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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2761 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2761

To sever United States Government relations with the Cherokee Nation of 
 Oklahoma until such time as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma restores 
full tribal citizenship to the Cherokee Freedmen disenfranchised in the 
    March 3, 2007, Cherokee Nation vote and fulfills all its treaty 
  obligations with the Government of the United States, and for other 
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 8, 2009

 Ms. Watson (for herself, Ms. Norton, Mr. Cummings, Mrs. Christensen, 
  Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Clay, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. 
Towns, Mr. Al Green of Texas, and Mr. Fattah) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in 
    addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To sever United States Government relations with the Cherokee Nation of 
 Oklahoma until such time as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma restores 
full tribal citizenship to the Cherokee Freedmen disenfranchised in the 
    March 3, 2007, Cherokee Nation vote and fulfills all its treaty 
  obligations with the Government of the United States, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) In the 1830s, members of the Cherokee Nation were 
        removed from their lands in the southeastern United States and 
        forced to migrate to Oklahoma along a route known as the Trail 
        of Tears. Among those persons forced to migrate were the Black 
        slaves of Cherokees, free Blacks married to Cherokees, and the 
        children of mixed-race families, known now as the ``Black 
        Cherokees''.
            (2) In 1861, the Cherokee Nation executed a treaty with the 
        Confederate States of America, thereby severing its relations 
        with the United States Government. Members of the Cherokee 
        Nation held positions in the Congress and military of the 
        Confederate States of America and waged war against the United 
        States during the Civil War.
            (3) Following the Civil War, the United States 
        reestablished relations with the Cherokee Nation through the 
        Treaty of 1866. The Treaty of 1866 declared that the Black 
        Cherokees, also known as ``Cherokee Freedmen'', were to be made 
        citizens of the Cherokee Nation and to have all the rights of 
        Cherokees.
            (4) The Treaty of 1866 further guarantees the following:
                    (A) Laws ``shall be uniform throughout said 
                nation'' and that if ``any law, either in its 
                provisions or in the manner of its enforcement, in the 
                opinion of the President of the United States, operate 
                unjustly in [the Freedmen] district, he is hereby 
                authorized and empowered to correct such evil.''.
                    (B) The Cherokee Freedmen are given the right to 
                elect officials and to representation ``according to 
                numbers'' on the national council.
            (5) Following the Treaty of 1866, the Cherokee National 
        Council amended its constitution to guarantee the Cherokee 
        Freedmen full rights as citizens of the Cherokee Nation.
            (6) Also following the Treaty of 1866, the Courts upheld 
        the Cherokee Freedmen's treaty rights, including--
                    (A) in 1895, the Court of Claims held that the 
                Cherokee Freedmen were entitled to share in the tribe's 
                land sale proceeds and the Cherokee Nation's 
                sovereignty could not be exercised in a manner that 
                breached the nation's treaty obligations to the United 
                States (Whitmire, Trustee for the Cherokee Freedmen v. 
                Cherokee Nation, 30 CT Cl. 138, 180 (CT Cl. 1895)); and
                    (B) in 1906, the Supreme Court noted that the 
                Cherokee Freedmen are citizens of the Cherokee Nation 
                entitled to the same property rights as other members 
                of the Cherokee Nation under the Treaty of 1866 (Red 
                Bird v. United States, 203 U.S. 76, 84).
            (7) In a December 19, 2006, ruling in Vann v. Kempthorne, 
        the United States District Court for the District of Columbia 
        found that in 1906, the Dawes Commission registered members of 
        the Cherokee Nation under separate categories: the ``Freedmen 
        Roll'' for the Black Cherokees and the ``Blood Roll'' for other 
        Cherokees. Individuals possessing African blood were placed on 
        the Freedmen Roll, where no levels of Indian blood were 
        recorded. Those possessing no African blood were placed on the 
        Blood Roll, where levels of Indian blood were recorded. The 
        Dawes Commission declared that persons recorded on the Freedmen 
        Roll were on equal footing with those on the Blood Roll.
            (8) In 1970, Congress passed the ``Principal Chiefs Act'' 
        requiring the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, and Cherokee 
        Nations to obtain approval for their voting laws for selection 
        of the principal chief. The Department of the Interior drafted 
        a policy stating that it was not necessary that each of these 
        groups have identical or similar regulations, but that three 
        conditions are deemed fundamental to the democratic selection 
        of a principal tribal official. One of the three conditions 
        stipulated by the Department is that voter qualifications of 
        the Cherokees must be broad enough to include the enrolled 
        Cherokee Freedmen citizens.
            (9) In May 2003, the Cherokee Nation held an election for 
        its officers and ratification of a new constitution. The vote 
        proposed to amend the 1999 constitution of the Cherokee Nation 
        by removing the requirement that the United States Department 
        of the Interior and Bureau of Indian Affairs approve amendments 
        to the Cherokee Nation Constitution. The Cherokee Freedmen were 
        not permitted to vote or run for office. The election violated 
        the Treaty of 1866, the 13th Amendment to the United States 
        Constitution, the Principal Chiefs Act of 1970, and the 
        Department of the Interior's guidance on the ratification of a 
        new constitution.
            (10) In May 2003, the Cherokee Nation held an election for 
        its officers and the ratification of a new constitution. The 
        new constitution removed the requirement that the United States 
        Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs 
        approve amendments to the Cherokee Nation constitution. The 
        Cherokee Freedmen were not permitted to vote in this election. 
        The election violated the Treaty of 1866, the 13th Amendment to 
        the United States Constitution, and the Principal Chiefs Act of 
        1970.
            (11) The Department of the Interior has not recognized the 
        May 2003 vote to amend the Cherokee Nation's constitution. The 
        Cherokee Nation has subsequently removed its request for 
        approval from the Department of the Interior.
            (12) Currently, the Cherokee Nation operates under a 
        Principal Chief elected in violation to the 1970 Principal 
        Chiefs Act and Treaty of 1866, a National Council constituted 
        without Cherokee Freedmen representatives in violation of the 
        Treaty of 1866, and a Constitution not approved by the United 
        States pursuant to article XV, section 10 of the 1975 Cherokee 
        Nation Constitution.
            (13) In May 2003, the Cherokee Nation renamed its highest 
        court, formerly named the Judicial Appeals Tribunal and newly 
        renamed the Supreme Court, after the Judicial Appeals Tribunal 
        ruled in a 2-1 decision that the Cherokee Freedmen were 
        entitled to citizenship pursuant to the 1975 Cherokee Nation 
        constitution. Pursuant to the new May 2003 constitution, which 
        still has not been approved by the Department of the Interior, 
        the illegally elected Principal Chief appointed two additional 
        judges to the Supreme Court. The panel of five Supreme Court 
        judges ruled in a 3-2 decision that the Cherokee Nation could 
        hold a vote on the tribal status of the Cherokee Freedmen.
            (14) Operating under the unapproved Constitution, the 
        Cherokee Nation held an election in March 2007, to remove the 
        Cherokee Freedmen from the Cherokee Nation. In a vote of less 
        than 4 percent of the total Cherokee Nation population, the 
        voters elected to remove Cherokee Freedmen not on the Dawes 
        blood rolls from the Nation.
            (15) In May 2007, the Cherokee Nation leadership determined 
        that it would allow registered Freedmen to vote in the June 23, 
        2007, election for tribal officers. Despite the Cherokee 
        Nation's decision to allow Freedmen to vote, Freedmen's rights 
        as members of the Cherokee Nation are severely restricted: 
        Freedmen are not allowed to run for office in the June 2007 
        election in violation of the Treaty of 1866; the registration 
        of Freedmen entitled to Cherokee citizenship under the 1906 
        Dawes Rolls has been halted; and the election is to be held 
        under provisions of an unapproved constitution and in violation 
        of the 1970 Principal Chiefs Act that requires the Cherokee 
        leadership to submit its voting requirements for the election 
        to the Secretary of the Interior for his approval. Further, the 
        actions of the Cherokee Nation in halting citizenship 
        application processing and voter registration of Freedmen have 
        disproportionately reduced the number of Freedmen voters that 
        can participate in the election.
            (16) The manner in which the Cherokee Nation is conducting 
        the relationship between the United States and the tribal 
        entity is not in the best interest of the United States 
        Government, citizens of the Cherokee Nation, and violates 
        existing treaties and laws governing the relationship between 
        the United States Government and the Cherokee Nation.
            (17) Current efforts of the Cherokee Nation to expel 
        members of the Cherokee Freedmen from the tribal rolls and 
        abolish Department of the Interior oversight are being pursued 
        in violation of the treaty rights extended to the Cherokee 
        Freedmen in a treaty agreement between the United States and 
        Cherokee Nation in the 1866 Treaty and in violation of Freedmen 
        citizenship under the federally approved Cherokee Nation 
        constitution of 1975.
            (18) The Department of the Interior has failed to uphold 
        its fiduciary responsibility by recognizing the May 2003 
        Cherokee Nation election for Principal Chief in which Freedmen 
        were not allowed to vote in violation of the Principal Chiefs 
        Act and the Treaty of 1866 and by failing to take any 
        administrative action against the Cherokee Nation leadership 
        for its decision to sanction a referendum in March 2007 in 
        which the Freedmen were expelled from the Cherokee Nation.

SEC. 2. SEVERANCE OF RELATIONS WITH THE CHEROKEE NATION.

    (a) In General.--The United States hereby severs all relations with 
the Cherokee Nation, including all financial obligations or otherwise, 
until such time as the Cherokee Nation is meeting all of its treaty 
obligations and other federal statutory obligations (including all 
obligations of the Treaty of 1866, the Principal Chiefs Act, holding 
elections for tribal leaders that are in compliance with the Act, and 
has restored the rights of all Cherokee Freedmen disenfranchised from 
the Cherokee Nation in the March 3, 2007, Cherokee Nation vote), as 
determined by a final certification under section 2(d).
    (b) Compliance With the Requirements of the Act.--The Secretary 
shall coordinate with all departments and agencies of the United States 
Government to ensure that every effort is being made by the United 
States Government to comply with this Act.
    (c) Reports.--
            (1) Federal agencies.--Not later than 30 days after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act, and continuing annually 
        until the final certification as determined under section 2(d), 
        all departments and agencies under the jurisdiction of the 
        United States Government shall submit a report to the Secretary 
        describing--
                    (A) all Federal programs under their jurisdiction 
                that provide financial assistance and other services to 
                the Cherokee Nation; and
                    (B) the efforts that are being undertaken comply 
                with all requirements of this Act.
            (2) Status reports.--Until the Secretary certifies to 
        Congress that the Cherokee Nation is in compliance with its 
        treaty obligations, the Secretary shall submit monthly public 
        reports to Congress on the status of the United States 
        Government's efforts to ensure that all departments and 
        agencies of the Federal Government are in compliance with the 
        requirements of this Act.
            (3) Other freedman indians.--Not later than 6 months after 
        the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
        issue a public report to Congress on the status of freedmen in 
        the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee (Creek), and 
        Seminole Nations of Oklahoma. The report shall address whether 
        each of those Indian tribes is complying with all treaty 
        obligations and Federal laws with respect to its freedmen 
        members, the level of participation of freedmen in tribal 
        leadership positions, tribal benefits received by the freedmen, 
        and previous or current efforts on the part of those Indian 
        tribes to disenfranchise its freedmen members.
    (d) Congressional Certification.--After the Secretary has certified 
to Congress that the Cherokee Nation is in full compliance with all its 
treaty obligations and Congress approves the Secretary's certification 
by a vote taken on a resolution introduced in both chambers of Congress 
certifying that the Cherokee Nation is in full compliance with its 
treaty obligations, the final certification of the Cherokee Nation's 
treaty compliance shall take effect.

SEC. 3. SUSPENSION OF RIGHT TO CONDUCT GAMING OPERATIONS.

    (a) In General.--The Cherokee Nation's authority to conduct gaming 
regulated under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and to administer any 
funds from such gaming are suspended until such time that the Cherokee 
Nation is in compliance with all treaty and other obligations with the 
United States, as determined by a final certification under section 
2(d).
    (b) Report.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the National Indian Gaming Commission shall submit a 
report to Congress detailing the actions that have been taken to 
enforce subsection (a).

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) ``Cherokee'' and ``Cherokee Nation''.--The terms ``Cherokee'' 
and ``Cherokee Nation'' mean the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.
    (b) ``Cherokee Freedmen'', ``Freedmen'', and ``Black Cherokees''.--
The terms ``Cherokee Freedmen'', ``Freedmen'', and ``Black Cherokees'' 
refer to individuals who can trace their ancestry to individuals listed 
on the 1906 Dawes Commission Roles for the Cherokee Freedmen.
    (c) ``Other Freedman Indians''.--The term ``Other Freedmen 
Indians'' refers to individuals who can trace their ancestry to the 
1906 Dawes Commission Rolls who are members of the Choctaw, Chickasaw, 
Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole Nations.
    (d) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the 
Interior.

SEC. 5. NONCOMPLIANCE.

    (a) Effective Date.--Notwithstanding any decision by Congress under 
section 2(d) of this Act, the provisions of this Act shall again take 
effect if at any future date the Secretary certifies to Congress that 
the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma is not in full compliance with its 
treaty obligations or Federal statutes that govern its relations with 
the United States Government.
    (b) Private Action.--Any Cherokee Freedmen shall have a private 
right to bring actions for injunctive relief, declaratory relief, or 
monetary damages against the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, officials of 
the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, or Federal officials for noncompliance 
with this Act or for violations of the terms of the Treaty of 1866, the 
13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, or the Indian Civil 
Rights Act of 1968. The appropriate Federal courts shall have exclusive 
jurisdiction over actions brought under this subsection.

SEC. 6. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.

    The Attorney General shall issue a finding on whether the Federal 
civil rights of the Cherokee Freedmen have been violated by either the 
Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma or the Department of the Interior, or both. 
Individual Freedmen shall also have a private right of action to compel 
the Attorney General to investigate federal civil rights violations and 
provide a determination of whether a violation has occurred within 180 
days of submitting a complaint describing the violation in writing.

SEC. 7. GAO REPORT ON EXPENDITURE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.

    The Government Accountability Office shall issue a public report to 
Congress detailing for each of the 5 years ending immediately before 
the report was completed the Cherokee Nation's expenditure of all 
Federal funds. The report shall include an analysis of Federal funds 
allocated by the Cherokee Nation's leadership for its member benefits 
and services and for administrative and other purposes. The report 
shall determine whether or not the Cherokee Nation is in full 
compliance with all Federal regulations and laws regarding the 
management and disbursement of Federal funds.
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