I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5168
To repeal the Bennett Freeze thus ending a gross treaty violation with 
the Navajo Nation and allowing the Navajo Nation to live in habitable 
dwellings and raise their living conditions, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 29, 2004
Mr. RENZI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Resources 
A BILL 
To repeal the Bennett Freeze thus ending a gross treaty 
violation with the Navajo Nation and allowing the Navajo 
Nation to live in habitable dwellings and raise their living 
conditions, 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; FINDINGS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Bennett Freeze Rehabilitation Act of 2004’’. 
(b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
(1) the Navajo Nation is the largest Indian res-
ervation in the United States;
(2) the Bennett Freeze, named after former 
Bureau of Indian Affairs Commissioner Robert Ben-
nett, was administratively issued in 1966 to restrict 
the Navajo tribe from constructing and repairing 
their dwellings on land that was subject to a land 
dispute with the Hopi Tribe; 
(3) the Bennett Freeze has affected 1,500,000 
acres of land, approximately 9 percent of the total 
acreage of the Navajo Nation, covering 10 Navajo 
Nation chapters and affecting nearly 8,000 people; 
(4) only 3 percent of the families affected by 
the Bennett Freeze have electricity and only 10 per-
cent have running water; 
(5) since 1966, the population has increased by 
approximately 65 percent in the Bennett Freeze 
area, forcing several generations of families to live 
together in dwellings that have been declared unfit 
for human habitation; 
(6) members of the medical community confirm 
that overcrowding and the absence of running water, 
refrigeration, and adequate sewage disposal ad-
versely impact the mental and physical health of 
Navajos residing in the Bennett Freeze area; 
(7) the Bennett Freeze has halted essential con-
struction, including power line extensions, waterline
extensions, road improvements, and community fa-
cilities improvements; 
(8) when the Bennett Freeze was temporarily 
lifted in 1992, an ambitious $20,000,000 construc-
tion plan for new dwellings was proposed that would 
have improved living conditions and increased the 
economic viability of the Bennett Freeze area, how-
ever, the plan did not become a reality because a 
Federal judge reinstated the freeze; 
(9) the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe have 
since been involved in settlement negotiations to lift 
the Bennett Freeze; and 
(10) the Bennett Freeze is a gross violation of 
treaty obligations to the Navajo Nation. 
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF USE OF NAVAJO-HOPI SETTLE-
MENT ACT. 
Section 12 of Public Law 93–531 (16 U.S.C. 640d–
11) is amended—
(1) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub-
section (g); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (e), the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(f) The Commissioner may carry out a rehabilitation 
program to redress the effects of Federal development re-
strictions in the western portion of the Navajo Reserva-
tion. This program shall be limited to housing construction 
and renovation, infrastructure improvements, and eco-
nomic development initiatives. There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out the 
program under this subsection.’’. 
SEC. 3. REPEAL OF THE BENNETT FREEZE. 
Upon the approval by the Secretary of the Interior 
of an agreement between the Navajo Nation and the Hopi 
Tribe settling the land dispute over the lands subject to 
the Bennett Freeze, section 10(f) of Public Law 93–531 
(25 U.S.C. 640d–9(f)) is repealed.
Æ