[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 884 Reported in House (RH)]
Union Calendar No. 174
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 884
[Report No. 108-299]
To provide for the use and distribution of the funds awarded to the
Western Shoshone identifiable group under Indian Claims Commission
Docket Numbers 326-A-1, 326-A-3, and 326-K, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 25, 2003
Mr. Gibbons introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources
October 7, 2003
Additional sponsor: Mr. Porter
October 7, 2003
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on
February 25, 2003]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the use and distribution of the funds awarded to the
Western Shoshone identifiable group under Indian Claims Commission
Docket Numbers 326-A-1, 326-A-3, and 326-K, 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 ``Western Shoshone Claims Distribution
Act''.
SEC. 2. DISTRIBUTION OF DOCKET 326-K FUNDS.
The funds appropriated in satisfaction of the judgment award
granted to the ``Western Shoshone Identifiable Group'' of the Shoshone
Nation, under Docket Number 326-K before the Indian Claims Commission,
including all earned interest, shall be distributed as follows:
(1) Judgment roll.--The Secretary shall identify and
allocate the resources necessary to establish a Western
Shoshone Judgment Roll consisting of all Western Shoshones
who--
(A) have at least \1/4\ degree of Western Shoshone
Blood;
(B) are citizens of the United States; and
(C) are living on the date of enactment of this
Act.
(2) Certain individuals ineligible.--Any individual
determined or certified as eligible by the Secretary to receive
a per capita payment from any other judgment fund, based upon
an aboriginal land claim, awarded by the Indian Claims
Commission, the United States Claims Court, or the United
States Court of Federal Claims, that was appropriated on or
before the date of enactment of this Act, shall not be eligible
for enrollment under this Act.
(3) Publication of roll.--Not later than 120 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall publish in
the Federal Register rules and regulations governing the
establishment of the Western Shoshone Judgment Roll and shall
use any documents acceptable to the Secretary in establishing
proof of eligibility. The Secretary's determination on all
applications for enrollment under this paragraph shall be
final.
(4) Per capita payments.--Upon completing the Western
Shoshone Judgment Roll under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall
make a per capita distribution of 100 percent of the funds
described in this section, in a sum as equal as possible, to
each person listed on the judgment roll.
(5) Conditions of per capita payments.--
(A) With respect to the distribution of funds under
this section, the per capita shares of living competent
adults who have reached the age of 19 years on the date
of the distribution provided for under paragraph (4),
shall be paid directly to them.
(B) The per capita shares of deceased individuals
shall be distributed to their heirs and legatees in
accordance with regulations prescribed by the
Secretary.
(C) The shares of legally incompetent individuals
shall be administered pursuant to regulations and
procedures established by the Secretary under section
3(b)(3) of Public Law 93-134 (25 U.S.C. 1403(b)(3)).
(D) The shares of minors and individuals who are
under the age of 19 years on the date of the
distribution provided for under paragraph (4) shall be
held by the Secretary in supervised individual Indian
money accounts. The funds from such accounts shall be
disbursed over a period of 4 years in payments equaling
25 percent of the principal, plus the interest earned
on that portion of the per capita share. The first
payment shall be disbursed to individuals who have
reached the age of 18 years if such individuals are
deemed legally competent. Subsequent payments shall be
disbursed within 90 days of the individual's following
3 birthdays.
(6) Applicable law.--All funds distributed under this Act,
are subject to the provisions of section 7 of Public Law 93-134
(25 U.S.C. 1407).
(7) Unpaid amounts.--All per capita shares belonging to
living competent adults certified as eligible to share in the
judgment fund distribution under this section, and the interest
earned on those shares, that remain unpaid for a period of 6
years shall be added to the principal funds that are held and
invested in accordance with section 3, except that in the case
of a minor, such 6-year period shall not begin to run until the
minor reaches the age of majority.
(8) Residual amounts.--Any other residual principal and
interest funds remaining after the distribution under paragraph
(4) is complete shall be added to the principal funds that are
held and invested in accordance with section 3.
(9) Not a waiver of treaty rights.--Receipt of a share of
the judgment funds under this section shall not be construed as
a waiver of any existing treaty rights pursuant to the ``1863
Treaty of Ruby Valley'', inclusive of all Articles I through
VIII, and shall not prevent any Western Shoshone Tribe or Band
or individual Shoshone Indian from pursuing other rights
guaranteed by law.
SEC. 3. DISTRIBUTION OF DOCKETS 326-A-1 AND 326-A-3.
The funds appropriated in satisfaction of the judgment awards
granted to the Western Shoshone Indians in Docket Numbers 326-A-1 and
326-A-3 before the United States Court of Claims, and the funds
referred to under paragraphs (7) and (8) of section 2, together with
all earned interest, shall be distributed as follows:
(1) Establishment of trust fund.--(A) not later than 120
days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary
shall establish in the Treasury of the United States a trust
fund to be known as the ``Western Shoshone Educational Trust
Fund'' for the benefit of the Western Shoshone members. There
shall be credited to the Trust Fund the funds described in the
matter preceding this paragraph.
(B) The principal in the Trust Fund shall not be expended
or disbursed. The Trust Fund shall be invested as provided for
in section 1 of the Act of June 24, 1938 (25 U.S.C. 162a).
