[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3534 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3534

   To provide for the settlement of certain land claims of Cherokee, 
  Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations to the Arkansas Riverbed in Oklahoma.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 19, 2001

   Mr. Carson of Oklahoma (for himself, Mr. Watkins of Oklahoma, Mr. 
   Kildee, and Mr. Largent) introduced the following bill; which was 
                 referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide for the settlement of certain land claims of Cherokee, 
  Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations to the Arkansas Riverbed in Oklahoma.

    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 ``Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw 
Nations Claims Settlement Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE; DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) It is the policy of the United States to promote tribal 
        self-determination and economic self-sufficiency and to 
        encourage the resolution of disputes over historical claims 
        through mutually agreed-to settlements between Indian Nations 
        and the United States.
            (2) There are pending before the United States Court of 
        Federal Claims certain lawsuits against the United States 
        brought by the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations seeking 
        monetary damages for the alleged use and mismanagement of 
        tribal resources along the Arkansas River in eastern Oklahoma.
            (3) Some of the significant historical facts relevant to 
        the claims and controversies between the Cherokee, Choctaw, and 
        Chickasaw Nations and the United States include the following:
                    (A) The Cherokee Nation, a federally recognized 
                Indian tribe with its present tribal headquarters near 
                Tahlequah, Oklahoma, having adopted its most recent 
                constitution on June 26, 1976, and having entered into 
                various treaties with the United States, including but 
                not limited to the Treaty at Hopewell, executed on 
                November 28, 1785 (7 Stat. 18), and the Treaty at 
                Washington, D.C., executed on July 19, 1866 (14 Stat. 
                799), has maintained a continuous government-to-
                government relationship with the United States since 
                the earliest years of the Union.
                    (B) The Choctaw Nation, a federally recognized 
                Indian tribe with its present tribal headquarters in 
                Durant, Oklahoma, having adopted its most recent 
                constitution on July 9, 1983, and having entered into 
                various treaties with the United States of America, 
                including but not limited to the Treaty at Hopewell, 
                executed on January 3, 1786 (7 Stat. 21), and the 
                Treaty at Washington, D.C., executed on April 28, 1866 
                (7 Stat. 21), has maintained a continuous government-
                to-government relationship with the United States since 
                the earliest years of the Union.
                    (C) The Chickasaw Nation, a federally recognized 
                Indian tribe with its present tribal headquarters in 
                Ada, Oklahoma, having adopted its most recent 
                constitution on August 27, 1983, and having entered 
                into various treaties with the United States of 
                America, including but not limited to the Treaty at 
                Hopewell, executed on January 10, 1786 (7 Stat. 24), 
                and the Treaty at Washington, D.C., executed on April 
                28, 1866 (7 Stat. 21), has maintained a continuous 
                government-to-government relationship with the United 
                States since the earliest years of the Union.
                    (D) In the first half of the 19th century, the 
                Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole 
                Nations were forcibly removed from their homelands in 
                the southeastern United States to lands west of the 
                Mississippi in the Indian Territory which were ceded to 
                them by the United States. From the ``Three Forks'' 
                area near present day Muskogee, Oklahoma, downstream to 
                the point of confluence with the Canadian River, the 
                Arkansas River flowed entirely within the territory of 
                the Cherokee Nation. From that point of confluence 
                downstream to the Arkansas territorial line, the 
                Arkansas River formed the boundary between the Cherokee 
                Nation on the left side of the thread of the river and 
                the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations on the right.
                    (E) Pursuant to the Act of April 30, 1906 (34 Stat. 
                137), title to the bed and banks of the Arkansas River 
                passed to the United States in  trust for the 
respective Indian Nations in accordance with their respective interests 
therein.
                    (F) For more than 60 years after Oklahoma 
                statehood, the Bureau of Indian Affairs incorrectly 
                assumed that Oklahoma owned the Riverbed from the 
                Arkansas State line to Three Forks, and therefore took 
                no action to protect the Indian Nations' Riverbed 
                resources such as oil and gas production, sand and 
                gravel as well as Drybed Lands suitable for grazing and 
                agriculture. The United States Government constructed 
                powerheads and other improvements in the channel of the 
                Arkansas River on tribal lands, using sand and gravel 
                belonging to the three Indian Nations. Due to the 
                Bureau's inaction, individuals with property near the 
                Arkansas River began to occupy the three Indian 
                Nations' Drybed Lands--lands that were under water at 
                the time of statehood but that are now dry due to 
                changes in the course of the river.
                    (G) In 1966, the three Indian Nations sued the 
                State of Oklahoma to recover their lands. In 1970, the 
                Supreme Court of the United States decided in the case 
                of Choctaw Nation vs. Oklahoma (396 U.S. 620 (1970)), 
                that the Indian Nations retained title to their 
                respective portions of the Riverbed along the navigable 
