[House Document 106-39]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]





106th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - House Document 106-39
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 REQUEST FOR FY 1999 SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF 
                              THE INTERIOR                            

                               __________

                             COMMUNICATION

                                  from

                   THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              TRANSMITTING

A REQUEST FOR AN FY 1999 SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION FOR THE DEPARTMENT 
                            OF THE INTERIOR




   March 11, 1999.--Referred to the Committee on Appropriations and 
                         ordered to be printed

                               --------

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE                    
69-012                     WASHINGTON : 1999




                                           The White House,
                                        Washington, March 10, 1999.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives.
    Sir: I ask the Congress to consider the enclosed request 
for an FY 1999 supplemental appropriation for the Department of 
the Interior. This $15 million supplemental request would fund 
necessary actions required in the Cobell v. Babbitt litigation 
concerning alleged past mismanagement of individual Indian 
trust accounts by the Department of the Interior. The requested 
funds will be used for court-ordered document production, the 
work of a court-appointed Special Master, and statistical 
sampling of trust accounts for use in expediting the resolution 
of this case.
    The additional resources requested will be derived by 
transfer from other Department of the Interior programs. The FY 
1999 budget totals would not be affected by these actions.
    This request, together with the $6.8 million in 
supplemental funding proposed in the FY 2000 Budget for Indian 
trust fund management improvements, will assist the Department 
of the Interior in adequately fulfilling its requirements 
stemming from the Cobell v. Babbitt litigation and building on 
its trust fund reform initiative.
    The details of this request are set forth in the enclosed 
letter from the Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget. I concur with his comments and observations.
            Sincerely,
                                                William J. Clinton.
    Enclosure.



             [Estimate No. 11, 106th Congress, 1st Session]

                 Executive Office of the President,
                            Office of Management and Budget
                                    Washington, DC, March 10, 1999.
The President,
The White House.
    Submitted for your consideration is a request for an FY 
1999 supplemental appropriation of $15 million for the 
Department of the Interior (DOI). This request would fund 
requirements of the Cobell v. Babbitt litigation. The 
resolution of this case will assist the United States in 
meeting its fiduciary responsibility to individual Indian 
allottees.
    The lawsuit, filed in June 1996 on behalf of approximately 
300,000 allotees, alleges Federal mismanagement of their trust 
accounts. In January 1999, a contempt trial was held on the 
failure of the Departments of the Interior and the Treasury to 
produce documents for the five lead plaintiffs pursuant to a 
November 1996 court order. On February 22, 1999, a Federal 
district court found Secretaries Babbitt and Rubin and the 
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs in civil contempt. The 
funds requested would be used for court-ordered document 
production, the work of a court-appointed Special Master, and 
statistical sampling of trust accounts for use in a negotiated 
settlement.
    The funds requested for the Office of the Special Trustee 
for American Indians would be derived by transfer from the 
following DOI programs: the Mineral Management Service; the 
Bureau of Land Management; the United States Fish and Wildlife 
Service; the National Park Service; and, the United States 
Geological Survey. Language is also included that would 
increase the level of receipts retained in the Mineral 
Management Service's Royalty and Offshore Minerals Management 
account. In aggregate, the FY 1999 budget totals would not be 
affected by these actions.
    This proposal is in addition to the $6.8 million 
supplemental proposal included in your FY 2000 Budget for DOI's 
Indian trust fund management reform initiative, which includes 
acquisition and implementation of a commercial system to 
replace the Bureau of Indian Affairs' trust land management and 
land records systems; extensive data clean-up; and, elimination 
of land records and probate backlogs. Together, these 
additional resources would assist DOI in resolving the Cobell 
v. Babbitt litigation and advancing the trust fund reform 
initiative, on which the Administration continues to make 
substantial progress.
    I have carefully reviewed this proposal and am satisfied 
that it is necessary at this time. Therefore, I join the 
Secretary of the Interior in recommending that you transmit the 
proposal to the Congress.
            Sincerely,
                                            Jacob J. Lew, Director.
    Enclosures.

                       DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

           Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians

                         Federal Trust Programs

    For an additional amount for ``Federal Trust Programs,'' 
$15,000,000, to remain available until expended, to support 
litigation involving individual Indian trust accounts, of which 
the following amounts shall be derived by transfer from amounts 
provided in Public Law 105-277, as follows: from Minerals 
Management Service, ``Royalty and Offshore Minerals 
Management,'' $5,000,000; Bureau of Land Management, ``Wildland 
Fire Management,'' $4,500,000; United States Geological Survey, 
``Surveys, Investigations, and Research,'' $1,500,000; United 
States Fish and Wildlife Service, ``Resource Management,'' 
$2,000,000; and National Park Service, ``Operation of the 
National Park System,'' $2,000,000: Provided, That the amount 
provided herein is available for transfer to Bureau of Indian 
Affairs, ``Operation of Indian Programs''; Office of the 
Solicitor, ``Salaries and Expenses''; Departmental Management, 
``Salaries and Expenses''; Minerals Management Service, 
``Royalty and Offshore Minerals Management''; and Bureau of 
Land Management, ``Management of Lands and Resources''.
    This supplemental request would provide resources to 
support costs to the Government in defense of a lawsuit filed 
on June 10, 1996, entitled Eloise Pepion Cobell et al. v. Bruce 
Babbitt et al. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of approximately 
300,000 holders of Individual Indian Money (IIM) trust 
accounts. This suit alleges that the Secretary of the Interior 
has breached his trust responsibility in the administration of 
IIM accounts. The amount requested would support document 
production, a court-appointed Special Master, and statistical 
sampling of trust accounts to fulfill the Department's 
obligations to produce an accounting and to provide a basis for 
settlement.
    The $15 million requested for the Office of the Special 
Trustee for American Indians would be derived by transfer from 
other Department of the Interior programs. In total, this 
proposal will not increase FY 1999 outlays.

                       DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

                      Minerals Management Service

                Royalty and Offshore Minerals Management

    The appropriations language under this heading in Public 
Law 105-277 is amended by deleting ``$100,000,000'' and 
inserting ``$105,000,000''.
    This proposal would raise the level of receipts retained in 
the Royalty and Offshore Management account to offset costs of 
administering the Minerals Management Service's outer 
continental shelf (OCS) leasing and royalty collection program 
by $5 million. This increase reflects higher estimates of 
receipts for FY 1999 from OCS lease payments, as authorized by 
Congress in 1993. This higher level of available offsetting 
collections will enable $5 million of appropriated funds to be 
transferred from the Royalty Offshore Minerals Management 
account to the Office of the Special Trustee for American 
Indians, as reflected in the accompanying supplemental request.

                                
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