[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 700 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.700

                       One Hundred Fifth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twenty-seventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-
                                  eight


                                 An Act


 
 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.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.