An Act to amend the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937, as amended
PL 83-398 (H.R.356), enacted 06/16/1954

250 
PUBLIC LAW 397-JUNE U, 1954 
[68 8 T A T . 
Public Law 397 
CHAPTER 298 
JOINT RESOLUTION 
June 14, 1954 
[H. J. Res. 481] 
To amend the Act of July 5, 1949 (Public Law 157, Eighty-first Congress). 
Simon Bolivar. 
Statue in D. C. 
63 Stat. 406. 
Resolved hy the Sermte and House of Representatives 
of the United 
States of America in Congress a^sembled^ That the second proviso of 
the Act of July 5, 1949 (Public Law 157, Eighty-first Congress), is 
amended by striking out "five years" where it appears therein, and 
inserting "ten years . 
Approved June 14, 1954. 
June 16, 1954 
[H. R.356] 
Public Law 398 
• 
CHAPTER 300 
AN ACT 
To amend the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937, as amended. 
Dual benefits. 
65 Stat. 684. 
45 u s e 228c. 
45 u s e 228e(/). 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That section 3 (b) 
of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937, as amended, is hereby further 
amended, effective October 30, 1951, by striking the last paragraph 
thereof. 
SKC. 2. In the case of any deceased individual whose death occurred 
before the first day of the first month following the month in which 
this Act is enacted, so much of any annuity or pension payment as is 
due such individual by reason of the enactment of the first section of 
this Act shall be paid only— 
(1) to the widow or widower of the deceased, if such widow 
or widower is living on such first day; or 
(2) if there is no such widow or widower, to the child or chil-
dren of the deceased if such child or children are living on such 
first day. 
For the purposes of this section, the terms "widow", "widower", and 
"child" have the same meanings as those assigned to such terms by 
section 5 (1) (1) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937, as amended. 
Approved June 16, 1954. 
Jtine 17, 1954 
[H. R. 2828] 
Public Law 399 
CHAPTER 303 
AN ACT 
To provide for a per capita distribution of Menominee tribal funds and authorize 
the withdrawal of the Menominee Tribe from Federal jurisdiction. 
Men o m i n e e In-
dians. 
Ter m i n a tion of 
F e d e r a l siqjervi-
sion. 
Enrollment. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That the purpose of 
this Act is to provide for orderly termination of Federal supervision 
over the property and members of the Menominee Indian Tribe of 
Wisconsin. 
SEC. 2. For the purposes of this Act— 
(a) "Tribe" means the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin; 
(b) "Secretary'- means the Secretary of the Interior. 
SEC. 3. At midnight of the date of enactment of this Act the roll of 
the tribe maintained pursuant to the Act of June 15, 1934 (48 Stat. 
965), as amended by the Act of July 14, 1939 (53 Stat. 1003), shall be 
closed and no child born thereafter shall be eligible for enrollment: 
Provided^ That applicants for enrollment in the tribe shall have three 
months from the date the roll is closed in which to submit applications 
68 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 3 9 9 - J U N E 17, 1954 
261 
for enrollment: Provided 
further. 
That the tribe shall have three 
months thereafter in which to approve or disapprove any application 
for enrollment; Provided further^ That any applicant whose appli-
cation is not approved by the tribe within six months from the date of 
enactment of this Act may, within three months thereafter, file with 
the Secretary an appeal from the failure of the tribe to approve his 
application or from the disapproval of his application, as the case 
may be. The decision of the Secretary on such appeal shall be final 
and conclusive. When the Secretary has made decisions on all 
appeals, he shall issue and publish in the Federal Register a Procla- ^^libUcation in 
mation of Final Closure of the roll of the tribe and the final roll of 
the members. 
Effective upon the date of such proclamation, the 
rights or beneficial interests of each person whose name appears on 
the roll shall constitute personal property and shall be evidenced by 
a certificate of beneficial interest which shall be issued by the tribe. 
Such interests shall be distributable in accordance with the laws of 
the State of Wisconsin. 
Such interests shall be alienable only in 
accordance with such regulations as may be adopted by the tribe. 
SEC. 4. Section 6 of the Act of June 15, 1934 (48 Stat. 965, 966) is 
K«P««I-
hereby repealed. 
SEC. 5. The Secretary is authorized and directed, as soon as practi- 
Per capita pay-
cable after the passage of this Act, to pay from such funds as are "*" ^
* 
deposited to the credit of the tribe in the Treasury of the United 
States $1,500 to each member of the tribe on the rolls of the tribe on the 
date of this Act. Any other person whose application for enrollment 
on the rolls of the tribe is subsequently approved, pursuant to the 
terms of section 8 hereof, shall, after enrollment, be paid a like sum 
of $1,500: Provided, That such payments shall be made first from 
any funds on depoSiit in the Treasury of the United States to the 
credit of the Menominee Indian Tribe drawing interest at the rate of 
5 per centum, and thereafter from the Menominee judgment fund, 
symbol 14X7142. 
