[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1329 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1329

 To prohibit the taking of certain lands by the United States in trust 
   for economically self-sufficient Indian tribes for commercial and 
                gaming purposes, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 29, 1997

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To prohibit the taking of certain lands by the United States in trust 
   for economically self-sufficient Indian tribes for commercial and 
                gaming purposes, 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 ``Indian Trust Lands Reform Act of 
1997''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION AGAINST TAKING CERTAIN LANDS IN TRUST FOR AN INDIAN 
              TRIBE.

    Section 5 of the Act of June 18, 1934 (commonly known as the 
``Indian Reorganization Act of 1934'') (48 Stat. 985; 25 U.S.C. 465) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking the section designation and inserting 
        immediately preceding the first undesignated paragraph the 
        following:

``SEC. 5. ACQUISITION OF LANDS.'';

            (2) in the first undesignated paragraph, by striking ``The 
        Secretary of the Interior'' and inserting the following:
    ``(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), the 
Secretary of the Interior'';
            (3) in the undesignated paragraph following subsection (a), 
        as redesignated, by striking ``For the'' and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--For the'';
            (4) in the undesignated paragraph following subsection (d), 
        as redesignated, by striking ``The unexpended'' and inserting 
        the following:
    ``(e) Availability of Unexpended Balances.--The unexpended'';
            (5) in the undesignated paragraph following subsection (e), 
        as redesignated, by striking ``Title to'' and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(f) Exemption From Taxation.--Title to''; and
            (6) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
    ``(b) Prohibition.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except with respect to lands described 
        in subsection (c), the Secretary of the Interior may not take, 
        in the name of the United States in trust, for use for any 
        commercial purpose (including gaming, as that term is used in 
        the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.)) by 
        an economically self-sufficient Indian tribe, any land that is 
        located outside of the reservation of that Indian tribe as of 
        the date of enactment of the Indian Trust Lands Reform Act of 
        1997.
            ``(2) Determination of economic self-sufficiency.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary of the Interior 
                shall, after providing notice and an opportunity for 
                public comment, determine whether an Indian tribe is 
                economically self-sufficient for purposes of this 
                subsection. The Secretary of the Interior shall issue 
                regulations pursuant to section 553 of title 5, United 
                States Code, to prescribe the criteria that shall be 
                used to determine the economic self-sufficiency of an 
                Indian tribe under this subsection.
                    ``(B) Criteria.--The criteria described in 
                subparagraph (A) shall include--
                            ``(i) a comparison of the per capita 
                        allocation of the gross annual income of an 
                        Indian tribe (including the income of all 
                        tribal enterprises of the Indian tribe) among 
                        members of the Indian tribe with the per capita 
                        annual income of citizens of the United States; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) the potential contribution of the 
                        lands at issue as trust lands toward efforts of 
                        the Indian tribe involved to achieve economic 
                        self-sufficiency.
    ``(c) Treatment of Certain Lands.--Subsection (b) shall not apply--
            ``(1) with respect to any lands that are taken by the 
        Secretary of the Interior in the name of the United States in 
        trust, for the establishment of an initial reservation for an 
        Indian tribe under applicable Federal law, including the 
        establishment of an initial reservation by the Secretary of the 
        Interior in accordance with an applicable procedure of 
        acknowledgement of that Indian tribe, or as otherwise 
        prescribed by an Act of Congress; or
            ``(2) to any lands restored to an Indian tribe as the 
        result of the restoration of recognition of that Indian tribe 
        by the Federal Government.''.
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