II
Calendar No. 553
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4653
To settle Indian land claims within the State of Connecticut, and for other
purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
AUGUST 9 (legislative day, AUGUST 8), 1994
Received
AUGUST 10 (legislative day, AUGUST 8), 1994
Read twice and ordered placed on the calendar
AN ACT
To settle Indian land claims within the State of Connecticut,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mohegan Nation of
Connecticut Land Claims Settlement Act of 1994’’.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF
POLICY.
Congress finds and declares that—
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(1) the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecti-
cut has been recognized by the United States
through the administrative process pursuant to part
83 of title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations;
(2) the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecti-
cut is a successor in interest to the aboriginal entity
known as the Mohegan Indian Tribe which has ex-
isted in what is now the State of Connecticut from
time immemorial and for which certain lands were
sequestered as tribal lands by the Colony and State
of Connecticut;
(3) there is pending before the United States
District Court for the Southern District of Connecti-
cut a lawsuit by the Mohegan Indian Tribe which in-
volves certain lands within the State of Connecticut;
(4) the pendency of the lawsuit may result in
economic hardships for residents of the State of
Connecticut by clouding the titles to lands in the
State, including lands not now involved in the law-
suit;
(5) the State of Connecticut and the Mohegan
Tribe have executed agreements for the purposes of
resolving all disputes between them and settling the
lawsuit, which agreements require implementing leg-
islation by the Congress of the United States;
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(6) in the agreements described above, the par-
ties provide for the assumption by the State of Con-
necticut of jurisdiction over offenses by and against
members of the Mohegan Tribe and other Indians
on Indian country and to the submission of all gam-
ing-related development to the jurisdiction of the
State of Connecticut State Traffic Commission;
(7) the Town of Montville, Connecticut, will be
affected by the loss of tax base from, and jurisdic-
tion over, lands taken into trust on behalf of the
Tribe and will serve as the host community for the
Tribe’s gaming operations;
(8) the Town of Montville and the Mohegan
Tribe have entered into an agreement to resolve is-
sues extant between them and to establish the basis
for a cooperative government-to-government relation-
ship; and
(9) Congress shares with the parties to such
agreements a desire to settle all Mohegan Indian
claims in the State of Connecticut and to remove all
clouds on titles resulting from such lawsuits.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act, the term—
(1) ‘‘Mohegan Tribe’’ means the Mohegan
Tribe of Indians of Connecticut, a tribe of American
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Indians recognized by the United States pursuant to
part 83 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations, and
by the State of Connecticut pursuant to Connecticut
General Statutes sections 47–59a(b);
(2) ‘‘State of Connecticut’’ means the State of
Connecticut, its agencies, political subdivisions, con-
stitutional officers, officials of its agencies and sub-
divisions;
(3) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the In-
terior;
(4) ‘‘lands or natural resources’’ means any real
property or natural resources, or any interest in or
right involving any real property or natural re-
sources including, but not limited to, minerals and
mineral rights, timber and timber rights, water and
water rights, and rights to hunt and fish;
(5) ‘‘lawsuit’’ means the action in the United
States District Court for the District of Connecticut,
entitled ‘‘Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut
v. State of Connecticut, et al.’’, Case No. H77–434;
(6) ‘‘State Agreement’’ means that document
entitled ‘‘Agreement between the Mohegan Tribe
and the State of Connecticut’’ executed on May 17,
1994, by the Governor acting on behalf of the State
of Connecticut and the Chief of the Mohegan Tribe
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acting on behalf of the Mohegan Tribe and filed with
the Secretary of State of the State of Connecticut;
(7) ‘‘Town Agreement’’ means that document
executed on June 16, 1994, by the Mayor of the
Town of Montville and the Chief of the Mohegan
Tribe;
(8) ‘‘transfer’’ includes, but is not limited to,
any sale, grant, lease, allotment, partition, or con-
veyance, any transaction the purpose of which was
to effect a sale, grant, lease, allotment, partition, or
conveyance, or any event or events that resulted in
a change of possession or control of lands or natural
resources.
SEC. 4. FINDINGS BY THE SECRETARY.
Section 5 of this Act shall not take effect until the
following events have occurred and the Secretary so
finds—
(1) the State of Connecticut has entered into a
binding compact with the Mohegan Tribe providing
for Class III tribal gaming operations, in accordance
with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C.
2701 et seq.), and the compact has received all the
Federal approvals required to be fully effective; and
(2) title to lands described in Exhibit B to the
Agreement has vested in the United States in trust
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for the Mohegan Tribe to be used as the Mohegan
Tribe’s initial Indian reservation.
