II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1739 

To provide for the use and distribution of judgment funds awarded to the 

Minnesota Chippewa Tribe by the United States Court of Federal Claims 

in Docket Numbers 19 and 188, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 19, 2011 

Mr. FRANKEN (for himself and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To provide for the use and distribution of judgment funds 

awarded to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe by the United 

States Court of Federal Claims in Docket Numbers 19 

and 188, 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 ‘‘Minnesota Chippewa 

5 Tribe Judgment Fund Distribution Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1739 IS

1 (1) on January 22, 1948, the Minnesota Chip2 pewa Tribe, representing all Chippewa bands in the 

3 State of Minnesota except the Red Lake Band, filed 

4 a claim before the Indian Claims Commission in 

5 Docket No. 19 for an accounting of all amounts re6 ceived and expended pursuant to the Act of January 

7 14, 1889 (25 Stat. 642, chapter 24) (referred to in 

8 this Act as the ‘‘Nelson Act’’); 

9 (2) on August 2, 1951, the Minnesota Chip10 pewa Tribe, representing all Chippewa bands in the 

11 State of Minnesota except the Red Lake Band, filed 

12 a number of claims before the Indian Claims Com13 mission in Docket No. 188 for an accounting of the 

14 obligation of the Federal Government to each mem15 ber Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe under 

16 various statutes and treaties not covered by the Nel17 son Act; 

18 (3) on May 17, 1999, a joint motion for find19 ings in aid of settlement of the claims in Docket No. 

20 19 and 188 was filed in the Court of Federal 

21 Claims; 

22 (4) the terms of the settlement were approved 

23 by the Court of Federal Claims and final judgment 

24 in the matter was entered on May 26, 1999; 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1739 IS

1 (5) on June 22, 1999, $20,000,000 was trans2 ferred to the Department of the Interior and depos3 ited in a trust fund account established for the bene4 ficiaries of the amounts awarded in Docket No. 19 

5 and 188; 

6 (6) pursuant to the Indian Tribal Judgment 

7 Funds Use or Distribution Act (25 U.S.C. 1401 et 

8 seq.), Congress must act to authorize the use or dis9 tribution of the judgment funds; and 

10 (7) on October 1, 2009, the Minnesota Chip11 pewa Tribal Executive Committee passed Resolution 

12 146–09, approving a plan to distribute the judgment 

13 funds and requesting that Congress authorize the 

14 distribution of the judgment funds in the manner 

15 described by the plan. 

16 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this Act: 

18 (1) BANDS.—The term ‘‘Bands’’ means— 

19 (A) the Bois Forte Band; 

20 (B) the Fond du Lac Band; 

21 (C) the Grand Portage Band; 

22 (D) the Leech Lake Band; 

23 (E) the Mille Lacs Band; and 

24 (F) the White Earth Band. 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1739 IS

1 (2) JUDGMENT FUNDS.—The term ‘‘judgment 

2 funds’’ means the $20,000,000 awarded on May 26, 

3 1999, to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe by the 

4 Court of Federal Claims and transferred to the Sec5 retary for deposit in a trust fund account established 

6 for the beneficiaries of Docket No. 19 and 188. 

7 (3) MINNESOTA CHIPPEWA TRIBE.—The term 

8 ‘‘Minnesota Chippewa Tribe’’ means the Minnesota 

9 Chippewa Tribe, composed solely of the Bands. 

10 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

11 the Secretary of the Interior. 

12 SEC. 4. LOAN REIMBURSEMENTS TO MINNESOTA CHIP13 PEWA TRIBE. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may reimburse the 

15 Minnesota Chippewa Tribe the amount that the Minnesota 

16 Chippewa Tribe contributed for attorneys’ fees and litiga17 tion expenses associated with the litigation of Docket No. 

18 19 and 188 in the Court of Federal Claims and the dis19 tribution of judgment funds, plus any interest earned on 

20 that amount as of the date of payment under this section 

21 to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. 

