[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 964 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
106th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 964
To provide for equitable compensation for the Cheyenne River Sioux
Tribe, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 5, 1999
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.
This Act may be cited as the ``Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Equitable
Compensation Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) by enacting the Act of December 22, 1944, (58 Stat.
887, chapter 665; 33 U.S.C. 701-1 et seq.), commonly known as
the ``Flood Control Act of 1944'', Congress approved the Pick-
Sloan Missouri River Basin program (referred to in this section
as the ``Pick-Sloan program'')--
(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--
(A) 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;
(B) overlies the eastern boundary of the Cheyenne
River Sioux Indian Reservation; and
(C) has not only contributed little to the economy
of the Tribe, but has severely damaged the economy of
the Tribe and members of the Tribe by inundating 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;
(3) the Secretary of the Interior appointed a Joint Tribal
Advisory Committee that examined the Oahe Dam and Reservoir
project and 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 land acquisition described in subparagraph (A);
(4) after applying the same method of analysis as is used
for the compensation of similarly situated Indian tribes, the
Comptroller General of the United States (referred to in this
Act as the ``Comptroller General'') determined that the
appropriate amount of compensation to pay the Tribe for the
land acquisition described in paragraph (3)(A) would be
$290,722,958;
(5) the Tribe is entitled to receive additional financial
compensation for the land acquisition described in paragraph
(3)(A) in a manner consistent with the determination of the
Comptroller General described in paragraph (4); and
(6) the establishment of a trust fund to make amounts
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 acquisition by the Federal Government of 104,492
acres of land of the Tribe for the Oahe Dam and Reservoir
project in a manner consistent with the determinations of the
Comptroller General described in subsection (a)(4).
(2) To provide for the establishment of the Cheyenne River
Sioux Tribal Recovery Fund, to be managed by the Secretary of
the Treasury 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) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Cheyenne River
Sioux Tribe, which is comprised of the Itazipco, Siha Sapa,
Minniconjou, and Oohenumpa bands of the Great Sioux Nation that
reside on the Cheyenne Reservation, located in central South
Dakota.
(2) Tribal council.--The term ``Tribal Council'' means the
governing body of the Tribe.
SEC. 4. CHEYENNE RIVER SIOUX TRIBAL RECOVERY TRUST FUND.
(a) Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Recovery Trust Fund.--There is
established in the Treasury of the United States a fund to be known as
the ``Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Recovery Trust Fund'' (referred to in
this Act as the ``Fund''). The Fund shall consist of any amounts
deposited into the Fund under this Act.
(b) Funding.--Out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise
appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall deposit $290,722,958
into the Fund not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of
this Act.
(c) Investment of Trust Fund.--It shall be the duty of the
Secretary of the Treasury to invest such portion of the Fund as is not,
in the Secretary of Treasury's judgment, required to meet current
withdrawals. Such investments may be made only in interest-bearing
obligations of the United States or in obligations guaranteed as to
both principal and interest by the United States. The Secretary of the
Treasury shall deposit interest resulting from such investments into
the Fund.
(d) Payment of Interest to Tribe.--
(1) In general.--
(A) Withdrawal of interest.--Beginning at the end
of the first fiscal year in which interest is deposited
into the Fund, the Secretary of the Treasury shall
withdraw the applicable percentage amount of the
aggregate amount of interest deposited into the Fund
for that fiscal year (as determined under subparagraph
(B)) and transfer that amount to the Secretary of the
Interior for use in accordance with paragraph (2). Each
amount so transferred shall be available without fiscal
year limitation.
(B) Applicable percentage amounts.--The applicable
percentage amount referred to in subparagraph (A) shall
be as follows:
(i) 10 percent for the first fiscal year
for which interest is deposited into the Fund.
(ii) 20 percent for the 2d such fiscal
year.
(iii) 30 percent for the 3rd such fiscal
year.
(iv) 40 percent for the 4th such fiscal
year.
(v) 50 percent for the 5th such fiscal
year.
(vi) 60 percent for the 6th such fiscal
year.
(vii) 70 percent for the 7th such fiscal
year.
(viii) 80 percent for the 8th such fiscal
year.
(ix) 90 percent for the 9th such fiscal
year.
(x) 100 percent for the 10th such fiscal
year, and for each such fiscal year thereafter.
(2) Payments to tribe.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary of the Interior
shall use the amounts transferred under paragraph (1)
only for the purpose of making payments to the Tribe,
as such payments are requested by the Tribe pursuant to
tribal resolution.
(B) Limitation.--Payments may be made by the
Secretary of the Interior under subparagraph (A) only
after the Tribe has adopted a plan under subsection
(f).
(C) Use of payments by tribe.--The Tribe shall use
the payments made under subparagraph (B) only for
carrying out projects and programs under the plan
prepared under subsection (f).
(D) Pledge of future payments.--
(i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii),
the Tribe may enter into an agreement under
which the Tribe pledges future payments under
this paragraph as security for a loan or other
financial transaction.
(ii) Limitations.--The Tribe--
(I) may enter into an agreement
under clause (i) only in connection
with the purchase of land or other
capital assets; and
(II) may not pledge, for any year
under an agreement referred to in
clause (i), an amount greater than 40
percent of any payment under this
paragraph for that year.
(e) Transfers and Withdrawals.--Except as provided in subsections
(c) and (d)(1), the Secretary of the Treasury may not transfer or
withdraw any amount deposited under subsection (b).
(f) Plan.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 18 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the governing body of the Tribe shall
prepare a plan for the use of the payments to the Tribe under
subsection (d) (referred to in this subsection as the
``plan'').
(2) Contents of plan.--The plan shall provide for the
manner in which the Tribe shall expend payments to the Tribe
under subsection (d) 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 described in
subparagraphs (A) through (C).
(3) Plan review and revision.--
(A) In general.--The Tribal Council 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.
(B) Updating of plan.--The Tribal Council may, on
an annual basis, revise the plan to update the plan. In
revising the plan under this subparagraph, the Tribal
Council shall provide the members of the Tribe
opportunity to review and comment on any proposed
revision to the plan.
(C) Consultation.--In preparing the plan and any
revisions to update the plan, the Tribal Council shall
consult with the Secretary of the Interior and the
Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(4) Audit.--
(A) In general.--The activities of the Tribe in
carrying out the plan shall be audited as part of the
annual single-agency audit that the Tribe is required
to prepare pursuant to the Office of Management and
Budget circular numbered A-133.
(B) Determination by auditors.--The auditors that
conduct the audit described in subparagraph (A) shall--
(i) determine whether funds received by the
Tribe under this section for the period covered
by the audit were expended to carry out the
plan in a manner consistent with this section;
and
(ii) include in the written findings of the
audit the determination made under clause (i).
(C) Inclusion of findings with publication of
proceedings of tribal council.--A copy of the written
findings of the audit described in subparagraph (A)
shall be inserted in the published minutes of the
Tribal Council proceedings for the session at which the
audit is presented to the Tribal Council.
(g) Prohibition on Per Capita Payments.--No portion of any payment
made under this Act may be distributed to any member of the Tribe on a
per capita basis.
SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY OF TRIBE FOR CERTAIN PROGRAMS AND SERVICES.
No payment made to the Tribe under this Act shall result in the
reduction or denial of any service or program with respect to which,
under 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.
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such funds as may be
necessary to carry out this Act, including such funds as may be
necessary to cover the administrative expenses of the Fund.
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