I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2751 
To establish the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on 
Native Children, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 12, 2015 
Ms. MCCOLLUM (for herself, Mr. COLE, Mr. TAKAI, and Mr. DENHAM) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
Resources 
A BILL 
To establish the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff 
Commission on Native Children, 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 ‘‘Alyce Spotted Bear 
and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) the United States has a distinct legal, trea-
ty, and trust obligation to provide for the education, 
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health care, safety, social welfare, and other needs of 
Native children; 
(2) chronic underfunding of Federal programs 
to fulfill the longstanding Federal trust obligation 
has resulted in limited access to critical services for 
the more than 2,100,000 Native children under the 
age of 24 living in the United States; 
(3) Native children are the most at-risk popu-
lation in the United States, confronting serious dis-
parities in education, health, and safety, with 37 
percent living in poverty; 
(4) 17 percent of Native children have no 
health insurance coverage, and child mortality has 
increased 15 percent among Native children aged 1 
to 14, while the overall rate of child mortality in the 
United States decreased by 9 percent; 
(5) suicide is the second leading cause of death 
in Native children aged 15 through 24, a rate that 
is 2.5 times the national average, and violence, in-
cluding intentional injuries, homicide, and suicide, 
account for 75 percent of the deaths of Native chil-
dren aged 12 through 20; 
(6) 58 percent of 3- and 4-year-old Native chil-
dren are not attending any form of preschool, 15 
percent of Native children are not in school and not 
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working, and the graduation rate for Native high 
school students is 50 percent; 
(7) 22.9 percent of Native children aged 12 and 
older report alcohol use, 16 percent report substance 
dependence or abuse, 35.8 percent report tobacco 
use, and 12.5 percent report illicit drug use; 
(8) Native children disproportionately enter fos-
ter care at a rate more than 2.1 times the general 
population and have the third highest rate of victim-
ization; and 
(9) there is no resource that is more vital to the 
continued existence and integrity of Native commu-
nities than Native children, and the United States 
has a direct interest, as trustee, in protecting Native 
children. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 
means the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff 
Commission on Native Children established by sec-
tion 4. 
(2) INDIAN.—The term ‘‘Indian’’ has the mean-
ing given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self- 
Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 
U.S.C. 450b). 
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(3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 
has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 
(4) NATIVE CHILD.—The term ‘‘Native child’’ 
means— 
(A) an Indian child, as that term is de-
fined in section 4 of the Indian Child Welfare 
Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1903); 
(B) an Indian who is between the ages of 
18 and 24 years old; and 
(C) a Native Hawaiian who is not older 
than 24 years old. 
(5) NATIVE HAWAIIAN.—The term ‘‘Native Ha-
waiian’’ has the meaning given the term in section 
7207 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7517). 
(6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior. 
(7) TRIBAL
COLLEGE
OR
UNIVERSITY.—The 
term ‘‘Tribal College or University’’ has the meaning 
given the term in section 316(b) of the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)). 
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SEC. 4. COMMISSION ON NATIVE CHILDREN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a commission 
in the Office of Tribal Justice of the Department of Jus-
tice, to be known as the ‘‘Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter 
Soboleff Commission on Native Children’’. 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Commission shall be 
composed of 11 members, of whom— 
(A) 3 shall be appointed by the President, 
in consultation with— 
(i) the Attorney General; 
(ii) the Secretary; 
(iii) the Secretary of Education; and 
(iv) the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services; 
(B) 3 shall be appointed by the Majority 
Leader of the Senate, in consultation with the 
Chairperson of the Committee on Indian Affairs 
of the Senate; 
(C) 1 shall be appointed by the Minority 
Leader of the Senate, in consultation with the 
Vice Chairperson of the Committee on Indian 
Affairs of the Senate; 
(D) 3 shall be appointed by the Speaker of 
the House of Representatives, in consultation 
with the Chairperson of the Committee on Nat-
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