II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5619 

To authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to make payments to the Quapaw 

Nation and certain members of the Quapaw Nation in accordance with 

the recommendation of the United States Court of Federal Claims, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 19 (legislative day, DECEMBER 16), 2024 

Mr. MULLIN (for himself and Mr. LANKFORD) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to make payments to the Quapaw Nation and certain members of 

the Quapaw Nation in accordance with the recommendation of the United States Court of Federal Claims, 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 ‘‘Quapaw Tribal Settle5 ment Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. QUAPAW TRIBAL SETTLEMENT. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) CLAIMANT.—The term ‘‘Claimant’’ means 

2 each of— 

3 (A) the Quapaw Nation and the parties 

4 identified in paragraphs 1 through 10 of the 

5 complaint in Bear, et al. v. United States, No. 

6 13-51X (Fed. Cl. Mar. 25, 2013); and 

7 (B) the individual members of the Quapaw 

8 Nation identified in Exhibit A to the amended 

9 complaint in Bear, et al. v. United States, No. 

10 13-51X (Fed. Cl. Mar. 25, 2013) filed on Feb11 ruary 14, 2014. 

12 (2) REPORT.—The term ‘‘Report’’ means the 

13 report of the Review Panel of the United States 

14 Court of Federal Claims in Congressional Reference 

15 Case No. 13-51X, Bear, et al. v. United States (Jan. 

16 9, 2020), submitted to the House of Representatives 

17 on January 31, 2020. 

18 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

19 the Secretary of the Interior (or a designee). 

20 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Special 

21 Deposit Account in the Department of the Interior Bureau 

22 of Trust Funds Administration, to be known as the 

23 ‘‘Quapaw Bear Settlement Trust Account’’. 

24 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary of Interior by 

25 and through the Bureau of Trust Funds Administration 


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1 shall administer all funds appropriated to the Quapaw 

2 Bear Settlement Trust Account. 

3 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF PAYMENT.—In accordance 

4 with the Report, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized 

5 and directed to pay to the Claimants $137,500,000 out 

6 of any funds in the Treasury of the United States not 

7 otherwise appropriated. The Secretary of the Treasury 

8 shall transfer the single payment to the Quapaw Bear Set9 tlement Trust Account established in subsection (b). 

10 (e) PAYMENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH REPORT.—The 

11 payment under subsection (d) shall be made in accordance 

12 with the Report. 

13 (f) DISTRIBUTION.—After the settlement proceeds 

14 are transferred to the Quapaw Bear Settlement Trust Ac15 count specified under subsection (b), the settlement pro16 ceeds shall be available for use, allocation, and distribution 

17 in accordance with the Claimants’ distribution plan. The 

18 Claimants shall establish a distribution plan in accordance 

19 with subsection (d) and the procedures set forth in sub20 section (g). 

21 (g) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS IN THE QUAPAW BEAR

22 SETTLEMENT TRUST ACCOUNT.— 

23 (1) MEDIATION.— 

24 (A) No more than forty-five (45) days fol25 lowing enactment of the Act, the Claimants 


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1 shall submit the issues of the allocation and dis2 tribution of the settlement proceeds to a mutu3 ally agreed upon third-party mediator. 

4 (B) In the event the Claimants do not sub5 mit to a mutually agreed upon third-party me6 diation within forty-five (45) days pursuant to 

7 the preceding subparagraph, then any Claimant 

8 may initiate Secretarial Allocation procedures 

9 under paragraph (2) below. 

10 (C) Any mediation shall be confidential 

11 and non-binding on the Claimants without the 

12 written consent of the Claimants, provided that 

13 nothing in this paragraph shall be interpreted 

14 to bar the Quapaw Nation Business Committee 

15 from consulting with the Quapaw Nation Indian 

16 Council during mediation. 

17 (D) No statements made or information 

18 exchanged during mediation shall be admissible 

19 in any future legal or dispute resolution pro20 ceedings without the written consent of the 

21 Claimants. 

22 (E) The Claimants shall mutually agree to 

23 conduct mediation at a specified location. Each 

24 Claimant shall pay its own costs, plus an equal 


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1 share of the costs of the mediator and the medi2 ation facilities. 

3 (F) Following successful completion of any 

4 mediation under this section, the Claimants 

5 may submit a mutually agreed upon distribu6 tion plan to the Secretary. 

