[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 74 (Wednesday, June 10, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6043-S6046]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BINGAMAN:
  S. 2155. A bill to provide restitution of the economic potential lost 
to communities dependent on Spanish and Mexican Land Grants in New 
Mexico due to inadequate implementation of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe 
Hidalgo; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.


             Fair Deal for Northern New Mexico Act of 1998

   Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, today, I introduce a bill to 
resolve a long standing controversy between many citizens of my State 
of New Mexico, and their government.
  In 1848, the United States entered into a treaty with Mexico to end 
the Mexican/American War called the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. In 
that treaty, Mexico ceded an enormous tract of land that was to become 
the American Southwest including the State of New Mexico. In return the 
Treaty stipulated that the property rights of the Mexican citizens who 
lived in the area, and who were to become new citizens of the United 
States, would be protected.
  We must recall that these new citizens had had a long, and sometimes 
ancient, connection to the land. The Native American tribal peoples who 
had lived there for thousands of years, had

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become citizens of Spain and then Mexico. Also many of those new 
citizens of Spanish descent had a family heritage of living on the this 
land dating back 250 years to 1598, when the Spanish colonial capital 
in New Mexico was established at San Juan Pueblo. They had built towns 
and cities, churches, and vast irrigation systems for their farms.
  Unfortunately, the treaty provisions protecting title to land were 
not well and evenly implemented. It has been fairly well documented by 
scholars such as Professor Malcolm Ebright at the University of New 
Mexico, and Professor Emeritus Michael Meyer from the University of 
Northern Arizona, that many people lost title to their land who should 
have been protected by the treaty. In some cases this was due to faulty 
surveying by the Surveyor General, in some cases it was due to a lack 
of knowledge by American Territorial Courts about how title was 
acquired under Spanish and Mexican law, and most egregiously people 
sometimes lost their land through outright fraud by government 
officials and land speculators.
  As I said earlier, the implementation of the treaty was not uniform. 
In some areas property rights were fairly well adhered to, but in 
others legitimate titles were wiped out wholesale. A group of people 
that were particularly hurt in this process were the relatively poor 
subsistence farmers and ranchers living in northern New Mexico. These 
new American citizens were easy prey for land speculators. Not only 
were they learning a new language and legal system, but usually they 
did not have the financial resources to defend their property rights in 
the courts. In some cases, people were told that if they signed a given 
document that they would be assured the continued use of their land 
forever. However in reality, what they were signing were quit claim 
deeds, giving title to their land to some nefarious speculator.
  The ramifications of this history have caused bitter disputes and 
economic hardship in northern New Mexico for generations. The issue is 
still relevant for many New Mexicans feel their government has an 
obligation to compensate them for their loss of land. In many cases 
they may be right.
  Mr. President, after 150 years it may not be possible or practicable 
to revisit the thousands of title claims originally made in 1848. So 
much time has passed, and so many title transfers have taken place 
since then that the legal review could be a never ending legal maze. 
However, Spanish and Mexican law recognized community as well as 
individual land titles. Under a grant from the King of Spain or the 
Mexican government, whole communities had a claim on certain lands. 
These community land grants form a distinct, and often better 
documented, subset of the claims made under the Treaty of Guadalupe-
Hidalgo. Given that this is a smaller, more defined group of claims, 
and because of they affect whole communities, it may be possible to 
settle these long standing claims and provide a sense of justice to 
people in northern New Mexico.
  Last year former Representative Richardson introduced a bill, H.R. 
260, to create a commission to study and recommend settlement of these 
claims. His successor in office, Representative Redmond has carried on 
this issue in his own bill, H.R. 2538. These bills have been useful in 