                reach of the river.
                    (H) In 1989, the three Indian Nations filed 
                lawsuits against the United States in the United States 
                Court of Federal Claims (Case Nos. 218-89L and 630-
                89L), seeking damages for the United States use and 
                mismanagement of tribal trust resources along the 
                Arkansas River. Those actions are still pending.
                    (I) In 1997, the United States filed quiet title 
                litigation against individuals occupying some of the 
                Indian Nations' Drybed Lands. That action, filed in the 
                United States District Court for the Eastern District 
                of Oklahoma, was dismissed without prejudice on 
                technical grounds.
                    (J) From time to time over the years following the 
                Indian Nations' Court of Federal Claims litigation, the 
                Indian Nations, the Department of Justice, the Bureau 
                of Indian Affairs, and the Indian Nations have engaged 
                in settlement negotiations.
            (4) Nearly 7,750 acres of the Indian Nations' Drybed Lands 
        have been occupied by a large number of adjacent landowners in 
        Oklahoma. Without Federal legislation, further litigation 
        against thousands of such landowners would be likely and any 
        final resolution of pending disputes through a process of 
        litigation would take many years and entail great expense to 
        the United States, the three Indian Nations, and the 
        individuals and entities occupying the Drybed Lands and would 
        seriously impair long-term economic planning and development 
        for all parties.
            (5) The Councils of the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw 
        Nations have each enacted tribal legislation which would, 
        contingent upon the passage of this Act and in exchange for the 
        monies appropriated hereunder--
                    (A) settle and forever release their respective 
                claims against the United States asserted by them in 
                United States Court of Federal Claims Case Nos. 218-89L 
                and 630-89L; and
                    (B) forever disclaim any and all right, title, and 
                interest in and to the Disclaimed Drybed Lands, as set 
                forth in those enactments of the respective councils of 
                those Nations described in paragraph (6).
            (6) The enactments of settlement legislation adopted by the 
        respective Councils of the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw 
        Nations each provide that, contingent upon the passage of this 
        Act, the Indian Nation agrees to dismiss, release, and forever 
        discharge its claims asserted against the United States in the 
        United States Court of Federal Claims, Case No. 218-89L, and to 
        disclaim any right, title, or interest of the Nation in the 
        Disclaimed Drybed Lands, in exchange for the funds appropriated 
        and allocated to the Indian Nation under the provisions of this 
        Act, which funds the Nation agrees to accept in full 
        satisfaction and settlement of all claims against the United 
        States for its use of and damage to the bed of the Arkansas 
        River arising out of the construction of the McClellan-Kerr 
        Navigation Way and for the damages sought in the aforementioned 
        claims asserted in the United States Court of Federal Claims, 
        and as full and fair compensation for disclaiming its right, 
        title, and interest in the Disclaimed Drybed Lands, payable in 
        the next fiscal year after the date of the enactment of this 
        Act.
            (7) In those enactments, each Indian Nation expressly 
        reserved all of its beneficial interest and title to all other 
        Riverbed lands, including minerals, as determined by the 
        Supreme Court in Choctaw Nation v. Oklahoma, 397 U.S. 620 
        (1970), and further reserved any and all right, title, or 
        interest that each Nation may have in and to the water flowing 
        in said river and its tributaries.
    (b) Purpose.--The purposes of this Act are as follows:
            (1) To approve, ratify, and confirm an agreed-to resolution 
        of claims brought by the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw 
        Nations against the United States, and the agreed-to 
        disclaimers of the three Indian Nations to any right, title, or 
        interest in approximately 7,750 acres of Drybed Lands 
        contiguous to the present channel of the Arkansas River in 
        certain townships in eastern Oklahoma.
            (2) To reserve the three Indian Nations' beneficial 
        interest in the Riverbed except for the Disclaimed Drybed 
        Lands.
            (3) To authorize and direct the Secretary to implement the 
        terms of such settlement.
            (4) To authorize the actions and appropriations necessary 
        to implement the provisions of this Act.
            (5) To maintain the trust relationship between the United 
        States and each of the three Indian Nations.
    (c) Definitions.--For the purposes of this Act, the following 
definitions apply:
            (1) Disclaimed drybed lands.--The term ``Disclaimed Drybed 
        Lands'' means all Drybed Lands along the Arkansas River that 
        are located in Township 10 North in Range 24 East, Townships 9 
        and 10 North in Range 25 East, Township 10 North in Range 26 
        East, and Townships 10 and 11 North in Range 27 east, in the 
        State of Oklahoma.
            (2) Drybed lands.--The term ``Drybed Lands'' means those 
        Riverbed lands of the three Indian Nations which lie above and 
        contiguous to the present high water mark of the Arkansas River 
        in the State of Oklahoma but which have become part of the 
        Riverbed by operation of accretion and avulsion.
            (3) Indian nation; indian nations.--The term ``Indian 
        Nation'' means the Cherokee Nation, Choctaw Nation, or 
        Chickasaw Nation, and the term ``Indian Nations'' means all 
        three tribes collectively.
            (4) Riverbed.--The term ``Riverbed'' means the Drybed Lands 
        and the Wetbed Lands and includes all minerals therein.
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (6) Wetbed lands.--The term ``Wetbed Lands'' means those 
        Riverbed lands which lie below the high water mark of the 
        Arkansas River in the State of Oklahoma exclusive of the Drybed 
        Lands.

