[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 77 (Monday, June 19, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H4603-H4605]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
GRATON RANCHERIA RESTORATION ACT
Mr. SAXTON. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 946) to restore Federal recognition to the Indians of the
Graton Rancheria of California.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 946
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 ``Graton Rancheria Restoration
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) In their 1997 Report to Congress, the Advisory Council
on California Indian Policy specifically recommended the
immediate legislative restoration of the Graton Rancheria.
(2) The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria Tribal
Council has made the express decision to restrict gaming
consistent with the provisions of this Act.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) The term ``Tribe'' means the Indians of the Graton
Rancheria of California.
(2) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the
Interior.
(3) The term ``Interim Tribal Council'' means the governing
body of the Tribe specified in section 7.
(4) The term ``member'' means an individual who meets the
membership criteria under section 6(b).
[[Page H4604]]
(5) The term ``State'' means the State of California.
(6) The term ``reservation'' means those lands acquired and
held in trust by the Secretary for the benefit of the Tribe.
(7) The term ``service area'' means the counties of Marin
and Sonoma, in the State of California.
SEC. 4. RESTORATION OF FEDERAL RECOGNITION, RIGHTS, AND
PRIVILEGES.
(a) Federal Recognition.--Federal recognition is hereby
restored to the Tribe. Except as otherwise provided in this
Act, all laws and regulations of general application to
Indians and nations, tribes, or bands of Indians that are not
inconsistent with any specific provision of this Act shall be
applicable to the Tribe and its members.
(b) Restoration of Rights and Privileges.--Except as
provided in subsection (d), all rights and privileges of the
Tribe and its members under any Federal treaty, Executive
order, agreement, or statute, or under any other authority
which were diminished or lost under the Act of August 18,
1958 (Public Law 85-671; 72 Stat. 619), are hereby restored,
and the provisions of such Act shall be inapplicable to the
Tribe and its members after the date of the enactment of this
Act.
(c) Federal Services and Benefits.--
(1) In general.--Without regard to the existence of a
reservation, the Tribe and its members shall be eligible, on
and after the date of enactment of this Act for all Federal
services and benefits furnished to federally recognized
Indian tribes or their members. For the purposes of Federal
services and benefits available to members of federally
recognized Indian tribes residing on a reservation, members
of the Tribe residing in the Tribe's service area shall be
deemed to be residing on a reservation.
(2) Relation to other laws.--The eligibility for or receipt
of services and benefits under paragraph (1) by a tribe or
individual shall not be considered as income, resources, or
otherwise when determining the eligibility for or computation
of any payment or other benefit to such tribe, individual, or
household under--
(A) any financial aid program of the United States,
including grants and contracts subject to the Indian Self-
Determination Act; or
(B) any other benefit to which such tribe, household, or
individual would otherwise be entitled under any Federal or
federally assisted program.
(d) Hunting, Fishing, Trapping, Gathering, and Water
Rights.--Nothing in this Act shall expand, reduce, or affect
in any manner any hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, or
water rights of the Tribe and its members.
(e) Certain Rights Not Altered.--Except as specifically
provided in this Act, nothing in this Act shall alter any
property right or obligation, any contractual right or
obligation, or any obligation for taxes levied.
SEC. 5. TRANSFER OF LAND TO BE HELD IN TRUST.
(a) Lands To Be Taken in Trust.--Upon application by the
Tribe, the Secretary shall accept into trust for the benefit
of the Tribe any real property located in Marin or Sonoma
County, California, for the benefit of the Tribe after the
property is conveyed or otherwise transferred to the
Secretary and if, at the time of such conveyance or transfer,
there are no adverse legal claims to such property, including
outstanding liens, mortgages, or taxes.
(b) Former Trust Lands of the Graton Rancheria.--Subject to
the conditions specified in this section, real property
eligible for trust status under this section shall include
Indian owned fee land held by persons listed as distributees
or dependent members in the distribution plan approved by the
Secretary on September 17, 1959, or such distributees' or
dependent members' Indian heirs or successors in interest.