bringing the issue to national attention and I commend both of my 
colleagues for introducing them.
  Mr. President, my bill, which I call the Fair Deal for Northern New 
Mexico Act, builds upon the efforts in the other body. For example, the 
House bill is focused on an exhaustive legal review of the various 
community land grant claims and whether land should be transferred back 
to the claimants. My bill also has a review of these claims, but 
acknowledges that after 150 years, that we may never be able to reach 
legal certainty in some cases. We may find that a claim is colorable, 
that it has a legal basis, but not exactly what is owed. Also, we may 
find that the other people in the community currently either own the 
land in question, or if it's federal land, they may have long standing 
leases on which they depend. For that reason, my bill creates a package 
of options for settlement of these claims with the involvement and 
support of the whole community that would be affected.
  I won't dwell on the differences between this bill and the one in the 
House because I see this bill as a broadening and strengthening of that 
effort. Let me just run briefly what my bill would do, and my hope is 
that as this works its way through committee and on the floor that 
we'll reach an agreement with the House sponsors on legislation that 
will resolve this long standing legal dispute in New Mexico.
  My bill has three key components: the creation of county-wide 
settlement committees, the reasonable but expedited time-frame, and a 
broad range of settlement options. First, it would create seven member 
settlement committees, one for each county in New Mexico in which their 
are these community land grant claims. To get the federal agencies 
actively involved in a solution to the issue, the Secretaries of 
Agriculture and Interior would each have a representative on these 
committees. The State Lands Commissioner would represent the interests 
of the State's educational trust fund. Finally, each county commission 
would appoint four representatives, at least one of which must be a 
Tribal member if there is an Indian Pueblo within that county, and at 
least one of which is a non-Indian heir to a Spanish or Mexican Land 
Grant.
  Second, the bill tries to keep the issue on the front burner by 
limiting the settlement committees to a set schedule. The settlement 
committees would have ninety days to publish a set of guidelines on to 
how to document a land claim, and then people would have one year to 
file their claims. These committees would then have three years in 
which to review the claims and develop a proposed settlement to be 
submitted to Congress.
  The whole process from creation of these committees to proposals to 
Congress would take about five years. I think this very important. It 
should be long enough to develop some solid settlement proposals, but 
it is a short enough time-frame that the people in New Mexico will see 
action before they just become frustrated.
  Finally, the settlement committees would have a number of options to 
choose from to create a settlement that will satisfy the claims and the 
communities in which they are made. As with the House bill, one options 
would be to transfer land directly back to a particular community land 
grant. However, the committee might propose that federal lands be set 
aside for under special designations for community use, or that lands 
should be transferred to local municipalities to benefit everyone in 
the community. Further, a settlement committee could recommend that a 
package of economic develop grants or tuition scholarships would better 
meet the current needs of claimants and the community than a transfer 
of whatever land might be available. All of these options would be 
tools available to a county settlement committee to use in crafting a 
settlement that the people of that county would find to be fair and 
just.
  Mr. President, it is time for the United States to respond to its 
citizens on this issue, to bring this controversy to closure, and to 
give the citizens of northern New Mexico a sense that justice has been 
done so that they can move forward both socially and economically 
without this cloud from the past hanging over them. I think this bill 
will move us forward towards those goals. I would like to call on the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources to hold hearings on this bill 
at the earliest possible time. I hope to work with the rest of the New 
Mexico delegation and the other members of Congress to pass good 
legislation regarding the issue.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the full text of the bill 
be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2155

       Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of 
     Representatives of the United States of America in Congress 
     assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Fair Deal for Northern New 
     Mexico Act of 1998.''

     SEC. 2. PURPOSE, DEFINITIONS AND FINDINGS.

       (a) Purpose.--
       The purpose of this Act is to create a mechanism for the 
     settlement of Spanish and Mexican land grant claims in New 
     Mexico as claimed under the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hildalgo.
       (b) Definitions.--For Purposes of this Act:

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       (1) Treaty of Guadalupe-hidalgo.--The term ``Treaty of 
     Guadalupe-Hidalgo'' means the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, 
     Limits, and Settlement (Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo), between 
     the United States and the Republic of Mexico, signed February 
     2, 1848 (TS 207; 9 Bevans 791);
       (2) Community land grant.--The term ``community land 
     grant'' means a village, town, settlement, or pueblo 
     consisting of land held in common (accompanied by lesser 
     private allotments) by three or more families under a grant 
     from the King of Spain (or his representative) before the 
     effective date of the Treaty of Cordova, August 24, 1821, or 
     from the authorities of the Republic of Mexico before May 30, 
     1848, in what became the State of New Mexico, regardless of 
     the original character of the grant.
       (3) Land grant claim.--The term ``land grant claim'' means 
     a claim of title to land by a community land grant under the 
     terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo.
       (4) Eligible Descendant.--The term ``eligible descendant'' 
     means a descendant of a person who--
       (A) was a Mexican citizen before the Treaty of Guadalupe-
     Hildalgo;
       (B) was a member of a community land grant; and
       (C) became a United States citizen within ten years after 
     the effective date of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, May 
     30, 1848, pursuant to the terms of the Treaty.
       (5) Settlement committee.--The term ``settlement 
     committee'' refers to committee, or one of the county 
     specific subcommittees as appropriate, authorized in Section 
     3 of this Act.
       (6) Reconstituted.--The term ``reconstituted,'' with regard 
     to a valid community land grant, means restoration to full 
     status as a municipality with rights properly belonging to a 
     municipality under State law, including the nontaxability of 
     municipal property (common lands) and the right of local 
     self-government.
       (c) Findings.--Congress Finds the Following:
       (1) New Mexico has a unique and complex history regarding 
     land ownership due to the substantial number of Spanish and 
     Mexican land grants that were an integral part of the 
     colonization of New Mexico before the United States acquired 
     the area in the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo.
       (2) Under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, 
     these land grant claims were recognized as valid property 
     claims under United States' law.
       (3) Several studies, including the New Mexico Land Grant 
     Series published by the University of New Mexico, have 
     documented that the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in regards to 
     these land grant claims in New Mexico was never well 
     implemented. Whether because of a lack of knowledge of 
     Spanish land law on the part of the judicial system in the 
     then new Territory of New Mexico, whether because of 
     inadequate or conflicting documentation of these claims, or 
     whether it was due to sharp legal practices, many of the 
     former citizens of Mexico, and then new citizens of the 
     United States, lost title to lands that had been guaranteed 
     to them by treaty.
       (4) Following the United States' war with Mexico, the 
     economy of the Territory of New Mexico was dependent on the 
     use of land resources, and that held true for much of this 
     century as well. When the land grant claimants lost title to 
     their land, the predominantly Hispanic communities in 
     northern New Mexico lost a keystone to their economy. The 
     effects of this loss have had long lasting economic 
     consequences and are in part the cause that these communities 
     remain some of the poorest in the United States.
       (5) The history of the implementation of the Treaty of 
     Guadalupe-Hidalgo has been a source of continuing controversy 
     for generations and has left a lingering sense of injustice 
     in the communities in northern New Mexico, which has 
     periodically lead to armed conflicts.
       (6) The government of the United States has an obligation 
     to try to find an equitable remedy for the inadequate 
     implementation of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo and the 
     consequences that has had on the communities and people of 
     New Mexico. This should be done as expeditiously as possible. 
     However, reconstructing the one hundred and fifty year 
     history of land title claims and transfers in these 
     communities is likely to prove lengthy and costly. In some 
     cases it may never be possible to adequately reconstruct the 
     title history.
       (7) The Secretary of the Interior has had a experience in 
     administratively developing settlement packages to resolve 
     large and complex Tribal water rights claims as an 
     alternative to lengthy and expensive litigation. This 
     experience may be invaluable in resolving the large, complex, 
     and sometimes conflicting Spanish and Mexican land grant 
     claims in northern New Mexico.
       (8) The history of colonial Spanish America, the system of 
     land distribution under Spanish and Mexican law, and the 
     subsequent impacts to that system following the transfer of 
     territory from Mexico to the United States under the Treaty 
     of Guadalupe-Hidalgo is a requisite body of knowledge in 
     determining an appropriate settlement of land grant claims. 
     It is also an integral part of the national history and 
     culture of the United States of America and, as such, 
     deserves formal recognition and interpretation by our 
     institutions of historical preservation.

     SEC. 3. CREATION OF SETTLEMENT COMMITTEES.

       (A) Within one hundred and eighty (180) days of enactment 
     of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior working through 
     the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Indian 
     Affairs, and the and the Secretary of Agriculture working 
     through the Forest Service are hereby authorized and directed 
     to establish a ``Settlement Committee'' to develop 
     comprehensive settlements for land grant claims on a county 
     by county basis.
       (b) The Settlement Committee will be comprised of separate 
     subcommittees for each county in which there are land grant 
     claims in New Mexico.
       (c) Each county subcommittee shall be comprised of seven 
     members including: (1) a representative of the Secretary of 
     the Interior; (2) a representative of the Secretary of 
     Agriculture; (3) a representative of the State Commissioner 
     of Public Lands; and (4) four residents of the particular 
     county in question. The four county representatives are to be 
     appointed their county commissions: Provided, That in 
     counties with Federally recognized Native American Indian 
     Tribes that at least one county representative shall be an 
     enrolled member of a tribe whose reservation pueblo 
     boundaries come within that county: Provided further, That at 
     least one county representative shall be an eligible 
     descendent who is not an enrolled member of a Native American 
     Indian Tribe.
       (d) Each member shall be appointed for the life of the 
     Settlement Committee. A vacancy in the Settlement Committee 
     shall be filled in the manner in which the original 
     appointment was made.

     SEC. 4. SUBMISSION OF LAND GRANT CLAIMS.

       (a) Within ninety (90) days of the creation of the 
     settlement committee it shall establish a set of guidelines 
     for the submission of land grant claims, and publish these 
     guidelines within papers of general circulation in each of 
     the counties in New Mexico.
       (b) Land grant claims must be submitted to the appropriate 
     county settlement committee within one year of the 
     publication of the guidelines.

     SEC. 5 REVIEW AND SETTLEMENT PACKAGE.

