II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1392

To establish procedures for the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department

of the Interior with respect to tribal recognition.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 3, 2001

Mr. DODD (for himself and Mr. LIEBERMAN) introduced the following bill;

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

A BILL

To establish procedures for the Bureau of Indian Affairs

of the Department of the Interior with respect to tribal

recognition.

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Tribal Recognition and Indian Bureau Enhancement Act

6 of 2001’’.

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

8 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings.

Sec. 3. Purposes.
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Sec. 4. Definitions.

Sec. 5. Effect of acknowledgment of tribal existence.

Sec. 6. Scope.

Sec. 7. Letter of intent.

Sec. 8. Duties of the Department.

Sec. 9. Requirements for the documented petition.

Sec. 10. Mandatory criteria for Federal acknowledgment.

Sec. 11. Previous Federal acknowledgment.

Sec. 12. Notice of receipt of a letter of intent or documented petition.

Sec. 13. Processing of the documented petition.

Sec. 14. Testimony and the opportunity to be heard.

Sec. 15. Written submissions by interested parties.

Sec. 16. Publication of final determination.

Sec. 17. Independent review, reconsideration, and final action.

Sec. 18. Implementation of decision acknowledging status as an Indian tribe.

Sec. 19. Authorization of appropriations.

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress makes the following findings:

3 (1) The United States has an obligation to rec4 ognize and respect the sovereignty of Native Amer5 ican peoples who have maintained their social, cul6 tural, and political identity.

7 (2) All Native American tribal governments

8 that represent tribes that have maintained their so9 cial, cultural, and political identity, to the extent

10 possible within the context of history, are entitled to

11 establish government-to-government relations with

12 the United States and are entitled to the rights ap13 pertaining to sovereign governments.

14 (3) The Bureau of Indian Affairs of the De15 partment of the Interior exercises responsibility for

16 determining whether Native American groups con17 stitute ‘‘Federal Tribes’’ and are therefore entitled
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1 to be recognized by the United States as sovereign

2 nations.

3 (4) In recent years, the decisionmaking process

4 used by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to resolve

5 claims of tribal sovereignty has been widely criti6 cized.

7 (5) In order to ensure continued public con8 fidence in the Federal Government’s decisions per9 taining to tribal recognition, it is necessary to re10 form the recognition process.

11 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

12 The purposes of this Act are as follows:

13 (1) To establish administrative procedures to

14 extend Federal recognition to certain Indian groups.

15 (2) To extend to Indian groups that are deter16 mined to be Indian tribes the protection, services,

17 and benefits available from the Federal Government

18 pursuant to the Federal trust responsibility with re19 spect to Indian tribes.

20 (3) To extend to Indian groups that are deter21 mined to be Indian tribes the immunities and privi22 leges available to other federally acknowledged In23 dian tribes by virtue of their status as Indian tribes

24 with a government-to-government relationship with

25 the United States.
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1 (4) To ensure that when the Federal Govern2 ment extends acknowledgment to an Indian group,

3 the Federal Government does so based upon clear,

4 factual evidence derived from an open and objective

5 administrative process.

6 (5) To provide clear and consistent standards of

7 administrative review of documented petitions for

8 Federal acknowledgment.

9 (6) To clarify evidentiary standards and expe10 dite the administrative review process by providing

11 adequate resources to process petitions.

12 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

13 In this Act:

14 (1) BUREAU.—The term ‘‘Bureau’’ means the

15 Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the

16 Interior.

17 (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’

18 means the Department of the Interior.

19 (3) DOCUMENTED PETITION.—The term ‘‘docu20 mented petition’’ means the detailed arguments

21 made by a petitioner to substantiate the petitioner’s

22 claim to continuous existence as an Indian tribe, to23 gether with the factual exposition and all documen24 tary evidence necessary to demonstrate that the ar-
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1 guments address the mandatory criteria set forth in

2 section 10.

3 (4) HISTORICALLY, HISTORICAL, OR HIS4 TORY.—The term ‘‘historically’’, ‘‘historical’’, or

5 ‘‘history’’ means dating from the first sustained con6 tact with non-Indians.

7 (5) INDIAN GROUP OR GROUP.—The term ‘‘In8 dian group’’ or ‘‘group’’ means any Indian or Alaska

9 Native aggregation within the continental United

10 States that the Secretary does not acknowledge to be

11 an Indian tribe.

