II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1116 

To amend the Native American Business Development, Trade Promotion, 

and Tourism Act of 2000, the Buy Indian Act, and the Native American 

Programs Act of 1974 to provide industry and economic development 

opportunities to Indian communities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 11, 2017 

Mr. HOEVEN (for himself and Mr. MCCAIN) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Native American Business Development, 

Trade Promotion, and Tourism Act of 2000, the Buy 

Indian Act, and the Native American Programs Act of 

1974 to provide industry and economic development opportunities to Indian communities. 

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 ‘‘Indian Community 

5 Economic Enhancement Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1)(A) to bring industry and economic develop2 ment to Indian communities, Indian tribes must 

3 overcome a number of barriers, including— 

4 (i) geographical location; 

5 (ii) lack of infrastructure or capacity; 

6 (iii) lack of sufficient collateral and capital; 

7 and 

8 (iv) regulatory bureaucracy relating to— 

9 (I) development; and 

10 (II) access to services provided by the 

11 Federal Government; and 

12 (B) the barriers described in subparagraph (A) 

13 often add to the cost of doing business in Indian 

14 communities; 

15 (2) Indian tribes— 

16 (A) enact laws and exercise sovereign gov17 ernmental powers; 

18 (B) determine policy for the benefit of trib19 al members; and 

20 (C) produce goods and services for con21 sumers; 

22 (3) the Federal Government has— 

23 (A) an important government-to-govern24 ment relationship with Indian tribes; and 


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1 (B) a role in facilitating healthy and sus2 tainable tribal economies; 

3 (4) the input of Indian tribes in developing 

4 Federal policy and programs leads to more meaning5 ful and effective measures to assist Indian tribes and 

6 Indian entrepreneurs in building tribal economies; 

7 (5)(A) many components of tribal infrastruc8 ture need significant repair or replacement; and 

9 (B) access to private capital for projects in In10 dian communities— 

11 (i) may not be available; or 

12 (ii) may come at a higher cost than such 

13 access for other projects; 

14 (6)(A) Federal capital improvement programs, 

15 such as those that facilitate tax-exempt bond financ16 ing and loan guarantees, are tools that help improve 

17 or replace crumbling infrastructure; 

18 (B) lack of parity in treatment of an Indian 

19 tribe as a governmental entity under Federal tax 

20 and certain other regulatory laws impedes, in part, 

21 the ability of Indian tribes to raise capital through 

22 issuance of tax exempt debt, invest as an accredited 

23 investor, and benefit from other investment incen24 tives accorded to State and local governmental enti25 ties; and 


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1 (C) as a result of the disparity in treatment of 

2 Indian tribes described in subparagraph (B), inves3 tors may avoid financing, or demand a premium to 

4 finance, projects in Indian communities, making the 

5 projects more costly or inaccessible; 

6 (7) there are a number of Federal loan guar7 antee programs available to facilitate financing of 

8 business, energy, economic, housing, and community 

9 development projects in Indian communities, and 

10 those programs may support public-private partner11 ships for infrastructure development, but improve12 ments and support are needed for those programs 

13 specific to Indian communities to facilitate more ef14 fectively private financing for infrastructure and 

15 other urgent development needs; and 

16 (8)(A) most real property held by Indian tribes 

17 is trust or restricted land that essentially cannot be 

18 held as collateral; and 

19 (B) while creative solutions, such as leasehold 

20 mortgages, have been developed in response to the 

21 problem identified in subparagraph (A), some solu22 tions remain subject to review and approval by the 

23 Bureau of Indian Affairs, adding additional costs 

24 and delay to tribal projects. 


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1 SEC. 3. NATIVE AMERICAN BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, 

2 TRADE PROMOTION, AND TOURISM ACT OF 

3 2000. 

4 (a) FINDINGS; PURPOSES.—Section 2 of the Native 

5 American Business Development, Trade Promotion, and 

6 Tourism Act of 2000 (25 U.S.C. 4301) is amended by 

7 adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(c) APPLICABILITY TO INDIAN-OWNED BUSI9 NESSES.—The findings and purposes in subsections (a) 

10 and (b) shall apply to any Indian-owned business gov11 erned— 

12 ‘‘(1) by tribal laws regulating trade or com13 merce on Indian lands; or 

14 ‘‘(2) pursuant to section 5 of the Act of August 

15 15, 1876 (19 Stat. 200, chapter 289; 25 U.S.C. 

