[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 141 (Monday, October 3, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: October 3, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
AMERICAN INDIAN TRUST FUND MANAGEMENT REFORM ACT OF 1994
Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 4833), to reform the management of Indian Trust Funds, and
for other purposes as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 4833
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``American
Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act
is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
TITLE I--RECOGNITION OF TRUST RESPONSIBILITY
Sec. 101. Affirmative action required.
Sec. 102. Responsibility of Secretary to account for the daily and
annual balances of Indian trust funds.
Sec. 103. Payment of interest on individual Indian money accounts.
Sec. 104. Authority for payment of claims for interest owed.
TITLE II--INDIAN TRUST FUND MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
Sec. 201. Purpose.
Sec. 202. Voluntary withdrawal from trust funds program.
Sec. 203. Judgment funds.
Sec. 204. Technical assistance.
Sec. 205. Grant program.
Sec. 206. Return of withdrawn funds.
Sec. 207. Savings provision.
Sec. 208. Report to Congress.
Sec. 209. Regulations.
TITLE III--SPECIAL TRUSTEE FOR AMERICAN INDIANS
Sec. 301. Purposes.
Sec. 302. Office of Special Trustee for American Indians.
Sec. 303. Authorities and functions of the special trustee.
Sec. 304. Reconciliation report.
Sec. 305. Staff and consultants.
Sec. 306. Advisory board.
TITLE IV--AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS
Sec. 401. Authorization of appropriations.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this Act:
(1) The term ``Special Trustee'' means the Special Trustee
for American Indians appointed under section 302.
(2) The term ``Indian tribe'' means any Indian tribe, band,
nation, or other organized group or community, including any
Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation as
defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native
Claims Settlement Act (85 Stat. 688), which is recognized as
eligible for the special programs and services provided by
the United States to Indians because of their status as
Indians.
(3) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the
Interior.
(4) The term ``Office'' means the Office of Special Trustee
for American Indians established by section 302.
(5) The term ``Bureau'' means the Bureau of Indian Affairs
within the Department of the Interior.
(6) The term ``Department'' means the Department of the
Interior.
TITLE I--RECOGNITION OF TRUST RESPONSIBILITY
SEC. 101. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION REQUIRED.
The first section of the Act of June 24, 1938 (25 U.S.C.
162a), is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(d) The Secretary's proper discharge of the trust
responsibilities of the United States shall include (but are
not limited to) the following:
``(1) Providing adequate systems for accounting for and
reporting trust fund balances.
``(2) Providing adequate controls over receipts and
disbursements.
``(3) Providing periodic, timely reconciliations to assure
the accuracy of accounts.
``(4) Determining accurate cash balances.
``(5) Preparing and supplying account holders with periodic
statements of their account performance and with balances of
their account which shall be available on a daily basis.
``(6) Establishing consistent, written policies and
procedures for trust fund management and accounting.
``(7) Providing adequate staffing, supervision, and
training for trust fund management and accounting.
``(8) Appropriately managing the natural resources located
within the boundaries of Indian reservations and trust
lands.''.
SEC. 102. RESPONSIBILITY OF SECRETARY TO ACCOUNT FOR THE
DAILY AND ANNUAL BALANCES OF INDIAN TRUST
FUNDS.
(a) Requirement to Account.--The Secretary shall account
for the daily and annual balance of all funds held in trust
by the United States for the benefit of an Indian tribe or an
individual Indian which are deposited or invested pursuant to
the Act of June 24, 1938 (25 U.S.C. 162a).
(b) Periodic Statement of Performance.--Not later than 20
business days after the close of a calendar quarter, the
Secretary shall provide a statement of performance to each
Indian tribe and individual with respect to whom funds are
deposited or invested pursuant to the Act of June 24, 1938
(25 U.S.C. 162a). The statement, for the period concerned,
shall identify--
(1) the source, type, and status of the funds;
(2) the beginning balance;
(3) the gains and losses;
(4) receipts and disbursements; and
(5) the ending balance.
(c) Annual Audit.--The Secretary shall cause to be
conducted an annual audit on a fiscal year basis of all funds
held in trust by the United States for the benefit of an
Indian tribe or an individual Indian which are deposited or
invested pursuant to the Act of June 24, 1938 (25 U.S.C.
162a), and shall include a letter relating to the audit in
the first statement of performance provided under subsection
(b) after the completion of the audit.
SEC. 103. PAYMENT OF INTEREST ON INDIVIDUAL INDIAN MONEY
ACCOUNTS.
