[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]

 
   CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE COLVILLE RESERVATION GRAND COULEE DAM 
                             SETTLEMENT ACT

  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the bill (H.R. 4757) to provide for the settlement of the 
claims of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation 
concerning their contribution to the production of hydropower by the 
Grand Coulee Dam, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4757

       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 ``Confederated Tribes of the 
     Colville Reservation Grand Coulee Dam Settlement Act''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

       For purposes of this Act:
       (1) The term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of 
     the Bonneville Power Administration.
       (2) The term ``Bonneville Power Administration'' means the 
     Bonneville Power Administration of the Department of Energy 
     or any successor Agency, Corporation, or entity that markets 
     power produced at the Dam.
       (3) The term ``Dam'' means the Grand Coulee Dam operated by 
     the Bureau of Reclamation of the Department of the Interior, 
     the power from which is marketed by the Bonneville Power 
     Administration of the Department of Energy.
       (4) The term ``Settlement Agreement'' means the Settlement 
     Agreement entered into between the United States and the 
     Tribe, signed by the United States on April 21, 1994, and by 
     the Tribe on April 16, 1994, to settle the claims of the 
     Tribe in Docket 181-D of the Indian Claims Commission, which 
     docket has been transferred to the United States Court of 
     Federal Claims.
       (5) The term ``Tribe'' means the Confederated Tribes of the 
     Colville Reservation, a federally recognized Indian tribe.

     SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

       (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
       (1) there is pending before the United States Court of 
     Federal Claims, a suit by the Confederated Tribes of the 
     Colville Reservation against the United States, in which the 
     Tribe seeks to recover damages under the ``Fair and Honorable 
     Dealings'' clause of the Indian Claims Commission Act, (Act 
     of August 13, 1946, 60 Stat. 1049), and in which, although 
     the matter is in dispute, the potential liability of the 
     United States is substantial;
       (2) the claim alleges that the United States has since the 
     construction of Grand Coulee Dam used Colville Reservation 
     land in the generation of electric power, and will continue 
     to use such reservation land for as long as Grand Coulee Dam 
     produces power; and that the United States has promised and 
     undertaken to pay the Tribe for such use and has not done so;
       (3) the United States, after years of litigation, has 
     negotiated a Settlement Agreement with the Tribe, signed by 
     the Department of Justice, the Bonneville Power 
     Administration and the Department of the Interior. The 
     Settlement Agreement is contingent on the enactment of the 
     enabling legislation; and
       (4) the Settlement Agreement, approved in this Act, will 
     provide mutually agreeable compensation for the past use of 
     reservation land in connection with the generation of 
     electric power at Grand Coulee Dam, and will establish a 
     method to ensure that the Tribe will be compensated for the 
     future use of reservation land in the generation of electric 
     power at Grand Coulee Dam, and will settle the claims of the 
     Tribe against the United States brought under the Indian 
     Claims Commission Act.
       (b) Purposes.--It is the purpose of this Act--
       (1) to approve and ratify the Settlement Agreement entered 
     into by the United States and the Tribe; and
       (2) to direct the Bonneville Power Administration to carry 
     out its obligations under the Settlement Agreement.

     SEC. 4. APPROVAL, RATIFICATION, AND IMPLEMENTATION OF 
                   SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.

       (a) Approval and Ratification.--The Settlement Agreement is 
     approved and ratified.
       (b) Annual Payments.--The Bonneville Power Administration 
     shall make annual payments to the Tribe as set forth in the 
     Settlement Agreement and shall carry out its other 
     obligations under the Settlement Agreement.
       (c) Settlement.--Consistent with the negotiated terms of 
     the Settlement Agreement, the United States shall join in the 
     motion that the Tribe has agreed to file in Confederated 
     Tribes v. United States, Indian Claims Commission Docket 181-
     D, for the entry of a compromise final judgment in the amount 
     of $53,000,000. The judgment shall be paid from funds 
     appropriated pursuant to section 1304 of title 31, United 
     States Code and is not reimbursable by the Bonneville Power 
     Administration.

     SEC. 5. DISTRIBUTION OF THE SETTLEMENT FUNDS.

       (a) Lump-Sum Payment.--The judgment of $53,000,000, when 
     paid, shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States 
     and the principal amount and interest on the judgment, shall 
     be credited to the account of the Tribe. These funds may be 
     advanced or expended for any purpose by the tribal governing 
     body of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, 
     pursuant to a distribution plan developed by the Tribe and 
     approved by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to section 
     3 of Public Law 93-134 (25 U.S.C. 1403): Provided, That any 
     payment to a minor under the distribution plan shall be held 
     in trust by the United States for the minor until the minor 
     reaches the age of 18, or until the minor's class is 
     scheduled to graduate from high school, whichever is later: 
     Provided further, That emergency use of trust funds may be 
     authorized for the benefit of the minor pursuant to 
     regulations of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
       (b) Annual Payments.--In addition to the lump-sum payment, 
     annual payments shall be made directly to the Tribe in 
     accordance with the Settlement Agreement, and may be used in 
     the same manner as any other income received by the tribe 
     from the lease or sale of natural resources.

     SEC. 6. REPAYMENT CREDIT.

       Beginning with fiscal year 2000 and continuing for so long 
     as annual payments are made under this Act, the Administrator 
     shall deduct from the interest payable to the Secretary of 
     the Treasury from net proceeds as defined in section 13 of 
     the Federal Columbia River Transmission System Act, an amount 
     equal to 26 percent of the payment made to the Tribe for the 
     prior fiscal year. Each deduction made under this section 
     shall be a credit to the interest payments otherwise payable 
     by the Administrator to the Secretary of the Treasury during 
     the fiscal year in which the deduction is made, and shall be 
     allocated pro rata to all interest payments on debt 
     associated with the generation function of the Federal 
     Columbia River Power System that are due during that 
     fiscal year; except that, if the deduction in any fiscal 
     year is greater than the interest due on debt associated 
     with the generation function for that fiscal year, then 
     the amount of the deduction that exceeds the interest due 
     on debt associated with the generation function shall be 
     allocated pro rata to all other interest payments due 
     during that fiscal year. To the extent that the deduction 
     exceeds the total amount of any such interest, the 
     deduction shall be applied as a credit against any other 
     payments that the Administrator makes to the Secretary.

     SEC. 7. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS,

       (a) Liens and Forfeitures, Etc.--Funds paid or deposited to 
     the credit of the Tribe pursuant to the Settlement Agreement 
     or this Act, the interest or investment income earned or 
     received on those funds, and any payment authorized by the 
     Tribe or the Secretary of the Interior to be made from those 
     funds to tribal members, and the interest or investment 
     income on those payments earned or received while the 
     payments are held in trust for the member, are not subject to 
     levy, execution, forfeiture, garnishment, lien, encumbrance, 
     seizure, or Federal, State or local taxation.
       (b) Eligibility for Federal and Federally Funded 
     Programs.--Funds paid or deposited to the credit of the Tribe 
     pursuant to the Settlement Agreement or this Act, the 
     interest or investment income earned or received on such 
     funds, and any payment authorized by the Tribe or the 
     Secretary of the Interior to be made from those funds to 
     tribal members, and the interest or investment income on 
     those payments earned or received while the payments are held 
     in trust for the member, may not be treated as income or 
     resources nor otherwise utilized as the basis for denying or 
     reducing the financial assistance or other benefit to which 
     the Tribe, a tribal member, or household would otherwise be 
     entitled under the Social Security Act or any Federal or 
     federally assisted program.
       (c) Trust Responsibility.--This Act and the Settlement 
     Agreement do not affect the trust responsibility of the 
     United States and its agencies to the Tribe and the members 
     of the Tribe.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Miller] 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 California [Mr. Miller].
  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise in 
support of H.R. 4757, a bill to settle the Colville Tribes' claim 
against the United States for the use of their lands by the Grand 
Coulee Dam. I commend the Tribes and the Federal agencies for working 
together to reach this long overdue settlement of the Tribes' claim. 
H.R. 4757 is supported by three Federal agencies, the Interior 
Department, the Justice Department, and the Bonneville Power 
Administration; the Colville Tribes, and a bipartisan group of members 
of the Washington State delegation.
  When Grand Coulee Dam was being built over 50 years ago by the Bureau 
of Reclamation the Secretary of Interior, Harold Ickes, endorsed a 
series of letters directing Federal officials to develop a mechanism to 
provide the Colville Tribes annual payments from power revenues. Grand 
Coulee was completed in 1942 but Interior did not live up to the 
commitments made to the Tribes. Instead, the Department paid the 
Colvilles about $63,000 for their flooded lands and did not provide the 
promised annual payments for the use of their land for power purposes.
  The Tribes used the United States in 1951. Over the years many of the 
Tribes claims relating to Grand Coulee have been settled, including the 
loss of their fishery and their land. However, their claim for the use 
of their land for power purposes was not ruled on until 1990 when the 
U.S. Claims Court dismissed the claim on the grounds that the United 
States' navigational servitude in the Columbia River insulated the 
United States from any liability to the Tribes. In April 1992 the U.S. 
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the trial court in a 
unanimous decision. The Court of Appeals held that the Government's 
navigational servitude did extinguish the Tribes legal claims but was 
not a defense to the Tribes' claim that the ``fair and honorable 
dealing'' clause of the Indian Claims Commission Act had been violated. 
The case was remanded back to the trial court for consideration 
consistent with this ruling. Settlement discussions between the Tribes, 
the Justice Department and Bonneville followed and in early 1994 
agreement was reached. The settlement ratified by H.R. 4757 provides 
for a one-time payment from Justice Department settlement funds of $53 
million, along with annual payments of about $15 million to be made by 
the Bonneville Power Administration for the life of the Grand Coulee 
facility.