16 261).’’. 

17 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 of the Native American 

18 Business Development, Trade Promotion, and Tourism 

19 Act of 2000 (25 U.S.C. 4302) is amended— 

20 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 

21 (6) and paragraphs (7) through (9), as paragraphs 

22 (2) through (7) and paragraphs (9) through (11), 

23 respectively; 

24 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as redes25 ignated by paragraph (1)) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 

2 the Director of Native American Business Develop3 ment appointed pursuant to section 4(a)(2).’’; and 

4 (3) by inserting after paragraph (7) (as redesig5 nated by paragraph (1)) the following: 

6 ‘‘(8) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the Of7 fice of Native American Business Development es8 tablished by section 4(a)(1).’’. 

9 (c) OFFICE OF NATIVE AMERICAN BUSINESS DEVEL10 OPMENT.—Section 4 of the Native American Business De11 velopment, Trade Promotion, and Tourism Act of 2000 

12 (25 U.S.C. 4303) is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (a)— 

14 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

15 (i) by striking ‘‘Department of Com16 merce’’ and inserting ‘‘Office of the Sec17 retary’’; and 

18 (ii) by striking ‘‘(referred to in this 

19 Act as the ‘Office’)’’; and 

20 (B) in paragraph (2), in the first sentence, 

21 by striking ‘‘(referred to in this Act as the ‘Di22 rector’)’’; and 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(c) DUTIES OF DIRECTOR.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall serve 

2 as— 

3 ‘‘(A) the program and policy advisor to the 

4 Secretary with respect to the trust and govern5 mental relationship between the United States 

6 and Indian tribes; and 

7 ‘‘(B) the point of contact for Indian tribes, 

8 tribal organizations, and Indians regarding— 

9 ‘‘(i) policies and programs of the De10 partment of Commerce; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) other matters relating to eco12 nomic development and doing business in 

13 Indian lands. 

14 ‘‘(2) DEPARTMENTAL COORDINATION.—The Di15 rector shall coordinate with all offices and agencies 

16 within the Department of Commerce to ensure that 

17 each office and agency has an accountable process to 

18 ensure— 

19 ‘‘(A) meaningful and timely coordination 

20 and assistance, as required by this Act; and 

21 ‘‘(B) consultation with Indian tribes re22 garding the policies, programs, assistance, and 

23 activities of the offices and agencies. 


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1 ‘‘(3) OFFICE OPERATIONS.—There are author2 ized to be appropriated to carry out this section not 

3 more than $2,000,000 for each fiscal year.’’. 

4 (d) INDIAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIA5 TIVES.—The Native American Business Development, 

6 Trade Promotion, and Tourism Act of 2000 is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating section 8 (25 U.S.C. 4307) 

8 as section 10; and 

9 (2) by inserting after section 7 (25 U.S.C. 

10 4306) the following: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 8. INDIAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES. 

12 ‘‘(a) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—Not later than 

13 1 year after the enactment of this section, the Secretary, 

14 the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of the 

15 Treasury shall coordinate— 

16 ‘‘(1) to develop initiatives that— 

17 ‘‘(A) encourage, promote, and provide edu18 cation regarding investments in Indian commu19 nities through— 

20 ‘‘(i) the loan guarantee program of 

21 Bureau of Indian Affairs under section 

22 201 of the Indian Financing Act of 1974 

23 (25 U.S.C. 1481); 

24 ‘‘(ii) programs carried out using 

25 amounts in the Community Development 


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1 Financial Institutions Fund established 

2 under section 104(a) of the Community 

3 Development Banking and Financial Insti4 tutions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4703(a)); 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(iii) other capital development pro7 grams; 

8 ‘‘(B) examine and develop alternatives that 

9 would qualify as collateral for financing in In10 dian communities; and 

11 ‘‘(C) provide entrepreneur and other train12 ing relating to economic development through 

