[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 17, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9448-S9449]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  1998

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the Interior bill, H.R. 
2107.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 2107) making appropriations for the Department 
     of the Interior and related agencies for the fiscal year 
     ending September 30, 1998, and for other purposes.

  The Senate continued with the consideration of the bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The pending question is Hutchinson amendment 
No. 1196.
  Who seeks recognition?
  Mr. BROWNBACK addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.


                           Amendment No. 1204

(Purpose: To ensure that the Huron Cemetery in Kansas City, Kansas, is 
                          used as a cemetery)

  Mr. BROWNBACK. I ask unanimous consent the pending amendment be set 
aside, and I call up amendment No. 1204.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows.

       The Senator from Kansas [Mr. Brownback] proposes an 
     amendment numbered 1204.

  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of 
the amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

       At the appropriate place in title I, insert the following:
       ``Sec. 1   . (a) In this section--
       (1) the term ``Huron Cemetery'' means the lands that form 
     the cemetery that is popularly known as the Huron Cemetery, 
     located in Kansas City, Kansas as described in subsection 
     b(3);
       (2) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the 
     Interior;
       (b)(1) The Secretary shall take such action as may be 
     necessary to ensure that the lands comprising the Huron 
     Cemetery (as described in paragraph (3)) are used only in 
     accordance with this subsection.
       (2) The lands of the Huron Cemetery shall be used only--
       (A) for religious and cultural uses that are compatible 
     with the use of the lands as a cemetery; and
       (B) as a burial ground.
       (3) The description of the lands of the Huron Cemetery is 
     as follows:
       The tract of land in the NW 1/4 of sec. 10, T. 11 S., R. 25 
     E., of the sixth principal meridian, in Wyandotte County, 
     Kansas (as surveyed and marked on the ground on August 15, 
     1888, by William Millor, Civil Engineer and Surveyor), 
     described as follows:
       ``Commencing on the Northwest corner of the Northwest 
     Quarter of the Northwest Quarter of said Section 10;
       ``Thence South 28 poles to the `true point of beginning';
       ``Thence South 71 degrees East 10 poles and 18 links;
       ``Thence South 18 degrees and 30 minutes West 28 poles;
       ``Thence West 11 and one-half poles;
       ``Thence North 19 degrees 15 minutes East 31 poles and 15 
     feet to the `true point of beginning', containing 2 acres or 
     more.''.

  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I will not take too much of the 
Members' time to discuss this amendment, but I think it is a clear, 
narrow piece of legislation that is an important one, and what it 
involves is a particular tract of land in Kansas City that is currently 
being used by the Kansas Wyandot Indians, which is an informally 
recognized tribe, as a burial ground. This tribe has used this tract 
for a number of years as a burial ground. There is a branch of the 
Wyandot Indians in Oklahoma that is an officially recognized tribe that 
seeks to acquire this particular tract of land and have a casino on it.
  Now, setting aside the dispute about which tribe controls this 
particular tract of land, I just think it is not an appropriate thing 
for us to approve, or to allow a tribe, this one in Oklahoma, to 
acquire this land and put a casino on what has been a tribal ancestral 
burial ground. I think it is sacrilegious for that to occur.
  It is not that we are saying there are not enough casinos in Kansas 
City; we have a number of them. That is a side issue as well. What we 
seek by this amendment is very narrow, and that is that this tract will 
remain a burial ground and that it will not be used for a casino.
  We do not seek to mediate the issue of who does the land belong to. 
We do not seek to establish the Kansas Wyandot tribe as an official 
tribe. That is not a part of it. We don't seek to recognize the Wyandot 
Oklahoma Indians' claim to this land. We set all of that aside. This 
amendment simply says this land should remain an Indian burial ground 
as it has been for generations and it should not be transferred, it 
should not be land acquired on which to place a casino.
  I ask that the Members look at this particular amendment. I am going 
to call it back up for a vote later on if we do not have consent from 
all the Members. This land should not be allowed to be used for a 
casino. It is hallowed ground and it should be allowed as that.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I commend my good friend from Kansas. I 
ask the Senator from Kansas to temporarily set this amendment aside 
because the chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee is presently 
presiding at a very important hearing, and I believe he would want to 
be heard. It is not the intention of the committee to stall this but to 
accommodate Senator Campbell. So as soon as he is completed, we will 
try to resolve this matter.
  Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I concur with my friend from Hawaii. I 
believe that this amendment is going to be cleared, but it is 
appropriate that both the chairman and the vice chairman of the 
committee be able to speak at least briefly to it. As soon as we have 
heard from the Senator from Colorado, we may be able to pass this 
amendment. Personally, I think it is a good amendment, and I commend 
the Senator from Kansas for bringing it to our attention.
  Mr. President, unless someone else seeks recognition, I am going to 
suggest the absence of a quorum. I am desperately attempting to get a 
time agreement on the Bryan amendment before 12 o'clock so that we can 
finish that before we begin the debate on the National Endowment for 
the Arts. In

[[Page S9449]]

the meantime, if there is anyone else within sound or sight who wishes 
to propose an amendment, we invite their presence.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislate clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Roberts). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

                          ____________________