I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 884

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 

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.

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 judg8 ment award granted to the Western Shoshone Indians in 
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1 Docket Number 326–K before the Indian Claims Commis2 sion, including all earned interest, shall be distributed as 

3 follows: 

4 (1) JUDGMENT ROLL.—The Secretary shall es5 tablish a Western Shoshone Judgment Roll con6 sisting of all Western Shoshones who—

(A) have at least 1 7 ⁄4 degree of Western 

8 Shoshone Blood; 

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

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

11 this Act. 

12 (2) CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS INELIGIBLE.—Any 

13 individual determined or certified as eligible by the 

14 Secretary to receive a per capita payment from any 

15 other judgment fund awarded by the Indian Claims 

16 Commission, the United States Claims Court, or the 

17 United States Court of Federal Claims, that was ap18 propriated on or before the date of enactment of this 

19 Act, shall not be eligible for enrollment under this 

20 Act. 

21 (3) PUBLICATION OF ROLL.—The Secretary 

22 shall publish in the Federal Register rules and regu23 lations governing the establishment of the Western 

24 Shoshone Judgment Roll and shall use any docu25 ments acceptable to the Secretary in establishing 
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1 proof of eligibility. The Secretary’s determination on 

2 all applications for enrollment under this paragraph 

3 shall be final. 

4 (4) PER CAPITA PAYMENTS.—Upon completing 

5 the Western Shoshone Judgment Roll under para6 graph (1), the Secretary shall make a per capita dis7 tribution of 100 percent of the funds described in 

8 this section, in a sum as equal as possible, to each 

9 person listed on the roll. 

10 (5) CONDITIONS OF PER CAPITA PAYMENTS.—

11 (A) With respect to the distribution of funds under 

12 this section, the per capita shares of living com13 petent adults who have reached the age of 19 years 

14 on the date of the distribution provided for under 

15 paragraph (4), shall be paid directly to them. 

16 (B) The per capita shares of deceased individ17 uals shall be distributed to their heirs and legatees 

18 in accordance with regulations prescribed by the 

19 Secretary. 

20 (C) The shares of legally incompetent individ21 uals shall be administered pursuant to regulations 

22 and procedures established by the Secretary under 

23 section 3(b)(3) of Public Law 93–134 (25 U.S.C. 

24 1403(b)(3)). 
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1 (D) The shares of minors and individuals who 

2 are under the age of 19 years on the date of the dis3 tribution provided for under paragraph (4) shall be 

4 held by the Secretary in supervised individual Indian 

5 money accounts. The funds from such accounts shall 

6 be disbursed over a period of 4 years in payments 

7 equaling 25 percent of the principal, plus the inter8 est earned on that portion of the per capita share. 

9 The first payment shall be disbursed to individuals 

10 who have reached the age of 18 years if such indi11 viduals are deemed legally competent. Subsequent 

12 payments shall be disbursed within 90 days of the 

13 individual’s following 3 birthdays. 

14 (6) APPLICABLE LAW.—All funds distributed 

15 under this Act are subject to the provisions of sec16 tion 7 of Public Law 93–134 (25 U.S.C. 1407). 

17 (7) UNPAID AMOUNTS.—All per capita shares 

18 belonging to living competent adults certified as eli19 gible to share in the judgment fund distribution 

20 under this section, and the interest earned on those 

21 shares, that remain unpaid for a period of 6 years 

22 shall be added to the principal funds that are held 

23 and invested in accordance with section 3, except 

24 that in the case of a minor, such 6-year period shall 
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1 not begin to run until the minor reaches the age of 

2 majority. 

3 (8) RESIDUAL AMOUNTS.—Any other residual 

4 principal and interest funds remaining after the dis5 tribution under paragraph (4) is complete shall be 

6 added to the principal funds that are held and in7 vested in accordance with section 3. 

8 (9) NOT A WAIVER OF TREATY RIGHTS.—Re9 ceipt of a share of the judgment funds under this 

10 section shall not be construed as a waiver of any ex11 isting treaty rights pursuant to the ‘‘1863 Treaty of 

12 Ruby Valley’’, inclusive of all Articles I through 

13 VIII, and shall not prevent any Western Shoshone 

14 Tribe or Band or individual Shoshone Indian from 

15 pursuing other rights guaranteed by law. 

16 SEC. 3. DISTRIBUTION OF DOCKETS 326–A–1 AND 326–A–3. 

17 The funds appropriated in satisfaction of the judg18 ment awards granted to the Western Shoshone Indians in 

19 Docket Numbers 326–A–1 and 326–A–3 before the 

20 United States Court of Claims, and the funds referred to 

21 under paragraphs (7) and (8) of section 2, together with 

22 all earned interest, shall be distributed as follows: 

23 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF TRUST FUND.—(A) 

24 not later than 120 days after the date of enactment 

25 of this Act, the Secretary shall establish in the 
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1 Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be 

2 known as the ‘‘Western Shoshone Educational Trust 

3 Fund’’ for the benefit of the Western Shoshone 

4 members. There shall be credited to the Trust Fund 

5 the funds described in the matter preceding this 

6 paragraph. 