SEC. 6. The tribe is authorized to select and retain the services of 
Management spe-
qualified management specialists, including tax consultants, for the *
^ 
purpose of studying .industrial programs on the Menominee Reserva-
tion and making such reports or recommendations, including apprais-
als of Menominee tribal property, as may be desired by the tribe, and 
to make other studies and reports as may be deemed necessary and 
desirable by the tribe in connection with the termination of Federal 
supervision as provided for hereinafter. 
Such reports shall be com-
pleted not later than December 31, 1957. Such specialists are to be 
retained under contracts entered into between them and authorized 
representatives of the tribe, subject to approval by the Secretary. 
Such amounts of Menominee tribal funds as may be required for this 
purpose shall be made available by the Secretary. 
SEC. 7. The tribe shall formulate and submit to the Secretary a control'pi^'*^"*^ 
plan or plans for the future control of the tribal property and service 
functions now conducted by or under the supervision of the United 
States, including, but not limited to, services in the fields of health, 
education, welfare, credit, roads, and law and order. 
The Secretary 
is authorized to provide such reasonable assistance as may be requested 
by officials of the tribe in the formulation of the plan or plans here-
tofore referred to, including necessary consultations with representa-
tives of Federal departments and agencies, officials of the State of 
Wisconsin and political subdivisions thereof, and members of the 
tribe: Provided,, That the responsibility of the United States to 
furnish all such supervision and services to the tribe and to the 
members thereof, because of their status as Indians, shall cease on 
December 31, 1958, or on such earlier date as may be agreed upon 
by the tribe and the Secretary. 
252 
PUBLIC LiAW 399-JUNE 17, 1954 
[68 S T A T . 
P r o p e r t y title 
transfer. 
Income tax. 
Publi c a t i o n in 
FR. 
Rights of minors, 
etc. 
Regulations. 
Separability. 
SEC. 8. The Secretary is hereby authorized and directed to transfer 
to the tribe, on December 31, 1958, or on such earlier date as may 
be agreed upon by the tribe and the Secretary, the title to all prop-
erty, real and personal, held in trust by the United States for the 
tribe: Provided^ however^ That if the tribe obtains a charter for a 
corporation or otherwise organizes under the laws of a State or of 
the District of Columbia for the purpose, among any others, of taking 
title to all tribal lands and assets and enterprises owned by the tribe 
or held in trust by the United States for the tribe^ and requests such 
transfer to be made to such corporation or organization, the Secretary 
shall make such transfer to such corporation or organization. 
SEC. 9. No distribution of the assets made under the provisions of 
this Act shall be subject to any Federal or State income tax: Provided^ 
That so much of any cash distribution made hereunder as consists 
of a share of any interest earned on funds deposited in the Treasury 
of the United States pursuant to the Supplemental Appropriation 
Act, 1952 (65 Stat. 736, 754), shall not by virtue of this Act be exempt 
from individual income tax in the hands of the recipients for the 
year in which paid. 
Following any distribution of assets made 
under the provisions of this Act, such assets and any income derived 
therefrom in the hands of any individual, or any corporation or 
organization as provided in section 8 of this Act, shall be subject 
to the same taxes. State and Federal, as in the case of non-Indians, 
except that any valuation for purposes of Federal income tax on 
gains or losses shall take as the basis of the particular taxpayer the 
value of the property on the date title is transferred by the United 
States pursuant to section 8 of this Act. 
SEC. 10, When title to the property of the tribe has been transferred, 
as provided in section 8 of this Act, the Secretary shall publish in 
the Federal Register an appropriate proclamation of that fact. 
Thereafter individual members of the tribe shall not be entitled to 
any of the services performed by the United States for Indians because 
of their status as Indians, all statutes of the United States which 
affect Indians because of their status as Indians shall no longer be 
applicable to the members of the tribe, and the laws of the several 
States shall apply to the tribe and its members in the same manner 
as they apply to other citizens or persons within their jurisdiction. 
Nothing in this Act shall affect the status of the members of the tribe 
as citizens of the United States. 
SEC. 11. Prior to the transfer pursuant to section 8 of this Act, the 
Secretary shall protect the rights of members of the tribe who are 
less than eighteen years of age, non compos mentis, or in the opinion 
of the Secretary in need of assistance in conducting their affairs, by 
caus^ing the appointment of guardians for such members in courts of 
competent jurisdiction, or by such other means as he may deem 
adequate. 
SEC. 12. The Secretary is authorized and directed to promulgate such 
rules and regulations as are necessary to effectuate the purposes of this 
Act. 
SEC. 13. If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to 
any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of the Act 
and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances 
shall not be affected thereby. 
Approved June 17, 1954.