IB 

Union Calendar No. 174

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 884

[Report No. 108–299] 

To provide for the use and distribution of the funds awarded to the Western 

Shoshone identifiable group under Indian Claims Commission Docket 

Numbers 326–A–1, 326–A–3, and 326–K, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2003

Mr. GIBBONS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Resources 

OCTOBER 7, 2003

Additional sponsor: Mr. PORTER

OCTOBER 7, 2003

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 25, 2003] 

A BILL

To provide for the use and distribution of the funds awarded 

to the Western Shoshone identifiable group under Indian 

Claims Commission Docket Numbers 326–A–1, 326–A–

3, and 326–K, and for other purposes.
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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 ‘‘Western Shoshone 

5 Claims Distribution Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DISTRIBUTION OF DOCKET 326–K FUNDS. 

7 The funds appropriated in satisfaction of the judgment 

8 award granted to the ‘‘Western Shoshone Identifiable 

9 Group’’ of the Shoshone Nation, under Docket Number 326–

10 K before the Indian Claims Commission, including all 

11 earned interest, shall be distributed as follows: 

12 (1) JUDGMENT ROLL.—The Secretary shall iden13 tify and allocate the resources necessary to establish 

14 a Western Shoshone Judgment Roll consisting of all 

15 Western Shoshones who—

(A) have at least 1 16 ⁄4 degree of Western Sho17 shone Blood; 

18 (B) are citizens of the United States; and 

19 (C) are living on the date of enactment of 

20 this Act. 

21 (2) CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS INELIGIBLE.—Any in22 dividual determined or certified as eligible by the Sec23 retary to receive a per capita payment from any 

24 other judgment fund, based upon an aboriginal land 

25 claim, awarded by the Indian Claims Commission, 
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1 the United States Claims Court, or the United States 

2 Court of Federal Claims, that was appropriated on or 

3 before the date of enactment of this Act, shall not be 

4 eligible for enrollment under this Act. 

5 (3) PUBLICATION OF ROLL.—Not later than 120 

6 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec7 retary shall publish in the Federal Register rules and 

8 regulations governing the establishment of the Western 

9 Shoshone Judgment Roll and shall use any documents 

10 acceptable to the Secretary in establishing proof of eli11 gibility. The Secretary’s determination on all appli12 cations for enrollment under this paragraph shall be 

13 final. 

14 (4) PER CAPITA PAYMENTS.—Upon completing 

15 the Western Shoshone Judgment Roll under para16 graph (1), the Secretary shall make a per capita dis17 tribution of 100 percent of the funds described in this 

18 section, in a sum as equal as possible, to each person 

19 listed on the judgment roll. 

20 (5) CONDITIONS OF PER CAPITA PAYMENTS.—

21 (A) With respect to the distribution of funds 

22 under this section, the per capita shares of living 

23 competent adults who have reached the age of 19 

24 years on the date of the distribution provided for 
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1 under paragraph (4), shall be paid directly to 

2 them. 

3 (B) The per capita shares of deceased indi4 viduals shall be distributed to their heirs and 

5 legatees in accordance with regulations pre6 scribed by the Secretary. 

7 (C) The shares of legally incompetent indi8 viduals shall be administered pursuant to regu9 lations and procedures established by the Sec10 retary under section 3(b)(3) of Public Law 93–

11 134 (25 U.S.C. 1403(b)(3)). 

12 (D) The shares of minors and individuals 

13 who are under the age of 19 years on the date 

14 of the distribution provided for under paragraph 

15 (4) shall be held by the Secretary in supervised 

16 individual Indian money accounts. The funds 

17 from such accounts shall be disbursed over a pe18 riod of 4 years in payments equaling 25 percent 

19 of the principal, plus the interest earned on that 

20 portion of the per capita share. The first pay21 ment shall be disbursed to individuals who have 

22 reached the age of 18 years if such individuals 

23 are deemed legally competent. Subsequent pay24 ments shall be disbursed within 90 days of the 

25 individual’s following 3 birthdays.
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1 (6) APPLICABLE LAW.—All funds distributed 

2 under this Act, are subject to the provisions of section 

3 7 of Public Law 93–134 (25 U.S.C. 1407). 