22 (b) PROCEDURE.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—To receive a reimbursement 

24 payment under subsection (a), not later than 90 

25 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1739 IS

1 Minnesota Chippewa Tribe shall submit to the Sec2 retary a written claim for the reimbursement 

3 amount described in that subsection, subject to the 

4 condition that the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe certify 

5 that the reimbursement expenses claimed have not 

6 been reimbursed to the Tribe by any other entity. 

7 (2) PAYMENT.—If the Minnesota Chippewa 

8 Tribe submits a claim to the Secretary in accordance 

9 with paragraph (1), the Secretary shall, using the 

10 judgment funds, pay to the Minnesota Chippewa 

11 Tribe the full reimbursement amount claimed, plus 

12 interest on that amount, calculated at the rate of 6.0 

13 percent per year, simple interest, beginning on the 

14 date on which the amounts were expended by the 

15 Tribe and ending on the date on which the amounts 

16 are reimbursed to the Tribe. 

17 SEC. 5. DISTRIBUTION OF JUDGMENT FUNDS. 

18 (a) MEMBERSHIP ROLLS.—Not later than 90 days 

19 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Minnesota 

20 Chippewa Tribe shall submit to the Secretary an updated 

21 membership roll for each Band of the Tribe, each of which 

22 shall include the names of all enrolled members of that 

23 Band living on the date of enactment of this Act. 

24 (b) DISBURSEMENT OF AVAILABLE FUNDS.— 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1739 IS

1 (1) PER CAPITA ACCOUNT.—After the date on 

2 which any amounts under section 4 have been dis3 bursed and the Secretary has received the updated 

4 membership rolls under subsection (a), the Secretary 

5 shall, from the remaining judgment funds, deposit in 

6 a per capita account established by the Secretary for 

7 each Band, an amount that is equal to $300 for 

8 each member of that Band listed on the updated 

9 membership roll. 

10 (2) REMAINING AMOUNTS.—If, after the dis11 bursement described in paragraph (1), any judgment 

12 funds remain undisbursed, the Secretary shall de13 posit in an account established by the Secretary for 

14 each Band, which shall be separate from the per 

15 capita account described in paragraph (1), all re16 maining amounts, divided equally among the Bands. 

17 (c) USE OF AMOUNTS.— 

18 (1) DISBURSEMENT OF PER CAPITA PAY19 MENTS.—Any amounts deposited in the per capita 

20 account of a Band described in subsection (b)(1) 

21 shall be— 

22 (A) made available to the Band for imme23 diate withdrawal; and 

24 (B) used by the Band solely for the pur25 pose of distributing 1 $300 payment to each inVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:00 Oct 20, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1739.IS S1739

jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1739 IS

1 dividual member of the Band listed on the up2 dated membership roll. 

3 (2) TREATMENT OF DEPENDENTS.—For each 

4 minor or dependent member of the Band listed on 

5 the updated roll, the Band may— 

6 (A) distribute the $300 payment to a par7 ent or legal guardian of that dependent Band 

8 member; or 

9 (B) deposit in a trust account the $300 

10 payment of that dependent Band member for 

11 the benefit of that dependent Band member, to 

12 be distributed under the terms of the trust. 

13 (d) UNCLAIMED PAYMENTS.—If, on the date that is 

14 1 year after the date on which the amounts described in 

15 subsection (b)(1) are made available to a Band, any 

16 amounts remain unclaimed, those amounts shall be re17 turned to the Secretary, who shall deposit the remaining 

18 amounts in the accounts described in subsection (b)(2) in 

19 equal shares for each Band. 

20 (e) NO LIABILITY.—The Secretary shall not be liable 

21 for the expenditure or investment of any amounts dis22 bursed to a Band from the accounts described in sub23 section (b) after those amounts are withdrawn by the 

24 Band. 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1739 IS

1 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION. 

2 Amounts disbursed under this Act— 

3 (1) shall not be liable for the payment of pre4 viously contracted obligations of any recipient, as 

5 provided in section 2(a) of Public Law 98–64 (25 

6 U.S.C. 117b(a)); and 

7 (2) shall be subject to section 7 of the Indian 

8 Tribal Judgment Funds Use or Distribution Act (25 

9 U.S.C. 1407). 

Æ 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS