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 mem-
bers 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 allot-
ment 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 subpara-
graph (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 Res-
ervation 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 pub-
lished 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 Reserva-
tion’’; 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 achieve-
ment 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.