[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.
                                 <all>