SEC. 5. APPROVAL OF PRIOR TRANSFERS AND EXTIN-
GUISHMENT OF CLAIMS AND ABORIGINAL
TITLE INVOLVING THE MOHEGAN TRIBE.
(a) If the Secretary finds that the conditions set forth
in section 4 of this Act have been satisfied, he shall publish
such findings and the State Agreement in the Federal
Register, and upon such publication:
(1) 
The 
transfers, 
waivers, 
releases,
relinquishments, and other commitments made by
the Mohegan Tribe in paragraph (1) of its Agree-
ment with the State of Connecticut shall be of full
force and effect on the terms and conditions therein
stated.
(2) 
The 
transfers, 
waivers, 
releases,
relinquishments, and other commitments validated
by paragraph (1) of the Agreement and of this sec-
tion and the transfers and extinguishments approved
and validated by subsection (b)(1) and (2) shall be
deemed to have been made in accordance with the
United States Constitution and all laws of the
United States that are specifically applicable to
transfers of lands or natural resources from, by, or
on behalf of any Indian, Indian nation, or tribe of
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Indians (including but not limited to the Trade and
Intercourse Act of 1790, Act of July 22, 1790, ch.
33, sec. 4, 1 Stat. 137, and any amendments thereto
and all subsequent versions thereof), and Congress
does hereby approve any such transfers effective as
of the date of said transfers.
(b)(1) All claims to lands within the State of Con-
necticut based upon aboriginal title by the Mohegan Tribe
are hereby extinguished, as are any and all other claims
the Mohegan Tribe might have to any public or private
lands or natural resources in Connecticut, such as claims
or rights based on recognized title, including but not lim-
ited to—
(A) any claim the Mohegan Tribe might have to
the tribal sequestered lands bounded out to the
Tribe in 1684, consisting of some 20,480 acres lying
between the Thames River, New London bounds,
Norwich bounds, and Colchester bounds;
(B) any claim the Mohegan Tribe might have
based on a survey under the authority of the Con-
necticut General Assembly in 1736 of lands reserved
and sequestered by the General Assembly for the
sole use and improvement of the Mohegan Indian
Tribe; and
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(C) any claim the Mohegan Tribe might have
based on any action by the State in 1860, 1861, or
otherwise to allot, reallot, and/or confirm any lands
of the Mohegan Tribe to individual Indians or other
persons. Any transfer of lands or natural resources
located anywhere within the State of Connecticut in-
cluding, but not limited to, transfers pursuant to the
statute or treaty of or with any State or the United
States, by, from, or on behalf of the Mohegan Tribe,
or any predecessor or successor in interest, shall be
deemed to be in full force and effect, as provided in
subsection (a)(2): Provided, however, That nothing
herein shall be construed as extinguishing any ab-
original right, title, interest, or claim to lands or
natural resources solely to the extent of the rights
or interests defined as ‘‘excepted interests’’ in para-
graph 1a of the Agreement between the Mohegan
Tribe and the State of Connecticut.
(2) By virtue of the approval of a transfer of lands
or natural resources effected by this section, or an extin-
guishment of aboriginal title effected thereby, all claims
against the United States, any State or subdivision there-
of, or any other person or entity, by the Mohegan Tribe,
arising subsequent to the transfer and based upon any in-
terest in or right involving the claims described in para-
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graph (1) above in lands or natural resources, including,
but not limited to, claims for trespass damages or claims
for use and occupancy, shall be regarded as extinguished
as of the date of the transfer, provided that this limitation
shall not apply to any interest in lands or natural re-
sources subsequently and lawfully acquired by the Mohe-
gan Tribe or its members.
(c) No provision of this section shall be construed to
offset or eliminate the personal claim of any individual In-
dian which is pursued under any law of general applicabil-
ity that protects Indians as well as non-Indians.
SEC. 6. CONVEYANCE OF LANDS TO THE UNITED STATES IN
TRUST FOR THE MOHEGAN TRIBE.
(a) The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and
directed, subject to the satisfaction of environmental re-
quirements otherwise applicable to actions under part 151
of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations, to accept the con-
veyance of title to lands described in Exhibits A and B
of the State Agreement to be taken in the name of the
United States of America in trust for the use and benefit
of the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut. The lands
shall be the Mohegan Tribe’s Initial Indian reservation.