       (a) The settlement committee for each county shall review 
     all of the submitted claims in the county and, based on the 
     documentation at its disposal, make an initial determination 
     concerning their potential validity including: possible past 
     conveyances, the accuracy of the boundaries of the land 
     claimed, and the number of eligible heirs affected.
       (b) Upon completing this review, the settlement committee 
     shall develop a proposed settlement package in satisfaction 
     of land grant claims within that county. In creating the 
     settlement package, the settlement committee shall take into 
     account: the degree of certainty with which it has determined 
     that various claims are valid, the impacts, including 
     economic and social impacts, that any unfulfilled land 
     grant claims may have had on the communities within that 
     county, the relative benefits of various settlement 
     options on those communities, and whether there is a legal 
     entity that can accept settlement. The elements of a 
     proposed settlement package may include, but are not 
     limited to:
       (1) Restoration of lands to a given land grant community or 
     communities;
       (2) Reconstitution of a given land grant community or 
     communities;
       (3) The setting aside of certain lands for communal use for 
     fuel wood, building materials, hunting, recreation, etc. 
     These lands could be set aside as special managerial units 
     within existing federal land management agencies or 
     transferred to local county, tribal, or municipal, 
     governments;
       (4) Trust funds for scholarships or home and business 
     loans; or
       (5) Land for commercial use with the proceeds to be 
     deposited into the trust funds.
       (c) The settlement committee shall complete its review and 
     proposed settlement package within three years of the 
     deadline for submission of land grant claims under this Act, 
     and submit them in a report to the Senate Committee on Energy 
     and Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Indian 
     Affairs, and to the House Resources Committee. Any proposal 
     that require action by the government of the State of New 
     Mexico shall be submitted to the Governor, to the Speaker of 
     the State House of Representatives, and to the President Pro 
     Tem of the State Senate for New Mexico.

     SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION OF THE SETTLEMENT COMMITTEE.

       (a) To complete its tasks the settlement committee may use 
     a variety of methods to gather information and to build 
     community consensus on the form of a proposed settlement 
     package, including: the use of town meetings, holding formal 
     hearings, the solicitation of written comments, and the use 
     of mediators trained in alternative dispute resolution 
     methods. The settlement committee is also authorized to hire 
     consultants as it may choose for historical, economic, and 
     legal analysis. In its efforts to develop a consensus on a 
     settlement package, the Settlement Committee is not subject 
     to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-462; 5 
     U.S.C. Ap. 2 Sec. 1).
       (b) Gifts, Bequests, and Devises.--The Settlement Committee 
     may accept, use, and dispose of gifts, bequests, or devises 
     of services or property, both real and personal, for the 
     purpose of aiding or facilitating the work of the Settlement 
     Committee. Gifts, bequests, or devises of money and proceeds 
     from sales of other property received as

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     gifts, bequests, or devises shall be deposited in the 
     Treasury and shall be available for disbursement upon order 
     of the Settlement Committee. For purposes of the Federal 
     income, estates, and gift taxes, property accepted under this 
     subsection shall be considered as a gift, bequest, or devise 
     to the United States.
       (c) Administrative Support Services.--Upon the request of 
     the Settlement Committee, the Administrator of General 
     Services shall provide to the Settlement Committee, on a 
     reimbursable basis, the administrative support services 
     necessary for the Settlement Committee to carry out its 
     responsibilities under this Act.
       (d) Immunity.--The Settlement Committee is an agency of the 
     United States for the purpose of part V of title 18, United 
     States Code (relating to the immunity of witnesses).
       (e) Compensation.--Members of the Settlement Committee 
     shall each be entitled to receive the daily equivalent of 
     level V of the Executive Schedule for each day (including 
     travel time) during which they are engaged in the actual 
     performance of duties vested in the Settlement Committee.

     SEC. 7. SPANISH LAND GRANT STUDY PROGRAM.

       (a) The Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and the 
     Settlement Committee working in conjunction with the 
     University of New Mexico, and Highlands University shall 
     establish a Spanish Land Grant Study program with a research 
     archive at the Onate Center in Alcalde, New Mexico. This 
     program shall be designed to meet the requirements of the 
     Smithsonian Institution's Affiliated Institutions Program.
       (b) The purposes of the Spanish Land Grant Study Program 
     are to assist the Settlement Committee in the performance of 
     its activities under section 5, and to archive and interpret 
     the history of land distribution in the southwestern United 
     States under Spanish and Mexican law, and the changes to this 
     land distribution system following the transfer of territory 
     from Mexico to the United States under the terms of the 
     Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848.

     SEC. 8. TERMINATION.

       The Settlement Committee shall terminate on 180 days after 
     submitting its final report to Congress under section 5.

     SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There is authorized to be appropriated $1,500,000 for each 
     of the fiscal years 1999 through 2003 for the purpose of 
     carrying out the activities of the Settlement Committee 
     created in section 3, and the Spanish Land Grant Study 
     Program created section 7.
                                 ______