13 tribally controlled colleges and universities and 

14 other Indian organizations with experience in 

15 providing such training; 

16 ‘‘(2) to consult with Indian tribes and with the 

17 Securities and Exchange Commission to determine, 

18 and collaborate to establish, statutory or regulatory 

19 changes necessary to qualify an Indian tribe as an 

20 accredited investor for the purposes of sections 

21 230.500 through 230.508 of title 17, Code of Fed22 eral Regulations (or successor regulations); 

23 ‘‘(3) to identify regulatory, legal, or other bar24 riers to increasing investment, business, and eco25 nomic development, including qualifying or approvVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:20 May 15, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1116.IS S1116

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1 ing collateral structures, measurements of economic 

2 strength, and contributions of Indian economies in 

3 Indian communities through the Authority estab4 lished under section 4 of the Indian Tribal Regu5 latory Reform and Business Development Act of 

6 2000 (25 U.S.C. 4301 note); 

7 ‘‘(4) to ensure consultation with Indian tribes 

8 regarding increasing investment in Indian commu9 nities and the development of the report required in 

10 paragraph (5); and 

11 ‘‘(5) not less than once every 3 years, to pro12 vide a report to Congress regarding improvements to 

13 Indian communities resulting from such initiatives 

14 and recommendations for promoting sustained 

15 growth of the tribal economies. 

16 ‘‘(b) WAIVER.—For assistance provided pursuant to 

17 section 108 of the Community Development Banking and 

18 Financial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4707) to 

19 benefit Native Community Development Financial Institu20 tions, as defined by the Secretary of the Treasury, section 

21 108(e) of such Act shall not apply. 

22 ‘‘(c) INDIAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FEASIBILITY

23 STUDY.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Government Account25 ability Office shall conduct a study and, not later 


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1 than 18 months after the date of enactment of this 

2 subsection, submit to the Committee on Indian Af3 fairs of the Senate and the Committee on Natural 

4 Resources of the House of Representatives a report 

5 on the findings of the study and recommendations. 

6 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The study shall include an 

7 assessment of each of the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The study shall assess 

9 current Federal capitalization and related pro10 grams and services that are available to assist 

11 Indian communities with business and economic 

12 development, including manufacturing, physical 

13 infrastructure (such as telecommunications and 

14 broadband), community development, and facili15 ties construction for such purposes. For each of 

16 the Federal programs and services identified, 

17 the study shall assess the current use and de18 mand by Indian tribes, individuals, businesses, 

19 and communities of the programs, the capital 

20 needs of Indian tribes, businesses, and commu21 nities related to economic development, and the 

22 extent that similar programs have been used to 

23 assist non-Indian communities compared to the 

24 extent used for Indian communities. 


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1 ‘‘(B) FINANCING ASSISTANCE.—The study 

2 shall assess and quantify the extent of assist3 ance provided to non-Indian borrowers and to 

4 Indian (both tribal and individual) borrowers 

5 through the loan programs, the loan guarantee 

6 programs, or bond guarantee programs of the— 

7 ‘‘(i) Department of the Interior; 

8 ‘‘(ii) Department of Agriculture; 

9 ‘‘(iii) Department of Housing and 

10 Urban Development; 

11 ‘‘(iv) Department of Energy; 

12 ‘‘(v) Small Business Administration; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(vi) Community Development Finan15 cial Institutions Fund of the Department 

16 of the Treasury. 

17 ‘‘(C) TAX INCENTIVES.—The study shall 

18 assess and quantify the extent of the assistance 

19 and allocations afforded for non-Indian projects 

20 and for Indian projects pursuant to each of the 

21 following tax incentive programs: 

22 ‘‘(i) New market tax credit. 

23 ‘‘(ii) Low income housing tax credit. 

24 ‘‘(iii) Investment tax credit. 

25 ‘‘(iv) Renewable energy tax incentives. 


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1 ‘‘(v) Accelerated depreciation. 

