II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1329

To prohibit the taking of certain lands by the United States in trust for

economically self-sufficient Indian tribes for commercial and gaming purposes, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 29, 1997

Mr. LIEBERMAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

A BILL

To prohibit the taking of certain lands by the United States

in trust for economically self-sufficient Indian tribes for

commercial and gaming purposes, 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 ‘‘Indian Trust Lands

5 Reform Act of 1997’’.
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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION AGAINST TAKING CERTAIN LANDS IN

2 TRUST FOR AN INDIAN TRIBE.

3 Section 5 of the Act of June 18, 1934 (commonly

4 known as the ‘‘Indian Reorganization Act of 1934’’) (48

5 Stat. 985; 25 U.S.C. 465) is amended—

6 (1) by striking the section designation and in7 serting immediately preceding the first undesignated

8 paragraph the following:

9 ‘‘SEC. 5. ACQUISITION OF LANDS.’’;

10 (2) in the first undesignated paragraph, by

11 striking ‘‘The Secretary of the Interior’’ and insert12 ing the following:

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

14 (b), the Secretary of the Interior’’;

15 (3) in the undesignated paragraph following

16 subsection (a), as redesignated, by striking ‘‘For

17 the’’ and inserting the following:

18 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For

19 the’’;

20 (4) in the undesignated paragraph following

21 subsection (d), as redesignated, by striking ‘‘The un22 expended’’ and inserting the following:

23 ‘‘(e) AVAILABILITY OF UNEXPENDED BALANCES.—

24 The unexpended’’;
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1 (5) in the undesignated paragraph following

2 subsection (e), as redesignated, by striking ‘‘Title

3 to’’ and inserting the following:

4 ‘‘(f) EXEMPTION FROM TAXATION.—Title to’’; and

5 (6) by inserting after subsection (a) the follow6 ing:

7 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except with respect to

9 lands described in subsection (c), the Secretary of

10 the Interior may not take, in the name of the United

11 States in trust, for use for any commercial purpose

12 (including gaming, as that term is used in the In13 dian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et

14 seq.)) by an economically self-sufficient Indian tribe,

15 any land that is located outside of the reservation of

16 that Indian tribe as of the date of enactment of the

17 Indian Trust Lands Reform Act of 1997.

18 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF ECONOMIC SELF-SUF19 FICIENCY.—

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the

21 Interior shall, after providing notice and an op22 portunity for public comment, determine wheth23 er an Indian tribe is economically self-sufficient

24 for purposes of this subsection. The Secretary

25 of the Interior shall issue regulations pursuant
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1 to section 553 of title 5, United States Code, to

2 prescribe the criteria that shall be used to de3 termine the economic self-sufficiency of an In4 dian tribe under this subsection.

5 ‘‘(B) CRITERIA.—The criteria described in

6 subparagraph (A) shall include—

7 ‘‘(i) a comparison of the per capita al8 location of the gross annual income of an

9 Indian tribe (including the income of all

10 tribal enterprises of the Indian tribe)

11 among members of the Indian tribe with

12 the per capita annual income of citizens of

13 the United States; and

14 ‘‘(ii) the potential contribution of the

15 lands at issue as trust lands toward efforts

16 of the Indian tribe involved to achieve eco17 nomic self-sufficiency.

18 ‘‘(c) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN LANDS.—Subsection

19 (b) shall not apply—

20 ‘‘(1) with respect to any lands that are taken

21 by the Secretary of the Interior in the name of the

22 United States in trust, for the establishment of an

23 initial reservation for an Indian tribe under applica24 ble Federal law, including the establishment of an

25 initial reservation by the Secretary of the Interior in
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1 accordance with an applicable procedure of acknowl2 edgement of that Indian tribe, or as otherwise pre3 scribed by an Act of Congress; or

4 ‘‘(2) to any lands restored to an Indian tribe as

5 the result of the restoration of recognition of that

6 Indian tribe by the Federal Government.’’.

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