[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4027 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4027

To amend the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act so 
 that it will be interpreted in accordance with the original intent of 
Congress to require a significant relationship be found between remains 
  discovered on Federal lands and presently existing Native American 
  tribes for those remains to be applicable under the Native American 
                Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 31, 2007

  Mr. Hastings of Washington introduced the following bill; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act so 
 that it will be interpreted in accordance with the original intent of 
Congress to require a significant relationship be found between remains 
  discovered on Federal lands and presently existing Native American 
  tribes for those remains to be applicable under the Native American 
                Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

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

SECTION 1. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to reflect the decisions of the United 
States District Court of Oregon and the United States Court of Appeals 
for the Ninth Circuit and reiterate that Congress intended the Native 
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (Public Law 101-601; 25 
U.S.C. 3001 et seq.) (referred to hereafter in this Act as the ``Act'') 
to apply only to remains and other cultural items that have a 
significant genetic or cultural relationship to presently existing 
Native American tribes, and to protect the ability for scientific study 
of ancient human remains or cultural items discovered on Federal lands 
that are not substantially related to presently existing tribes.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The American public benefits in many important ways 
        from new information about the ancient peoples and cultures 
        that preceded us on this continent.
            (2) The litigation that occurred over the study and 
        disposition of the ancient human skeletal remains known as 
        Kennewick Man was extremely costly and divisive. Ultimately, 
        the United States District Court of Oregon and the United 
        States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that 
        Federal agencies erred in applying the Act to Kennewick Man and 
        blocking scientific study.
            (3) Future controversies are likely to arise over 
        scientific study, safekeeping and disposition of other ancient 
        skeletal remains and cultural items if greater clarity is not 
        provided in the Act.
            (4) When the Act was originally enacted, it was the intent 
        of Congress that the Act should only apply to human remains or 
        other cultural items that have a special, significant, and 
        substantial relationship to presently existing Native 
        Americans.
            (5) Determinations by Federal agencies and museums that 
        human remains and other cultural items are subject to the 
        provisions of the Act should be based upon reliable and 
        substantial scientific information.
            (6) The Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 
        (Public Law 96-95; 93 Stat. 721, 16 U.S.C. 470aa et seq.) 
        reflects this Nation's commitment to the preservation of 
        archaeological resources and scientific study of these 
        resources for the benefit of all Americans.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    The text of section 2(9) of the Act (25 U.S.C. 3001(9)) is amended 
to read as follows: ```Native American' means cultural items that have 
a significant and substantial genetic or cultural relationship, based 
on factors other than geography alone, to a presently existing tribe, 
people, or culture that is now indigenous to the United States.''.

SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF ABILITY FOR SCIENTIFIC STUDY.

    Section 3 of the Act (25 U.S.C. 3002) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
    ``(f) Protection of Ability to Study.--Nothing in this Act shall be 
deemed to restrict excavation, examination, investigation, or 
scientific study under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 
1979 of any cultural item found on Federal land that has not been 
determined to be the property of an Indian tribe or a Native Hawaiian 
organization.''.
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