[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 188 (Tuesday, November 28, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S17668-S17669]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. McCAIN:
  S. 1431. A bill to make certain technical corrections in laws 
relating to native Americans, and for other purposes; to the Committee 
on Indian Affairs.


                   technical corrections legislation

 Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I am introducing today a bill to 
amend two existing laws that provide for the settlement of the water 
rights claims of two Indian tribes in Arizona.
  Section 1 of the bill amends section 112 of the Yavapai-Prescott 
Indian Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 1994 to extend by 6 months 
the time for the settlement parties to finish all actions required to 
complete the settlement. Under the original act, the Secretary of the 
Interior is required to publish in the Federal Register by December 31, 
1995, a statement of findings that includes a finding that contracts 
for the assignment of Central Arizona Project water have been executed. 
Due to several unforeseen developments, the Department of the Interior, 
the Yavapai-Prescott Tribe, and the city of Prescott have concluded 
that additional time is necessary to finalize the agreements and 
publish the Secretary's findings in the Federal Register. Accordingly, 
the amendment extends the deadline for completion of the settlement to 
June 30, 1996.
  Section 2 of the bill amends the San Carlos Apache Tribe Water Rights 
Settlement Act of 1992 to extend by 1 year the deadline for the 
settlement parties to complete all actions needed to effect the 
settlement, including finalizing agreements between the San Carlos 
Apache Tribe and the Phelps-Dodge Corp., and between the tribe and the 
town of Globe. This amendment would extend the deadline from December 
31, 1995, to December 31, 1996. The Department of the Interior, the San 
Carlos Apache Tribe, and the other settlement parties all support this 
extension.
  Mr. President, it is extremely important that the Congress pass these 
two time-sensitive provisions before the end of the year. The San 
Carlos Apache and Yavapai-Prescott settlements are 

[[Page S 17669]]
the product of years of painstaking negotiation and effort by many 
parties. No party, in particular the United States, would benefit from 
a lapse in the statutory authority for completing these settlements. 
Without the time extensions contained in this bill, the many fruits of 
these collective efforts could be lost.
  On October 31, 1995, the Senate passed S. 325, a bill comprised of 22 
sections containing amendments to various laws affecting native 
Americans. Sections 1 and 2 described in the preceding paragraphs are 
identical to sections 15 and 22 of S. 325. However, it now appears 
doubtful that the House will pass S. 325 by the end of the year. 
Consequently, I am introducing this bill today to ensure that the 
parties to the San Carlos and Yavapai-Prescott settlements will have 
sufficient time to complete the work needed to make those settlements 
final.

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