4 (7) UNPAID AMOUNTS.—All per capita shares be5 longing to living competent adults certified as eligible 

6 to share in the judgment fund distribution under this 

7 section, and the interest earned on those shares, that 

8 remain unpaid for a period of 6 years shall be added 

9 to the principal funds that are held and invested in 

10 accordance with section 3, except that in the case of 

11 a minor, such 6-year period shall not begin to run 

12 until the minor reaches the age of majority. 

13 (8) RESIDUAL AMOUNTS.—Any other residual 

14 principal and interest funds remaining after the dis15 tribution under paragraph (4) is complete shall be 

16 added to the principal funds that are held and in17 vested in accordance with section 3. 

18 (9) NOT A WAIVER OF TREATY RIGHTS.—Receipt 

19 of a share of the judgment funds under this section 

20 shall not be construed as a waiver of any existing 

21 treaty rights pursuant to the ‘‘1863 Treaty of Ruby 

22 Valley’’, inclusive of all Articles I through VIII, and 

23 shall not prevent any Western Shoshone Tribe or 

24 Band or individual Shoshone Indian from pursuing 

25 other rights guaranteed by law. 
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1 SEC. 3. DISTRIBUTION OF DOCKETS 326–A–1 AND 326–A–3. 

2 The funds appropriated in satisfaction of the judgment 

3 awards granted to the Western Shoshone Indians in Docket 

4 Numbers 326–A–1 and 326–A–3 before the United States 

5 Court of Claims, and the funds referred to under para6 graphs (7) and (8) of section 2, together with all earned 

7 interest, shall be distributed as follows: 

8 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF TRUST FUND.—(A) not 

9 later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this 

10 Act, the Secretary shall establish in the Treasury of 

11 the United States a trust fund to be known as the 

12 ‘‘Western Shoshone Educational Trust Fund’’ for the 

13 benefit of the Western Shoshone members. There shall 

14 be credited to the Trust Fund the funds described in 

15 the matter preceding this paragraph. 

16 (B) The principal in the Trust Fund shall not 

17 be expended or disbursed. The Trust Fund shall be in18 vested as provided for in section 1 of the Act of June 

19 24, 1938 (25 U.S.C. 162a). 

20 (C)(i) All accumulated and future interest and 

21 income from the Trust Fund shall be distributed, sub22 ject to clause (ii)—

23 (I) as educational grants and as other 

24 forms of educational assistance determined 

25 appropriate by the Administrative Com26 mittee established under paragraph (2) to 
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1 individual Western Shoshone members as 

2 required under this Act; and 

3 (II) to pay the reasonable and nec4 essary expenses of such Administrative 

5 Committee (as defined in the written rules 

6 and procedures of such Committee). 

7 (ii) Funds shall not be distributed under 

8 this paragraph on a per capita basis. 

9 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE.—(A) An Ad10 ministrative Committee, exclusively comprised of 

11 Western Shoshone, to oversee the distribution of the 

12 educational grants and assistance authorized under 

13 section (3)(2) shall be established as provided for in 

14 this paragraph. 

15 (B) The Western Shoshone Administrative Com16 mittee shall consist of 1 representative from each of 

17 the following organizations: 

18 (i) The Te-Moak Tribes of Western Shoshone 

19 Indians. 

20 (ii) The Duckwater Shoshone Tribe. 

21 (iii) The Yomba Shoshone Tribe. 

22 (iv) The Ely Shoshone Tribe. 

23 (v) The Western Shoshone Committee of the 

24 Duck Valley Reservation. 

25 (vi) The Fallon Band of Western Shoshone. 
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1 (vii) The at-large community. 

2 (C) Each member of the Committee shall serve 

3 for a term of 4 years. If a vacancy remains unfilled 

4 in the membership of the Committee for a period in 

5 excess of 60 days, the Committee shall appoint a re6 placement from among qualified members of the orga7 nization for which the replacement is being made and 

8 such member shall serve until the organization to be 

9 represented designates a replacement. 

10 (D) The Secretary shall consult with the Com11 mittee on the management and investment of the 

12 funds subject to distribution under this section. 