12 (6) INDIAN TRIBE; TRIBE.—The terms ‘‘Indian

13 tribe’’ and ‘‘tribe’’ mean any group that the Sec14 retary determines to have met the mandatory cri15 teria set forth in section 10.

16 (7) PETITIONER.—The term ‘‘petitioner’’

17 means any entity that has submitted a letter of in18 tent to the Secretary requesting acknowledgment

19 that the entity is an Indian tribe.

20 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

21 the Secretary of the Interior.

22 SEC. 5. EFFECT OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF TRIBAL EXIST23 ENCE.

24 Acknowledgment of an Indian tribe under this Act—
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1 (1) confers the protection, services, and benefits

2 of the Federal Government available to Indian tribes

3 by virtue of their status as tribes;

4 (2) means that the tribe is entitled to the im5 munities and privileges available to other federally

6 acknowledged Indian tribes by virtue of their govern7 ment-to-government relationship with the United

8 States;

9 (3) means that the United States recognizes

10 that the tribe has the responsibilities, powers, limita11 tions, and obligations of a federally acknowledged

12 Indian tribe; and

13 (4) subjects the Indian tribe to the same au14 thority of Congress and the United States to which

15 other federally acknowledged tribes are subjected.

16 SEC. 6. SCOPE.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—This Act applies only to those Na18 tive American Indian groups indigenous to the continental

19 United States which are not currently acknowledged as In20 dian tribes by the Department. It is intended to apply only

21 to groups that can present evidence of a substantially con22 tinuous tribal existence and which have functioned as au23 tonomous entities throughout history until the date of the

24 submission of the documented petition.
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1 (b) EXCLUSIONS.—The procedures established under

2 this Act shall not apply to any of the following:

3 (1) Any Indian tribe, organized band, pueblo,

4 Alaska Native village, or community that, as of the

5 date of enactment of this Act, has been acknowl6 edged as such and is receiving services from the Bu7 reau.

8 (2) An association, organization, corporation, or

9 group of any character that has been formed after

10 December 31, 2002.

11 (3) Splinter groups, political factions, commu12 nities, or groups of any character that separate from

13 the main body of a currently acknowledged tribe, ex14 cept that any such group that can establish clearly

15 that the group has functioned throughout history

16 until the date of the submission of the documented

17 petition as an autonomous tribal entity may be ac18 knowledged under this Act, even though the group

19 has been regarded by some as part of or has been

20 associated in some manner with an acknowledged

21 North American Indian tribe.

22 (4) Any group which is, or the members of

23 which are, subject to congressional legislation termi24 nating or forbidding the Federal relationship.
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1 (5) Any group that previously petitioned and

2 was denied Federal acknowledgment under part 83

3 of title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations prior

4 to the date of enactment of this Act, including reor5 ganized or reconstituted petitioners previously de6 nied, or splinter groups, spinoffs, or component

7 groups of any type that were once part of petitioners

8 previously denied.

9 (c) PENDING PETITIONS.—Any Indian group whose

10 documented petition is under active consideration under

11 the regulations referred to in subsection (b)(5) as of the

12 date of enactment of this Act, and for which a determina13 tion is not final and effective as of such date, may opt

14 to have their petitioning process completed in accordance

15 with this Act. Any such group may request a suspension

16 of consideration in accordance with the provisions of sec17 tion 83.10(g) of title 25 of the Code of Federal Regula18 tions, as in effect on the date of enactment of this Act,

19 of not more than 180 days in order to provide additional

20 information or argument.

21 SEC. 7. LETTER OF INTENT.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any Indian group in the conti23 nental United States that desires to be acknowledged as

24 an Indian tribe and that can satisfy the mandatory criteria

25 set forth in section 10 may submit a letter of intent to
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1 the Secretary. A letter of intent may be filed in advance

2 of, or at the same time as, a group’s documented petition.

3 (b) APPROVAL OF GOVERNING BODY.—A letter of in4 tent must be produced, dated, and signed by the governing

5 body of the Indian group submitting the letter.

6 SEC. 8. DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT.

7 (a) PUBLICATION OF LIST OF INDIAN TRIBES.—The

8 Department shall publish in the Federal Register, no less

9 frequently than every 3 years, a list of all Indian tribes

10 entitled to receive services from the Bureau by virtue of

11 their status as Indian tribes. The list may be published

12 more frequently, if the Secretary deems it necessary.

