[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5498 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5498

 To permit landowners to assert otherwise available State law defenses 
             against real property claims by Indian tribes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 18, 2000

  Mr. Ewing introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To permit landowners to assert otherwise available State law defenses 
             against real property claims by Indian tribes.

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

SECTION 1. DEFENSES TO INDIAN CLAIMS.

    Except as provided in section 2, in any action or claim by or on 
behalf of an Indian tribe to enforce a real property right, or 
otherwise asserting a claim of Indian title or right regarding real 
property, the defendant may assert any affirmative defense that would 
be available under State law to a defendant opposing an analogous 
action or claim that does not involve an Indian tribe.

SEC. 2. EXCEPTION FOR GOVERNMENTAL DEFENDANTS.

    Section 1 shall not apply to any action or claim against a 
governmental entity with respect to land that is located within 
sovereign Indian country.

SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), this Act 
shall be construed and applied without regard to the interpretive 
judicial canon that remaining ambiguities should be resolved in favor 
of the Indians when standard tools of statutory construction leave no 
indication as to the meaning of an Indian treaty or statute.
    (b) Exception.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to judicial 
interpretation of an Indian treaty with respect to a determination of 
whether land was reserved or set aside by the Federal Government for 
the use of an Indian tribe as Indian land.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act:
            (1) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' means any 
        tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, or community that is 
        recognized by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to section 
        102 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 
        (25 U.S.C. 479a).
            (2) Sovereign indian country.--The term ``sovereign Indian 
        country'' means land--
                    (A) that is rightfully owned by, or is held in 
                trust by the Federal Government for, an Indian tribe;
                    (B) that was reserved or set aside for the use of 
                the Indian tribe as Indian land by the Federal 
                Government, and is either--
                            (i) outside the exterior geographical 
                        limits of any State; or
                            (ii) within the exterior geographical 
                        limits of a State that subsequently either--
                                    (I) acknowledged Indian title to 
                                the land involved when the land was 
                                made a part of the State, if that State 
                                is one of the original 13 States to 
                                form the United States; or
                                    (II) provided, either in the Act 
                                providing for the State's admission to 
                                the United States or in the State's 
                                first constitution, that all lands held 
                                by Indians within the State shall 
                                remain under the jurisdiction and 
                                control of the United States, in 
                                accordance with article I, section 8, 
                                clause 17 of the Constitution of the 
                                United States, if that State were 
                                admitted to the United States after 
                                1790; and
                    (C) for which the Indian title has not been 
                extinguished or the jurisdictional reservation revoked.

SEC. 5. ATTORNEYS FEES.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), in any 
action or proceeding that is subject to this Act, the court shall allow 
the prevailing party a reasonable attorney's fee with respect to a 
claim presented by the opposing party that was frivolous, unreasonable, 
or without foundation, or that the opposing party continued to litigate 
after it clearly became so. A claim shall be deemed--
            (1) legally frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation 
        only if it rests upon a legal theory that was clearly 
        unavailable under existing case law; and
            (2) factually frivolous, unreasonable, or without 
        foundation only if its proponent knew or should have known of 
        those facts that would require judgment for the opposing party 
        as a matter of law.
    (b) Exception.--No attorney's fee shall be assessed under 
subsection (a) against an Indian tribe seeking to enforce a right to an 
interest in land if the court determines that the land involved is 
located within sovereign Indian country.

SEC. 6. TIMING OF APPLICATION.

    This Act shall apply to any action, claim, or right described in 
section 1 that is pending, filed, or continuing on or after the date of 
enactment of this Act, other than a final money damages judgment to 
which no person has a right to raise a challenge by any available 
procedure.
                                 <all>