SEC. 3. SETTLEMENT AND CLAIMS; APPROPRIATIONS; ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.

    (a) Extinguishment of Claims.--Upon payment of the funds 
appropriated under this section, all claims for use of and damage to 
the Riverbed arising out of the construction and maintenance of the 
McClellan-Kerr Navigation Way and the claims asserted by the Cherokee, 
Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations in the United States Court of Federal 
Claims against the United States shall be deemed extinguished.
    (b) Release of Tribal Claims to Certain Drybed Lands.--
            (1) In general.--Upon the deposit of all funds authorized 
        for appropriation under subsection (c) for an Indian Nation 
        into the appropriate trust fund account described in section 4, 
        all claims and all right, title, and interest that the Indian 
        Nations may have to the Disclaimed Drybed Lands, shall be 
        deemed extinguished. The Secretary shall execute an appropriate 
        document citing this Act, suitable for filing with the county 
        clerks, or such other county official as is appropriate, of 
        those counties wherein the foregoing described lands are 
        located, disclaiming tribal interests in such Disclaimed Drybed 
        Lands.
            (2) Exception.--Notwithstanding any provision of this Act, 
        the Indian Nations do not relinquish any right, title, or 
        interest in any lands or minerals to which the United States 
        claims title which are contiguous to the Riverbed, and no 
        provision of this Act shall be construed to extinguish or 
        convey any water rights of the Indian Nations in the Arkansas 
        River or any other stream or the beneficial interests or title 
        of any of the Indian Nations in and to trust lands lying above 
        or below the high water mark of the Arkansas River, except for 
        the Disclaimed Drybed Lands.
            (3) Land to be taken into trust.--To the extent that the 
        United States determines that it is able to effectively 
        maintain the McClellan-Kerr Navigation Way without retaining 
        title to lands above the high water mark of the Arkansas River, 
        said lands, after being declared surplus, shall be taken into 
        trust for the Indian Nation within whose boundary the land is 
        located. All Wetbed Lands, including minerals, from the 
        Arkansas State line upstream to the historic point of 
        navigability near the confluence of the Arkansas, Verdigris, 
        and Grand Rivers, and all Drybed Lands located outside the 
        foregoing described Townships, shall continue to be held by the 
        United States in trust for the beneficiary Indian Nation and 
        shall be protected in accordance with applicable law governing 
        tribal trust lands.
    (c) Authorization for Settlement Appropriations.--
            (1) Settlement of claims.--There is authorized to be 
        appropriated the aggregate sum of $41,293,245. After payment 
        pursuant to section 5, the remaining funds appropriated under 
        this subsection shall be paid and allocated among the three 
        Indian Nations in accordance with subsection (d) and deposited 
        into the trust fund accounts established pursuant to section 4. 
        Such payment shall be in full satisfaction and settlement of 
        the Indian Nations' claims for the use of and damage to the 
        Arkansas Riverbed arising out of the construction and 
        maintenance of the McClellan-Kerr Navigation Way and asserted 
        against the United States in the United States Court of Federal 
        Claims, Case Nos. 218-89L and 630-89L, and in full satisfaction 
        of, and as compensation for, the three Indian Nations' 
        respective right, title, and interest in and to the Disclaimed 
        Drybed Lands.
            (2) Rentals.--In addition to funds authorized to be 
        appropriated in paragraph (1), there is authorized for 
        appropriation and allocated in accordance with subsection (d) 
        $8,000,000, representing the present value of the fair market 
        rentals for the location and future operation in perpetuity of 
        the two hydropower generation and related facilities at the 
        Webbers Falls Lock and Dam and the Kerr Lock and Dam on the 
        Arkansas River.
    (d) Allocation and Deposit of Funds.--After payment pursuant to 
section 5, the remaining funds authorized for appropriation under 
subsection (c) shall be allocated among the Indian Nations as follows:
            (1) 50 percent to be deposited into the trust fund account 
        established under section 4 for the Cherokee Nation.
            (2) 37.5 percent to be deposited into the trust fund 
        account established under section 4 for the Choctaw Nation.
            (3) 12.5 percent to be deposited into the trust fund 
        account established under section 4 for the Chickasaw Nation.

