II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 285

To grant authority to provide social services block grants directly to Indian

tribes, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 26 (legislative day, JANUARY 10), 1995

Mr. MCCAIN (for himself, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. SIMON, and Mr.

THOMAS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To grant authority to provide social services block grants

directly to Indian tribes, 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. AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE SOCIAL SERVICES

4 BLOCK GRANTS DIRECTLY TO INDIAN

5 TRIBES.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2003 of the Social Secu7 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1397b) is amended—

8 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘and the

9 Northern Mariana Islands’’ the first place it appears

10 and inserting ‘‘the Northern Mariana Islands, and
2

•S 285 IS

1 any participating Indian tribe or tribal organization,

2 as defined in subsection (e)(3),’’;

3 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘and the

4 Northern Mariana Islands’’ each place it appears

5 and inserting ‘‘the Northern Mariana Islands, and

6 any participating Indian tribe or tribal organization,

7 as defined in subsection (e)(3),’’; and

8 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub9 sections:

10 ‘‘(d)(1) Of the amounts specified in subsection (c),

11 3 percent shall be available for grants made or contracts

12 entered into with Indian tribes or tribal organizations in

13 accordance with this subsection.

14 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall make grants to or enter into

15 contracts with Indian tribes or tribal organizations for

16 planning and carrying out programs and activities under

17 this title.

18 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall establish criteria for the re19 view and approval of applications for grants or contracts

20 under this subsection.

21 ‘‘(4)(A) Not later than 180 days after the date of

22 enactment of this subsection, the Secretary, with the full

23 participation of Indian tribes and tribal organizations,

24 shall establish and promulgate by regulation, a base fund25 ing formula similar to the formula established under sec-
3

•S 285 IS

1 tion 658O of the Child Care and Development Block

2 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858M).

3 ‘‘(B) In developing the funding formula, the Sec4 retary may consider such additional factors as the Sec5 retary determines appropriate, including unique geo6 graphic and demographic conditions of the tribal reserva7 tion and service area.

8 ‘‘(5) Funds that are not distributed to Indian tribes

9 and tribal organizations during a fiscal year shall be avail10 able in subsequent fiscal years for reallocation to eligible

11 tribes and tribal organizations.

12 ‘‘(6) In any case in which a contract is entered into

13 or grant made to a tribal organization to perform services

14 benefiting more than one Indian tribe, the approval of

15 each such Indian tribe shall be a prerequisite to entering

16 into the contract or making the grant.

17 ‘‘(7) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed

18 to—

19 ‘‘(A) serve as an authorization to limit the eligi20 bility of any individual to participate in any program

21 offered by a State or subdivision thereof;

22 ‘‘(B) modify any requirement imposed upon a

23 State by any provision in this title; or

24 ‘‘(C) preclude or discourage an agreement be25 tween any Indian tribe and any State that facilitates
4

•S 285 IS

1 the provision of services by the Indian tribe to the

2 service population of the Indian tribe.

3 ‘‘(e) For purposes of this section—

4 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Indian tribe’ means any Indian

5 tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or com6 munity, including any Alaska Native village or re7 gional or village corporation as defined in or estab8 lished pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settle9 ment Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) which is recog10 nized as eligible for the special programs and serv11 ices provided by the United States to Indians be12 cause of their status as Indians;

13 ‘‘(2) the term ‘tribal organization’ means—

14 ‘‘(A) the recognized governing body of any

15 Indian tribe; and

16 ‘‘(B) any legally established organization

17 of Indians which is controlled, sanctioned, or

18 chartered by such governing body or which is

19 democratically elected by the adult members of

20 the Indian community to be served by such or21 ganization and which includes the maximum

22 participation of Indians in all phases of its

23 activities; and

24 ‘‘(3) the term ‘participating Indian tribe or

25 tribal organization’ means an Indian tribe or tribal
5

•S 285 IS

1 organization that receives a grant or enters into a

2 contract under subsection (d).’’.

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The fifth sentence

4 of section 1101(a)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1301(a)(1))

5 is amended by striking ‘‘and the Northern Mariana Is6 lands’’ and inserting ‘‘the Northern Mariana Islands, and

7 any participating Indian tribe or tribal organization, as

8 such term is defined in section 2003(e)(3)’’.

9 SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.

10 The amendments made by section 1 shall take effect

11 on the first day of the first fiscal year beginning after the

12 date of enactment of this Act.

Æ