(a) Payment of Interest.--The first section of the Act of
February 12, 1929 (25 U.S.C. 161a), is amended--
(1) by striking out ``That all'' and inserting in lieu
thereof ``That (a) all''; and
(2) by adding after subsection (a) (as designated by
paragraph (1) of this subsection) the following:
``(b) All funds held in trust by the United States and
carried in principal accounts on the books of the United
States Treasury to the credit of individual Indians shall be
invested by the Secretary of the Treasury, at the request of
the Secretary of the Interior, in public debt securities with
maturities suitable to the needs of the fund involved, as
determined by the Secretary of the Interior, and bearing
interest at rates determined by the Secretary of the
Treasury, taking into consideration current market yields on
outstanding marketable obligations of the United States of
comparable securities.''.
(b) Withdrawal Authority.--The second sentence of
subsection (a) of the first section of the Act of June 24,
1938 (25 U.S.C. 162a) is amended by inserting ``to withdraw
from the United States Treasury and'' after ``prescribe,''.
(c) Technical Correction.--The second subsection (b) of the
first section of the Act of June 24, 1938 (25 U.S.C. 162a),
as added by section 302 of Public Law 101-644 (104 Stat.
4667), is hereby redesignated as subsection (c).
(d) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a)
shall apply to interest earned on amounts deposited or
invested on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 104. AUTHORITY FOR PAYMENT OF CLAIMS FOR INTEREST OWED.
The Secretary shall make payments to an individual Indian
in full satisfaction of any claim of such individual for
interest on amounts deposited or invested on behalf of such
individual before the date of enactment of this Act
retroactive to the date that the Secretary began investing
individual Indian monies on a regular basis, to the extent
that the claim is identified--
(1) by a reconciliation process of individual Indian money
accounts, or
(2) by the individual and presented to the Secretary with
supporting documentation, and is verified by the Secretary
pursuant to the Department's policy for addressing
accountholder losses.
TITLE II--INDIAN TRUST FUND MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
SEC. 201. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this title is to allow tribes an opportunity
to manage tribal funds currently held in trust by the United
States and managed by the Secretary through the Bureau, that,
consistent with the trust responsibility of the United States
and the principles of self-determination, will--
(1) give Indian tribal governments greater control over the
management of such trust funds; or
(2) otherwise demonstrate how the principles of self-
determination can work with respect to the management of such
trust funds, in a manner consistent with the trust
responsibility of the United States.
SEC. 202. VOLUNTARY WITHDRAWAL FROM TRUST FUNDS PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--An Indian tribe may, in accordance with
this section, submit a plan to withdraw some or all funds
held in trust for such tribe by the United States and managed
by the Secretary through the Bureau.
(b) Approval of Plan.--The Secretary shall approve such
plan within 90 days of receipt and when approving the plan,
the Secretary shall obtain the advice of the Special Trustee
or prior to the appointment of such Special Trustee, the
Director of the Office of Trust Fund Management within the
Bureau. Such plan shall meet the following conditions:
(1) Such plan has been approved by the appropriate Indian
tribe and is accompanied by a resolution from the tribal
governing body approving the plan.
(2) The Secretary determines such plan to be reasonable
after considering all appropriate factors, including (but not
limited to) the following:
(A) The capability and experience of the individuals or
institutions that will be managing the trust funds.
(B) The protection against substantial loss of principal.
(c) Dissolution of Trust Responsibility.--Beginning on the
date funds are withdrawn pursuant to this section, any trust
responsibility or liability of the United States with respect
to such funds shall cease except as provided for in section
207 of this title.
SEC. 203. JUDGMENT FUNDS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary is authorized to approve
plans under section 202 of this title for the withdrawal of
judgment funds held by the Secretary.
(b) Limitation.--Only such funds held by the Secretary
under the terms of the Indian Judgment Funds Use or
Distribution Act (25 U.S.C. 1401) or an Act of Congress which
provides for the secretarial management of such judgment
funds shall be included in such plans.
(c) Secretarial Duties.--In approving such plans, the
Secretary shall ensure--
(1) that the purpose and use of the judgment funds
identified in the previously approved judgment fund plan will
continue to be followed by the Indian tribe in the management
of the judgment funds; and
(2) that only funds held for Indian tribes may be withdrawn
and that any funds held for individual tribal members are not
to be included in the plan.
SEC. 204. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.
The Secretary shall--
(1) directly or by contract, provide Indian tribes with
technical assistance in developing, implementing, and
managing Indian trust fund investment plans; and
(2) among other things, ensure that legal, financial, and
other expertise of the Department of the Interior has been
made fully available in an advisory capacity to the Indian
tribes to assist in the development, implementation, and
management of investment plans.
SEC. 205. GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) General Authority.--The Secretary is authorized to
award grants to Indian tribes for the purpose of developing
and implementing plans for the investment of Indian tribal
trust funds.
(b) Use of Funds.--The purposes for which funds provided
under this section may be used include (but are not limited
to)--
(1) the training and education of employees responsible for
monitoring the investment of trust funds;
(2) the building of tribal capacity for the investment and
management of trust funds;
(3) the development of a comprehensive tribal investment
plan;
(4) the implementation and management of tribal trust fund
investment plans; and
(5) such other purposes related to this title that the
Secretary deems appropriate.
SEC. 206. RETURN OF WITHDRAWN FUNDS.
Subject to such conditions as the Secretary may prescribe,
any Indian tribe which has withdrawn trust funds may choose
to return any or all of the trust funds such tribe has
withdrawn by notifying the Secretary in writing of its
intention to return the funds to the control and management
of the Secretary.
SEC. 207. SAVINGS PROVISION.
By submitting or approving a plan under this title, neither
the tribe nor the Secretary shall be deemed to have accepted
the account balance as accurate or to have waived any rights
regarding such balance and to seek compensation.
SEC. 208. REPORT TO CONGRESS.
The Secretary shall, beginning one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, submit an annual report to the
Committee on Natural Resources of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Indian Affairs of the
Senate on the implementation of programs under this title.
Such report shall include recommendations (if any) for
changes necessary to better implement the purpose of this
title.
SEC. 209. REGULATIONS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 12 months after the date of
enactment of this title, the Secretary shall promulgate final
regulations for the implementation of this title. All
regulations promulgated pursuant to this title shall be
developed by the Secretary with the full and active
participation of the Indian tribes with trust funds held by
the Secretary and other affected Indian tribes.
(b) Effect.--The lack of promulgated regulations shall not
limit the effect of this title.
TITLE III--SPECIAL TRUSTEE FOR AMERICAN INDIANS
SEC. 301. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this title are--
(1) to provide for more effective management of, and
accountability for the proper discharge of, the Secretary's
trust responsibilities to Indian tribes and individual
Indians by establishing in the Department of the Interior an
Office of Special Trustee for American Indians to oversee and
coordinate reforms within the Department of practices
relating to the management and discharge of such
responsibilities;
(2) to ensure that reform of such practices in the
Department is carried out in a unified manner and that
reforms of the policies, practices, procedures and systems of
the Bureau, Minerals Management Service, and Bureau of Land
Management, which carry out such trust responsibilities, are
effective, consistent, and integrated; and
(3) to ensure the implementation of all reforms necessary
for the proper discharge of the Secretary's trust
responsibilities to Indian tribes and individual Indians.
SEC. 302. OFFICE OF SPECIAL TRUSTEE FOR AMERICAN INDIANS.
(a) Establishment.--There is hereby established within the
Department of the Interior the Office of Special Trustee for
American Indians. The Office shall be headed by the Special
Trustee who shall report directly to the Secretary.
(b) Special Trustee.--
(1) Appointment.--The Special Trustee shall be appointed by
the President, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, from among individuals who possess demonstrated
ability in general management of large governmental or
business entities and particular knowledge of trust fund
management, management of financial institutions, and the
investment of large sums of money.
(2) Compensation.--The Special Trustee shall be paid at a
rate determined by the Secretary to be appropriate for the
position, but not less than the rate of basic pay payable at
Level II of the Executive Schedule under section 5313 of
title 5, United States Code.
(c) Termination of Office.--
(1) Conditioned upon implementation of reforms.--The
Special Trustee, in proposing a termination date under
section 303(a)(2)(C), shall ensure continuation of the Office
until all reforms identified in the strategic plan have been
implemented to the satisfaction of the Special Trustee.
(2) 30-day notice.--Thirty days prior to the termination
date proposed in the plan submitted under this section, the
Special Trustee shall notify the Secretary and the Congress
in writing of the progress in implementing the reforms
identified in the plan. The Special Trustee, at that time,
may recommend the continuation, or the permanent
establishment, of the Office if the Special Trustee concludes
that continuation or permanent establishment is necessary for
the efficient discharge of the Secretary's trust
responsibilities.
(3) Termination date.--The Office shall terminate 180
legislative days after the date on which the notice to the
Congress under paragraph (2) is provided, unless the Congress
extends the authorities of the Special Trustee. For the
purposes of this session, a legislative day is a day on which
either House of the Congress is in session.
SEC. 303. AUTHORITIES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE SPECIAL TRUSTEE.
(a) Comprehensive Strategic Plan.--
(1) In general.--The Special Trustee shall prepare and,
after consultation with Indian tribes and appropriate Indian
organizations, submit to the Secretary and the Committee on
Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate, within one year
after the initial appointment is made under section 302(b), a
comprehensive strategic plan for all phases of the trust
management business cycle that will ensure proper and
efficient discharge of the Secretary's trust responsibilities
to Indian tribes and individual Indians in compliance with
this Act.
(2) Plan requirements.--The plan prepared under paragraph
(1) shall include the following:
(A) Identification of all reforms to the policies,
procedures, practices and systems of the Department, the
Bureau, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Minerals
Management Service necessary to ensure the proper and
efficient discharge of the Secretary's trust responsibilities
in compliance with this Act.
(B) Provisions for opportunities for Indian tribes to
assist in the management of their trust accounts and to
identify for the Secretary options for the investment of
their trust accounts, in a manner consistent with the trust
responsibilities of the Secretary, in ways that will help
promote economic development in their communities.
(C) A timetable for implementing the reforms identified in
the plan, including a date for the proposed termination of
the Office.
(b) Duties.--
(1) General oversight of reform efforts.--The Special
Trustee shall oversee all reform efforts within the Bureau,
the Bureau of Land Management, and the Minerals Management
Service relating to the trust responsibilities of the
Secretary to ensure the establishment of policies,
procedures, systems and practices to allow the Secretary to
discharge his trust responsibilities in compliance with this
Act.
(2) Bureau of indian affairs.--
(A) Monitor reconciliation of trust accounts.--The Special
Trustee shall monitor the reconciliation of tribal and
Individual Indian Money trust accounts to ensure that the
Bureau provides the account holders, with a fair and accurate
accounting of all trust accounts.
(B) Investments.--The Special Trustee shall ensure that the
Bureau establishes appropriate policies and procedures, and
develops necessary systems, that will allow it--
(i) properly to account for and invest, as well as
maximize, in a manner consistent with the statutory
restrictions imposed on the Secretary's investment options,
the return on the investment of all trust fund monies, and
(ii) to prepare accurate and timely reports to account
holders (and others, as required) on a periodic basis
regarding all collections, disbursements, investments, and
return on investments related to their accounts.
(C) Ownership and lease data.--The Special Trustee shall
ensure that the Bureau establishes policies and practices to
maintain complete, accurate, and timely data regarding the
ownership and lease of Indian lands.
(3) Bureau of land management.--The Special Trustee shall
ensure that the Bureau of Land Management establishes
policies and practices adequate to enforce compliance with
Federal requirements for drilling, production,
accountability, environmental protection, and safety with
respect to the lease of Indian lands.
(4) Minerals management service.--The Special Trustee shall
ensure that the Minerals Management Service establishes
policies and practices to enforce compliance by lessees of
Indian lands with all requirements for timely and accurate
reporting of production and payment of lease royalties and
other revenues, including the audit of leases to ensure that
lessees are accurately reporting production levels and
calculating royalty payments.
(c) Coordination of Policies.--
(1) In general.--The Special Trustee shall ensure that--
(A) the policies, procedures, practices, and systems of the
Bureau, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Minerals
Management Service related to the discharge of the
Secretary's trust responsibilities are coordinated,
consistent, and integrated, and
(B) the Department prepares comprehensive and coordinated
written policies and procedures for each phase of the trust
management business cycle.
(2) Standardized procedures.--The Special Trustee shall
ensure that the Bureau imposes standardized trust fund
accounting procedures throughout the Bureau.
(3) Integration of ledger with investment system.--The
Special Trustee shall ensure that the trust fund investment,
general ledger, and subsidiary accounting systems of the
Bureau are integrated and that they are adequate to support
the trust fund investment needs of the Bureau.
(4) Integration of land records, trust funds accounting,
and asset management systems among agencies.--The Special
Trustee shall ensure that--
(A) the land records system of the Bureau interfaces with
the trust fund accounting system, and
(B) the asset management systems of the Minerals Management
Service and the Bureau of Land Management interface with the
appropriate asset management and accounting systems of the
Bureau, including ensuring that--
(i) the Minerals Management Service establishes policies
and procedures that will allow it to properly collect,
account for, and disburse to the Bureau all royalties and
other revenues generated by production from leases on Indian
lands; and
(ii) the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau provide
Indian landholders with accurate and timely reports on a
periodic basis that cover all transactions related to leases
of Indian resources.
(5) Trust management program budget.--
(A) Development and submission.--The Special Trustee shall
develop for each fiscal year, with the advice of program
managers of each office within the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
Bureau of Land Management and Minerals Management Service
that participates in trust management, including the
management of trust funds or natural resources, or which is
charged with any responsibility under the comprehensive
strategic plan prepared under subsection (a) of this section,
a consolidated Trust Management program budget proposal that
would enable the Secretary to efficiently and effectively
discharge his trust responsibilities and to implement the
comprehensive strategic plan, and shall submit such budget
proposal to the Secretary, the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget, and to the Congress.
(B) Duty of certain program managers.--Each program manager
participating in trust management or charged with
responsibilities under the comprehensive strategic plans
shall transmit his office's budget request to the Special
Trustee at the same time as such request is submitted to his
superiors (and before submission to the Office of Management
and Budget) in the preparation of the budget of the President
submitted to the Congress under section 1105(a) of title 31,
United States Code.
(C) Certification of adequacy of budget request.--The
Special Trustee shall--
(i) review each budget request submitted under subparagraph
(B);
(ii) certify in writing as to the adequacy of such request
to discharge, effectively and efficiently, the Secretary's
trust responsibilities and to implement the comprehensive
strategic plan; and
(iii) notify the program manager of the Special Trustee's
certification under clause (ii).
(D) Maintenance of records.--The Special Trustee shall
maintain records of certifications made under paragraph
(3)(B).
(E) Limitation on reprogramming or transfer.--No program
manager shall submit, and no official of the Department of
the Interior may approve or otherwise authorize, a
reprogramming or transfer request with respect to any funds
appropriated for trust management which is included in the
Trust Management Program Budget unless such request has been
approved by the Special Trustee.
(d) Problem Resolution.--The Special Trustee shall provide
such guidance as necessary to assist Department personnel in
identifying problems and options for resolving problems, and
in implementing reforms to Department, Bureau, Bureau of Land
Management, and Minerals Management Service policies,
procedures, systems and practices.
(e) Special Trustee Access.--The Special Trustee, and his
staff, shall have access to all records, reports, audits,
reviews, documents, papers, recommendations, files and other
material, as well as to any officer and employee, of the
Department and any office or bureau thereof, as the Special
Trustee deems necessary for the accomplishment of his duties
under this Act.
(f) Annual report.--The Special Trustee shall report to the
Secretary and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House
of Representatives and the Committee on Indian Affairs of the
Senate each year on the progress of the Department, the
Bureau, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Minerals
Management Service in implementing the reforms identified in
the comprehensive strategic plan under subsection (a)(1) and
in meeting the timetable established in the strategic plan
under subsection (a)(2)(C).
SEC. 304. RECONCILIATION REPORT.
The Secretary shall transmit to the Committee on Natural
Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee
on Indian Affairs of the Senate, by May 31, 1996, a report
identifying for each tribal trust fund account for which the
Secretary is responsible a balance reconciled as of September
30, 1995. In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall
consult with the Special Trustee. The report shall include--
(1) a description of the Secretary's methodology in
reconciling trust fund accounts;
(2) attestations by each account holder that--
(A) the Secretary has provided the account holder with as
full and complete accounting as possible of the account
holder's funds to the earliest possible date, and that the
account holder accepts the balance as reconciled by the
Secretary; or
(B) the account holder disputes the balance of the account
holder's account as reconciled by the Secretary and statement
explaining why the account holder disputes the Secretary's
reconciled balance; and
(3) a statement by the Secretary with regard to each
account balance disputed by the account holder outlining
efforts the Secretary will undertake to resolve the dispute.
SEC. 305. STAFF AND CONSULTANTS.
(a) Staff.--The Special Trustee may employ such staff as
the Special Trustee deems necessary. The Special Trustee may
request staff assistance from within the Department and any
office or Bureau thereof as the Special Trustee deems
necessary.
(b) Contracts.--To the extent and in such amounts as may be
provided in advance by appropriations Acts, the Special
Trustee may enter into contracts and other arrangements with
public agencies and with private persons and organizations
for consulting services and make such payments as necessary
to carry out the provisions of this title.
SEC. 306. ADVISORY BOARD.
(a) Establishment and Membership.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, the Special Trustee shall establish
an advisory board to provide advice on all matters within the
jurisdiction of the Special Trustee. The advisory board shall
consist of nine members, appointed by the Special Trustee
after consultation with Indian tribes and appropriate Indian
organizations, of which--
(1) five members shall represent trust fund account
holders, including both tribal and Individual Indian Money
accounts;
(2) two members shall have practical experience in trust
fund and financial management;
(3) one member shall have practical experience in fiduciary
investment management; and
(4) one member, from academia, shall have knowledge of
general management of large organizations.
(b) Term.--Each member shall serve a term of two years.
(c) FACA.--The advisory board shall not be subject to the
Federal Advisory Committee Act.
(d) Termination.--The Advisory Board shall terminate upon
termination of the Office of Special Trustee.
TITLE IV--AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS
SEC. 401. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be
necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
Mexico [Mr. Richardson] will be recognized for 20 minutes, and the
gentleman from Wyoming [Mr. Thomas] will be recognized for 20 minutes.
The chair recognizes the gentleman from New Mexico [Mr. Richardson].
general leave
Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
in the Record on the bill presently under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New Mexico?
There was no objection.
Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, the Department of the Interior is responsible for
managing and investing over $2.1 billion in Indian trust funds. These
funds are made up mostly of receipts from leases for timber stumpage,
oil and gas royalties, and agricultural uses. The Department currently
is unable to give an accurate balance for these accounts and tribes
have very little say in how their funds are managed. H.R. 4833 is the
culmination of 5 years of oversight and 3 years of seeking specific
legislative resolution. This bill will allow tribes to directly manage
their funds and receive periodic statements on the accounts which
remain with the Department. Further, this bill will establish a special
trustee for Indian trust funds. This person will develop an overall
strategic plan to reform the current process of handling Indian
allotted lands and the proceeds from them. I want to thank my good
friend and ranking Republican on the Native American Affairs
Subcommittee, Mr. Thomas of Wyoming, for all his work and efforts on
this bill. I make note that he served on the Government Operations
Subcommittee with Mr. Synar and worked on the original investigation
that brought many of these issues to light.
I further want to thank Mr. Synar, for it was his Subcommittee on
Environment, Energy and Natural Resources that provided most of the
background material which made the need for this legislation so
obvious. I doubt we would be here today had it not been for his work.
In 1834 the House Committee on Indian Affairs issued a report
depicting the administration of Indian Affairs as being ``expensive,
inefficient, and irresponsible.'' Although it is 160 years later, I
share the concerns of my predecessor committee. This legislation is a
first step toward making trust fund management more efficient and more
responsible. I urge my colleagues to support it.
{time} 1400
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. THOMAS of Wyoming. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
(Mr. THOMAS of Wyoming asked and was given permission to revise and
extend his remarks and to include extraneous material.)
Mr. THOMAS of Wyoming. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R.
4833, the Indian Trust Fund Management Act. I believe that I have made
my views on this subject clear over the years that we have been holding
hearings on the Department's mismanagement of Indian trust funds.
Because of our busy schedule today, then, I will simply urge my
colleagues to support this bill and I submit for the Record a copy of
my statement before the Subcommittee on Environment, Energy and Natural
Resources on September 26, 1994, on this same topic.
Statement of Congressman Craig Thomas Before the Subcommittee on
Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources, September 26, 1994
I appreciate Chairman Synar enabling me to submit a
statement this morning. As a member of the Committee on
Government Operations, and as the ranking Republican on the
Subcommittee on Native American Affairs, I am keenly
interested in the issue of Indian Trust Funds and the galling
failure of the Department and the BIA to live up to their
responsibilities. Unfortunately, previous commitments back in
Wyoming prevent me from appearing in person today.
I have participated in a number of hearings over the last
several years on this subject. We have had two hearings on
trust fund management--or, more properly, mismanagement--in
the Native American Affairs Subcommittee this Congress, and I
was a member of Chairman Synar's subcommittee in the last
Congress. Then, as now, I fully support efforts to untangle
this mess.
Since the Government Operations Committee released its
report, ``Misplaced Trust: The Bureau of Indian Affairs'
Mismanagement of the Indian Trust Fund'', I have seen
precious little change in this sad state of affairs. Instead,
I have seen promised deadlines come and go; I have seen
promises to reform go unfulfilled. Despite statements made in
the early days of the Clinton administration, two years later
neither the Department nor the BIA has brought us one step
closer to resolving the trust fund problem. All we have seen
is a continuation of the BIA's one unchallenged specialty:
inertia.
We have seen the pattern repeated over and over. The
Department and BIA promise to act, fail to, we are forced to
introduce legislation to deal with the issue, and then when
passage of the legislation seems imminent they come to us and
ask for more time, quote, ``because we're working on the
problem, really we are,'' unquote, or they offer their own,
watered-down, legislative proposal in the hope of heading
ours off.
We have seen this happen with FAP and 638 reform, and with
the trust fund issue we consider today. The gentleman from
Oklahoma introduced his trust fund bill--H.R. 1846--on April
22, 1993. The BIA had until September 27--when my
subcommittee held an oversight hearing focused on the bill--
to fully review it and provide us with its comments on it.