  Mr. Speaker, when the Federal Government built water and power 
projects in the West two critical interests were often not considered, 
the rights and welfare of Native Americans and the need to protect 
environmental values. These two neglected interests often overlapped, 
as they did at Grand Coulee where the prolific salmon fishery that the 
Colvilee Tribes depended upon was destroyed.
  The tragic story of the Colville Tribes and the Grand Coulee Dam is 
only one chapter in a very long book of injustices committed as our 
Nation worked to make the great rivers of the West engines of economic 
development. As a Nation we now have an obligation to right these 
wrongs so that dams such as Grand Coulee serve the interests of all 
citizens, including Native Americans. H.R. 4757 is a small but 
important acknowledgment of our nation's responsibilities. I urge 
Members to support this important legislation.
  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. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4757, which provides for the 
settlement of the Colville Tribe's claim against the United States for 
the inundation of the tribe's land when the United States built Grand 
Coulee Dam.
  The minority on the Natural Resource Committee endorses the notion of 
keeping our commitments to the Colville Tribe, particularly when the 
Federal Government broke their promises years ago.
  Despite the injustice that has occurred, this bill is going to be an 
expensive proposition. After enactment the tribe will receive a lump 
sum payment of $53 million from the Justice Department resettlement 
fund. The Bonneville Power Administration will also be obligated to 
make annual payments to the tribe.
  Nevertheless, this measure appears to have strong support among the 
Northwest delegation and I urge its adoption.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from Oregon [Mr. DeFazio].
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to 
me.
  Mr. Speaker, this legislation, the Colville Settlement Act, is a fair 
settlement for the Colville Tribes after many years of injustice, a 
fair deal for the U.S. taxpayer, and a fair deal for the Northwest 
ratepayers. I urge my colleagues to support its passage.
  Mr. THOMAS of Wyoming. Mr. speaker, I urge passage of the bill, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am in the unusual position to commend the gentleman 
from Washington [Mr. Inslee], who is now in the chair, for all the work 
he put in on this legislation to work out an agreement between all of 
the interests that were involved in this legislation, and I want to 
thank him very much for all of his work.
  Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank the staff of our Committee on the 
Interior, Mr. Adamson, who spent a great deal of time out in the 
district, along with Steve Lanich, working with the irrigators and all 
of the rest of the people to deal with this issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Inslee). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from California [Mr. Miller] that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4757, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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