13 (b) GUIDELINES FOR PREPARATION OF DOCU14 MENTED PETITIONS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make

16 available guidelines for the preparation of docu17 mented petitions. Such guidelines shall include the

18 following:

19 (A) An explanation of the criteria and

20 other provisions relevant to the Department’s

21 consideration of a documented petition.

22 (B) A discussion of the types of evidence

23 which may be used to demonstrate satisfaction

24 or particular criteria.
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1 (C) General suggestions and guidelines on

2 how and where to conduct research.

3 (D) An example of a documented petition

4 format, except that such example shall not pre5 clude the use of any other format.

6 (2) SUPPLEMENTATION AND REVISION.—The

7 Secretary may supplement or update the guidelines

8 as necessary.

9 (c) ASSISTANCE.—The Department shall, upon re10 quest, provide petitioners with suggestions and advice re11 garding preparation of the documented petition. The De12 partment shall not be responsible for any actual research

13 necessary to prepare such petition.

14 (d) NOTICE REGARDING CURRENT PETITIONS.—Any

15 Indian group whose documented petition is under active

16 consideration as of the date of enactment of this Act shall

17 be notified of the opportunity under section 6(c) to choose

18 whether to complete their petitioning process under the

19 provisions of this Act or under the provisions of part 83

20 of title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect

21 on the day before such date.

22 (e) NOTICE TO GROUPS WITH A LETTER OF IN23 TENT.—Any group that has submitted a letter of intent

24 to the Department as of the date of enactment of this Act

25 shall be notified that any documented petition submitted
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1 by the group shall be considered under the provisions of

2 this Act.

3 SEC. 9. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DOCUMENTED PETITION.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The documented petition may be

5 in any readable form that contains detailed, specific evi6 dence in support of a request to the Secretary to acknowl7 edge tribal existence.

8 (b) APPROVAL OF GOVERNING BODY.—The docu9 mented petition must include a certification, signed and

10 dated by members of the group’s governing body, stating

11 that it is the group’s official documented petition.

12 (c) SATISFACTION OF MANDATORY CRITERIA.—A pe13 titioner must satisfy all of the mandatory criteria set forth

14 in section 10 in order for tribal existence to be acknowl15 edged. The documented petition must include thorough ex16 planations and supporting documentation in response to

17 all of such criteria.

18 (d) STANDARDS FOR DENIAL.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2)

20 and (3), a petitioner shall not be acknowledged if the

21 evidence presented by the petitioner or others is in22 sufficient to demonstrate that the petitioner meets

23 each of the mandatory criteria in section 10.

24 (2) REASONABLE LIKELIHOOD OF VALIDITY.—

25 A criterion shall be considered met if the Secretary
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1 finds that it is more likely than not that the evi2 dence presented demonstrates the establishment of

3 the criterion.

4 (3) CONCLUSIVE PROOF NOT REQUIRED.—Con5 clusive proof of the facts relating to a criterion shall

6 not be required in order for the criterion to be con7 sidered met.

8 (e) CONSIDERATION OF HISTORICAL SITUATIONS.—

9 Evaluation of petitions shall take into account historical

10 situations and time periods for which evidence is demon11 strably limited or not available. The limitations inherent

12 in demonstrating the historical existence of community

13 and political influence or authority shall also be taken into

14 account. Existence of community and political influence

15 or authority shall be demonstrated on a substantially con16 tinuous basis, but such demonstration does not require

17 meeting these criteria at every point in time. Fluctuations

18 in tribal activity during various years shall not in them19 selves be a cause for denial of acknowledgment under

20 these criteria.

21 SEC. 10. MANDATORY CRITERIA FOR FEDERAL ACKNOWL22 EDGMENT.

23 The mandatory criteria for Federal acknowledgment

24 are the following:
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1 (1) IDENTIFICATION ON A SUBSTANTIALLY

2 CONTINUOUS BASIS.—The petitioner has been identi3 fied as an American Indian entity on a substantially

4 continuous basis since 1900. Evidence that the

5 group’s character as an Indian entity has from time

6 to time been denied shall not be considered to be

7 conclusive evidence that this criterion has not been

8 met. Evidence to be relied upon in determining a

9 group’s Indian identity may consist of any 1, or a

10 combination, of the following, as well as other evi11 dence of identification by other than the petitioner

12 itself or its members:

13 (A) Identification as an Indian entity by

14 Federal authorities.

15 (B) Relationships with State governments

16 based on identification of the group as Indian.

