Union Calendar No. 159

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 334

[Report No. 103–290]

A BILL

To provide for the recognition of the Lumbee Tribe

other purposes.of Cheraw Indians of North Carolina, and for

OCTOBER 14, 1993

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the

State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
IB

Union Calendar No. 159

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 334

[Report No. 103–290]

To provide for the recognition of the Lumbee Tribe of Cheraw Indians

of North Carolina, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

Mr. ROSE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Natural Resources

OCTOBER 14, 1993

Additional sponsors: Mr. LANCASTER, Mr. NEAL of North Carolina, Mr.

KOPETSKI, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. HEFNER, Mr. TOWNS, Mr.

BLACKWELL, Mr. WATT, Mr. YATES, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. PRICE of North

Carolina, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. VALENTINE, Mr.

DE LUGO, Mr. COBLE, Mr. FROST, and Mr. ABERCROMBIE

OCTOBER 14, 1993

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,

and ordered to be printed

A BILL

To provide for the recognition of the Lumbee Tribe of

Cheraw Indians of North Carolina, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lumbee Recognition

3 Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. PREAMBLE.

5 The preamble to the Act of June 7, 1956 (70 Stat.

6 254), is amended—

7 (1) by striking out ‘‘and’’ at the end of each of

8 the first three clauses;

9 (2) by striking out ‘‘: Now therefore,’’ at the

10 end of the last clause and inserting in lieu thereof

11 a semicolon; and

12 (3) by adding at the end thereof the following

13 new clauses:

‘‘Whereas the Lumbee Indians of Robeson and adjoining

counties in North Carolina are descendants of coastal

North Carolina Indian tribes, principally Cheraw, and

have remained a distinct Indian community since the

time of contact with white settlers;

‘‘Whereas the Lumbee Indians have been recognized by the

State of North Carolina as an Indian tribe since 1885;

‘‘Whereas the Lumbee Indians have sought Federal recognition as an Indian tribe since 1888; and

‘‘Whereas the Lumbee Indians are entitled to Federal recognition of their status as an Indian tribe and the benefits, privileges, and immunities that accompany such status: Now, therefore,’’.
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1 SEC. 3. FEDERAL RECOGNITION.

2 The Act of June 7, 1956 (70 Stat. 254), is amend3 ed—

4 (1) by striking out the last sentence of the first

5 section; and

6 (2) by striking out section 2 and inserting in

7 lieu thereof the following:

8 ‘‘FEDERAL RECOGNITION; ACKNOWLEDGMENT

9 ‘‘SEC. 2. (a) Federal recognition is hereby extended

10 to the Lumbee Tribe of Cheraw Indians of North Carolina.

11 All laws and regulations of the United States of general

12 application to Indians and Indian tribes shall apply to the

13 Lumbee Tribe of Cheraw Indians of North Carolina and

14 its members.

15 ‘‘(b) Notwithstanding the first section of this Act,

16 any group of Indians in Robeson or adjoining counties

17 whose members are not enrolled in the Lumbee Tribe of

18 Cheraw Indians of North Carolina, as determined under

19 section 4(b), may petition under part 83 of title 25 of the

20 Code of Federal Regulations for acknowledgment of tribal

21 existence.

22 ‘‘SERVICES

23 ‘‘SEC. 3. (a) The Lumbee Tribe of Cheraw Indians

24 of North Carolina and its members shall be eligible for

25 all services and benefits provided to Indians because of

26 their status as federally recognized Indians, except that
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1 members of the tribe shall not be entitled to such services

2 until the appropriation of funds for these purposes. For

3 the purposes of the delivery of such services, those mem4 bers of the tribe residing in Robeson and adjoining coun5 ties, North Carolina, shall be deemed to be resident on

6 or near an Indian reservation.

7 ‘‘(b) Upon verification of a tribal roll under section

8 4 by the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of the

9 Interior and the Secretary of Health and Human Services

10 shall develop, in consultation with the Lumbee Tribe of

11 Cheraw Indians of North Carolina, a determination of

12 needs and a budget required to provide services to which

13 the members of the tribe are eligible. The Secretary of

14 the Interior and the Secretary of Health and Human Serv15 ices shall each submit a written statement of such needs

16 and budget with the first budget request submitted to the

17 Congress after the fiscal year in which the tribal roll is

18 verified.

19 ‘‘(c)(1) The Lumbee Tribe of Cheraw Indians of

20 North Carolina is authorized to plan, conduct, consolidate,

21 and administer programs, services, and functions author22 ized under the Act of April 16, 1934 (48 Stat. 596; 25

23 U.S.C. 452, et seq.), and the Act of November 2, 1921

24 (42 Stat. 208; 25 U.S.C. 13), popularly known as the Sny25 der Act, pursuant to an annual written funding agreement
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1 among the Lumbee Tribe of Cheraw Indians of North

2 Carolina, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary

3 of Health and Human Services, which shall specify—

4 ‘‘(A) the services to be provided, the functions

5 to be performed, and the procedures to be used to

6 reallocate funds or modify budget allocations, within

7 any fiscal year; and

8 ‘‘(B) the responsibility of the Secretary of the

9 Interior for, and the procedure to be used in, audit10 ing the expenditures of the tribe.

11 ‘‘(2) The authority provided under this subsection

12 shall be in lieu of the authority provided under the Indian

13 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25

14 U.S.C. 450, et seq.).

15 ‘‘(3) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as

16 affecting, modifying, diminishing, or otherwise impairing

17 the sovereign immunity from lawsuit enjoyed by the

18 Lumbee Tribe of Cheraw Indians of North Carolina or au19 thorizing or requiring the termination of any trust respon20 sibility of the United States with respect to the tribe.

