[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4699 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4699

To remove the restriction on the distribution of certain revenues from 
the Mineral Springs parcel to certain members of the Agua Caliente Band 
                          of Cahuilla Indians.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 5, 1998

  Mrs. Bono introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To remove the restriction on the distribution of certain revenues from 
the Mineral Springs parcel to certain members of the Agua Caliente Band 
                          of Cahuilla Indians.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) among its purposes, the Act entitled ``An Act to 
        provide for the equalization of allotments on the Agua Caliente 
        (Palm Springs) Reservation in California, and for other 
        purposes'', approved September 21, 1959, commonly known as the 
        ``Agua Caliente Equalization Act of 1959'' (25 U.S.C. 951 et 
        seq.) (referred to in this section as the ``Act'') was intended 
        to provide for a reasonable degree of equalization of the value 
        of allotments made to members of the Agua Caliente Band of 
        Cahuilla Indians;
            (2) the Act was enacted in response to litigation in 
        Federal courts in Segundo, et al. v. United States, 123 F. 
        Supp. 554 (1954);
            (3) the case referred to in paragraph (2) was appealed 
        under the case name United States v. Pierce, 235 F. 2d 885 
        (1956) and that case affirmed the entitlement of certain 
        members of the Band to allotments of approximately equal value 
        to lands allotted to other members of the Band;
            (4)(A) to achieve the equalization referred to in paragraph 
        (3), section 3 of the Act (25 U.S.C. 953) provided for the 
        allotment or sale of all remaining tribal lands, with the 
        exception of several specifically designated parcels, including 
        2 parcels in the Mineral Springs area known as parcel A and 
        parcel B;
            (B) section 3 of the Act restricted the distribution of any 
        net rents, profits, or other revenues derived from parcel B to 
        members of the Band and their heirs entitled to equalization of 
        the value of the allotments of those members;
            (C) from 1959 through 1984, each annual budget of the Band, 
        as approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, provided for 
        expenditure of all revenues derived from both parcel A and 
        parcel B solely for tribal governmental purposes; and
            (D) as a result of the annual budgets referred to in 
        subparagraph (C), no net revenues from parcel B were available 
        for distribution to tribal members entitled to equalization 
        under section 3 of the Act referred to in paragraph (1);
            (5) by letter of December 6, 1961, the Director of the 
        Sacramento Area Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs informed 
        the regional solicitor of the Bureau of Indian Affairs that the 
        equalization of allotments on the Agua Caliente Reservation 
        with respect to those members of the Band who were eligible for 
        equalization had been completed using all available excess 
        tribal land in a manner consistent with--
                    (A) the decree of the court in the case referred to 
                in paragraph (2); and
                    (B) the Act;
            (6) in 1968, the files of the Department of the Interior 
        with respect to the case referred to in paragraph (3), the 
        closure of which was contingent upon completion of the 
        equalization program, were retired to the Federal Record 
        Center, where they were subsequently destroyed;
            (7) on March 16, 1983, the Secretary of the Interior 
        published notice in the Federal Register that full equalization 
        had been achieved within the meaning of section 7 of the Act 
        (25 U.S.C. 957);
            (8) section 7 of the Act states that ``allotments in 
        accordance with the provisions of this Act shall be deemed 
        complete and full equalization of allotments on the Agua 
        Caliente Reservation''; and
            (9) the regulations governing the equalization of 
        allotments under the Act referred to in paragraph (1) were 
        rescinded by the Secretary, effective March 31, 1983.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Band.--The term ``Band'' means the Agua Caliente Band.
            (2) Parcel b.--The term ``parcel B'' means the parcel of 
        land in the Mineral Springs area referred to as ``parcel B'' in 
        section 3(b) of the Act entitled ``An Act to provide for the 
        equalization of allotments on the Agua Caliente (Palm Springs) 
        Reservation in California, and for other purposes'', approved 
        September 21, 1959, commonly known as the ``Agua Caliente 
        Equalization Act of 1959'' (25 U.S.C. 953(b)).
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.

SEC. 3. EQUALIZATION OF ALLOTMENTS.

    (a) In General.--The full equalization of allotments within the 
meaning of section 7 of the Act entitled ``An Act to provide for the 
equalization of allotments on the Agua Caliente (Palm Springs) 
Reservation in California, and for other purposes'', approved September 
21, 1959, commonly known as the ``Agua Caliente Equalization Act of 
1959'' (25 U.S.C. 957) is deemed to have been completed.
    (b) Expiration of Entitlement.--By reason of the achievement of the 
full equalization of allotments described in subsection (a), the 
entitlement of holders of equalized allotments to distribution of net 
revenues from parcel B under section 3(b) of the Act entitled ``An Act 
to provide for the equalization of allotments on the Agua Caliente 
(Palm Springs) Reservation in California, and for other purposes'', 
approved September 21, 1959, commonly known as the ``Agua Caliente 
Equalization Act of 1959'' (25 U.S.C. 953(b)) shall be deemed to have 
expired.

SEC. 4. REMOVAL OF RESTRICTION.

    (a) In General.--The fourth undesignated paragraph in section 3(b) 
of the Act entitled ``An Act to provide for the equalization of 
allotments on the Agua Caliente (Palm Springs) Reservation in 
California, and for other purposes'', approved September 21, 1959, 
commonly known as the ``Agua Caliente Equalization Act of 1959'' (25 
U.S.C. 953(b)), is amended by striking ``east: Provided,'' and all that 
follows through the end of the paragraph and inserting ``east.''.
    (b) Applicability.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply as if this section had been enacted on March 31, 1983.
    (c) Subsequent Distributions.--Any per capita distribution of 
tribal revenues of the Band made after the date of enactment of this 
Act shall be made to all members of the Band in equal amounts.

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