17 (C) Dealings with a county, parish, or

18 other local government in a relationship based

19 on the group’s Indian identity.

20 (D) Identification as an Indian entity by

21 anthropologists, historians, or other scholars.

22 (E) Identification as an Indian entity in

23 newspapers and books.
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1 (F) Identification as an Indian entity in

2 relationships with Indian tribes or with na3 tional, regional, or State Indian organizations.

4 (2) DISTINCT COMMUNITY.—

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—A predominant portion

6 of the petitioning group comprises a distinct

7 community and has existed as a community

8 from historical times until the date of the sub9 mission of the documented petition. This cri10 terion may be demonstrated by some combina11 tion of the following evidence or other evidence:

12 (i) Significant rates of marriage with13 in the group, or, as may be culturally re14 quired, patterned out-marriages with other

15 Indian populations.

16 (ii) Significant social relationships

17 connecting individual members.

18 (iii) Significant rates of informal so19 cial interaction which exist broadly among

20 the members of a group.

21 (iv) A significant degree of shared or

22 cooperative labor or other economic activity

23 among the membership.
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1 (v) Evidence of strong patterns of dis2 crimination or other social distinctions by

3 nonmembers.

4 (vi) Shared sacred or secular ritual

5 activity encompassing most of the group.

6 (vii) Cultural patterns shared among

7 a significant portion of the group that are

8 different from those of the non-Indian pop9 ulations with whom it interacts. Such pat10 terns must function as more than a sym11 bolic identification of the group as Indian,

12 and may include language, kinship organi13 zation, or religious beliefs and practices.

14 (viii) The persistence of a named, col15 lective Indian identity continuously over a

16 period of more than 50 years, notwith17 standing changes in name.

18 (ix) A demonstration of historical po19 litical influence under the criterion in para20 graph (3) shall be evidence for dem21 onstrating historical community.

22 (B) SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE.—A petitioner

23 shall be considered to have provided sufficient

24 evidence of community at a given point in time
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1 if evidence is provided to demonstrate any 1 of

2 the following:

3 (i) More than 50 percent of the mem4 bers reside in a geographical area exclu5 sively or almost exclusively composed of

6 members of the group, and the balance of

7 the group maintains consistent interaction

8 with some members of the community.

9 (ii) At least 50 percent of the mar10 riages in the group are between members

11 of the group.

12 (iii) At least 50 percent of the group

13 members maintain distinct cultural pat14 terns such as language, kinship organiza15 tion, or religious beliefs and practices.

16 (iv) There are distinct community so17 cial institutions encompassing most of the

18 members, such as kinship organizations,

19 formal or informal economic cooperation,

20 or religious organizations.

21 (v) The group has met the criterion in

22 paragraph (3) using evidence described in

23 paragraph (3)(A).

24 (3) POLITICAL INFLUENCE OR AUTHORITY.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The petitioner has

2 maintained political influence or authority over

3 its members as an autonomous entity from his4 torical times until the date of the submission of

5 the documented petition. This criterion may be

6 demonstrated by some combination of the fol7 lowing evidence or by other evidence:

8 (i) The group is able to mobilize sig9 nificant numbers of members and signifi10 cant resources from its members for group

11 purposes.

12 (ii) Most of the membership considers

13 issues acted upon or actions taken by

14 group leaders or governing bodies to be of

15 importance.

16 (iii) There is widespread knowledge,

17 communication, and involvement in polit18 ical processes by most of the group’s mem19 bers.

20 (iv) The group meets the criterion in

21 paragraph (2) at more than a minimal

22 level.

