III

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. CON. RES. 161

To correct the enrollment of H.R. 5528.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

DECEMBER 11 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2000

Mr. CAMPBELL submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was

considered and agreed to

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

To correct the enrollment of H.R. 5528.

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives

2 concurring), That the Clerk of the House of Representa3 tives, in the enrollment of the bill (H.R. 5528) to author4 ize the construction of a Wakpa Sica Reconciliation Place

5 in Fort Pierre, South Dakota, and for other purposes,

6 shall make the following correction:

7 (1) Strike title XII and insert the following:

8 TITLE XII—NAVAJO NATION

9 TRUST LAND LEASING

10 SEC. 1201. SHORT TITLE.

11 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Navajo Nation Trust

12 Land Leasing Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 1202. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARATION

2 OF PURPOSES.

3 (a) FINDINGS.—Recognizing the special relationship

4 between the United States and the Navajo Nation and its

5 members, and the Federal responsibility to the Navajo

6 people, Congress finds that—

7 (1) the third clause of section 8, Article I of the

8 United States Constitution provides that ‘‘The Con9 gress shall have Power...to regulate Commerce...with

10 Indian tribes’’, and, through this and other constitu11 tional authority, Congress has plenary power over

12 Indian affairs;

13 (2) Congress, through statutes, treaties, and

14 the general course of dealing with Indian tribes, has

15 assumed the responsibility for the protection and

16 preservation of Indian tribes and their resources;

17 (3) the United States has a trust obligation to

18 guard and preserve the sovereignty of Indian tribes

19 in order to foster strong tribal governments, Indian

20 self-determination, and economic self-sufficiency;

21 (4) pursuant to the first section of the Act of

22 August 9, 1955 (25 U.S.C. 415), Congress conferred

23 upon the Secretary of the Interior the power to pro24 mulgate regulations governing tribal leases and to

25 approve tribal leases for tribes according to regula26 tions promulgated by the Secretary;
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1 (5) the Secretary of the Interior has promul2 gated the regulations described in paragraph (4) at

3 part 162 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations;

4 (6) the requirement that the Secretary approve

5 leases for the development of Navajo trust lands has

6 added a level of review and regulation that does not

7 apply to the development of non-Indian land; and

8 (7) in the global economy of the 21st Century,

9 it is crucial that individual leases of Navajo trust

10 lands not be subject to Secretarial approval and that

11 the Navajo Nation be able to make immediate deci12 sions over the use of Navajo trust lands.

13 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title are as fol14 lows:

15 (1) To establish a streamlined process for the

16 Navajo Nation to lease trust lands without having to

17 obtain the approval of the Secretary of the Interior

18 for individual leases, except leases for exploration,

19 development, or extraction of any mineral resources.

20 (2) To authorize the Navajo Nation, pursuant

21 to tribal regulations, which must be approved by the

22 Secretary, to lease Navajo trust lands without the

23 approval of the Secretary of the Interior for the indi24 vidual leases, except leases for exploration, develop25 ment, or extraction of any mineral resources.
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1 (3) To revitalize the distressed Navajo Reserva2 tion by promoting political self-determination, and

3 encouraging economic self-sufficiency, including eco4 nomic development that increases productivity and

5 the standard of living for members of the Navajo

6 Nation.

7 (4) To maintain, strengthen, and protect the

8 Navajo Nation’s leasing power over Navajo trust

9 lands.

10 (5) To ensure that the United States is faith11 fully executing its trust obligation to the Navajo Na12 tion by maintaining federal supervision through

13 oversight of and record keeping related to leases of

14 Navajo Nation tribal trust lands.

15 SEC. 1203. LEASE OF RESTRICTED LANDS FOR THE NAVAJO

16 NATION.

17 The first section of the Act of August 9, 1955 (25

18 U.S.C. 415) is amended—

19 (1) in subsection (d)—

20 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at

21 the end;

22 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the pe23 riod and inserting a semicolon; and

24 (C) by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(3) the term ‘individually owned Navajo In2 dian allotted land’ means a single parcel of land

3 that—

4 ‘‘(A) is located within the jurisdiction of

5 the Navajo Nation;

6 ‘‘(B) is held in trust or restricted status by

7 the United States for the benefit of Navajo In8 dians or members of another Indian tribe; and

9 ‘‘(C) was—

10 ‘‘(i) allotted to a Navajo Indian; or

11 ‘‘(ii) taken into trust or restricted sta12 tus by the United States for an individual

13 Indian;

14 ‘‘(4) the term ‘interested party’ means an In15 dian or non-Indian individual or corporation, or trib16 al or non-tribal government whose interests could be

17 adversely affected by a tribal trust land leasing deci18 sion made by the Navajo Nation;

19 ‘‘(5) the term ‘Navajo Nation’ means the Nav20 ajo Nation government that is in existence on the

21 date of enactment of this Act or its successor;

22 ‘‘(6) the term ‘petition’ means a written request

23 submitted to the Secretary for the review of an ac24 tion (or inaction) of the Navajo Nation that is
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1 claimed to be in violation of the approved tribal leas2 ing regulations;

3 ‘‘(7) the term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary

4 of the Interior; and

5 ‘‘(8) the term ‘tribal regulations’ means the

6 Navajo Nation regulations enacted in accordance

7 with Navajo Nation law and approved by the Sec8 retary.’’; and

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

10 ‘‘(e)(1) Any leases by the Navajo Nation for purposes

11 authorized under subsection (a), and any amendments

12 thereto, except a lease for the exploration, development,

13 or extraction of any mineral resources, shall not require

14 the approval of the Secretary if the lease is executed under

15 the tribal regulations approved by the Secretary under this

16 subsection and the term of the lease does not exceed—

17 ‘‘(A) in the case of a business or agricultural

18 lease, 25 years, except that any such lease may in19 clude an option to renew for up to 2 additional

20 terms, each of which may not exceed 25 years; and

21 ‘‘(B) in the case of a lease for public, religious,

22 educational, recreational, or residential purposes, 75

23 years if such a term is provided for by the Navajo

24 Nation through the promulgation of regulations.
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1 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to individually

2 owned Navajo Indian allotted land.

3 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall have the authority to ap4 prove or disapprove tribal regulations referred to under

5 paragraph (1). The Secretary shall approve such tribal

6 regulations if such regulations are consistent with the reg7 ulations of the Secretary under subsection (a), and any

8 amendments thereto, and provide for an environmental re9 view process. The Secretary shall review and approve or

10 disapprove the regulations of the Navajo Nation within

11 120 days of the submission of such regulations to the Sec12 retary. Any disapproval of such regulations by the Sec13 retary shall be accompanied by written documentation

14 that sets forth the basis for the disapproval. Such 120-

15 day period may be extended by the Secretary after con16 sultation with the Navajo Nation.

17 ‘‘(4) If the Navajo Nation has executed a lease pursu18 ant to tribal regulations under paragraph (1), the Navajo

19 Nation shall provide the Secretary with—

20 ‘‘(A) a copy of the lease and all amendments

21 and renewals thereto; and

22 ‘‘(B) in the case of regulations or a lease that

23 permits payment to be made directly to the Navajo

24 Nation, documentation of the lease payments suffi25 cient to enable the Secretary to discharge the trust
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1 responsibility of the United States under paragraph

2 (5).

3 ‘‘(5) The United States shall not be liable for losses

4 sustained by any party to a lease executed pursuant to

5 tribal regulations under paragraph (1), including the Nav6 ajo Nation. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed

7 to diminish the authority of the Secretary to take appro8 priate actions, including the cancellation of a lease, in fur9 therance of the trust obligation of the United States to

10 the Navajo Nation.

11 ‘‘(6)(A) An interested party may, after exhaustion of

12 tribal remedies, submit, in a timely manner, a petition to

13 the Secretary to review the compliance of the Navajo Na14 tion with any regulations approved under this subsection.

15 If upon such review the Secretary determines that the reg16 ulations were violated, the Secretary may take such action

17 as may be necessary to remedy the violation, including re18 scinding the approval of the tribal regulations and re19 assuming responsibility for the approval of leases for Nav20 ajo Nation tribal trust lands.

21 ‘‘(B) If the Secretary seeks to remedy a violation de22 scribed in subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall—

23 ‘‘(i) make a written determination with respect

24 to the regulations that have been violated;
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1 ‘‘(ii) provide the Navajo Nation with a written

2 notice of the alleged violation together with such

3 written determination; and

4 ‘‘(iii) prior to the exercise of any remedy or the

5 rescission of the approval of the regulation involved

6 and the reassumption of the lease approval responsi7 bility, provide the Navajo Nation with a hearing on

8 the record and a reasonable opportunity to cure the

9 alleged violation.’’.

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