13 (E) The Committee shall have the authority to 

14 disburse the accumulated interest fund under this Act 

15 in accordance with the terms of this Act. The Com16 mittee shall be responsible for ensuring that the funds 

17 provided through grants and assistance under para18 graph (1)(C) are utilized in a manner consistent with 

19 the terms of this Act. In accordance with paragraph 

20 (1)(C)(i)(II), the Committee may use a portion of the 

21 interest funds to pay all of the reasonable and nec22 essary expenses of the Committee, including per diem 

23 rates for attendance at meetings that are the same as 

24 those paid to Federal employees in the same geo25 graphic location.
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1 (F) The Committee shall develop written rules 

2 and procedures that include such matters as oper3 ating procedures, appeals procedures, rules of conduct, 

4 eligibility criteria for receipt of educational grants or 

5 assistance (such criteria to be consistent with this 

6 Act), application selection procedures, fund disburse7 ment procedures, and fund recoupment procedures. 

8 Such rules and procedures shall be subject to the ap9 proval of the Secretary. A portion of the interest 

10 funds in the Trust Fund, not to exceed $100,000, may 

11 be used by the Committee to pay the expenses associ12 ated with developing such rules and procedures. At 

13 the discretion of the Committee, and with the ap14 proval of the appropriate tribal governing body or or15 ganization, jurisdiction to hear appeals of the Com16 mittee’s decisions may be exercised by a tribal court, 

17 or a court of Indian offenses operated under section 

18 11 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations. 

19 (G) The Committee shall employ an independent 

20 certified public accountant to prepare an annual fi21 nancial statement that includes the operating ex22 penses of the Committee and the total amount of edu23 cational grants or assistance disbursed for the fiscal 

24 year for which the statement is being prepared under 

25 this section. The Committee shall compile a list of 
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1 names of all individuals approved to receive such 

2 grants or assistance during such fiscal year. The fi3 nancial statement and the list shall be distributed to 

4 each organization represented on the Committee and 

5 the Secretary and copies shall be made available to 

6 the Western Shoshone members upon request. 

7 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act the following definitions apply: 

9 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE; COMMITTEE.—

10 The terms ‘‘Administrative Committee’’ and ‘‘Com11 mittee’’ mean the Administrative Committee estab12 lished under section 3(2). 

13 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

14 the Secretary of the Interior. 

15 (3) TRUST FUND.—The term ‘‘Trust Fund’’ 

16 means the Western Shoshone Educational Trust Fund 

17 established under section 3(1). 

18 (4) WESTERN SHOSHONE MEMBERS.—The term 

19 ‘‘Western Shoshone member’’ means an individual 

20 who appears on a Western Shoshone Band or Tribe 

21 Base Roll or an individual who is the lineal descend22 ant of an individual appearing on the base roll of one 

23 of the Western Bands of the Shoshone Nation of Indi24 ans, who meets the criteria of section 2(1) under this 

25 Act and for purposes of the trust funds, who—
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1 (A) satisfies all eligibility criteria estab2 lished by the Administrative Committee under 

3 section 3(F); 

4 (B) fulfills all application requirements es5 tablished by the Committee; and 

6 (C) agrees to utilize funds distributed in ac7 cordance with section 3(1)(C)(i)(I) in a manner 

8 approved by the Committee for educational pur9 poses. 

10 (5) WESTERN SHOSHONE IDENTIFIABLE

11 GROUP.—The term ‘‘Western Shoshone Identifiable 

12 Group’’ means those individual Western Shoshones 

13 identified as claimants by the Indian Claims Com14 mission in Dockets 326–K, 326–A–1, and 326–A–3, 

15 distinct and severed from the claims of the North16 western, Eastern, and Mixed Bands of Shoshones and 

17 Bannocks, Lemhi, or Goshute bands of the Shoshone 

18 Nation. 

19 (6) ABORIGINAL LAND CLAIM.—The term ‘‘ab20 original land claim’’ means a claim derived from 

21 land where the band, tribe or identifiable group 

22 claimed a right of occupancy based on their immemo23 rial possession of the area. 
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1 (7) BASE ROLL.—The term ‘‘base roll’’ means the 

2 originating census (list) compiled by the Federal Gov3 ernment that established tribal membership. 

4 SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 

5 The Secretary may promulgate such regulations as are 

6 necessary to carry out this Act.

Union Calendar No. 174

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 884

[Report No. 108–299] 

A BILL

To provide for the use and distribution of the funds 

awarded to the Western Shoshone identifiable group under Indian Claims Commission Docket Numbers 326–A–1, 326–A–3, and 326–K, and for other purposes. 

OCTOBER 7, 2003

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 

and ordered to be printed