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[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 613 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 613

To encourage Indian economic development, to provide for the disclosure 
   of Indian tribal sovereign immunity in contracts involving Indian 
                    tribes, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 15, 1999

 Mr. Campbell introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
              referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To encourage Indian economic development, to provide for the disclosure 
   of Indian tribal sovereign immunity in contracts involving Indian 
                    tribes, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Indian Tribal Economic Development 
and Contract Encouragement Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. CONTRACTS AND AGREEMENTS WITH INDIAN TRIBES.

    Section 2103 of the Revised Statutes (25 U.S.C. 81) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(a)'' before ``No agreement'';
            (2) in subsection (a), as designated by paragraph (1) of 
        this section--
                    (A) by striking ``, or individual Indians not 
                citizens of the United States,'';
                    (B) by striking ``First. Such agreement'' and 
                inserting the following:
            ``(1) Such contract or agreement'';
                    (C) by striking ``Second. It shall bear the 
                approval of the Secretary of the Interior and the 
                Commissioner of Indian Affairs endorsed up on it.'' and 
                inserting the following:
            ``(2) Except as provided in subsection (b), it shall bear 
        the approval of the Secretary of the Interior (referred to in 
        this section as the `Secretary') or a designee of the Secretary 
        of the Interior endorsed upon it.'';
                    (D) by striking ``Third. It'' and inserting the 
                following:
            ``(3) It'';
                    (E) by striking ``Fourth. It'' and inserting the 
                following:
            ``(4) It''; and
                    (F) by striking ``Fifth. It'' and inserting the 
                following:
            ``(5) It'';
            (3) by inserting ``(d)'' before ``All contracts'';
            (4) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
    ``(b) Subsection (a)(2) shall not apply to a contract or agreement 
in any case in which--
            ``(1) the Secretary (or a designee of the Secretary) fails 
        to approve or disapprove the contract or agreement by the date 
        that is 90 days after the date on which the contract or 
        agreement is filed with the Secretary under this section; or
            ``(2)(A) the tribe notifies the Secretary in a manner 
        prescribed by the Secretary under subsection (c)(3) that a 
        contract or agreement is not covered under subsection (a); and
            ``(B) the Secretary (or a designee of the Secretary) fails 
        to inform the tribe in writing, by the date that is 45 days 
        after receipt of the notification under subparagraph (A), that 
        the Secretary (or designee) intends to review the contract 
        agreement by the date specified in paragraph (1).
    ``(c)(1) The Secretary (or a designee of the Secretary) shall 
refuse to approve a contract or agreement that is filed with the 
Secretary under this section if the Secretary (or designee) determines 
that the contract or agreement--
            ``(A) violates Federal law; or
            ``(B)(i) is covered under subsection (a); and
            ``(ii) does not include a provision that--
                    ``(I) provides for remedies in the case of a breach 
                of the contract or agreement;
                    ``(II) references a tribal code, ordinance, or 
                ruling of a court of competent jurisdiction that 
                discloses the right of the tribe to assert sovereign 
                immunity as a defense in an action brought against the 
                tribe; or
                    ``(III) includes an express waiver of the right of 
                the tribe to assert sovereign immunity as a defense in 
                an action brought against the tribe (including a waiver 
                that limits the nature of relief that may be provided 
                or the jurisdiction of a court with respect to such an 
                action).
    ``(2)(A) The Secretary (or a designee of the Secretary) shall not 
approve any contract or agreement that is submitted to the Secretary 
for approval under this section if the Secretary (or designee) 
determines that the contract or agreement is not covered under 
subsection (a).
    ``(B) If the Secretary determines that a contract or agreement is 
not covered under subsection (a), the Secretary shall notify the tribe 
of that determination.
    ``(3) To assist tribes in providing notice under subsection (b)(2), 
the Secretary shall--
            ``(A) issue guidelines for identifying types of contracts 
        or agreements that are not covered under subsection (a); and
            ``(B) establish procedures for providing that notice.
    ``(4) The failure of the Secretary to approve a contract or 
agreement under this subsection or to provide notice under paragraph 
(2)(B) shall not affect the applicability of a requirement under any 
other provision of Federal law.'';
            (5) in subsection (d), as redesignated by paragraph (3) of 
        this section, by striking ``paid to any person by any Indian 
        tribe'' and all that follows through the end of the subsection 
        and inserting ``paid to any person by any tribe or any other 
        person on behalf of the tribe on account of such services in 
        excess of the amount approved by the Secretary of the Interior, 
        may be recovered in an action brought by the tribe or the 
        United States. Such an action may be brought in any district 
        court of the United States, without regard to the amount in 
        controversy. Any amount recovered under this subsection shall 
        be paid to the Treasury of the United States for use by the 
        tribe for whom it was recovered.''; and
            (6) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require the 
Secretary of the Interior to approve a contract for legal services by 
an attorney.''.

SEC. 3. CHOICE OF COUNSEL.

    Section 16(e) of the Act of June 18, 1934 (commonly referred to as 
the ``Indian Reorganization Act'') (48 Stat. 987, chapter 576; 25 
U.S.C. 476(e)) is amended by striking ``, the choice of counsel and 
fixing of fees to be subject to the approval of the Secretary''.
                                 <all>
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