(c) Lands To Be Part of Reservation.--Any real property
taken into trust for the benefit of the Tribe pursuant to
this Act shall be part of the Tribe's reservation.
(d) Gaming Restricted.--Notwithstanding subsection (c),
real property taken into trust for the benefit of the Tribe
pursuant to this Act shall not be exempt under section 20(b)
of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2719(b)).
(e) Lands To Be Nontaxable.--Any real property taken into
trust for the benefit of the Tribe pursuant to this section
shall be exempt from all local, State, and Federal taxation
as of the date that such land is transferred to the
Secretary.
SEC. 6. MEMBERSHIP ROLLS.
(a) Compilation of Tribal Membership Roll.--Not later than
1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Secretary shall, after consultation with the Tribe, compile a
membership roll of the Tribe.
(b) Criteria for Membership.--
(1) Until a tribal constitution is adopted under section 8,
an individual shall be placed on the Graton membership roll
if such individual is living, is not an enrolled member of
another federally recognized Indian tribe, and if--
(A) such individual's name was listed on the Graton Indian
Rancheria distribution list compiled by the Bureau of Indian
Affairs and approved by the Secretary of the Interior on
September 17, 1959, under Public Law 85-671;
(B) such individual was not listed on the Graton Indian
Rancheria distribution list, but met the requirements that
had to be met to be listed on the Graton Indian Rancheria
distribution list;
(C) such individual is identified as an Indian from the
Graton, Marshall, Bodega, Tomales, or Sebastopol, California,
vicinities, in documents prepared by or at the direction of
the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or in any other public or
California mission records; or
(D) such individual is a lineal descendant of an
individual, living or dead, identified in subparagraph (A),
(B), or (C).
(2) After adoption of a tribal constitution under section
8, such tribal constitution shall govern membership in the
Tribe.
(c) Conclusive Proof of Graton Indian Ancestry.--For the
purpose of subsection (b), the Secretary shall accept any
available evidence establishing Graton Indian ancestry. The
Secretary shall accept as conclusive evidence of Graton
Indian ancestry information contained in the census of the
Indians from the Graton, Marshall, Bodega, Tomales, or
Sebastopol, California, vicinities, prepared by or at the
direction of Special Indian Agent John J. Terrell in any
other roll or census of Graton Indians prepared by or at the
direction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and in the Graton
Indian Rancheria distribution list compiled by the Bureau of
Indian Affairs and approved by the Secretary on September 17,
1959.
SEC. 7. INTERIM GOVERNMENT.
Until the Tribe ratifies a final constitution consistent
with section 8, the Tribe's governing body shall be an
Interim Tribal Council. The initial membership of the Interim
Tribal Council shall consist of the members serving on the
date of enactment of this Act, who have been elected under
the tribal constitution adopted May 3, 1997. The Interim
Tribal Council shall continue to operate in the manner
prescribed under such tribal constitution. Any vacancy on the
Interim Tribal Council shall be filled by individuals who
meet the membership criteria set forth in section 6(b) and
who are elected in the same manner as are Tribal Council
members under the tribal constitution adopted May 3, 1997.
SEC. 8. TRIBAL CONSTITUTION.
(a) Election; Time; Procedure.--After the compilation of
the tribal membership roll under section 6(a), upon the
written request of the Interim Council, the Secretary shall
conduct, by secret ballot, an election for the purpose of
ratifying a final constitution for the Tribe. The election
shall be held consistent with sections 16(c)(1) and
16(c)(2)(A) of the Act of June 18, 1934 (commonly known as
the Indian Reorganization Act; 25 U.S.C. 476(c)(1) and
476(c)(2)(A), respectively). Absentee voting shall be
permitted regardless of voter residence.
(b) Election of Tribal Officials; Procedures.--Not later
than 120 days after the Tribe ratifies a final constitution
under subsection (a), the Secretary shall conduct an election
by secret ballot for the purpose of electing tribal officials
as provided in such tribal constitution. Such election shall
be conducted consistent with the procedures specified in
subsection (a) except to the extent that such procedures
conflict with the tribal constitution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Saxton) and the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs.
