H. R. 700

One Hundred Fifth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE SECOND SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,

the twenty-seventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight

An Act

To remove the restriction on the distribution of certain revenues from the Mineral

Springs parcel to certain members of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

Congress finds that—

(1) among its purposes, the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide

for the equalization of allotments on the Agua Caliente (Palm

Springs) Reservation in California, and for other purposes’’,

approved September 21, 1959, commonly known as the ‘‘Agua

Caliente Equalization Act of 1959’’ (25 U.S.C. 951 et seq.)

(referred to in this section as the ‘‘Act’’) was intended to provide

for a reasonable degree of equalization of the value of allotments

made to members of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla

Indians;

(2) the Act was enacted in response to litigation in Federal

courts in Segundo, et al. v. United States, 123 F. Supp. 554

(1954);

(3) the case referred to in paragraph (2) was appealed

under the case name United States v. Pierce, 235 F. 2d 885

(1956) and that case affirmed the entitlement of certain members of the Band to allotments of approximately equal value

to lands allotted to other members of the Band;

(4)(A) to achieve the equalization referred to in paragraph

(3), section 3 of the Act (25 U.S.C. 953) provided for the allotment or sale of all remaining tribal lands, with the exception

of several specifically designated parcels, including 2 parcels

in the Mineral Springs area known as parcel A and parcel

B;

(B) section 3 of the Act restricted the distribution of any

net rents, profits, or other revenues derived from parcel B

to members of the Band and their heirs entitled to equalization

of the value of the allotments of those members;

(C) from 1959 through 1984, each annual budget of the

Band, as approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, provided

for expenditure of all revenues derived from both parcel A

and parcel B solely for tribal governmental purposes; and

(D) as a result of the annual budgets referred to in subparagraph (C), no net revenues from parcel B were available for

distribution to tribal members entitled to equalization under

section 3 of the Act referred to in paragraph (1);

(5) by letter of December 6, 1961, the Director of the

Sacramento Area Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
H. R. 700—2

informed the regional solicitor of the Bureau of Indian Affairs

that the equalization of allotments on the Agua Caliente Reservation with respect to those members of the Band who were

eligible for equalization had been completed using all available

excess tribal land in a manner consistent with—

(A) the decree of the court in the case referred to

in paragraph (2); and

(B) the Act;

(6) in 1968, the files of the Department of the Interior

with respect to the case referred to in paragraph (3), the closure

of which was contingent upon completion of the equalization

program, were retired to the Federal Record Center, where

they were subsequently destroyed;

(7) on March 16, 1983, the Secretary of the Interior published notice in the Federal Register that full equalization

had been achieved within the meaning of section 7 of the

Act (25 U.S.C. 957);

(8) section 7 of the Act states that ‘‘allotments in accordance

with the provisions of this Act shall be deemed complete and

full equalization of allotments on the Agua Caliente Reservation’’; and

(9) the regulations governing the equalization of allotments

under the Act referred to in paragraph (1) were rescinded

by the Secretary, effective March 31, 1983.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) BAND.—The term ‘‘Band’’ means the Agua Caliente

Band.

(2) PARCEL B.—The term ‘‘parcel B’’ means the parcel of

land in the Mineral Springs area referred to as ‘‘parcel B’’

in section 3(b) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the

equalization of allotments on the Agua Caliente (Palm Springs)

Reservation in California, and for other purposes’’, approved

September 21, 1959, commonly known as the ‘‘Agua Caliente

Equalization Act of 1959’’ (25 U.S.C. 953(b)).

(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

of the Interior.

SEC. 3. EQUALIZATION OF ALLOTMENTS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—The full equalization of allotments within

the meaning of section 7 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide

for the equalization of allotments on the Agua Caliente (Palm

Springs) Reservation in California, and for other purposes’’,

approved September 21, 1959, commonly known as the ‘‘Agua

Caliente Equalization Act of 1959’’ (25 U.S.C. 957) is deemed to

have been completed.

(b) EXPIRATION OF ENTITLEMENT.—By reason of the achievement of the full equalization of allotments described in subsection

(a), the entitlement of holders of equalized allotments to distribution

of net revenues from parcel B under section 3(b) of the Act entitled

‘‘An Act to provide for the equalization of allotments on the Agua

Caliente (Palm Springs) Reservation in California, and for other

purposes’’, approved September 21, 1959, commonly known as the

‘‘Agua Caliente Equalization Act of 1959’’ (25 U.S.C. 953(b)) shall

be deemed to have expired.
H. R. 700—3

SEC. 4. REMOVAL OF RESTRICTION.

(a) IN GENERAL.—The fourth undesignated paragraph in section

3(b) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the equalization

of allotments on the Agua Caliente (Palm Springs) Reservation

in California, and for other purposes’’, approved September 21,

1959, commonly known as the ‘‘Agua Caliente Equalization Act

of 1959’’ (25 U.S.C. 953(b)), is amended by striking ‘‘east: Provided,’’ and all that follows through the end of the paragraph and inserting

‘‘east.’’.

(b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by subsection (a)

shall apply as if this section had been enacted on March 31, 1983.

(c) SUBSEQUENT DISTRIBUTIONS.—Any per capita distribution

of tribal revenues of the Band made after the date of enactment

of this Act shall be made to all members of the Band in equal

amounts.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.