(C)(i) All accumulated and future interest and income from
the Trust Fund shall be distributed, subject to clause (ii)--
(I) as educational grants and as other
forms of educational assistance determined
appropriate by the Administrative Committee
established under paragraph (2) to individual
Western Shoshone members as required under this
Act; and
(II) to pay the reasonable and necessary
expenses of such Administrative Committee (as
defined in the written rules and procedures of
such Committee).
(ii) Funds shall not be distributed under this
paragraph on a per capita basis.
(2) Administrative committee.--(A) An Administrative
Committee, exclusively comprised of Western Shoshone, to
oversee the distribution of the educational grants and
assistance authorized under section (3)(2) shall be established
as provided for in this paragraph.
(B) The Western Shoshone Administrative Committee shall
consist of 1 representative from each of the following
organizations:
(i) The Te-Moak Tribes of Western Shoshone Indians.
(ii) The Duckwater Shoshone Tribe.
(iii) The Yomba Shoshone Tribe.
(iv) The Ely Shoshone Tribe.
(v) The Western Shoshone Committee of the Duck
Valley Reservation.
(vi) The Fallon Band of Western Shoshone.
(vii) The at-large community.
(C) Each member of the Committee shall serve for a term of
4 years. If a vacancy remains unfilled in the membership of the
Committee for a period in excess of 60 days, the Committee
shall appoint a replacement from among qualified members of the
organization for which the replacement is being made and such
member shall serve until the organization to be represented
designates a replacement.
(D) The Secretary shall consult with the Committee on the
management and investment of the funds subject to distribution
under this section.
(E) The Committee shall have the authority to disburse the
accumulated interest fund under this Act in accordance with the
terms of this Act. The Committee shall be responsible for
ensuring that the funds provided through grants and assistance
under paragraph (1)(C) are utilized in a manner consistent with
the terms of this Act. In accordance with paragraph
(1)(C)(i)(II), the Committee may use a portion of the interest
funds to pay all of the reasonable and necessary expenses of
the Committee, including per diem rates for attendance at
meetings that are the same as those paid to Federal employees
in the same geographic location.
(F) The Committee shall develop written rules and
procedures that include such matters as operating procedures,
appeals procedures, rules of conduct, eligibility criteria for
receipt of educational grants or assistance (such criteria to
be consistent with this Act), application selection procedures,
fund disbursement procedures, and fund recoupment procedures.
Such rules and procedures shall be subject to the approval of
the Secretary. A portion of the interest funds in the Trust
Fund, not to exceed $100,000, may be used by the Committee to
pay the expenses associated with developing such rules and
procedures. At the discretion of the Committee, and with the
approval of the appropriate tribal governing body or
organization, jurisdiction to hear appeals of the Committee's
decisions may be exercised by a tribal court, or a court of
Indian offenses operated under section 11 of title 25, Code of
Federal Regulations.
(G) The Committee shall employ an independent certified
public accountant to prepare an annual financial statement that
includes the operating expenses of the Committee and the total
amount of educational grants or assistance disbursed for the
fiscal year for which the statement is being prepared under
this section. The Committee shall compile a list of names of
all individuals approved to receive such grants or assistance
during such fiscal year. The financial statement and the list
shall be distributed to each organization represented on the
Committee and the Secretary and copies shall be made available
to the Western Shoshone members upon request.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act the following definitions apply:
(1) Administrative committee; committee.--The terms
``Administrative Committee'' and ``Committee'' mean the
Administrative Committee established under section 3(2).
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(3) Trust fund.--The term ``Trust Fund'' means the Western
Shoshone Educational Trust Fund established under section 3(1).
(4) Western shoshone members.--The term ``Western Shoshone
member'' means an individual who appears on a Western Shoshone
Band or Tribe Base Roll or an individual who is the lineal
descendant of an individual appearing on the base roll of one
of the Western Bands of the Shoshone Nation of Indians, who
meets the criteria of section 2(1) under this Act and for
purposes of the trust funds, who--
(A) satisfies all eligibility criteria established
by the Administrative Committee under section 3(F);
(B) fulfills all application requirements
established by the Committee; and
(C) agrees to utilize funds distributed in
accordance with section 3(1)(C)(i)(I) in a manner
approved by the Committee for educational purposes.
(5) Western shoshone identifiable group.--The term
``Western Shoshone Identifiable Group'' means those individual
Western Shoshones identified as claimants by the Indian Claims
Commission in Dockets 326-K, 326-A-1, and 326-A-3, distinct and
severed from the claims of the Northwestern, Eastern, and Mixed
Bands of Shoshones and Bannocks, Lemhi, or Goshute bands of the
Shoshone Nation.
(6) Aboriginal land claim.--The term ``aboriginal land
claim'' means a claim derived from land where the band, tribe
or identifiable group claimed a right of occupancy based on
their immemorial possession of the area.
(7) Base roll.--The term ``base roll'' means the
originating census (list) compiled by the Federal Government
that established tribal membership.
SEC. 5. REGULATIONS.
The Secretary may promulgate such regulations as are necessary to
carry out this Act.
Union Calendar No. 174
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 884
[Report No. 108-299]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the use and distribution of the funds awarded to the
Western Shoshone identifiable group under Indian Claims Commission
Docket Numbers 326-A-1, 326-A-3, and 326-K, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
October 7, 2003
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed