[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4155 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4155

 To provide for the management of Federal lands in a manner that does 
  not undermine or frustrate traditional Native American religions or 
                          religious practices.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 24, 1994

Mr. Richardson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for the management of Federal lands in a manner that does 
  not undermine or frustrate traditional Native American religions or 
                          religious practices.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``American Indian Religious Freedom 
Act Amendments of 1994''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) unlike any other established religion, many traditional 
        Native American religions are site-specific in that the Native 
        American religions hold certain lands or natural formations to 
        be sacred;
            (2) such sacred sites are an integral and vital part of the 
        Native American religions and the religious practices 
        associated with such religions;
            (3) many of these sacred sites are found on lands which 
        were formerly part of the aboriginal territory of the Indians 
        but which now are held by the Federal Government; and
            (4) lack of sensitivity or understanding of traditional 
        Native American religions on the part of Federal agencies 
        vested with the management of Federal lands has resulted in the 
        lack of a coherent policy for the management of sacred sites 
        found on Federal lands and has also resulted in the 
        infringement upon the rights of Native Americans to religious 
        freedom.

SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT OF FEDERAL LANDS SO AS TO NOT UNDERMINE NATIVE 
              AMERICAN RELIGIOUS PRACTICES.

    Public Law 95-341 (42 U.S.C. 1996), popularly known as the American 
Indian Religious Freedom Act, is amended by adding at the end thereof 
the following new section:
    ``Sec. 3. (a)(1) Except as provided by subsection (b), no Federal 
lands described in paragraph (2) may be managed in a manner that 
undermines and frustrates a traditional Native American religion or 
religious practice.
    ``(2) The Federal lands referred to in paragraph (1) are those 
lands that--
            ``(A) have historically been considered sacred and 
        indispensable by a traditional Native American religion, and
            ``(B) are necessary to the conduct of a Native American 
        religious practice.
    ``(b) Subsection (a)(1) shall not apply to a management decision 
that is necessary to protect a compelling governmental interest. In 
making such a management decision, the Federal agency shall attempt to 
accommodate the various competing interests and shall, to the greatest 
extent feasible, select the course of action that is the least 
intrusive on traditional Native American religions or religious 
practices.
    ``(c) An Indian tribe or a member of an Indian tribe may, upon 
showing of actual harm suffered by such tribe or member, bring an 
action in the appropriate United States district court against any 
person who is violating, or who has violated, the prohibition contained 
in this section. In any such action, the court may enjoin such 
violation or issue such orders as may be necessary to enforce such 
prohibition or to require that action be taken to remedy such 
violation, or any combination of the foregoing.
    ``(d) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as requiring any 
Federal agency to totally deny public access to Federal lands.
    ``(e) As used in this section--
            ``(1) The term `Federal lands' has the same meaning as 
        provided by section 2(5) of the Native American Graves 
        Protection and Repatriation Act (25 U.S.C. 3001(5).
            ``(2) The term `Indian tribe' means any Indian tribe, band, 
        nation, or other organized group or community, including any 
        Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation as 
        defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims 
        Settlement Act (85 Stat. 688) (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), which 
        is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services 
        provided by the United States to Indians because of their 
        status as Indians.
            ``(3) The term `tribal lands' includes Indian reservations; 
        public domain Indian allotments; former Indian reservations in 
        Oklahoma; land held by incorporated Native groups, regional 
        corporations, and village corporations under the provisions of 
        the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et 
        seq.); and dependent Indian communities within the borders of 
        the United States, whether within the original or subsequently 
        acquired territory thereof and whether within or without the 
        limits of a State.''.

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