[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1905 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1905

  To provide for equitable compensation for the Cheyenne River Sioux 
                     Tribe, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 2, 1998

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for equitable compensation for the Cheyenne River Sioux 
                     Tribe, 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.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Cheyenne River 
Sioux Tribe Equitable Compensation Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
            (1) Congress approved the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin 
        program by passing the Act of December 22, 1944, commonly known 
        as the ``Flood Control Act of 1944'' (58 Stat. 887, chapter 
        665; 33 U.S.C. 701-1 et seq.)--
                    (A) to promote the general economic development of 
                the United States;
                    (B) to provide for irrigation above Sioux City, 
                Iowa;
                    (C) to protect urban and rural areas from 
                devastating floods of the Missouri River; and
                    (D) for other purposes;
            (2) the Oahe Dam and Reservoir project is a major component 
        of the Pick-Sloan program, and contributes to the economy of 
        the United States by generating a substantial amount of 
        hydropower and impounding a substantial quantity of water;
            (3) notwithstanding the contributions referred to in 
        paragraph (1), the Oahe Dam and Reservoir project has 
        contributed little to the economy of the Tribe;
            (4) the Oahe Dam and Reservoir project overlies the eastern 
        boundary of the Crow Creek Indian Reservation;
            (5) the Oahe Dam and Reservoir project has--
                    (A) inundated the fertile, wooded bottom lands of 
                the Tribe along the Missouri River that constituted the 
                most productive agricultural and pastoral lands of the 
                Tribe and the homeland of the members of the Tribe; and
                    (B) as a result of that inundation, severely 
                damaged the economy of the Tribe and the members of the 
                Tribe;
            (6) the Secretary appointed a Joint Tribal Advisory 
        Committee that examined the Oahe Dam and Reservoir project and 
        that advisory committee correctly concluded that--
                    (A) the Federal Government did not justify, or 
                fairly compensate the Tribe for, the Oahe Dam and 
                Reservoir project when the Federal Government acquired 
                104,492 acres of land of the Tribe for that project; 
                and
                    (B) the Tribe should be adequately compensated for 
                the taking described in subparagraph (A); and
            (7) after applying the same method of analysis used for the 
        compensation of similarly situated Indian tribes, the 
        Comptroller General of the United States determined the amount 
        of compensation for the taking described in paragraph (6) and 
        determined that the appropriate amount of compensation to pay 
        the Tribe for the taking would be $290,722,958;
            (8) the Tribe is entitled to receiving additional financial 
        compensation for the taking described in paragraph (6)(A) in a 
        manner consistent with the determination of the Comptroller 
        General under paragraph (7); and
            (9) the establishment of a dual cash account with the 
        amounts made available to the Tribe under this Act is 
        consistent with the principles of self-governance and self-
        determination.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are as follows:
            (1) To provide for additional financial compensation to the 
        Tribe for the taking of 104,402 acres of land of the Tribe for 
        the Oahe Dam and Reservoir project in a manner consistent with 
        the determination of the Comptroller General of the United 
        States described in subsection (a)(7).
            (2) To provide for the establishment of the Cheyenne River 
        Sioux Recovery Account, a dual cash account to be managed by 
        the Office in order to make payments to the Tribe to carry out 
        projects under a plan prepared by the Tribe.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Account.--The term ``account'' means the Cheyenne River 
        Sioux Recovery Account established under section 4.
            (2) Cheyenne river sioux tribe; tribe.--The term ``Cheyenne 
        River Sioux Tribe'' or ``Tribe'' means the Itazipco, Siha Sapa, 
        Minnicoujou, and Oohenumpa bands of the Great Sioux Nation that 
        reside on the Cheyenne Reservation, located in central South 
        Dakota.
            (3) Fund account.--The term ``Fund Account'' means a 
        consolidated account for tribal trust funds in the Treasury of 
        the United States that--
                    (A) is managed by the Secretary, through the 
                Office, in accordance with applicable law; and
                    (B) as of the date of enactment of this Act, is 
                numbered 14X8365.
            (4) Office.--The term ``Office'' means the Office of Trust 
        Fund Management within the Department of the Interior.
            (5) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the power program 
        of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin program, administered by 
        the Western Area Power Administration.
            (6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.

SEC. 4. CHEYENNE RIVER SIOUX TRIBAL RECOVERY ACCOUNT.