2 ‘‘(D) TRIBAL INVESTMENT INCENTIVE.— 

3 The study shall assess various alternative incen4 tives that could be provided to enable and en5 courage tribal governments to invest in an In6 dian community development investment fund 

7 or bank.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. BUY INDIAN ACT. 

9 Section 23 of the Act of June 25, 1910 (commonly 

10 known as the ‘‘Buy Indian Act’’) (36 Stat. 861, chapter 

11 431; 25 U.S.C. 47), is amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 23. EMPLOYMENT OF INDIAN LABOR AND PURCHASE 

13 OF PRODUCTS OF INDIAN INDUSTRY; PAR14 TICIPATION IN MENTOR-PROTEGE PROGRAM. 

15 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 ‘‘(1) INDIAN ECONOMIC ENTERPRISE.—The 

17 term ‘Indian economic enterprise’ has the meaning 

18 given the term in section 1480.201 of title 48, Code 

19 of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations). 

20 ‘‘(2) MENTOR FIRM; PROTEGE FIRM.—The 

21 terms ‘mentor firm’ and ‘protege firm’ have the 

22 meanings given those terms in section 831(c) of the 

23 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

24 1991 (10 U.S.C. 2302 note; Public Law 101–510). 


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1 ‘‘(3) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘Secretaries’ 

2 means— 

3 ‘‘(A) the Secretary of the Interior; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the Secretary of Health and Human 

5 Services. 

6 ‘‘(b) ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Unless determined by one 

8 of the Secretaries to be impracticable and unreason9 able— 

10 ‘‘(A) Indian labor shall be employed; and 

11 ‘‘(B) purchases of Indian industry prod12 ucts (including printing and facilities construc13 tion, notwithstanding any other provision of 

14 law) may be made in open market by the Secre15 taries. 

16 ‘‘(2) MENTOR-PROTEGE PROGRAM.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Participation in the 

18 Mentor-Protege Program established under sec19 tion 831(a) of the National Defense Authoriza20 tion Act for Fiscal Year 1991 (10 U.S.C. 2302 

21 note; Public Law 101–510) or receipt of assist22 ance under a developmental assistance agree23 ment under that program shall not render any 

24 individual or entity involved in the provision of 


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1 Indian labor or an Indian industry product in2 eligible to receive assistance under this section. 

3 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT.—For purposes of this 

4 section, no determination of affiliation or con5 trol (whether direct or indirect) may be found 

6 between a protege firm and a mentor firm on 

7 the basis that the mentor firm has provided, or 

8 agreed to provide, to the protege firm, pursuant 

9 to a mentor-protege agreement, any form of de10 velopmental assistance described in section 

11 831(f) of the National Defense Authorization 

12 Act for Fiscal Year 1991 (10 U.S.C. 2302 note; 

13 Public Law 101–510). 

14 ‘‘(c) IMPLEMENTATION.—In carrying out this sec15 tion, the Secretaries shall— 

16 ‘‘(1) conduct outreach to Indian industrial enti17 ties; 

18 ‘‘(2) provide training; 

19 ‘‘(3) promulgate regulations in accordance with 

20 this section and with the regulations under part 

21 1480 of title 48, Code of Federal Regulations (or 

22 successor regulations), to harmonize the procure23 ment procedures of the Department of the Interior 

24 and the Department of Health and Human Services, 

25 to the maximum extent practicable; 


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1 ‘‘(4) require regional offices of the Bureau of 

2 Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service to ag3 gregate data regarding compliance with this section; 

4 ‘‘(5) require procurement management reviews 

5 by their respective Departments to include a review 

6 of the implementation of this section; and 

7 ‘‘(6) consult with Indian tribes, Indian indus8 trial entities, and other stakeholders regarding meth9 ods to facilitate compliance with— 

10 ‘‘(A) this section; and 

11 ‘‘(B) other small business or procurement 

12 goals. 

13 ‘‘(d) REPORT.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

15 the date of enactment of this subsection, and not 

16 less frequently than once every 2 years thereafter, 

17 each of the Secretaries shall submit to the Com18 mittee on Indian Affairs of the Senate and the Com19 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep20 resentatives a report describing, during the period 

21 covered by the report, the implementation of this 

22 section by each of the respective Secretaries. 

