[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1272 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1272

  To provide for the use and distribution of the funds awarded to the 
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, et al, by the United States Court of Federal 
      Claims in Docket Numbers 19 and 188, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 30, 2011

 Mr. Peterson (for himself and Mr. Cravaack) 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, et al, by the United States Court of Federal 
      Claims in Docket Numbers 19 and 188, 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 ``Minnesota Chippewa Tribe Judgment 
Fund Distribution Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) On January 22, 1948, the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, 
        representing all Chippewa bands in Minnesota except the Red 
        Lake Band, filed a claim before the Indian Claims Commission in 
        Docket No. 19 for an accounting of all funds received and 
        expended pursuant to the Act of January 14, 1889, 25 Stat. 642, 
        and amendatory acts (hereinafter referred to as the Nelson 
        Act).
            (2) On August 2, 1951, the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, 
        representing all Chippewa bands in Minnesota except the Red 
        Lake Band, filed a number of claims before the Indian Claims 
        Commission in Docket No. 188 for an accounting of the 
        Government's obligation to each of the member bands of the 
        Minnesota Chippewa Tribe under various statutes and treaties 
        that are not covered by the Nelson Act of January 14, 1889.
            (3) On May 17, 1999, a Joint Motion for Findings in Aid of 
        Settlement of the claims in Docket No. 19 and 188 was filed 
        before the Court.
            (4) The terms of the settlement were approved by the Court 
        and the final judgment was entered on May 26, 1999.
            (5) On June 22, 1999, $20,000,000 was transferred to the 
        Department of the Interior and deposited into a trust fund 
        account established for the beneficiaries of the funds awarded 
        in Docket No. 19 and 188.
            (6) Pursuant to the Indian Tribal Judgment Funds Use or 
        Distribution Act (25 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.), Congress must act to 
        authorize the use or distribution of the judgment funds.
            (7) On October 1, 2009, the Minnesota Chippewa Tribal 
        Executive Committee passed Resolution 146-09, approving a plan 
        to distribute the judgment funds and requesting that the United 
        States Congress act to distribute the judgment funds in the 
        manner described by the plan.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purpose of this Act:
            (1) Available funds.--The term ``available funds'' means 
        the funds awarded to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe and interest 
        earned and received on those funds, less the funds used for 
        payments authorized under section 4.
            (2) Bands.--The term ``Bands'' means the Bois Forte Band, 
        Fond du Lac Band, Grand Portage Band, Leech Lake Band, Mille 
        Lacs Band, and White Earth Band.
            (3) Judgment funds.--The term ``judgment funds'' means the 
        funds awarded on May 26, 1999, to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe 
        by the Court of Federal Claims in Docket No. 19 and 188.
            (4) Minnesota chippewa tribe.--The term ``Minnesota 
        Chippewa Tribe'' means the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota, 
        composed of the Bois Forte Band, Fond du Lac Band, Grand 
        Portage Band, Leech Lake Band, Mille Lacs Band, and White Earth 
        Band. It does not include Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, 
        Minnesota.
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.

SEC. 4. LOAN REIMBURSEMENTS TO MINNESOTA CHIPPEWA TRIBE.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary is authorized to reimburse the 
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe the amount of funds, plus interest earned to 
the date of reimbursement, that the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe 
contributed for payment of attorneys' fees and litigation expenses 
associated with the litigation of Docket No. 19 and 188 before the U.S. 
Court of Federal Claims and the distribution of judgment funds.
    (b) Claims.--The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe's claim for reimbursement 
of funds expended shall be--
            (1) presented to the Secretary not later than 90 days after 
        the date of enactment of this Act;
            (2) certified by the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe as being 
        unreimbursed to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe from other funding 
        sources;
            (3) paid with interest calculated at the rate of 6.0 
        percent per annum, simple interest, from the date the funds 
        were expended to the date the funds are reimbursed to the 
        Minnesota Chippewa Tribe; and
            (4) paid from the judgment funds prior to the division of 
        the funds under section 5.

SEC. 5. DIVISION OF JUDGMENT FUNDS.

    (a) Membership Rolls.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe shall submit to the 
Secretary updated membership rolls for each Band which shall include 
all enrolled members living on the date of enectment of this Act.
    (b) Divisions.--After all funds have been reimbursed under section 
4, and the membership rolls have been updated, the Secretary shall--
            (1) set aside for each Band a portion of the available 
        judgment funds equivalent to $300 for each member enrolled 
        within each Band; and
            (2) after the funds are divided in accordance with 
        paragraph (1), divide 100 percent of the funds remaining into 
        equal shares for each Band.
    (c) Separate Accounts.--The Secretary shall--
            (1) deposit all funds described in subsection (b)(1) into a 
        ``Per Capita'' account for each Band; and
            (2) deposit all funds described in subsection (b)(2) into 
        an ``Equal Shares'' account for each Band.
    (d) Withdrawl of Funds.--After the Secretary deposits the available 
funds into the accounts described in subsection (c), a Band may 
withdraw all or part of the monies in its account.
    (e) Disbursement of Per Capita Payments.--All funds described in 
subsection (b)(1) shall be used by each Band only for the purposes of 
distributing one $300 payment to each individual member of the Band. 
Each Band may--
            (1) distribute an additional $300 to the parents or legal 
        guardians for each dependent Band member instead of 
        distributing $300 payments to the dependent Band members 
        themselves; or
            (2) deposit into a trust account the $300 payments of each 
        dependent Band member for the benefit of such dependent Band 
        members, such funds to be distributed under the terms of said 
        trust.
    (f) Distribution of Unclaimed Payments.--One year after the funds 
described in subsection (b)(1) are made available to the Bands, all 
unclaimed payments described in subsection (e) shall be returned to the 
Secretary, who shall divide these funds into equal shares for each 
Band, and deposit the divided shares into the accounts described in 
subsection (c)(2) for the use of each Band.
    (g) Liability.--If a Band exercises the right to withdraw monies 
from its accounts, the Secretary shall not retain liability for the 
expenditure or investment of the monies after they are withdrawn.

SEC. 6. GENERAL PROVISIONS.

    (a) Previous Obligations.--Funds disbursed under this Act shall not 
be liable for the payment of previously contracted obligations of any 
recipient as provided in Public Law 98-64 (25 U.S.C. 117b(a)).
    (b) Indian Judgment Funds Distribution Act.--All funds distributed 
under this Act are subject to the provisions in the Indian Judgment 
Funds Distribution Act (25 U.S.C. 1407).
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