7 (G) Upon submission of a mutually agreed 

8 upon distribution plan to the Secretary, the 

9 Secretary shall distribute the funds in the 

10 Quapaw Bear Settlement Trust Account to the 

11 Claimants in accordance with their mutually 

12 agreed upon distribution plan. 

13 (H) In the event the Claimants do not 

14 reach a mutually agreed upon distribution plan 

15 following mediation, then any Claimant, 

16 through written notification, may submit the 

17 matter to the Secretary who shall determine a 

18 final distribution plan allocating the funds in 

19 the Quapaw Bear Settlement Trust Account in 

20 accordance with the Report based on the proce21 dures in paragraph (2). 

22 (2) SECRETARIAL ALLOCATION.— 

23 (A) Following an unsuccessful mediation 

24 pursuant to the procedures in paragraph (1), 

25 any Claimant may petition the Secretary to deVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 Jan 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5619.IS S5619

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1 termine final allocations of settlement proceeds 

2 in accordance with subsection (d). 

3 (B) The Secretary shall commence the Sec4 retarial Allocation process in accordance with 

5 this paragraph (2) if the Claimants do not 

6 reach a mutually agreed upon allocation plan 

7 within 18 months following enactment of the 

8 Act. 

9 (C) Upon the receipt of such a petition by 

10 a Claimant, the Secretary or the Secretary’s 

11 designee shall order an allocation of the settle12 ment proceeds pursuant to the following steps: 

13 (i) Within thirty (30) days following 

14 the Secretary’s receipt of a petition to allo15 cation settlement proceeds after failed me16 diation, the Secretary or the Secretary’s 

17 designee shall issue a scheduling order to 

18 establish a schedule for a hearing and the 

19 issuance of a final decision by the Sec20 retary of a final distribution plan. 

21 (ii) The Secretary’s decision deter22 mining a final distribution plan in accord23 ance with subsection (d) shall be made fol24 lowing a hearing to be presided over by the 

25 Secretary or the Secretary’s designee. The 


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1 hearing shall occur no less than sixty (60) 

2 days following the issuance of the sched3 uling order. 

4 (iii) At least fifteen (15) days prior to 

5 the hearing, each Claimant shall submit to 

6 the other Claimants and to the Secretary 

7 a copy of all exhibits on which such Claim8 ant intends to rely at the hearing, a pre9 hearing brief, and a proposed final decision 

10 by the Secretary. The proposed final deci11 sion shall include a proposed distribution 

12 plan to be submitted to the Secretary and 

13 shall be limited to proposed rulings and 

14 distributions for each Claimant. 

15 (iv) Within fourteen (14) days after 

16 the close of the hearing, each Claimant 

17 may submit a post-hearing brief to the 

18 Secretary. 

19 (v) Following the hearing and post20 hearing brief, the Secretary shall issue a 

21 final decision determining a final distribu22 tion plan in accordance with subsection (d) 

23 within sixty (60) calendar days. The 

24 Claimants may mutually agree upon a 


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1 binding distribution plan at any time be2 fore the Secretary’s decision is issued. 

3 (vi) Within twenty (20) calendar days 

4 after transmittal of the Secretary’s final 

5 decision to the Claimants, the Claimants 

6 may submit to the Secretary any informa7 tion necessary for the implementation of 

8 the final distribution plan. 

9 (vii) Within sixty (60) days of the 

10 Secretary’s final decision determining a 

11 final distribution plan, the Secretary shall 

12 distribute the funds in the Quapaw Bear 

13 Settlement Trust Account to the Claimants 

14 pursuant to the terms of the final distribu15 tion plan. 

16 (viii) Any deadlines established in this 

17 section may be extended by unanimous 

18 mutual agreement of the Claimants. 

19 (3) FEDERAL MEDIATION & CONCILIATION

20 SERVICE.—In discharging any duties under this Act, 

21 the Secretary is authorized to utilize the Federal 

22 Mediation Conciliation Service to provide technical 

23 support and dispute resolution resources, provided, 

24 however, that the Secretary or the Secretary’s des25 ignee is responsible for approving and implementing 


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1 any mutually agreed-upon or binding distribution 

2 plan reached pursuant to this Act. 

Æ 


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