21 ‘‘CONSTITUTION AND MEMBERSHIP

22 ‘‘SEC. 4. (a) The Lumbee Tribe of Cheraw Indians

23 of North Carolina shall organize for its common welfare

24 and adopt a constitution and bylaws. Any constitution, by25 laws, or amendments to the constitution or bylaws that

26 are adopted by the tribe must be consistent with the terms
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1 of this Act and shall take effect only after such documents

2 are filed with the Secretary of the Interior. The Secretary

3 shall assist the tribe in the drafting of a constitution and

4 bylaws, the conduct of an election with respect to such

5 constitution, and the reorganization of the government of

6 the tribe under any such constitution and bylaws.

7 ‘‘(b)(1) Until the Lumbee Tribe of Cheraw Indians

8 of North Carolina adopts a constitution and except as pro9 vided in paragraph (2), the membership of the tribe shall,

10 subject to review by the Secretary, consist of every individ11 ual who is named in the tribal membership roll that is

12 in effect on the date of enactment of this Act.

13 ‘‘(2)(A) Before adopting a constitution, the roll of the

14 tribe shall be open for a 180-day period to allow the enroll15 ment of any individual previously enrolled in another In16 dian group or tribe in Robeson or adjoining counties,

17 North Carolina, who demonstrates that—

18 ‘‘(i) the individual is eligible for enrollment in

19 the Lumbee Tribe of Cheraw Indians; and

20 ‘‘(ii) the individual has abandoned membership

21 in any other Indian group or tribe.

22 ‘‘(B) The Lumbee Tribe of Cheraw Indians of North

23 Carolina shall advertise in newspapers of general distribu24 tion in Robeson and adjoining counties, North Carolina,

25 the opening of the tribal roll for the purposes of subpara-
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1 graph (A). The advertisement shall specify the enrollment

2 criteria and the deadline for enrollment.

3 ‘‘(3) The review of the tribal roll of the Lumbee Tribe

4 of Cheraw Indians of North Carolina shall be limited to

5 verification of compliance with the membership criteria of

6 the tribe as stated in the Lumbee Petition for Federal Ac7 knowledgment filed with the Secretary by the tribe on De8 cember 17, 1987. The Secretary shall complete his review

9 and verification of the tribal roll within the 12-month pe10 riod beginning on the date on which the tribal roll is closed

11 under paragraph (2).

12 ‘‘JURISDICTION

13 ‘‘SEC. 5. (a)(1) The State of North Carolina shall ex14 ercise jurisdiction over—

15 ‘‘(A) all criminal offenses that are committed

16 on, and

17 ‘‘(B) all civil actions that arise on,

18 lands located within the State of North Carolina that are

19 owned by, or held in trust by the United States for, the

20 Lumbee Tribe of Cheraw Indians of North Carolina, any

21 member of the Lumbee Tribe of Cheraw Indians of North

22 Carolina, or any dependent Indian community of the

23 Lumbee Tribe of Cheraw Indians of North Carolina.

24 ‘‘(2) The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to

25 accept on behalf of the United States, after consulting

26 with the Attorney General of the United States, any trans-
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1 fer by the State of North Carolina to the United States

2 of any portion of the jurisdiction of the State of North

3 Carolina described in paragraph (1) pursuant to an agree4 ment between the Lumbee Tribe of Cheraw Indians and

5 the State of North Carolina. Such transfer of jurisdiction

6 may not take effect until two years after the effective date

7 of such agreement.

8 ‘‘(3) The provisions of this subsection shall not affect

9 the application of section 109 of the Indian Child Welfare

10 Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1919).

11 ‘‘(b) Section 5 of the Act of June 18, 1934 (Chapter

12 576; 25 U.S.C. 465), and the Act of April 11, 1970 (84

13 Stat. 120; 25 U.S.C. 488 et seq.), shall apply to the

14 Lumbee Tribe of Cheraw Indians of North Carolina with

15 respect to lands within the exterior boundaries of Robeson

16 and adjoining counties, North Carolina.

17 ‘‘AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS

18 ‘‘SEC. 6. (a) There are authorized to be appropriated

19 such funds as may be necessary to carry out this Act.

20 ‘‘(b) In the first fiscal year in which funds are appro21 priated under this Act, the tribe’s proposals for expendi22 tures of such funds shall be submitted to the Select Com23 mittee on Indian Affairs of the Senate and the Committee

24 on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives 60

25 calendar days prior to any expenditure of such funds by

26 the tribe.’’.