I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4715 
To authorize appropriations to the Secretary of the Interior to make payments 
to certain members of the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma in accordance 
with the recommendation of the United States Court of Federal Claims. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 27, 2021 
Mr. MULLIN (for himself and Mr. COLE) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To authorize appropriations to the Secretary of the Interior 
to make payments to certain members of the Quapaw 
Tribe of Oklahoma in accordance with the recommenda-
tion of the United States Court of Federal Claims. 
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 ‘‘Quapaw Tribal Land-
owner Settlement Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. QUAPAW TRIBAL LANDOWNER SETTLEMENT. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 
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(1) on December 19, 2012, the House of Rep-
resentatives passed H. Res. 668 (112th Congress), 
which referred H.R. 5862 (112th Congress), entitled 
‘‘A bill relating to members of the Quapaw Tribe of 
Oklahoma (O–Gah–Pah)’’, to the chief judge of the 
United States Court of Federal Claims; 
(2) H. Res. 668 instructed the chief judge of 
the United States Court of Federal Claims to report 
back to the House of Representatives findings of 
fact and conclusions of law ‘‘sufficient to inform the 
Congress of the nature, extent, and character of the 
Indian trust-related claims of the Quapaw Tribe of 
Oklahoma and its tribal members for compensation 
as legal or equitable claims against the United 
States’’; 
(3) the claims referred to in paragraph (2) re-
late to the historical management by the Federal 
Government of the trust of the Tribe; 
(4) the hearing officer for the referral con-
cluded in the report that ‘‘it would be fair, just, and 
equitable to pay Claimants a total sum of 
$137,500,000’’ for all claims asserted or those that 
could have been asserted under the terms of H.R. 
5862; 
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(5) following issuance of the report, each of the 
parties in the referral filed a notice responsive to 
Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims 
and accepted the findings and recommendations of 
the United States Court of Federal Claims, without 
exceptions; and 
(6) the Review Panel of the United States 
Court of Federal Claims adopted the findings and 
conclusions of the hearing officer in the report, and 
on January 9, 2020, officially recommended to the 
House of Representatives that the claimants be 
awarded and paid a total sum of $137,500,000 for 
the extinguishment of all claims actually or poten-
tially included in H.R. 5862. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) CLAIMANT.—The term ‘‘claimant’’ means a 
claimant in the referral. 
(2) REFERRAL.—The term ‘‘referral’’ means 
the Congressional reference case designated by the 
United States Court of Federal Claims as Thomas 
Charles Bear, et al. v. the United States (No. 13– 
51). 
(3) REPORT.—The term ‘‘report’’ means the re-
port filed by the hearing officer for the referral on 
December 3, 2019. 
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(4) TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the 
Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Inte-
rior to pay the claimants in accordance with the rec-
ommendation of the Review Panel of the United States 
Court of Federal Claims submitted to the House of Rep-
resentatives on January 9, 2020, $137,500,000 for fiscal 
year 2021, to remain available until expended. 
Æ 
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