II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2282

To encourage the efficient use of existing resources and assets related to

Indian agricultural research, development and exports within the United

States Department of Agriculture, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 23, 2000

Mr. CAMPBELL (for himself, Mr. JOHNSON, and Mr. INOUYE) introduced the

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

A BILL

To encourage the efficient use of existing resources and

assets related to Indian agricultural research, development and exports within the United States Department

of Agriculture, 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 ‘‘Native American Agri5 cultural Research, Development and Export Enhancement

6 Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find3 ings:

4 (1) Clause 3 of section 8 of article I of the

5 United States Constitution recognizes the special re6 lationship between the United States and Indian

7 tribes.

8 (2) Beginning in 1970, with the inauguration

9 by the Nixon Administration of the Indian self-de10 termination era, each successive President has re11 affirmed the special government-to-government rela12 tionship between Indian tribes and the United

13 States.

14 (3) In 1994, President Clinton issued an execu15 tive memorandum to the heads of all Federal depart16 ments and agencies that obligated all such depart17 ments and agencies, particularly those that have an

18 impact on economic development, to evaluate the po19 tential impacts of their actions on Indian tribes.

20 (4) The United States has an obligation to

21 guard and preserve the agricultural and related re22 newable resources of Indian tribes in order to foster

23 strong tribal governments, Indian self-determination,

24 and economic self-sufficiency among Indian tribes.

25 (5) Despite the availability of abundant natural

26 resources on Indian lands and a rich cultural legacy
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1 that accords great value to self-determination, self2 reliance, and independence, Native Americans suffer

3 higher rates of unemployment, poverty, poor health,

4 substandard housing, and associated social ills than

5 those of any other group in the United States.

6 (6) Reservation-based Indians tend to be the

7 most rural of any minority group. They tend to be

8 geographically isolated, resource limited, and the

9 least likely of any farm group to receive payment or

10 loans from the United States.

11 (7) Indian land represents close to 55,000,000

12 acres, or about 2 percent of the United States land

13 base, with nearly 47,000,000 of these acres con14 sisting of range and cropland.

15 (8) Indian agriculture constitutes the second

16 largest revenue generator and employer in Indian

17 country and is not limited to farming and ranching,

18 but often includes such products as forestry, bison,

19 wild rice and fruits, cotton, tobacco and other Na20 tive-made or grown products.

21 (9) Because of the lack of Federal intra-agency

22 and inter-agency coordination in agriculture pro23 grams and policies, the development of Indian agri24 culture and related tribal business and economic de25 velopment potential has been hindered.
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1 (10) It is estimated that about 20 percent of

2 reservation grazing land and about 70 percent of

3 cropland is leased to non-Indian producers.

4 (11) American Indians today use their lands

5 and natural resources for agriculture and agri6 business to provide food and other staples for con7 sumption, improving their economic self-sufficiency,

8 agriculture income and reservation employment.

9 (12) Although there are many programs within

10 Department of Agriculture for which tribal and indi11 vidual Indian producers are eligible, Indian pro12 ducers have not fully benefited from these programs

13 because of insufficient coordination within the De14 partment of Agriculture.

15 (13) The United States has an obligation to as16 sist Indian tribes with the creation of appropriate

17 economic and political conditions with respect to In18 dian lands to—

19 (A) encourage investment from outside

20 sources that do not originate with the tribes;

21 and

22 (B) facilitate economic ventures with out23 side entities that are not tribal entities.

24 (14) The economic success and material well25 being of Native American communities depends on
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1 the combined efforts of the Federal Government,

2 tribal governments, the private sector, and individ3 uals.

4 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to—

5 (1) promote the coordination of existing agricul6 tural and related programs within the Department

7 of Agriculture to provide the maximum benefit to In8 dian tribes and their members;

9 (2) encourage intertribal, regional, and inter10 national trade and business development in order to

11 assist in increasing productivity and the standard of

12 living of members of Indian tribes and improving the

13 economic self-sufficiency of the Indian tribes;

14 (3) through improving the administration of

15 Federal program, improve the access of Indian tribes

16 to capital, specialty markets, export promotions, and

17 marketing assistance that non-Indian agriculture

18 producers currently have access to;

19 (4) improve the development and coordination

20 of Indian agriculture and related value-added indus21 tries to promote self-sustaining Native economies

22 and communities; and

23 (5) promote economic self-sufficiency and polit24 ical self-determination for Indian tribes and mem25 bers of Indian tribes.
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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this Act:

3 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti4 ty’’ means an Indian tribe, a tribal organization, a

5 tribal enterprise, a tribal marketing cooperative, or

6 any other Indian-owned business.

7 (2) INDIAN.—The term ‘‘Indian’’ has the mean8 ing given that term in section 4(d) of the Indian

9 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act

10 (25 U.S.C. 450b(d)).

11 (3) INDIAN GOODS AND SERVICES.—The term

12 ‘‘Indian goods and services’’ means—

13 (A) goods produced or originated by an eli14 gible entity; or

15 (B) services provided by eligible entities.

16 (4) INDIAN-OWNED BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘In17 dian-owned business’’ means an entity organized for

18 the conduct of trade or commerce with respect to

19 which at least 50 percent of the property interest of

20 the entity is owned by Indians or Indian tribes (or

21 a combination thereof).

22 (5) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’

23 has the meaning given that term in section 4(e) of

24 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist25 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)).
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1 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

2 the Secretary of Agriculture.

