I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 409 
To provide for Indian trust asset management reform, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 23, 2013 
Mr. SIMPSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To provide for Indian trust asset management reform, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Indian Trust Asset Reform Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
TITLE I—RECOGNITION OF TRUST RESPONSIBILITY 
Sec. 101. Congressional statement of findings. 
Sec. 102. Congressional reaffirmation of policy. 
TITLE II—INDIAN TRUST ASSET MANAGEMENT DEMONSTRATION 
PROJECT ACT 
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Sec. 201. Short title. 
Sec. 202. Definitions. 
Sec. 203. Establishment of demonstration project; selection of participating In-
dian tribes. 
Sec. 204. Indian trust asset management plan. 
Sec. 205. Effect of title. 
TITLE III—RESTRUCTURING BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS AND 
OFFICE OF SPECIAL TRUSTEE 
Sec. 301. Purpose. 
Sec. 302. Definitions. 
Sec. 303. Under Secretary for Indian Affairs. 
Sec. 304. Transfer of functions of Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. 
Sec. 305. Office of Special Trustee for American Indians. 
Sec. 306. Cost savings recommendations. 
Sec. 307. Hiring preference. 
TITLE I—RECOGNITION OF 
TRUST RESPONSIBILITY 
SEC. 101. CONGRESSIONAL STATEMENT OF FINDINGS. 
The Congress, after careful review of the Federal 
Government’s historical and special legal relationship 
with, and resulting responsibilities to, American Indian 
people, finds that— 
(1) the relationship of Indian tribes to the 
United States is founded in part on the settled doc-
trine of the law of nations that when a stronger sov-
ereign assumes authority over a weaker sovereign, 
the stronger one assumes a duty of protection for 
the weaker one, which does not surrender its right 
to self-government; 
(2) the United States fiduciary responsibilities 
to Indians also constitutes a foundational basis for, 
not merely a function of, congressional legislation re-
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garding Indians because it constitutes an inherent 
presupposition of our constitutional structure, which 
provides an inherent limit on the exercise and appli-
cation of the Indian Commerce Clause and the Trea-
ty Clause of the Constitution; 
(3) the United States fiduciary responsibilities 
to Indians also are founded in part on specific com-
mitments made through written treaties and agree-
ments securing peace, in exchange for which Indians 
have surrendered claims to vast tracts of land, which 
provided legal consideration for permanent, ongoing 
performance of Federal trust duties; and 
(4) the foregoing historic Federal-tribal rela-
tions and understandings have benefitted the people 
of the United States as a whole for centuries and es-
tablished enduring and enforceable Federal obliga-
tions to which the national honor has been com-
mitted. 
SEC. 102. CONGRESSIONAL REAFFIRMATION OF POLICY. 
Pursuant to its constitutionally vested authority over 
Indian affairs, the Congress hereby reaffirms the following 
regarding the proper discharge of the United States fidu-
ciary responsibilities to Indians— 
(1) enforceable fiduciary duties necessarily arise 
when the United States assumes control or super-
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vision over tribal trust assets even though nothing is 
said expressly in the governing statutes or regula-
tions, unless Congress has expressly specified other-
wise; 
(2) in general, the most exacting common-law 
fiduciary standards which govern private trustees 
also govern the United States when it manages In-
dian trust assets, and enforceable Federal trust du-
ties for Indian trust asset management are not lim-
ited to the express terms of statutes and regulations; 
(3) the fact that the United States simulta-
neously performs another task for another interest 
that Congress has obligated it by statute to do does 
not compromise or limit the United States enforce-
able fiduciary obligations to Indians; and 
(4) the United States fiduciary responsibilities 
to Indian tribes include and are not limited by a 
duty to promote tribal self-determination regarding 
governmental authority and economic development. 
TITLE II—INDIAN TRUST ASSET 
MANAGEMENT 
DEMONSTRA-
TION PROJECT ACT 
SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Indian Trust Asset 
Management Demonstration Project Act of 2013’’. 
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Indian tribe, as determined by the Secretary, in 
support of or authorizing the application; 
(B) is received by the Secretary after the 
date of enactment of this Act; and 
(C) states that the Indian tribe is request-
ing to participate in the Project. 
(d) DURATION.—The Project shall remain in effect 
for a period of 8 years after the date of enactment of this 
Act. 
SEC. 204. INDIAN TRUST ASSET MANAGEMENT PLAN. 
(a) PROPOSED PLAN.— 
(1) SUBMISSION.—After the date on which an 
Indian tribe receives a notice from the Secretary 
under section 203(b)(2), the Indian tribe shall sub-
mit to the Secretary a proposed Indian trust asset 
management plan in accordance with paragraph (2). 