23 (v) There are internal conflicts which

24 show controversy over valued group goals,

25 properties, policies, processes, or decisions.
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1 (B) SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE.—

2 (i) IN GENERAL.—A petitioning group

3 shall be considered to have provided suffi4 cient evidence to demonstrate the exercise

5 of political influence or authority at a

6 given point in time by demonstrating that

7 group leaders or other mechanisms exist or

8 existed that—

9 (I) allocate group resources such

10 as land and residence rights on a con11 sistent basis;

12 (II) settle disputes between mem13 bers or subgroups by mediation or

14 other means on a regular basis;

15 (III) exert strong influence on

16 the behavior of individual members,

17 such as the establishment or mainte18 nance of norms and the enforcement

19 of sanctions to direct or control be20 havior; or

21 (IV) organize or influence eco22 nomic subsistence activities among the

23 members, including shared or coopera24 tive labor.
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1 (ii) PRESUMPTIVE EVIDENCE.—A

2 group that has met the requirements in

3 paragraph (2)(A) at a given point in time

4 shall be considered to have provided suffi5 cient evidence to meet this criterion at that

6 point in time.

7 (4) GOVERNING DOCUMENT AND MEMBERSHIP

8 CRITERIA.—Submission of a copy of the group’s gov9 erning document and membership criteria. In the

10 absence of a written document, the petitioner must

11 provide a statement describing in full its member12 ship criteria and current governing procedures.

13 (5) DESCENDANTS FROM A HISTORICAL INDIAN

14 TRIBE.—

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The petitioner’s mem16 bership consists of individuals who descend

17 from a historical Indian tribe or from historical

18 Indian tribes which combined and functioned as

19 a single autonomous political entity. Evidence

20 acceptable to the Secretary which can be used

21 for this purpose includes the following:

22 (i) Rolls prepared by the Secretary on

23 a descendancy basis for purposes of dis24 tributing claims money, providing allot25 ments, or other purposes.
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1 (ii) Federal, State, or other official

2 records or evidence identifying group mem3 bers or ancestors of such members as

4 being descendants of a historical tribe or

5 tribes that combined and functioned as a

6 single autonomous political entity.

7 (iii) Church, school, and other similar

8 enrollment records identifying group mem9 bers or ancestors of such members as

10 being descendants of a historical tribe or

11 tribes that combined and functioned as a

12 single autonomous political entity.

13 (iv) Affidavits of recognition by tribal

14 elders, leaders, or the tribal governing body

15 identifying group members or ancestors of

16 such members as being descendants of a

17 historical tribe or tribes that combined and

18 functioned as a single autonomous political

19 entity.

20 (v) Other records or evidence identi21 fying members or ancestors of such mem22 bers as being descendants of a historical

23 tribe or tribes that combined and func24 tioned as a single autonomous political en25 tity.
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1 (B) CERTIFIED MEMBERSHIP LIST.—The

2 petitioner must provide an official membership

3 list, separately certified by the group’s gov4 erning body, of all known current members of

5 the group. The list must include each member’s

6 full name (including maiden name), date of

7 birth, and current residential address. The peti8 tioner shall also provide a copy of each available

9 former list of members based on the group’s

10 own defined criteria, as well as a statement de11 scribing the circumstances surrounding the

12 preparation of the current list and, insofar as

13 possible, the circumstances surrounding the

14 preparation of former lists.

15 (6) MEMBERSHIP IS COMPOSED PRINCIPALLY

16 OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE NOT MEMBERS OF AN AC17 KNOWLEDGED TRIBE.—

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The membership of the

19 petitioning group is composed principally of in20 dividuals who are not members of any acknowl21 edged North American Indian tribe.

22 (B) EXCEPTION.—A petitioning group may

23 be acknowledged even if its membership is com24 posed principally of individuals whose names

25 have appeared on rolls of, or who have been
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1 otherwise associated with, an acknowledged In2 dian tribe, if the group establishes that it has

3 functioned throughout history until the date of

4 the submission of the documented petition as a

5 separate and autonomous Indian tribal entity,

6 that its members do not maintain a bilateral

7 political relationship with the acknowledged

8 tribe, and that its members have provided writ9 ten confirmation of their membership in the pe10 titioning group.

11 (7) NO LEGISLATION TERMINATES OR PRO12 HIBITS THE FEDERAL RELATIONSHIP.—Neither the

13 petitioner nor its members are the subject of con14 gressional legislation that has expressly terminated

15 or forbidden the Federal relationship.

16 SEC. 11. PREVIOUS FEDERAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT.

17 The provisions of section 83.8 of title 25 of the Code

18 of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of enact19 ment of this Act, shall apply with respect to petitioners

20 claiming previous Federal acknowledgment under this Act.