Christensen) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Saxton).
General Leave
Mr. SAXTON. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 946.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New Jersey?
There was no objection.
Mr. SAXTON. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, H.R. 946 would restore Federal recognition to the
Indians of the Graton Rancheria of California. The Graton Rancheria is
one of over 40 Indian tribes which were terminated in 1958 by Public
Law 85-671. Today there are approximately 355 members of the Federated
Indians of Graton Rancheria living in the general vicinity of Santa
Rosa, California.
H.R. 946 provides that the service area for the tribe shall be Marin
and Sonoma Counties, that nothing in the legislation shall expand,
reduce or affect any hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering or water
rights of the tribe, that real property eligible for trust status shall
include certain Indian-owned land, and that the Secretary of the
Interior shall compile a membership roll of the tribe. This bill also
provides for an interim tribal council, the election of tribal
officials, and the ratification of a constitution for the tribe.
Section 5(d) of H.R. 946 provides that real property taken into trust
for the benefit of the tribe pursuant to the bill shall not have been
taken into trust for gaming purposes pursuant to section 20(b) of the
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
[[Page H4605]]
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume
to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey), the sponsor of H.R.
946.
(Ms. WOOLSEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her
remarks.)
Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in support of my
bill, H.R. 946, the Graton Rancheria Restoration Act. I would like to
thank the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), the gentleman from
California (Mr. George Miller), and their staffs for the work that they
have put into bringing this bill to the floor today. I appreciate that
the full Committee on Resources unanimously voted this bill out of
committee on May 16, and I thank them all for the earlier hearing where
the Bureau of Indian Affairs testified in support of the bill. Today I
am appreciative that H.R. 946 is on this floor.
The bill before us today seeks to correct a decades-old wrong by
restoring Federal recognition for the Federated Indians of Graton
Rancheria. This rancheria is composed primarily of the California Coast
Miwok and Southern Pomo Indian tribes in my congressional district. My
district is located north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate
Bridge, and it consists of Marin and Sonoma Counties.
Joe Saulque, who chaired the advisory council on California Indians
in the 1980s, stated that luck often determined whether a tribe got
recognized. I am glad that today the House is taking luck out of the
equation and voting on restoring the tribe's status, because it is the
right thing to do.
The tribes of the Graton Rancheria are a rich part of the San
Francisco Bay area's cultural heritage. The earliest historical account
of the Coast Miwok peoples, whose traditional homelands include the
California communities of Bodega, Tomales, Marshall, and Sebastopol,
located along the west coast of my district, dates back to 1579. Today,
there are almost 400 members of the Federated Indians of Graton
Rancheria.
In 1966, the United States Government terminated the tribe's status
along with numerous other tribes. This was under the California
Rancheria Act of 1958. Almost 2 decades later, the advisory council on
California Indian policy was established to study the report and to
come up with special circumstances facing California tribes whose
status had been terminated. The council's final report, which was
submitted to Congress in September 1997, specifically recommended the
immediate restoration of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria.
Following the report's recommendation, the tribes promptly decided on
a course of action for their restoration. Since then, I have been
working with them on the bill that is before us today. This consensus
bill restores Federal rights and privileges to the tribes and its
members and makes them eligible for benefits, such as Native American
health, education, and housing services that are available to federally
recognized tribes.
Madam Speaker, it has been a long journey for the Federated Indians
of Graton Rancheria. On behalf of their hard work and the support they
have received from the local community, I ask that the House restore
the recognition they deserve.
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
(Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend
her remarks.)
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Madam Speaker, first I would like to thank the
gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) for his efforts in support of this
bill and just to say briefly that it is important that we move swiftly
to restore the rights wrongfully taken from the Federated Indians of
Graton Rancheria in 1958. I urge my colleagues to vote aye on this
bill.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SAXTON. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Saxton) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 946.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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