SEC. 4. TRIBAL TRUST FUNDS.

    (a) Trust Fund Accounts and Uses of Trust Funds.--All funds 
appropriated and paid pursuant to  section 3 shall be deposited into 
three separate tribal trust fund accounts to be established by the 
Secretary for the benefit of each of the three Indian Nations. All 
funds deposited into said accounts, and any income earned thereon, 
shall be expended only in accordance with the provisions of this 
section. No funds deposited into the trust fund accounts established in 
section 4 shall be made available to the beneficiary Indian Nation 
until that Nation files the appropriate stipulation of dismissal with 
prejudice of all claims asserted in Case Nos. 218-89L or 630-89L, filed 
in the United States Court of Federal Claims.
    (b) Land Acquisition.--The funds appropriated and allocated to the 
Indian Nations pursuant to section 3(c) and deposited into trust fund 
accounts pursuant to section 4(a), together with any interest earned 
thereon, and allocated pursuant to section 3(d) may be used for the 
acquisition of land by the three Indian Nations for transfer to the 
United States in trust for the beneficiary Indian Nation in accordance 
with the Secretary's trust land acquisition regulations at part 151 of 
title 25, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on January 1, 2001. 
Any such trust land acquisitions on behalf of the Cherokee Nation shall 
be mandatory if the land proposed to be acquired is located within 
Township 12 North, Range 21 East, in Sequoyah County, Township 11 
North, Range 18 East, in McIntosh County, Townships 11 and 12 North, 
Range 19 East, or Township 12 North, Range 20 East, in Muskogee County, 
Oklahoma, and not within the limits of any incorporated municipality as 
of January 1, 2001, except that any such land proposed to be acquired 
must meet the Department of Interior's minimum environmental standards 
and requirements for real estate acquisitions set forth in 602 DM 2.6, 
as in effect on January 1, 2001, and the title to such land must meet 
applicable Federal title standards as in effect on said date. The 
Indian Nations may elect to expend all or a portion of the funds 
deposited into its trust account for any other purposes authorized 
under subsection (c).
    (c) Investment of Trust Funds; No Per Capita Payment.--
            (1) No per capita payments.--No money received by the 
        Indian Nations hereunder may be used for a general per capita 
        payment.
            (2) Investment by secretary.--Except as provided in this 
        section and section 5, the principal of such funds deposited 
        into the accounts established hereunder and any interest earned 
        thereon shall be invested by the Secretary in accordance with 
        current laws and regulations for the investing of tribal trust 
        funds.
            (3) Use of principal funds.--The principal amounts of said 
        funds and any amounts earned thereon shall be made available to 
        the Indian Nation for which the account was established for 
        expenditure for purposes which may include construction or 
        repair of health care facilities, law enforcement, cultural or 
        other education activities, economic development, social 
        services, and land acquisition. Land acquisition using such 
        funds shall be subject to the provisions of subsections (b) and 
        (d).
    (d) Disbursement of Funds.--The Secretary shall disburse the funds 
from a trust account established under this section pursuant to a 
budget adopted by the Council of the Indian Nation setting forth the 
amount and an intended use of such funds.

SEC. 5. ATTORNEY FEES.

    (a) Payment.--At the time the funds are paid to the Indian Nations, 
from funds authorized to be appropriated pursuant to section 3(c), the 
Secretary shall pay to the Indian Nations' attorneys those fees 
provided for in the individual tribal attorney fee contracts as 
approved by the respective Indian Nations.
    (b) Limitations.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), the total fees 
payable to attorneys under such contracts with an Indian Nation shall 
not exceed 10 percent of that Indian Nation's allocation of funds 
appropriated under section 3(c).
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