    (a) Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Recovery Account.--The Secretary of 
the Treasury shall establish in the Fund Account a dual cash account to 
be known as the ``Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Recovery Account''. The 
dual cash account shall have a principal component and an interest 
component. The interest component of the account shall be used to make 
payments to the Tribe in accordance with this Act. The principal 
component of the account may not be expended. The corpus and the income 
of the account may be invested in accordance with applicable law.
    (b) Funding.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), 
        beginning with fiscal year 1999, and for each fiscal year 
        thereafter, until such time as the aggregate of the amounts 
        deposited is $290,722,958, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
        deposit into the fund an amount equal to 10 percent of the 
        receipts from the deposits to the Treasury of the United States 
        for the preceding fiscal year from the Program.
            (2) Percentage amount.--Beginning with fiscal year 2004, if 
        no other law provides for the compensation to parties in 
        conjunction with an applicable plan for the Program, the 
        Secretary of the Treasury shall deposit into the fund an amount 
        equal to 25 percent of the receipts from the deposits to the 
        Treasury of the United States for the preceding fiscal year 
        from the Program, until such time as the aggregate of the 
        amounts deposited into the fund from such receipts and receipts 
        deposited under paragraph (1) equals the amount specified in 
        paragraph (1).
            (3) Additional interest.--If, by the date that is 60 days 
        after the end of a fiscal year, the Secretary of the Treasury 
        fails to deposit into the fund an amount determined under 
        paragraph (1) or (2), the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
        deposit, in addition the applicable amount required to be 
        deposited under paragraph (1) or (2), interest on the amount 
        required to be deposited, determined for the period beginning 
        on the day after the termination of that 60-day period and 
        ending on the date on which the amount determined under 
        paragraph (1) or (2) is deposited, and based on a rate of 
        interest that is commonly referred to as the Treasury overnight 
        rate.
    (c) Withdrawal.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), in accordance 
        with section 202 of the American Indian Trust Fund Management 
        Reform Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 4022), the Tribe may, in 
        accordance with that Act, voluntarily withdraw some or all of 
        the funds held in trust for the Tribe by the United States and 
        managed by the Secretary through the Office.
            (2) Limitation.--No amount of principal withdrawn under 
        this subsection may be expended by the Tribe. The Tribe may 
        withdraw funds under this subsection on the condition that the 
        Tribe may expend only the interest earned on the principal.
    (e) Payment of Interest to Tribe.--In accordance with this Act, the 
Secretary, acting through the Office, and in a manner consistent with 
the first section of the Act of June 24, 1938 (52 Stat. 1037 et seq., 
chapter 648; 25 U.S.C. 162a) shall make payments to the Tribe from the 
interest credited to the interest component of the account, beginning 
at the end of the first fiscal year during which interest is credited 
to the account. The Tribe shall use the payments made under this 
subsection only for carrying out projects and programs pursuant to the 
plan prepared under subsection (f).
    (f) Plan.--
            (1) In general.--The governing body of the Tribe shall, not 
        later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 
        prepare a plan for the use of the payments made to the Tribe 
        under subsection (e).
            (2) Contents of plan.--The plan developed under this 
        subsection shall provide for the manner in which the Tribe will 
        expend the payments referred to in paragraph (1) to promote--
                    (A) economic development;
                    (B) infrastructure development;
                    (C) the educational, health, recreational, and 
                social welfare objectives of the Tribe and its members; 
                or
                    (D) any combination of the activities referred to 
                in subparagraphs (A) through (C).
            (3) Plan review and revision.--The Tribal Council of the 
        Tribe shall make available for review and comment by the 
        members of the Tribe a copy of the plan before the plan becomes 
        final, in accordance with procedures established by the Tribal 
        Council. The Tribal Council may, on an annual basis, update the 
        plan by revising the plan in a manner that provides the members 
        of the Tribe to review and comment on any proposed revision.
            (4) Audit.--The activities of the Tribe in carrying out the 
        plan under this subsection shall be audited as part of an 
        annual audit conducted for the Tribe. The auditors that conduct 
        the audit shall include in the written findings of that audit a 
        determination whether the funds received by the Tribe under 
        this section were expended in a manner consistent with this 
        section to carry out the plan under this subsection.
    (g) Transfers; Limitations.--
            (1) Withdrawal and transfer of funds.--In a manner 
        consistent with the requirements of this Act, upon request of 
        the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of the Treasury 
        shall withdraw amounts in the interest component of the account 
        and transfer such amounts to the Secretary of the Interior for 
        use in accordance with paragraph (2). The Secretary of the 
        Treasury may only withdraw funds from the account for the 
        purpose specificed in paragraph (2).
            (2) Payments to tribe.--The Secretary of the Interior shall 
        use the amounts transferred under paragraph (1) only for the 
        purpose of making annual payments to the Tribe.
            (4) Prohibition on per capita payments.--No portion of any 
        payment made under this subsection may be distributed to any 
        member of the Tribe on a per capita basis.

SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY OF TRIBE FOR CERTAIN PROGRAMS AND SERVICES.

    (a) In General.--No payment made to the Tribe pursuant to this Act 
shall result in the reduction or denial of any service or program to 
which, pursuant to Federal law--
            (1) the Tribe is otherwise entitled because of the status 
        of the Tribe as a federally recognized Indian tribe; or
            (2) any individual who is a member of the Tribe is entitled 
        because of the status of the individual as a member of the 
        Tribe.
    (b) Exemptions from Taxation.--No payment made pursuant to this Act 
shall be subject to any Federal or State income tax.
    (c) Power Rates.--No payment made pursuant to this Act shall affect 
Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin power rates.

SEC. 6. SALE OF WESTERN AREA POWER AUTHORITY.

    (a) In General.--If, before the amount specified in section 4(b)(1) 
is deposited into the Fund, the United States sells or otherwise 
transfers title to the assets and income of the Western Area Power 
Authority to an entity other than the United States--
            (1) an amount of the proceeds from that sale equal to the 
        difference between the amount specified in section 4(b)(1) and 
        the aggregate amount that, as of the sale of power authority, 
        had been paid into the Fund, shall be deposited in the Fund; or
            (2) the purchaser may assume responsibility for making 
        payments to the Treasury of the United States for deposit in 
        the Fund in amounts determined under section 4(b)(1).
    (b) Security.--If a purchaser assumes the responsibility for making 
the payments and shall provide the Tribe with appropriate security to 
secure those payments.
                                 <all>