereby giving full force 
        and effect to its provisions, and to approve future 
        modifications mutually agreed to by the parties.

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