[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 285 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 285

To grant authority to provide social services block grants directly to 
                 Indian tribes, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             January 26 (legislative day, January 10), 1995

 Mr. McCain (for himself, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Simon, and Mr. 
    Thomas) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To grant authority to provide social services block grants directly to 
                 Indian tribes, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE SOCIAL SERVICES BLOCK GRANTS DIRECTLY 
              TO INDIAN TRIBES.

    (a) In General.--Section 2003 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1397b) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``and the Northern 
        Mariana Islands'' the first place it appears and inserting 
        ``the Northern Mariana Islands, and any participating Indian 
        tribe or tribal organization, as defined in subsection 
        (e)(3),'';
            (2) in subsection (b), by striking ``and the Northern 
        Mariana Islands'' each place it appears and inserting ``the 
        Northern Mariana Islands, and any participating Indian tribe or 
        tribal organization, as defined in subsection (e)(3),''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subsections:
    ``(d)(1) Of the amounts specified in subsection (c), 3 percent 
shall be available for grants made or contracts entered into with 
Indian tribes or tribal organizations in accordance with this 
subsection.
    ``(2) The Secretary shall make grants to or enter into contracts 
with Indian tribes or tribal organizations for planning and carrying 
out programs and activities under this title.
    ``(3) The Secretary shall establish criteria for the review and 
approval of applications for grants or contracts under this subsection.
    ``(4)(A) Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
this subsection, the Secretary, with the full participation of Indian 
tribes and tribal organizations, shall establish and promulgate by 
regulation, a base funding formula similar to the formula established 
under section 658O of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 
1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858M).
    ``(B) In developing the funding formula, the Secretary may consider 
such additional factors as the Secretary determines appropriate, 
including unique geographic and demographic conditions of the tribal 
reservation and service area.
    ``(5) Funds that are not distributed to Indian tribes and tribal 
organizations during a fiscal year shall be available in subsequent 
fiscal years for reallocation to eligible tribes and tribal 
organizations.
    ``(6) In any case in which a contract is entered into or grant made 
to a tribal organization to perform services benefiting more than one 
Indian tribe, the approval of each such Indian tribe shall be a 
prerequisite to entering into the contract or making the grant.
    ``(7) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to--
            ``(A) serve as an authorization to limit the eligibility of 
        any individual to participate in any program offered by a State 
        or subdivision thereof;
            ``(B) modify any requirement imposed upon a State by any 
        provision in this title; or
            ``(C) preclude or discourage an agreement between any 
        Indian tribe and any State that facilitates the provision of 
        services by the Indian tribe to the service population of the 
        Indian tribe.
    ``(e) For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) 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 (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;
            ``(2) the term `tribal organization' means--
                    ``(A) the recognized governing body of any Indian 
                tribe; and
                    ``(B) any legally established organization of 
                Indians which is controlled, sanctioned, or chartered 
                by such governing body or which is democratically 
                elected by the adult members of the Indian community to 
                be served by such organization and which includes the 
                maximum participation of Indians in all phases of its 
                activities; and
            ``(3) the term `participating Indian tribe or tribal 
        organization' means an Indian tribe or tribal organization that 
        receives a grant or enters into a contract under subsection 
        (d).''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The fifth sentence of section 1101(a)(1) 
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1301(a)(1)) is amended by striking ``and the 
Northern Mariana Islands'' and inserting ``the Northern Mariana 
Islands, and any participating Indian tribe or tribal organization, as 
such term is defined in section 2003(e)(3)''.

SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by section 1 shall take effect on the first day 
of the first fiscal year beginning after the date of enactment of this 
Act.
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