[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3699 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3699

  To provide for the use and distribution of the funds awarded to the 
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe in Minnesota Chippewa Tribe v. United States, 
     Docket Nos. 19 and 188, United States Court of Federal Claims.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 27, 2007

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for the use and distribution of the funds awarded to the 
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe in Minnesota Chippewa Tribe v. United States, 
     Docket Nos. 19 and 188, United States Court of Federal Claims.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Pursuant to the Revised Constitution and Bylaws of the 
        Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, as approved by the Assistant 
        Secretary of the Interior on March 3, 1964, the Minnesota 
        Chippewa Tribal Executive Committee is the governing body of 
        the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, comprised of the six member 
        Reservations (Bois Forte, Fond du Lac, Grand Portage, Leech 
        Lake, Mille Lacs, and White Earth).
            (2) The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe was the plaintiff in cases 
        referred to as Docket Nos. 19 and 188 (hereinafter referred to 
        as the ``Claims'') originally before the Indian Claims 
        Commission and, subsequently, before the United States Court of 
        Federal Claims.
            (3) The Claims arose from the disposition of tribal lands, 
        interests in lands, and other tribal assets.
            (4) The expenses of prosecuting the Claims were shared 
        equally by the 6 member Reservations and the decisions 
        regarding such prosecution were made by the Minnesota Chippewa 
        Tribal Executive Committee.
            (5) On July 1, 1998, the Minnesota Chippewa Tribal 
        Executive Committee enacted Resolution No. 01-99, approving a 
        settlement of the Claims by a vote of 6 for and 3 against with 
        10 members present.
            (6) On January 7, 1999, the Associate Solicitor, Division 
        of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, advised the 
        United States Department of Justice that Resolution 01-99 was 
        sufficient under the tribal constitution to approve the 
        settlement of the Claims.
            (7) On May 17, 1999, the United States Court of Federal 
        Claims entered an order adopting certain findings including a 
        finding that ``the Tribal Executive Committee has the 
        constitutional authority to enter into the proposed settlement 
        on behalf of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe''.
            (8) On May 26, 1999, the United States Court of Federal 
        Claims approved the settlement of the Claims and entered a 
        final judgment in the amount of $20,000,000 against the United 
        States in favor of the plaintiff Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
            (9) The Minnesota Chippewa Tribal Executive Committee is 
        authorized by the tribal constitution to make decisions to 
        administer, expend and apportion funds within the control of 
        the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
            (10) On September 9, 1999, the Minnesota Chippewa Tribal 
        Executive Committee enacted Resolution No. 40-00, allocating 
        each member Reservation an equal share of the judgment funds 
        from the Claims, by a vote of 10 for and 2 against, with 12 
        members present.
            (11) The judgment funds were deposited into trust fund 
        account JA1041696.
            (12) For purposes of the Indian Tribal Judgment Funds Use 
        or Distribution Act (25 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.), the sole present-
        day beneficiary of the funds is the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are to acknowledge that the 
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe is the sole beneficiary entity of the judgment 
funds, that its governing body, the Tribal Executive Committee, has the 
sovereign authority under the tribal constitution to allocate funds 
amongst its member Reservations, and accordingly that the judgment 
funds should be allocated as determined by the Tribal Executive 
Committee in its Resolution No. 40-00.

SEC. 2. DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other law, not later than 30 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 
Interior (hereinafter referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall 
distribute the funds awarded to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe in 
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe v. United States, Docket Nos. 19 and 188 in 
the United States Court of Federal Claims together with all interest 
and investment income accrued on deposit in trust account JA1041696 in 
equal shares to each of the following constituent bands of the 
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe:
            (1) The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa Indians.
            (2) The Fond du Lac Band of Chippewa Indians.
            (3) The Grand Portage Band of Chippewa Indians.
            (4) The Leech Lake Band of Chippewa Indians.
            (5) The Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians.
            (6) The White Earth Band of Chippewa Indians.
    (b) Use of Funds.--The shares of the bands shall be available for 
use in the manner determined by the governing body of each band, except 
not less than 20 percent of such funds shall be set aside for social 
and economic development, education, reservation infrastructure needs, 
and other governmental purposes.
    (c) Application of Other Law.--Section 7 of Public Law 93-134 (25 
U.S.C. 1407) shall apply to funds distributed pursuant to this Act.
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