I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2760 

To establish the American Indian Trust Review Commission, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 12, 2015 

Mr. GOSAR (for himself, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. YOUNG

of Alaska, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. JONES, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. TIPTON, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. 

HONDA, Mr. COOK, Mr. SCHWEIKERT, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. ZINKE, Mrs. 

TORRES, and Mr. SALMON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish the American Indian Trust Review Commission, 

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 ‘‘American Indian Trust 

5 Responsibility Review Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) The Final Report of the American Indian 

2 Policy Review Committee, published in 1977, made 

3 a number of recommendations regarding the United 

4 States administration of its trust relationship with 

5 federally recognized Indian tribes and their mem6 bers, many of which have not been implemented. 

7 (2) There has been no general, comprehensive 

8 review of the United States trust relationship with 

9 federally recognized Indian tribes since the publica10 tion of the Final Report of the American Indian Pol11 icy Review Committee. 

12 (3) The trust relationship has evolved over time 

13 and there is a clear need to re-examine the adminis14 tration of the United States constitutional trust re15 sponsibility. 

16 (4) The duties administered by Federal agen17 cies charged with protecting federally recognized In18 dian tribal trust resources and providing services 

19 often conflict with other duties discharged by the 

20 same or separate Federal agencies and departments 

21 and it is the beneficiaries of the trust relationship 

22 that suffer as a result. 

23 (5) In carrying out its trust responsibilities to 

24 federally recognized Indian tribes and their mem25 bers, it is crucial that Congress have the benefit of 


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1 a review of the United States trust relationship with 

2 federally recognized Indian tribes to improve its abil3 ity to exercise oversight over the executive branch, 

4 pursue policies to empower tribal self-determination, 

5 and better administer the trust relationship. 

6 SEC. 3. DECLARATION. 

7 Congress declares that it is timely and essential to 

8 conduct a review of the current state of the United States 

9 unique trust relationship with federally recognized Indian 

10 tribes and their members in order to better administer 

11 constitutional trust responsibilities and make necessary re12 visions in relevant trust statutes, regulations, and policies 

13 for the benefit of American Indian people. 

14 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN TRUST 

15 REVIEW COMMISSION. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—In order to carry out the pur17 poses of this Act, there is hereby established the American 

18 Indian Trust Review Commission, hereinafter referred to 

19 as the ‘‘Commission’’. 

20 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

21 (1) COMPOSITION.—The Commission shall be 

22 composed of 12 members, of whom— 

23 (A) 4 shall be appointed by the President, 

24 in consultation with the Secretary of the Inte25 rior; 


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1 (B) 3 shall be appointed by the Speaker of 

2 the House of Representatives, in consultation 

3 with the Chairman of the Committee on Nat4 ural Resources of the House of Representatives; 

5 (C) 1 shall be appointed by the Minority 

6 Leader of the House of Representatives, in con7 sultation with the Ranking Member of the Com8 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of 

9 Representatives; 

10 (D) 3 shall be appointed by the Majority 

11 Leader of the Senate, in consultation with the 

12 Chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs; 

13 and 

14 (E) 1 shall be appointed by the Minority 

15 Leader of the Senate, in consultation with the 

16 Vice Chairman of the Committee on Indian Af17 fairs. 

18 (2) DIVERSITY OF QUALIFICATIONS.—In mak19 ing appointments to the Commission, every effort 

20 shall be made to select individuals whose qualifica21 tions are not already represented by other members 

22 of the Commission. 

23 (3) TERM.—Each member shall be appointed 

24 for the life of the Commission. 


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1 (4) TIME FOR INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.—The 

2 appointment of the members of the Commission 

3 shall be made no later than 60 days after the date 

4 of enactment of this Act. 

5 (c) COMMISSION ORGANIZATION.—At its organiza6 tional meeting, the members of the Commission appointed 

7 pursuant to subsection (b)(1) of this section shall elect 

8 from their members, a Chairman and Vice Chairman im9 mediately thereafter. 

10 (d) VACANCIES.—Vacancies in the membership of the 

11 Commission shall not affect the power of the remaining 

12 members to execute the functions of the Commission and 

13 shall be filled in the same manner as in the case of the 

14 original appointment of the member whose seat is vacated. 

15 (e) QUORUM.—Eight members of the Commission 

16 shall constitute a quorum, but a smaller number, as deter17 mined by the Commission, may conduct hearings. 

18 SEC. 5. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION. 

19 (a) INVESTIGATION; STUDY.—The Commission shall 

20 conduct a comprehensive review of the unique trust rela21 tionship between the United States and federally recog22 nized Indian tribes. The study shall include— 

23 (1) a study and analysis of the Constitution, 

24 and relevant treaties, compacts, statutes, judicial in25 terpretations, and Executive orders to determine the 


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1 attributes of the unique trust relationship between 

2 the Federal Government, and federally recognized 

3 Indian tribes; 

4 (2) a review of the policies, practices, and struc5 ture of the Federal agencies charged with protecting 

6 Indian tribal trust resources and providing services 

7 to Indians; 

8 (3) a management study of the Bureau of In9 dian Affairs and its ability to discharge its trust re10 sponsibilities without conflicting with the duties of 

11 other Federal agencies and departments; 