21 SEC. 12. NOTICE OF RECEIPT OF A LETTER OF INTENT OR

22 DOCUMENTED PETITION.

23 (a) NOTICE AND PUBLICATION.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Within 30 days after receiv25 ing a letter of intent, or a documented petition if a
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1 letter of intent has not previously been received and

2 noticed, the Secretary shall acknowledge such receipt

3 in writing and shall have published within 60 days

4 in the Federal Register a notice of such receipt.

5 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The notice published in

6 the Federal Register shall include the following:

7 (A) The name, location, and mailing ad8 dress of the petitioner and such other informa9 tion as will identify the entity submitting the

10 letter of intent or documented petition.

11 (B) The date the letter or petition was re12 ceived.

13 (C) Information regarding how interested

14 and informed parties may submit factual or

15 legal arguments in support of, or in opposition

16 to, the petitioner’s request for acknowledgment

17 or to request to be kept informed of all general

18 actions affecting the petition.

19 (D) Information regarding where a copy of

20 the letter of intent and the documented petition

21 may be examined.

22 (b) OTHER NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall no23 tify, in writing, the chief executive officer, members of

24 Congress, and attorney general of the State in which a

25 petitioner is located and of each State in which the peti-
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1 tioner historically has been located. The Secretary shall

2 also notify any recognized tribe and any other petitioner

3 which appears to have a relationship with the petitioner,

4 including a historical relationship, or which may otherwise

5 be considered to have a potential interest in the acknowl6 edgment determination. The Secretary shall also notify the

7 chief executive officers of the counties and municipalities

8 located in the geographic area historically occupied by the

9 petitioning group.

10 (c) OTHER PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall also

11 publish the notice of receipt of the letter of intent, or docu12 mented petition if a letter of intent has not been previously

13 received, in a major newspaper or newspapers of general

14 circulation in the town or city nearest to the petitioner.

15 Such notice shall include the information required under

16 subsection (a)(2).

17 SEC. 13. PROCESSING OF THE DOCUMENTED PETITION.

18 The provisions of section 83.10 of title 25 of the Code

19 of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of enact20 ment of this Act, shall apply with respect to the processing

21 of a documented petition under this Act.

22 SEC. 14. TESTIMONY AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE

23 HEARD.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall consider all

25 relevant evidence from any interested party including
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1 neighboring municipalities that possess information bear2 ing on whether to recognize an Indian group or not.

3 (b) HEARING UPON REQUEST.—Upon an interested

4 party’s request, and for good cause shown, the Secretary

5 shall conduct a formal hearing at which all interested par6 ties may present evidence, call witnesses, cross-examine

7 witnesses, or rebut evidence in the record or presented by

8 other parties during the hearing.

9 (c) TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED.—A transcript of any

10 hearing held under this section shall be made and shall

11 become part of the administrative record upon which the

12 Secretary is entitled to rely in determining whether to rec13 ognize an Indian group.

14 SEC. 15. WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS BY INTERESTED PARTIES.

15 The Secretary shall consider any written materials

16 submitted to the Bureau from any interested party, in17 cluding neighboring municipalities, that possess informa18 tion bearing on whether to recognize an Indian group.

19 SEC. 16. PUBLICATION OF FINAL DETERMINATION.

20 The Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register

21 a complete and detailed explanation of the Secretary’s

22 final decision regarding a documented petition under this

23 Act, including express finding of facts and of law with re24 gard to each of the critera listed in section 10.
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1 SEC. 17. INDEPENDENT REVIEW, RECONSIDERATION, AND

2 FINAL ACTION.

3 The provisions of section 83.11 of title 25 of the Code

4 of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of enact5 ment of this Act, shall apply with respect to the inde6 pendent review, reconsideration, and final action of the

7 Secretary on a documented petition under this Act.

8 SEC. 18. IMPLEMENTATION OF DECISION ACKNOWLEDGING

9 STATUS AS AN INDIAN TRIBE.

10 The provisions of section 83.12 of title 25 of the Code

11 of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of enact12 ment of this Act, shall apply with respect to the implemen13 tation of a decision under this Act acknowledging a peti14 tioner as an Indian tribe.

15 SEC. 19. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

16 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out

17 this Act, $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2002 and each fiscal

18 year thereafter.

Æ