[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1960 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1960

             To increase housing opportunities for Indians.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             March 22 (legislative day, February 22), 1994

  Mr. McCain introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
              referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
             To increase housing opportunities for Indians.

    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 ``Indian Housing Development and 
Reform Act of 1994''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) Indian tribes face an unprecedented crisis due to the 
        lack of shelter for a growing number of individuals and 
        families, including elderly persons, persons with disabilities, 
        and families with children;
            (2) the demand for Indian housing has become more severe 
        and, in the absence of more effective efforts and consistent 
        funding, is expected to become dramatically worse, endangering 
        the lives and safety of Indian and Alaska Native people;
            (3) the Federal Government has a historical and special 
        legal relationship with, and resulting responsibility to, 
        Indian tribes;
            (4) included within the relationship referred to in 
        paragraph (3) is a trust responsibility to provide decent, 
        safe, sanitary, and affordable housing to the members of Indian 
        tribes residing on reservations;
            (5) the Inspector General of the Department of the Interior 
        has issued several audit reports on various area offices of the 
        Bureau of Indian Affairs and has concluded that the Housing 
        Improvement Program has been severely mismanaged and abused;
            (6) as a result of the mismanagement and abuse of the 
        Housing Improvement Program, persons who are not eligible for 
        the Program are receiving assistance while persons who are 
        eligible for the Program are not receiving needed assistance;
            (7) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development has the 
        primary responsibility for the delivery of Indian housing 
        services; and
            (8) the transfer of the Housing Improvement Program to the 
        Department of Housing and Urban Development will eliminate 
        useless bureaucracy and waste while allowing the Secretary of 
        Housing and Urban Development to administer the Housing 
        Improvement Program according to the Program's intended goals 
        and objectives.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act, the following definitions shall apply:
            (1) Department.--The term ``Department'', unless otherwise 
        specified, means the Department of Housing and Urban 
        Development.
            (2) Incorporated definitions.--The terms ``Indian'', 
        ``Indian housing authority'', and ``Indian tribe'' have the 
        same meanings as in section 3 of the United States Housing Act 
        of 1937.
            (3) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the Housing 
        Improvement Program of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department 
        of the Interior, as set forth in part 256 of title 25, Code of 
        Federal Regulations.
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'', unless otherwise 
        specified, means the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
        Development.

SEC. 4. HOUSING IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.