23 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each report under this sub24 section shall include, for each fiscal year during the 

25 period covered by the report— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the names of each agency under the 

2 respective jurisdiction of each of the Secretaries 

3 to which this section has been applied, and ef4 forts made by additional agencies within the 

5 Secretaries’ respective Departments to use the 

6 procurement procedures under this Act; 

7 ‘‘(B) a summary of the types of purchases 

8 made from, and contracts (including any rel9 evant modifications, extensions, or renewals) 

10 awarded to, Indian economic enterprises, ex11 pressed by agency region; 

12 ‘‘(C) a description of the percentage in13 crease or decrease in total dollar value and 

14 number of purchases and awards made within 

15 each agency region, as compared to the totals 

16 of the region for the preceding fiscal year; 

17 ‘‘(D) a description of the methods used by 

18 applicable contracting officers and employees to 

19 conduct market searches to identify qualified 

20 Indian economic enterprises; 

21 ‘‘(E) a summary of all deviations granted 

22 under section 1480.403 of title 48, Code of 

23 Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), 

24 including a description of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the types of alternative procure2 ment methods used, including any Indian 

3 owned businesses reported under other 

4 procurement goals; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) the dollar value of any awards 

6 made pursuant to those deviations; 

7 ‘‘(F) a summary of all determinations 

8 made to provide awards to Indian economic en9 terprises, including a description of the dollar 

10 value of the awards; 

11 ‘‘(G) a description or summary of the total 

12 number and value of all purchases of, and con13 tracts awarded for, supplies, services, and con14 struction (including the percentage increase or 

15 decrease, as compared to the preceding fiscal 

16 year) from— 

17 ‘‘(i) Indian economic enterprises; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) non-Indian economic enterprises; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(H) any administrative, procedural, legal, 

21 or other barriers to achieving the purposes of 

22 this section, together with recommendations for 

23 legislative or administrative actions to address 

24 those barriers. 


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1 ‘‘(e) GOALS.—Each agency shall establish an annual 

2 minimum percentage goal for procurement in compliance 

3 with this section.’’. 

4 SEC. 5. NATIVE AMERICAN PROGRAMS ACT OF 1974. 

5 (a) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR NATIVE AMERICAN

6 PROJECTS.—Section 803 of the Native American Pro7 grams Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 2991b) is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating subsections (b) through (d) 

9 as subsections (c) through (e), respectively; and 

10 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(b) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner may 

14 provide assistance under subsection (a) for projects 

15 relating to the purposes of this title to a Native com16 munity development financial institution, as defined 

17 by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

18 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—With regard to not less than 

19 50 percent of the total amount available for assist20 ance under this section, the Commissioner shall give 

21 priority to any application seeking assistance for— 

22 ‘‘(A) the development of a tribal code or 

23 court system for purposes of economic develop24 ment, including commercial codes, training for 

25 court personnel, regulation pursuant to section 


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1 5 of the Act of August 15, 1876 (19 Stat. 200, 

2 chapter 289; 25 U.S.C. 261), and the develop3 ment of nonprofit subsidiaries or other tribal 

4 business structures; 

5 ‘‘(B) the development of a community de6 velopment financial institution, including train7 ing and administrative expenses; or 

8 ‘‘(C) the development of a tribal master 

9 plan for community and economic development 

10 and infrastructure.’’. 

11 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING.—Sec12 tion 804 of the Native American Programs Act of 1974 

13 (42 U.S.C. 2991c) is amended— 

14 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

15 striking ‘‘The Commissioner’’ and inserting the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner’’; and 

18 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(b) PRIORITY.—In providing assistance under sub20 section (a), the Commissioner shall give priority to any 

21 application described in section 803(b)(2).’’. 

22 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

23 816 of the Native American Programs Act of 1974 (42 

24 U.S.C. 2992d) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘803(d)’’ each place it appears 

2 and inserting ‘‘803(e)’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘1999, 2000, 

4 2001, and 2002’’ and inserting ‘‘2018 through 

5 2022’’. 

Æ 


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