[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 130 (Thursday, September 19, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11049-S11050]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               H.R. 2512

  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to rise in support of H.R. 
2512, the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Infrastructure Development Trust Fund 
Act of 1996. This bill provides for the long-delayed fulfillment of 
promises made by Congress to the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of South 
Dakota. These promises were for compensation for the impacts on the 
Tribe that resulted from the inundation of more than 15,000 acres of 
the best land on the Crow Creek reservation, including the relocation 
of Fort Thompson, the principal community on the reservation. The 
inundation was caused by the construction of Fort Randall and Big Bend 
dams on the Missouri River pursuant to the Flood Control Act of 1944, 
otherwise known as the Missouri River Basin Pick-Sloan Project.
  H.R. 2512 provides for creation of a trust fund in the United States 
Treasury for the benefit of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe that would be 
funded with $27,500,000 from receipts of deposits from the Pick-Sloan 
power program of the Western Area Power Administration. Only the 
interest on the fund would be made available to the Tribe, without 
fiscal year limitations, to spend on implementing a plan for 
socioeconomic recovery and cultural preservation. This plan will 
include a variety of infrastruture and related projects that Congress 
in 1962 directed the Interior Department and the United States Corps of 
Engineers to provide to the Tribe, but which were either inadequately 
provided or not provided at all. Among these projects is a high school, 
a water system, and a community center with a gymnasium and auditorium.
  The Committee on Indian Affairs and the House Resources Committee 
conducted a joint hearing on H.R. 2512 and on a Senate companion bill, 
S. 1264. The record of that hearing includes extensive historical 
information on the Big Bend and Fort Randall dam projects, the 
commitments made by the United States to the Crow Creek Tribe for 
compensation with respect to these projects, and the extent to which 
those commitments were not fulfilled. The record is clear that the 
additional compensation that would be provided by H.R. 2512 is not only 
well-justified but also long overdue.
  It should be noted that the Crow Creek trust fund that would be 
provided by this legislation is proportionate to trust funds 
established by Congress in 1992 for the Standing Rock Sioux and Fort 
Berthold Tribes. The 1992 Standing Rock and Fort Berthold legislation 
was enacted based on the findings and recommendations of a 
congressionally mandated joint tribal-Federal task force. This task 
force studied the impacts of the construction of Oahe and Garrison dams 
on the Standing Rock and Fort Berthold Reservations, including the 
inundation of a combined total of more than 200,000 acres of the best 
lands on those reservations.
  Mr. President, the construction of huge, multipurpose dam projects by 
the Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation earlier in this 
century brought major economic and other benefits to large numbers of 
people and interests in various parts of the United States. However, 
these benefits often came at a very high price to others. In the case 
of the dam projects authorized under the Pick-Sloan Project, the 
greatest price was paid by Indian tribes whose reservations lie along 
the Missouri River in North and South Dakota. These tribes saw much of 
their best farm land flooded, long-established communities relocated, 
families disrupted, and a way of life changed forever. The human price 
they paid is beyond calculation.
  Regrettably, the conduct of the agencies of the United States 
government, including the Congress, with respect to the Indian tribes 
affected by Pick-Sloan Project construction often did not live up to 
the fair and honorable dealings standard that the tribes had a right 
and reason to expect from the United States as their trustee. In light 
of the well-documented history of this conduct with respect to the Crow 
Creek Sioux Tribe, I believe that enacting H.R. 2512 is a fair and 
honorable course for this Congress to take.
  Mr. President, this legislation is supported by the State of South 
Dakota, its congressional delegation, and the Administration, in 
addition to the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe. The House recently passed H.R. 
2512 by voice vote, and the Committee on Indian Affairs has favorably 
reported companion legislation to the Senate. Accordingly, I strongly 
urge the Senate to pass H.R.

[[Page S11050]]

2512 and send it to the President for signature.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I am very pleased that the Senate is 
considering the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Infrastructure Development Trust 
Fund Act of 1995. This measure, which is sponsored by Congressman Tim 
Johnson, is very important to South Dakota and the Crow Creek Tribe. I 
commend the Senate Indian Affairs Committee for its leadership in 
promoting the bill's companion measure, S. 1264, which I introduced. I 
also want to publicly thank the members of the Crow Creek Tribe for 
their many years of hard work. The tribe has worked closely with 
Congressman Johnson and I to shape this legislation that will help 
realize, at long last, the goals outlined in the Big Bend Act over 30 
years ago.
  This bill will provide for the development of certain tribal 
infrastructure projects funded by a trust fund set up for the Crow 
Creek Tribe within the Department of the Treasury. The trust fund would 
be capitalized within 1 to 2 years from a percentage of hydropower 
revenues and would be capped at $27.5 million. The tribe would then 
receive the interest from the fund and use it for economic development 
purposes according to a plan prepared in conjunction with the Bureau of 
Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service.
  It is instructive to review the long historic journey that has 
brought us to this point. The Flood Control Act of 1944 created five 
massive earthen dams on the Missouri River. This public works project, 
known as the Pick-Sloan Plan, provides the region with flood control, 
irrigation and hydropower. Four of the Pick-Sloan dams are located in 
South Dakota.
  The impact of the Pick-Sloan plan on the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe has 
been devastating. The Big Bend and Fort Randall dams created losses to 
the Crow Creek Tribe for which they have not been adequately 
compensated. Over 15,000 acres of the tribe's most fertile and 
productive land, the Missouri River wooded bottomlands, were inundated 
as a result of the Fort Randall and Big Bend components of the Pick-
Sloan project.
  By and through the Big Bend Act of 1962, Congress directed the U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of the Interior to take 
certain actions to alleviate the problems caused by the dislocation of 
communities and inundation of tribal resources. These directives were 
either carried out inadequately or not carried out at all.
  Congress established precedent for H.R. 2512 in 1992 with the passage 
of the Three Affiliated Tribes and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Equitable 
Compensation Act, which I cosponsored. At that time, Congress 
determined that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had failed to provide 
adequate compensation to the tribes when their land was acquired for 
the Pick-Sloan projects. There is little question that the tribes bore 
an inordinate share of the cost of implementing the Pick-Sloan program. 
The Secretary of the Interior established the Joint Tribal Advisory 
Committee to resolve the inequities and find ways to finance the 
compensation of tribal claims. As a result, the Three Affiliated Tribes 
and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Equitable Compensation Act set up a 
recovery fund financed entirely from a percentage of Pick-Sloan power 
revenues.
  The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Infrastructure Development Fund Act of 
1995 is the next step in honoring commitments made when the Pick-Sloan 
dams were constructed in a fiscally sound manner while giving local 
entites the latitude to determine their own development priorities. 
This legislation not only benefits the tribe, but the entire State of 
South Dakota, since a sound infrastructure is essential to regional 
economic development.
  This legislation has broad support in South Dakota. Gov. Bill Janklow 
strongly endorses this proposal to develop the infrastructure at the 
Crow Creek Indian reservation.
  Mr. President, the impact of the Pick-Sloan projects have been 
devastating to other Missouri River tribes as well. I look forward to 
working with the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux 
Tribe to address their claims.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the bill be 
deemed read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid 
on the table, and any statements relating to the bill appear at the 
appropriate place in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (H.R. 2512) was deemed read a third time and passed.

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