Instead, at that hearing the BIA provided only superficial
comments and indicated in written testimony that it would,
quote, ``supplement [its] comments on a fuller report to be
submitted in the future,'' unquote. In fact, Assistant
Secretary Deer stated that the Bureau had reviewed both S.
925 and H.R. 1846, and would provide us with detail comments,
quote, ``in a matter of days,'' unquote.
Well, the subcommittee held a hearing on August 11, 1994,
to consider both H.R. 1846 and H.R. 4833, 318 days after we
were promised some action by the Bureau, later, and those
promised comments had yet to arrive. Moreover, once Chairman
Richardson introduced his bill and scheduled the August
hearing, true to form the BIA suddenly had an alternative to
the two bills.
Once again, in my opinion, they offered us far too little
far too late. I urged the subcommittee to reject more delay
and more stonewalling, to reject the BIA alternative, and
move forward in the very near future with either of the
bills. Last Friday I joined with Congressmen Richardson,
Williams, and others in signing a letter to Chairman Miller
of the Natural Resources Committee strongly urging him to
take up one of the bills in full committee so that we can
pass a bill out of the House this session.
I am sure that this morning we will hear more of the same
excuses and promises, more requests to just give it a little
more time, from the Department that we have been hearing for
the last six years. But, Mr. Chairman, shame on us, shame on
this Congress, if we delay any further.
The Department told us in August, and I am sure will repeat
this morning, that they have everything under control. Well,
Mr. Chairman, my response to that is an explicative which
decorum prevents me from using here but which I will
paraphrase: cow manure! I have read the GAO's September 1994
draft report (GAO/AIMD-94-185) on this subject, and would
like to quote several of the passages from that agency's
conclusion:
``[M]any of the [Department's] initiatives are in the early
stages and a number of them will not be completed for several
years. Further, the Secretary's 6-Point Trust Funds and Trust
Asset Management Reform Plan, issued in June 1994, does not
provide the comprehensive approach needed to address the full
range of trust fund and asset management problems that
Interior continues to face.
``A sustained commitment will be needed to carry through on
needed improvements. In the past, Interior has not
demonstrated the leadership or management commitment needed
and many previous corrective action efforts have failed
outright or resulted in only incremental improvements.
Interior must comprehensively examine its mission and the way
it does business to determine how and by whom Indian trust
funds can best be managed * * *.''
I couldn't have said it better myself.
Mr. Chairman, the Department needs to pull itself out of
denial, pull itself out of its fantasy world, and come to
grips with realty. It is clear that they are incapable of
doing it themselves. I sincerely hope that we can do it for
them, and will do everything I can to move a bill before
Congress adjourns.
Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from
Oklahoma [Mr. Synar], the pioneer of this effort and one who deserves
enormous praise for the work we have done. Because of him we are here
today.
(Mr. SYNAR asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. SYNAR. Mr. Speaker, if ever the words, ``It is the right thing to
do,'' meant anything, they mean everything with respect to the
legislation we consider today. It is very unfortunate that we stand
here today and are forced to take this action to statutorily reform the
Department of the Interior's management of the $2.1 billion trust fund
for the tribes and individual Indians. But make no mistake. We must
take this step because the Department itself refuses to adequately
address the serious accounting and management problems which have
plagued the trust fund program for decades.
Over the years, Congress, the General Accounting Office, the Interior
Department's inspector general, and the President's Office of
Management all have issued directives to the Department to develop a
comprehensive plan for cleaning up this mess. In many cases, those
directives have simply been ignored. At other times, the Department has
responded with simplistic, isolated and often ill-conceived initiatives
which, even taken together, will never solve the trust fund problems
repeatedly found in three separate bureaus of the Department.
This legislation is the only way we are going to force the Department
to give sustained high-level attention to this issue, and to develop
the kind of comprehensive strategic plan that is essential to
correcting these serious trust fund problems. And it is the only way
Congress and the trust fund account holders will ever have assurance
that the Secretary of the Interior is taking the steps necessary to
meet his fiduciary obligations to those for whom we are holding these
funds in trust.