(2) CONTENTS.—A proposed Indian trust asset 
management plan shall include provisions that— 
(A) identify the trust assets that will be 
subject to the plan, including financial and non-
financial trust assets; 
(B) establish trust asset management ob-
jectives and priorities for Indian trust assets 
that are located within the reservation, or oth-
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erwise subject to the jurisdiction, of the Indian 
tribe; 
(C) allocate trust asset management fund-
ing that is available for the Indian trust assets 
subject to the plan in order to meet the trust 
asset management objectives and priorities; 
(D) if the Indian tribe has contracted or 
compacted functions or activities under the In-
dian Self-Determination and Education Assist-
ance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.) relating to the 
management of trust assets— 
(i) identify the functions or activities 
that are being performed by the Indian 
tribe under the contracts or compacts; and 
(ii) describe the proposed manage-
ment systems, practices, and procedures 
that the Indian tribe will follow; 
(E) establish procedures for nonbinding 
mediation or resolution of any dispute between 
the Indian tribe and the United States relating 
to the trust asset management plan; 
(F) include a process for the Indian tribe 
and the Federal agencies affected by the trust 
asset management plan to conduct annual eval-
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uations to ensure that trust assets are being 
managed in accordance with the plan; and 
(G) identify any Federal regulations that 
will be superseded by the plan. 
(3) AUTHORITY
OF
INDIAN
TRIBES
TO
DE-
VELOP SYSTEMS, PRACTICES, AND PROCEDURES.— 
For purposes of preparing and carrying out a man-
agement plan under this section, an Indian tribe 
that has compacted or contracted activities or func-
tions under the Indian Self-Determination and Edu-
cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.), for 
purposes of carrying out the activities or functions, 
may develop and carry out trust asset management 
systems, practices, and procedures that differ from 
any such systems, practices, and procedures used by 
the Secretary in managing the trust assets if the 
systems, practices, and procedures of the Indian 
tribe meet the requirements of the laws, standards, 
and responsibilities described in subsection (c). 
(4) TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE
AND
INFORMA-
TION.—The Secretary shall provide to an Indian 
tribe any technical assistance and information, in-
cluding budgetary information, that the Indian tribe 
determines to be necessary for preparation of a pro-
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posed plan on receipt of a written request from the 
Indian tribe. 
(b) APPROVAL
AND DISAPPROVAL
OF PROPOSED 
PLANS.— 
(1) APPROVAL.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 120 
days after the date on which an Indian tribe 
submits a proposed Indian trust asset manage-
ment plan under subsection (a), the Secretary 
shall approve or disapprove the proposed plan. 
(B) REQUIREMENTS FOR DISAPPROVAL.— 
The Secretary shall approve a proposed plan 
unless the Secretary determines that— 
(i) the proposed plan fails to address 
a requirement under subsection (a)(2); 
(ii) the proposed plan includes one or 
more provisions that are inconsistent with 
subsection (c); or 
(iii) the cost of implementing the pro-
posed plan exceeds the amount of funding 
available for the management of trust as-
sets that would be subject to the proposed 
plan. 
(2) ACTION ON DISAPPROVAL.— 
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(A) NOTICE.—If the Secretary disapproves 
a proposed plan under paragraph (1)(B), the 
Secretary shall provide to the Indian tribe a 
written notice of the disapproval, including any 
reason why the proposed plan was disapproved. 
(B) ACTION
BY
TRIBES.—If a proposed 
plan is disapproved under paragraph (1)(B), 
the Indian tribe may resubmit an amended pro-
posed plan not later than 90 days after the date 
on which the Indian tribe receives the notice 
under subparagraph (A). 
(3) FAILURE TO APPROVE OR DISAPPROVE.—If 
the Secretary fails to approve or disapprove a pro-
posed plan in accordance with paragraph (1), the 
plan shall be considered to be approved. 
(4) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—An Indian tribe may 
seek judicial review of the determination of the Sec-
retary in accordance with subchapter II of chapter 
5, and chapter 7, of title 5, United States Code 
(commonly known as the ‘‘Administrative Procedure 
Act’’) if— 
(A) the Secretary disapproves the proposed 
plan of the Indian tribe under paragraph (1) or 
(3); and 
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(B) the Indian tribe has exhausted any 
other administrative remedy available to the In-
dian tribe. 
(c) APPLICABLE LAWS; STANDARDS; TRUST RE-
SPONSIBILITY.— 
(1) APPLICABLE LAWS.—An Indian trust asset 
management plan, and any activity carried out 
under the plan, shall not be approved unless the pro-
posed plan is consistent with— 
(A) all Federal treaties, statutes, Executive 
orders, and court decisions that are applicable 
to the trust assets, or the management of the 
trust assets, identified in the plan; and 
(B) all tribal laws that are applicable to 
the trust assets, or the management of trust as-
sets, identified in the plan, except to the extent 
that the laws are inconsistent with the treaties, 
statutes, Executive orders, and court decisions 
referred to in subparagraph (A). 
(2) STANDARDS.—Subject to the laws referred 
to in paragraph (1)(A), an Indian trust asset man-
agement plan shall not be approved unless the Sec-
retary determines that the plan will— 
(A) protect trust assets from loss, waste, 
and unlawful alienation; 
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