[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3797 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3797

To compensate the Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma for the taking of certain 
       rights by the Federal Government, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 5, 1998

 Mr. Young of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                     to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To compensate the Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma for the taking of certain 
       rights by the Federal Government, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Wyandotte Tribe Settlement Act of 
1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) pursuant to the Treaty of January 31, 1855 (10 Stat. 
        1159), the United States has held land in trust in Wyandotte 
        County, Kansas, for the benefit of the Wyandotte Tribe, a 
        federally recognized Indian tribe, continuously since 1855;
            (2) the United States Supreme Court, in Conley v. Ballinger 
        (216 U.S. 84 (1910)), determined that under the Treaty of 1855 
        the only rights in and to the Wyandotte trust land in Wyandotte 
        County, Kansas, were tribal rights;
            (3) since 1855, the United States has permitted a variety 
        of permanent encroachments upon the Wyandotte trust land, 
        including, without limitation, the construction of nontribal 
        buildings and a road on Wyandotte trust land;
            (4) the United States Government has, through the enactment 
        section 125 of Public Law 105-83, taken from the Wyandotte 
        Tribe the right of exclusive use and occupancy, including, 
        without limitation, the right to conduct gaming on Wyandotte 
        trust land in Wyandotte County, Kansas, and otherwise 
        restricted the trust land's use;
            (5) the Wyandotte Tribe and the Unified Government of 
        Wyandotte County, Kansas, and Kansas City, Kansas, have entered 
        into a Memorandum of Understanding, dated March 13, 1998 
        (hereinafter referred to as the ``Settlement Agreement''), 
        which among other things, resolves any and all disputes arising 
        from encroachments upon the Wyandotte Tribe's trust land; and
            (6) the parties to the Settlement Agreement have agreed, 
        that to implement the Settlement Agreement, it is in the best 
        interests of both governments for the Wyandotte Tribe to secure 
        additional trust land within Wyandotte County, Kansas.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to acknowledge the taking by the Federal Government of 
        the valuable right held by the Wyandotte Tribe to exclusive use 
        and occupancy of Wyandotte trust lands; and
            (2) to compensate the Wyandotte Tribe for the taking by the 
        Federal Government of the Tribe's rights of exclusive use and 
        occupancy of Wyandotte trust lands by directing that the 
        Secretary of the Interior shall take into trust, in settlement 
        of any and all land claims the Tribe may have arising out of 
        the Federal Government's taking of the Tribe's right of 
        exclusive use land occupancy of Wyandotte trust land, other 
        land located within Wyandotte County, Kansas, to be acquired by 
        the Wyandotte Tribe at the Wyandotte Tribe's own expense.

SEC. 3. TRANSFER OF LAND; TAKING OF LAND INTO TRUST.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, upon 
transfer of title from the Wyandotte Tribe to the Secretary of the 
Interior of a single parcel of contiguous real property located within 
Wyandotte County, Kansas, purchased by the Wyandotte Tribe, the 
Secretary of the Interior shall take such real property into trust for 
gaming purposes pursuant to section 20(b)(1)(B)(i) of the Indian Gaming 
Regulatory Act, to be held for the benefit of the Wyandotte Tribe. 
Except for those actions authorized to be taken by the Secretary of the 
Interior pursuant to this section, nothing in this Act shall exempt the 
Wyandotte Tribe from any requirements or provisions of any Federal law.
    (b) Settlement of Claims.--The transaction and taking into trust of 
land by the Secretary under subsection (a) shall be in settlement of 
any and all land claims the Wyandotte Tribe may have arising out of the 
Federal Government's taking of that tribe's right of exclusive use land 
located within Wyandotte County, Kansas.
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