3 (7) TRIBAL ENTERPRISE.—The term ‘‘tribal en4 terprise’’ means a commercial activity or business

5 managed or controlled by an Indian tribe.

6 (8) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘tribal

7 organization’’ has the meaning given that term in

8 section 4(l) of the Indian Self-Determination and

9 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(l)).

10 SEC. 4. NATIVE AMERICAN RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND

11 EXPORT OFFICE

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—

13 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established

14 within the Department of Agriculture a Native

15 American Agricultural Research, Development and

16 Export Office (referred to this Act as the ‘‘Office’’).

17 (2) DIRECTOR.—The Office shall be headed by

18 a Director of the Native American Agricultural Re19 search, Development and Export Office (referred to

20 in this Act as ‘‘Director’’) to be appointed by the

21 Secretary. The Director shall be compensated at a

22 rate not to exceed that for level V of the Executive

23 Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, United

24 States Code.

25 (b) DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting

2 through the Director, shall ensure the coordination

3 of all programs that provide assistance to Native

4 American communities within the following 7 mis5 sion areas of the Department of Agriculture:

6 (A) Farm and foreign agricultural services.

7 (B) Food, nutrition, and consumer serv8 ices.

9 (C) Food safety.

10 (D) Marketing and regulatory programs.

11 (E) Natural resources and environment.

12 (F) Research, education and economics.

13 (G) Rural development.

14 (2) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out paragraph

15 (1), the Secretary, acting through the Director, shall

16 ensure the coordination of, or, as appropriate, carry

17 out—

18 (A) activities to promote Indian agricul19 tural programs, including the development of

20 domestic and international trade programs;

21 (B) activities to facilitate water and waste

22 programs, housing, utility and other infrastruc23 ture development with respect to Native Amer24 ican communities;
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1 (C) activities to provide assistance to In2 dian tribal college programs;

3 (D) activities to implement rural economic

4 development programs for Native American

5 communities; and

6 (E) activities to promote food and nutri7 tion services for Native American communities.

8 (3) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—In carrying

9 out Department of Agriculture programs, the Sec10 retary, acting through the Director, shall coordinate

11 with other Federal agencies, including the Depart12 ment of Energy, the Department of Housing and

13 Urban Development, the Department of the Interior,

14 the Department of Justice, the Department of Com15 merce, or any other Federal agency responsible for

16 administering related Indian programs.

17 (4) ASSISTANCE.—In conjunction with the ac18 tivities described in paragraph (2), the Secretary,

19 acting through the Director, shall provide—

20 (A) financial assistance, technical assist21 ance, and administrative services to eligible en22 tities to assist those entities in—

23 (i) identifying and taking advantage

24 of business development opportunities; and
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1 (ii) complying with appropriate laws

2 and regulatory practices; and

3 (B) such other assistance as the Secretary,

4 in consultation with the Director, determines to

5 be necessary for the development of business

6 opportunities for eligible entities to enhance the

7 economies of Indian tribes.

8 (5) PRIORITIES.—In carrying out the duties

9 and activities described in paragraphs (3) and (4),

10 the Secretary, acting through the Director, shall give

11 priority to activities that—

12 (A) provide the greatest degree of eco13 nomic benefits to Indians; and

14 (B) foster long-term stable economies of

15 Indian tribes.

16 SEC. 5. NATIVE AMERICAN TRADE AND EXPORT PRO17 MOTION.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the

19 Director, shall establish and implement a Native American

20 export and trade promotion program (referred to in this

21 section as the ‘‘program’’).

22 (b) COORDINATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS AND

23 SERVICES.—In carrying out the program, the Secretary,

24 acting through the Director and in cooperation with the

25 heads of appropriate Federal agencies, shall ensure the co-
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1 ordination of Federal programs and services that are de2 signed to—

3 (1) develop the economies of Indian tribes; and

4 (2) stimulate the demand for Indian goods and

5 services that are available from eligible entities.

6 (c) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out subsection (b), the

7 Secretary, acting through the Director, shall ensure the

8 coordination of, or, as appropriate, carry out—

9 (1) Federal programs that are designed to pro10 vide technical or financial assistance to eligible enti11 ties;

12 (2) activities to develop promotional materials

13 for eligible entities;

14 (3) activities for the financing of appropriate

15 trade missions;

16 (4) activities for the marketing of related In17 dian goods and services;

18 (5) activities for the participation of appro19 priate Federal agencies or eligible entities in inter20 national trade fairs; and

21 (6) any other activity related to the develop22 ment of markets for Indian goods and services.

23 (d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—In conjunction with

24 the activities described in subsection (c), the Secretary,

25 acting through the Director, shall provide technical assist-
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1 ance and administrative services to eligible entities to as2 sist those entities in—

3 (1) identifying appropriate markets for Indian

4 goods and services;

5 (2) entering the markets referred to in para6 graph (1);

7 (3) complying with foreign or domestic laws and

8 practices with respect to financial institutions con9 cerning the export and import of Indian goods and

10 services; and

11 (4) entering into financial arrangements to pro12 vide for the export and trade of Indian agricultural

13 and related products.

14 (e) PRIORITIES.—In carrying out the duties and ac15 tivities described in subsections (b) and (c), the Secretary,

16 acting through the Director, shall give priority to activities

17 that—

18 (1) provide the greatest degree of economic ben19 efits to Indians; and

20 (2) foster long-term stable international mar21 kets for Indian goods and services.

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