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

8 be expended or disbursed. The Trust Fund shall be 

9 invested as provided for in section 1 of the Act of 

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

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

12 income from the Trust Fund shall be distributed, 

13 subject to clause (ii)—

14 (I) as educational grants and as other 

15 forms of educational assistance determined 

16 appropriate by the Administrative Com17 mittee established under paragraph (2) to 

18 individual Western Shoshone members as 

19 required under this Act; and 

20 (II) to pay the reasonable and nec21 essary expenses of such Administrative 

22 Committee (as defined in the written rules 

23 and procedures of such Committee). 

24 (ii) Funds shall not be distributed under this 

25 paragraph on a per capita basis. 
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1 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE.—(A) An Ad2 ministrative Committee to oversee the distribution of 

3 the educational grants and assistance authorized 

4 under paragraph (1)(C) shall be established as pro5 vided for in this paragraph. 

6 (B) The Administrative Committee shall consist 

7 of 1 representative from each of the following orga8 nizations: 

9 (i) The Te-Moak Tribes of Western Sho10 shone Indians. 

11 (ii) The Duckwater Shoshone Tribe. 

12 (iii) The Yomba Shoshone Tribe. 

13 (iv) The Ely Shoshone Tribe. 

14 (v) The Western Shoshone Business Coun15 cil of the Duck Valley Reservation. 

16 (vi) The Fallon Band of Western Sho17 shone. 

18 (vii) The at-large community. 

19 (C) Each member of the Committee shall serve 

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

21 in the membership of the Committee for a period in 

22 excess of 60 days, the Committee shall appoint a re23 placement from among qualified members of the or24 ganization for which the replacement is being made 
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1 and such member shall serve until the organization 

2 to be represented designates a replacement. 

3 (D) The Secretary shall consult with the Com4 mittee on the management and investment of the 

5 funds subject to distribution under this section. 

6 (E) The Committee shall have the authority to 

7 disburse the accumulated interest fund under this 

8 Act in accordance with the terms of this Act. The 

9 Committee shall be responsible for ensuring that the 

10 funds provided through grants and assistance under 

11 paragraph (1)(C) are utilized in a manner consistent 

12 with the terms of this Act. In accordance with para13 graph (1)(C)(i)(II), the Committee may use a por14 tion of the interest funds to pay all of the reasonable 

15 and necessary expenses of the Committee, including 

16 per diem rates for attendance at meetings that are 

17 the same as those paid to Federal employees in the 

18 same geographic location. 

19 (F) The Committee shall develop written rules 

20 and procedures that include such matters as oper21 ating procedures, rules of conduct, eligibility criteria 

22 for receipt of educational grants or assistance (such 

23 criteria to be consistent with this Act), application 

24 selection procedures, appeal procedures, fund dis25 bursement procedures, and fund recoupment proce-
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1 dures. Such rules and procedures shall be subject to 

2 the approval of the Secretary. A portion of the inter3 est funds in the Trust Fund, not to exceed 

4 $100,000, may be used by the Committee to pay the 

5 expenses associated with developing such rules and 

6 procedures. At the discretion of the Committee, and 

7 with the approval of the appropriate tribal governing 

8 body, jurisdiction to hear appeals of the Committee’s 

9 decisions may be exercised by a tribal court, or a 

10 court of Indian offenses operated under section 11 

11 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations. 

12 (G) The Committee shall employ an inde13 pendent certified public accountant to prepare an 

14 annual financial statement that includes the oper15 ating expenses of the Committee and the total 

16 amount of educational grants or assistance dis17 bursed for the fiscal year for which the statement is 

18 being prepared under this section. The Committee 

19 shall compile a list of names of all individuals ap20 proved to receive such grants or assistance during 

21 such fiscal year. The financial statement and the list 

22 shall be distributed to each organization represented 

23 on the Committee and the Secretary and copies shall 

24 be made available to the Western Shoshone members 

25 upon request. 
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1 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act the following definitions apply: 

3 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE; COM4 MITTEE.—The terms ‘‘Administrative Committee’’ 

5 and ‘‘Committee’’ mean the Administrative Com6 mittee established under section 3(2). 

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

8 the Secretary of the Interior. 

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

10 means the Western Shoshone Educational Trust 

11 Fund established under section 3(1). 

12 (4) WESTERN SHOSHONE MEMBERS.—The term 

13 ‘‘Western Shoshone members’’ means an individual 

14 who appears on the Western Shoshone Judgment 

15 Roll established under section 2(1), or an individual 

16 who is the lineal descendant of an individual appear17 ing on the roll, and who—

18 (A) satisfies all eligibility criteria estab19 lished by the Administrative Committee under 

20 section 3(F); 

21 (B) fulfills all application requirements es22 tablished by the Committee; and 

23 (C) agrees to utilize funds distributed in 

24 accordance with section 3(1)(C)(i)(I) in a man-
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1 ner approved by the Committee for educational 

2 purposes.

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