12 (4) a review of relevant statutes, regulations, 

13 and policies to determine the feasibility of author14 izing Indian tribes, in their discretion, to assume 

15 some or all of the functions, programs, services, and 

16 activities now currently undertaken and provided by 

17 the Federal Government; 

18 (5) a compilation, collection, and analysis of 

19 data necessary to understand the extent of the needs 

20 of federally recognized Indian tribes, including the 

21 adequacy of educational systems, health care, public 

22 safety, and infrastructure; 

23 (6) the feasibility of creating high-level posi24 tions within the executive branch to provide federally 

25 recognized Indian tribes with maximum participation 


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1 in policy formation and program development, and 

2 the viability of a mechanism to ensure the continu3 ation of critical programs for federally recognized 

4 Indian tribes; 

5 (7) an examination of the appropriate role of 

6 State and local governments involvement in actions 

7 that permit government and public input and the de8 gree to which the Federal Government can ade9 quately balance those interests without conflicting 

10 with its trust responsibilities towards federally recog11 nized Indian tribes; and 

12 (8) the recommendations modifying existing 

13 laws, procedures, regulations, policies, and practices 

14 as will, in the judgment of the Commission, best 

15 serve to carry out the policy and declarations of the 

16 purposes of the Commission. 

17 (b) HEARINGS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall hold 

19 hearings, meet, act, take testimony, and receive evi20 dence as the Commission considers to be advisable 

21 to carry out the duties of the Commission under this 

22 Act. 

23 (2) PUBLIC REQUIREMENT.—The hearings of 

24 the Commission shall be open to the public and held 

25 in geographically diverse locations. 


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1 (3) PREFERENCE.—When considering hearing 

2 witnesses, the Commission shall exercise a pref3 erence to invite elected officials from a federally rec4 ognized Indian tribe before seeking participation 

5 from any tribal organization. 

6 SEC. 6. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION. 

7 (a) COMMISSION RULES.—The Commission may 

8 make rules respecting its organization and procedures, as 

9 it deems necessary, except that no recommendations shall 

10 be reported from the Commission unless a majority of the 

11 Commission assents. 

12 (b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL, TRIBAL, STATE, 

13 AND LOCAL AGENCIES.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may secure 

15 directly from a Federal agency such information as 

16 the Commission considers to be necessary to carry 

17 out this Act. 

18 (2) TRIBAL, STATE, AND LOCAL AGENCIES.— 

19 The Commission may request the head of any agen20 cy of a federally recognized Indian tribe, State, or 

21 unit of local government to provide the Commission 

22 with such information as the Commission considers 

23 necessary to carry out this Act. 


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1 SEC. 7. COMMISSION PERSONNEL. 

2 (a) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the Com3 mission shall be allowed travel expenses, including per 

4 diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employ5 ees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 

6 5, United States Code, while away from their homes or 

7 regular places of business in the performance of services 

8 for the Commission. 

9 (b) STAFF.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson of the 

11 Commission, in consultation with the Vice Chairman 

12 of the Commission, may— 

13 (A) without regard to the civil service laws 

14 and regulations, appoint and terminate an exec15 utive director and such other additional per16 sonnel as may be necessary to enable the Com17 mission to perform its duties; and 

18 (B) fix the compensation of the executive 

19 director and other personnel without regard to 

20 chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of 

21 title 5, United States Code, relating to classi22 fication of positions and General Schedule pay 

23 rates, except that the rate of pay for the execu24 tive director and other personnel may not ex25 ceed the rate payable for level V of the Execu26 tive Schedule under section 5316 of such title. 


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1 (2) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SUBJECT TO CON2 FIRMATION.—The employment of an executive direc3 tor shall be subject to confirmation by the Commis4 sion by a majority of Commission members voting. 

5 (c) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—At the 

6 request of the Commission, and in the discretion of the 

7 relevant agency, any Federal Government employee may 

8 be detailed to the Commission without reimbursement, 

9 and such detail shall be without interruption or loss of 

10 civil service status or privilege. 

11 (d) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTERMIT12 TENT SERVICES.—The Chairperson of the Commission 

13 may procure temporary and intermittent services under 

14 section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, at rates 

15 for individuals that do not exceed the daily equivalent of 

16 the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level V of the 

17 Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title. 

18 SEC. 8. REPORT OF THE COMMISSION. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

20 date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall sub21 mit to the President and Congress a report that con22 tains— 

23 (1) a detailed statement of findings and conclu24 sions of the Commission; and 


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1 (2) the recommendations of the Commission for 

2 such legislative and administrative actions as the 

3 Commission considers appropriate. 

4 (b) EXTENSION.—The President may grant an exten5 sion to allow the report required under subsection (a) to 

6 be submitted not later than 3 years after the date of the 

7 enactment of this Act. 

8 (c) ONLINE ACCESS.—The Commission shall make 

9 the report required by paragraph (1) publically available 

10 on the website of the Department of the Interior. 

11 SEC. 9. NONAPPPLICABILITY OF THE FACA. 

12 The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 

13 2) shall not apply to the Commission. 

14 SEC. 10. TERMINATION OF THE COMMISSION. 

15 The Commission shall terminate 30 days after the 

16 Commission submits its report under section 8. 

Æ 


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