(b) With regard to any tracts of land subject to Ex-
hibit B of the State Agreement but not specifically identi-
fied therein, the Secretary shall consult with the Town of
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Montville with respect to the impact on the Town resulting
from the removal of the land from the tax rolls and juris-
dictional problems and potential conflicts of land use
which may arise. With respect to all lands not subject to
Exhibits A and B of the State Agreement, nothing in this
Act shall diminish or otherwise affect the Town’s rights
under applicable law to participate in the decisionmaking
process on trust acquisition requests involving these lands.
SEC. 7. ASSUMPTION BY STATE OF JURISDICTION OVER
CRIMES.
The consent of the United States is hereby given to
the State of Connecticut to assume by affirmative legisla-
tion jurisdiction over offenses committed by or against In-
dians on the Mohegan Indian reservation or Indian coun-
try owned by the Mohegan tribe or its members. Such ju-
risdiction shall be to the same extent that the State has
over such offenses committed elsewhere within the State,
and the criminal laws of the State shall have the same
force within such reservation and Indian country as they
have elsewhere in the State. Such exercise of criminal ju-
risdiction by the State shall not affect the Tribe’s concur-
rent jurisdiction over such matters.
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SEC. 8. GENERAL DISCHARGE AND RELEASE OF STATE OF
CONNECTICUT.
Except as expressly provided herein and in the State
Agreement and the Town Agreement, this Act shall con-
stitute a general discharge and release of all obligations
of the State of Connecticut and all of its political subdivi-
sions, agencies, departments, and all of the officers or em-
ployees thereof arising from any treaty or agreement with,
or on behalf of the Tribe of the United Sates as trustee
therefor.
SEC. 9. REVOCATION OF STATE AGREEMENT.
In the event that, within 15 years of the date of the
publication of the notice required by section 5(a), the
Agreement between the Mohegan Tribe and the State of
Connecticut is invalidated, or if the gaming compact pro-
vided in section 4(1) of this Act, or any implementing
agreements between the parties thereto, is invalidated by
a court of competent jurisdiction, the transfers, waivers,
releases, relinquishments and other commitments made by
the Mohegan Tribe in paragraph 1a of the State Agree-
ment shall no longer be of any force or effect, section 5
of this Act shall be inapplicable to the lands, interests in
lands or natural resources of the Mohegan Tribe and its
members as if never enacted, and the approvals of prior
transfers and the extinguishment of claims and aboriginal
title of the Mohegan Tribe otherwise effected by section
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5 shall be void ab initio. In any such event, the Mohegan
Tribe shall have the right to reinstate its land claim within
a reasonable time, which period shall be defined as the
later of 6 months after the Mohegan Tribe receives written
notice of such determination, or if appealed, 6 months
after entry of judgment by the court of last resort, and,
if the suit is reinstated within that time, no defense, such
as laches, statute of limitations, law of the case, res judi-
cata, or prior disposition shall be asserted based on the
withdrawal of the lawsuit and commencement of the re-
sumed litigation, nor shall the substance of discussions
leading to the State Agreement be admissible in any sub-
sequent litigation: Provided, however, That if any such suit
is reinstated, any defense which would have been available
to the State of Connecticut at the time the lawsuit was
withdrawn may be asserted, and is not waived by anything
in the State Agreement or by subsequent events occurring
between the withdrawal of the lawsuit and commencement
of the resumed litigation. In the event that any suit chal-
lenging the validity of the State Agreement, the gaming
compact provided in section 4 of this Act, or any imple-
menting agreements between the parties thereto, is pend-
ing in any court of competent jurisdiction on the date that
the Mohegan Tribe’s rights under this section would other-
wise expire, such rights will be extended for a period not
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to exceed 6 months from the date the Mohegan Tribe re-
ceives notice of a final determination in such suit or, if
an appeal is filed, 6 months after entry of judgment by
the court of last resort.
SEC. 10. JUDICIAL REVIEW.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any ac-
tion to contest the constitutionality of this Act or the va-
lidity of any agreement entered into under the authority
of this Act or approved by this Act shall be barred unless
the complaint is filed within 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act. Exclusive jurisdiction over any such
action is hereby vested in the United States District Court
for the District of Connecticut.
SEC. 11. RATIFICATION OF TOWN AGREEMENT.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Town agreement entered into by the Mohegan Indian tribe
and the Town of Montville is hereby ratified and given
full force and effect.
(b) The Secretary is authorized and directed to ap-
prove future modifications to the Town Agreement mutu-
ally agreed to by the parties and consistent with applicable
law.
Passed the House of Representatives August 8,
1994.
Attest:
DONNALD K. ANDERSON,
Clerk.