A bill to amend the Act of June 18, 1934, to reaffirm the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for Indian Tribes, and for other purposes.

Bill: 118-s-563
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT]
Introduced: 2023-02-28
Policy area: Native Americans
Subjects: Federal-Indian relations

Indian lands and resources rights
Latest action: action_date: 2023-02-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.

Summaries:
action_date: 2023-02-28
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p>This bill authorizes the Department of the Interior to take land into trust for all federally recognized Indian tribes.</p> <p>Specifically, the bill applies the Indian Reorganization Act to all federally recognized Indian tribes, regardless of when a tribe became recognized. The amendments made by this bill are retroactively effective as if included in the Indian Reorganization Act. This effectively overrules the Supreme Court's decision in <i>Carcieri v. Salazar, </i>which held that Interior could not take land into trust for a specified tribe because that tribe had not been under federal jurisdiction when the Indian Reorganization Act was enacted in 1934.</p>

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 563 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES February 28, 2023 Mr. Tester (for himself, Mr. Moran , Ms. Smith , Mr. Wyden , Mr. Kelly , Mr. Luján , Mr. Tuberville , Mrs. Murray , Mr. Padilla , Ms. Cortez Masto , Mr. Heinrich , Ms. Warren , and Mr. Schatz ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs A BILL To amend the Act of June 18, 1934, to reaffirm the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for Indian Tribes, and for other purposes.

1. Authority reaffirmed (a) Reaffirmation (1) In general Section 19 of the Act of June 18, 1934 (commonly known as the Indian Reorganization Act ) (48 Stat. 988, chapter 576; 25 U.S.C. 5129 ), is amended in the first sentence— (A) by striking The term and inserting Effective beginning on June 18, 1934, the term ; and (B) by striking any recognized Indian tribe now under Federal jurisdiction and inserting any federally recognized Indian tribe . (2) Effective date The amendments made by paragraph (1) shall take effect as if included in the Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984, chapter 576; 25 U.S.C. 5101 et seq. ) (commonly known as the Indian Reorganization Act ), on the date of the enactment of that Act. (b) Ratification and confirmation of actions Any action taken by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to the Act of June 18, 1934 (commonly known as the Indian Reorganization Act ) (48 Stat. 984, chapter 576; 25 U.S.C. 5101 et seq. ), for any Indian Tribe that was federally recognized on the date of the action is ratified and confirmed, to the extent such action is subjected to challenge based on whether the Indian Tribe was federally recognized or under Federal jurisdiction on June 18, 1934, as if the action had, by prior Act of Congress, been specifically authorized and directed. (c) Effect on other laws (1) In general Nothing in this section or the amendments made by this section affects— (A) the application or effect of any Federal law other than the Act of June 18, 1934 (commonly known as the Indian Reorganization Act ) (48 Stat. 984, chapter 576; 25 U.S.C. 5101 et seq. ), as amended by subsection (a); or (B) any limitation on the authority of the Secretary of the Interior under any Federal law or regulation other than the Act of June 18, 1934 (commonly known as the Indian Reorganization Act ) (48 Stat. 984, chapter 576; 25 U.S.C. 5101 et seq. ), as amended by subsection (a). (2) References in other laws An express reference to the Act of June 18, 1934 (commonly known as the Indian Reorganization Act ) (48 Stat. 984, chapter 576; 25 U.S.C. 5101 et seq. ), contained in any other Federal law shall be considered a reference to that Act as amended by subsection (a).