H.R. 4833, as reported, would statutorily establish within the
Department a special trustee who would be charged with developing, in
close consultation with account holders, a comprehensive strategic plan
for correcting the widespread management and accounting problems
throughout the Department and with ensuring that those corrective
actions are effectively carried out. The bill establishes an advisory
board, composed of account holder representatives and persons with
trust fund, investment and management expertise, to advise the trustee
in carrying out his obligations. The legislation also includes key
elements of legislation I previously introduced--H.R. 1846--to reform
trust funds management. These include provisions which specify the
Secretary's fiduciary duties to account holders, which facilitate
greater tribal management of their trust funds, and which require the
Secretary to invest and pay interest on individual Indian money trust
funds, consistent with current law for tribal trust funds. Each of
these provisions is vital.
Mr. Speaker, my Subcommittee on Environment, Energy and Natural
Resources, has held five separate oversight hearings on this subject
since 1989. Mr. Richardson's subcommittee has also held several
hearings in the last two years. Regrettably, year after year we get the
same worn-out response from the Interior Department. They tell us
they're really on top of this now. They tell us they're really going to
move on needed reforms now. Year after year, on and on with the same
commitments. Year after year, those commitments are largely forgotten
when the hearings are over.
I understand the Interior Department opposes this legislation. That
is too bad; we have tried to work in good faith with the Department on
correcting these problems and, failing that, on crafting an appropriate
legislative measure. I want to assure my colleagues that the
Department's vague last-minute arguments over the bill have no merit
whatsoever. And, sadly, their promises of reform are no different, and
no better, than those of their predecessors.
It is time for Congress to take matters into its own hands, and to
require by statute that the Secretary and the Department do what needs
to be done to fix these problems and meet the Government's trust
responsibilities to the account holders.
H.R. 4833 is the right answer at the right time, and I ask my
colleagues to support it.
Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to enter into a colloquy with the gentleman
from Oklahoma [Mr. Synar], and he just said something that is
manifestly clear. He has been working on the BIA to reform itself on
this issue. We have in this subcommittee anywhere from self-governance
issues to self-determination grants, and all we get from the Bureau of
Indian Affairs is, ``We need more time.'' The bureaucracy seems to get
a stronger foothold, and in fact we have a commission that is looking
at BIA operations, and, instead of issuing a report to the Congress on
how the BIA should change, they have told us that they need another
year of study.
Mr. Speaker, this is incredible, and I would like to ask my colleague
to give us his parting words on the BIA issue. I know he will be very
active in the future on native American affairs, but I wondered if the
gentleman could educate this body on some of the problems that we have
with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Mr. SYNAR. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. RICHARDSON. I yield to the gentleman from Oklahoma.
Mr. SYNAR. Well, very clearly, Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from New
Mexico [Mr. Richardson] summarized, I think, what all of us have faced
over the years, and I say to my colleague,
There is an understanding that, after the five sets of
hearings which the gentleman from Wyoming and I held through
our Committee on Environment, and Energy, and Natural
Resources, and the two sets of hearings you have held under
your jurisdiction, we have been unable to get the
responsiveness that we need out of the BIA to perform the
basic fiduciary responsibilities which we expect out of any
trustee. If this was done in the Social Security system, my
colleagues, we would have had a war.
The fact is that literally over 300,000 individual holders, over 300
tribes, literally cannot get a basic accounting of what is owed to
them, and that is a disgrace for this Federal Government, and to
continue to allow this to exist is an admission on our part that we
cannot provide for the basic things that we need in our trustee
responsibility. We have through the years, through the help of the
gentleman from New Mexico, and the gentleman from Wyoming and others,
tried to work with the BIA to get them to respond. It is very clear
they will not, and this legislation gives us the only alternative which
we do have, and without it we will continue to have the same problems
with our tribes and individual account holders, that we cannot give
them the basic accounting which they basically need for their funds.
Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Oklahoma [Mr.
Synar].
Mr. McCANDLESS. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. RICHARDSON. I yield to the gentleman from California.
Mr. McCANDLESS. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman from New
Mexico [Mr. Richardson] yielding to me.
With respect to experience, if there is any need for anyone to have
particular time, date, and place of problems, I have been involved with
the BIA now for 12 years as a Member of Congress and almost 12 years
prior to that at another level of government where I was involved with
the same BIA in the same geographical locations. I would be happy to
share with anyone in the committee, or anyone who is interested, my 24
years of experience, line item, with the BIA, and I appreciate this
being brought before the body today.
Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California
[Mr. McCandless], and we appreciate his comments and his contributions
to this effort now and, I know, in the future.
Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Mr. THOMAS of Wyoming. Mr. Speaker, I, too, have no further requests
for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pastor). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from New Mexico [Mr. Richardson] that the
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4833, as amended.
The question was taken.
Mr. McCANDLESS. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that
a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is
not present.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Evidently a quorum is not present.
Pursuant to clause 5, rule I, and the Chair's prior announcement,
further proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
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