    (a) Transfer of Program.--
            (1) In general.--The Program is hereby transferred to the 
        Department.
            (2) Effective date.--Paragraph (1) shall take effect on the 
        expiration of the 180-day period following the date of 
        enactment of this Act.
    (b) Program Goals.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
goals of the Program are--
            (1) to benefit Indian families by providing decent, safe, 
        and sanitary shelter and by reducing the health and social 
        costs created by an unsafe and unsanitary environment; and
            (2) to provide for renovations, repairs, and additions to 
        existing Indian houses, including repairs to houses that remain 
        substandard but need repairs for the health or safety of the 
        occupants and repairs to bring Indian houses to standard 
        condition.
    (c) Administration of the Program.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall carry out the Program 
        in accordance with this section.
            (2) Limitation on assistance.--Notwithstanding paragraph 
        (3) or any other provision of law, the Secretary, unless 
        otherwise authorized by the governing body of an Indian tribe--
                    (A) shall provide assistance under the Program only 
                to the governing body of an Indian tribe; and
                    (B) shall not provide any such assistance to an 
                Indian housing authority.
            (3) Modifications to program.--The Secretary is authorized 
        to modify or otherwise change the Program to meet the goals set 
        forth in subsection (b).
    (d) Transfer and Allocations of Appropriations.--Except as 
otherwise provided in this section, the assets, liabilities, contracts, 
property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, 
authorizations, allocations, and other funds employed, used, held, 
arising from, available to, or to be made available in connection with 
the Program, subject to section 1531 of title 31, United States Code, 
shall be transferred to the Department. Unexpended funds transferred 
pursuant to this section shall be used only for the purposes for which 
the funds were originally authorized and appropriated.
    (e) Transfer of Personnel.--
            (1) In general.--Except as otherwise provided in this 
        section, the Secretary of the Interior shall transfer such 
        personnel to the Department to administer the Program as the 
        Secretary considers necessary and appropriate.
            (2) No separation or reduction in grade or compensation for 
        1 year.--Except as otherwise provided in this section, any 
        transfer pursuant to this section of full-time personnel 
        (except special Government employees) and part-time personnel 
        holding permanent positions shall not cause any such employee 
        to be separated or reduced in grade or compensation during the 
        1-year period beginning on the date on which the employee is 
        transferred to the Department.
            (3) Executive schedule employees.--Except as otherwise 
        provided in this section, any person who, on the day preceding 
        the date on which such person is transferred to the Department 
        under this section, holds a position compensated in accordance 
        with the Executive Schedule prescribed in chapter 53 of title 
        5, United States Code, and who, without a break in service, is 
        appointed in the Department to a position having duties 
        comparable to the duties performed immediately preceding such 
        appointment shall continue to be compensated in such new 
        position at not less than the rate provided for such previous 
        position, for the duration of the service of such person in 
        such new position.
            (4) Presidential appointees.--Positions whose incumbents 
        are appointed by the President, by and with the advice and 
        consent of the Senate, the functions of which are transferred 
        pursuant to this section, shall terminate on the effective date 
        of this section.
    (f) Incidental Transfers.--The Director of the Office of Management 
and Budget, at such time or times as the Director shall provide, is 
authorized to make such determinations as may be necessary with regard 
to the Program, and to make such additional incidental dispositions of 
personnel, assets, liabilities, grants, contracts, property, records, 
and unexpended balances of appropriations, authorizations, allocations, 
and other funds held, used, arising from, available to, or to be made 
available in connection with the Program, as may be necessary to carry 
out this section. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
shall provide for the termination of the affairs of all entities 
terminated by this section and for such further measures and 
dispositions as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this 
section.
    (g) Continuing Effect of Legal Documents.--All orders, 
determinations, rules, regulations, permits, agreements, grants, 
contracts, certificates, licenses, registrations, privileges, and other 
administrative actions--
            (1) that have been issued, made, granted, or allowed to 
        become effective by the President, any Federal agency or 
        official, or by a court of competent jurisdiction, in the 
        performance of the Program which are transferred under this 
        section; and
            (2) that are in effect on the effective date of subsection 
        (a)(1), or that were final before such date and are to become 
        effective on or after such date;
shall continue in effect according to their terms until modified, 
terminated, superseded, set aside, or revoked in accordance with law by 
the President, the Secretary, or other authorized official, a court of 
competent jurisdiction, or by operation of law.
    (h) Proceedings Not Affected.--The provisions of this section shall 
not affect any proceedings, including notices of proposed rulemaking, 
or any application for any license, permit, certificate, or financial 
assistance pending before the Department of the Interior on the 
effective date of subsection (a)(1), with respect to the Program, and 
such proceedings and applications shall be continued. Orders shall be 
issued in such proceedings, appeals shall be taken therefrom, and 
payments shall be made pursuant to such orders, as if this section had 
not been enacted, and orders issued in any such proceedings shall 
continue in effect until modified, terminated, superseded, or revoked 
by a duly authorized official, by a court of competent jurisdiction, or 
by operation of law. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to 
prohibit the discontinuance or modification of any such proceeding 
under the same terms and conditions and to the same extent that such 
proceeding could have been discontinued or modified if this section had 
not been enacted.
    (i) Actions Not Affected.--The provisions of this section shall not 
affect actions commenced before the effective date of subsection 
(a)(1), and in all such actions, proceedings shall be had, appeals 
taken, and judgments rendered in the same manner and with the same 
effect as if this section had not been enacted.
    (j) Nonabatement of Actions.--No action or other proceeding 
commenced by or against the Department of the Interior, or by or 
against any individual in the official capacity of such individual as 
an officer of the Department of the Interior, shall abate by reason of 
the enactment of this section.
    (k) Administrative Actions Relating to Promulgation of 
Regulations.--Any administrative action relating to the preparation or 
promulgation of a regulation by the Department of the Interior relating 
to the Program may be continued by the Department with the same effect 
as if this section had not been enacted.
    (l) Transition.--The Secretary is authorized to utilize--
            (1) the services of such officers, employees, and other 
        personnel of the Department of the Interior with respect to the 
        Program; and
            (2) funds appropriated to the Program for such period of 
        time as may reasonably be needed to facilitate the orderly 
        implementation of this section.
    (m) References.--Reference in any other Federal law, Executive 
order, rule, regulation, or delegation of authority, or any document of 
or relating to--
            (1) the Secretary of the Interior, with regard to the 
        Program, shall be deemed to refer to the Secretary; and
            (2) the Department of the Interior, with regard to the 
        Program, shall be deemed to refer to the Department.
    (n) Regulations.--The Secretary shall, by notice published in the 
Federal Register, establish such requirements as may be necessary to 
carry out this section. The Secretary shall issue final regulations to 
carry out this section, based on such notice, after providing 
opportunity for public comment on the notice.
    (o) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated $34,000,000 for fiscal years 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 
2000 to carry out the Program.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION.

    Section 5(c) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
1437c(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(9) Using the additional budget authority that becomes 
        available during fiscal years 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000, 
        the Secretary shall, to the extent approved in appropriation 
        Acts, reserve authority to enter into obligations aggregating, 
        for public housing grants for Indian families under subsection 
        (a)(2), an amount sufficient to provide assistance for an 
        additional 4,000 units of Indian housing for each such year.''.

SEC. 6. ELIGIBLE INDIANS.

    Section 201 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
1437aa) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d) Eligible Families.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in section 202(d) of 
        this title and paragraph (2) of this subsection, low-income 
        housing developed or operated pursuant to a contract between 
        the Secretary and an Indian housing authority shall be limited 
        to Indian low-income families.
            ``(2) Exception.--An Indian housing authority may provide 
        assistance to any non-Indian family on an Indian reservation or 
        other Indian area if the Indian housing authority determines 
        that the need for housing for such families on the Indian 
        reservation or other Indian area cannot reasonably be met 
        without such assistance.
            ``(3) Existing assistance.--Nothing in this subsection 
        shall be construed to prohibit or otherwise affect any 
        assistance provided to a family served by an Indian housing 
        authority on the date of enactment of this subsection.''.

SEC. 7. CERTAIN WAGE RATES NOT APPLICABLE.

    (a) Wage Rates.--Beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, 
the provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act shall not be applicable to any 
construction, alteration, or repair, including painting and decorating, 
carried out pursuant to any contract entered into after the date of 
enactment of this Act, except as provided in subsection (b), in 
connection with any housing project of 40 units or less involving 
Indian housing developed or operated by an Indian housing authority.
    (b) Existing Contracts.--The provisions of subsection (a) shall not 
affect any contract in effect on the date of enactment of this Act, or 
any contract that is entered into on or after such date of enactment 
pursuant to invitations for bids that were outstanding on such date of 
enactment.

SEC. 8. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

    (a) Technical Assistance Grants.--The Secretary is authorized to 
make grants to Indian tribes for use by such tribes in obtaining 
technical assistance in connection with Indian housing programs.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated $500,000 to carry out the provisions of subsection (a).

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