[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 26 (Thursday, March 1, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1768-S1770]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DASCHLE (for himself, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Hagel):
  S. 434. A bill to provide equitable compensation to the Yankton Sioux 
Tribe of South Dakota and the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska for the 
loss of value of certain lands; to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, today I am joining with Senators Tim 
Johnson and Chuck Hagel to introduce legislation to compensate the 
Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota and the Santee Sioux Tribe of 
Nebraska for losses the tribes suffered when the Fort Randall and 
Gavins Point dams were constructed on the Missouri River over four 
decades ago.
  As a result of the construction of these dams, more than 3,259 acres 
of land owned by the Yankton Sioux Tribe were flooded or subsequently 
lost to erosion. Also, approximately 600 acres of land located near the 
Santee village and 400 acres on the Niobrara Island of the Santee Sioux 
Tribe Indian Reservation were flooded. The flooding of these fertile 
lands struck a significant blow to the economies of these tribes, a 
loss for which they have never been adequately compensated. This 
legislation attempts to redress that unfortunate reality by providing 
the tribes resources to rebuild their infrastructure and strengthen 
their economies.
  To appreciate fully the need for this legislation, it is important to 
understand history. The Fort Randall and Gavins Point dams were 
constructed in South Dakota pursuant to the Flood Control Act (58 Stat. 
887) of 1944. That legislation authorized implementation of the 
Missouri River Basin Pick-Sloan Plan for water development and flood 
control for downstream states.
  The Fort Randall dam, which was an integral part of the Pick-Sloan 
project, initially flooded 2,851 acres of tribal land, forcing the 
relocation and resettlement of numerous families, including the 
traditional and self-sustaining community of White Swan, one of the 
four major settlement areas on the reservation. On other reservations, 
such as Crow Creek, Lower Brule, Cheyenne River, Standing Rock and Fort 
Berthold, communities affected by the Pick-Sloan dams were relocated to 
higher ground. In contract, the White Swan community was completely 
dissolved and its residents dispersed to whatever areas they could 
settle and start again.
  The bill I am introducing today, the Yankton Sioux Tribe and Santee 
Sioux Tribe of Nebraska Development Trust Fund Act, follows the 
precedent established over the last ten years by a series of laws that 
address similar claims by other tribes in South Dakota for losses 
caused by the Pick-Sloan dams. In 1992, Congress granted the Three 
Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold Reservation and the Standing Rock 
Sioux Tribe compensation for direct damages, including lost reservation 
infrastructure, relocation and resettlement expenses, the general 
rehabilitation of the tribes and unfulfilled government commitments 
regarding replacement facilities. In 1996, Congress enacted legislation 
compensating the Crow Creek tribe for its losses and in 1997 
legislation was enacted to compensate the Lower Brule tribe. Last year, 
the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe also received compensation.
  The Yankton Sioux Tribe and Santee Sioux Tribe have not yet received 
fair compensation for their losses. Their time has come.
  The flooding caused by the Pick-Sloan projects touched every aspect 
of life on the Yankton and Santee Sioux reservations, as large portions 
of their communities were forced to relocate wherever they could find 
shelter. These effects were never fully considered when the federal 
government was acquiring these lands or designing the Pick-Sloan 
projects.
  The Yankton Sioux Tribe and Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska 
Development Trust Fund Act represents an important element of our 
continuing effort to compensate fairly the tribes of the Missouri River 
Basin for the sacrifices they made decades ago for the construction of 
the dams. Passage of this legislation will not only right a historic 
wrong, but in doing so it will also improve the lives of Native 
Americans living on these reservations.
  It took decades for Congress to recognize the government's 
unfulfilled federal obligation to compensate the tribes for the effects 
of the construction of the Fort Randall and Gavins Point dams. We 
cannot, of course, reclaim the productive lands lost to those projects 
which are now covered with water and return them to the tribes. We can, 
however, help replace the forsaken economic potential of those lands by 
providing resources to improve the infrastructure on the reservations. 
This approach, in turn, will enhance opportunities for economic 
development that will benefit all members of the tribe.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to approve the Yankton Sioux Tribe and 
Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska Development Trust Fund Act this year. 
Providing compensation to the Yankton Sioux Tribe and the Santee Sioux 
Tribe of Nebraska for past economic harm inflicted by the federal 
government is long overdue, and further delay only compounds that harm. 
I ask unanimous consent that the 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. 434

       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 ``Yankton Sioux Tribe and 
     Santee Sioux Tribe Equitable Compensation Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
       (1) by enacting the Act of December 22, 1944, commonly 
     known as the ``Flood Control Act of 1944'' (58 Stat. 887, 
     chapter 665; 33 U.S.C. 701-1 et seq.) Congress approved the 
     Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin program (referred to in this 
     section as the ``Pick-Sloan program'')--
       (A) to promote the general economic development of the 
     United States;
       (B) to provide for irrigation above Sioux City, Iowa;
       (C) to protect urban and rural areas from devastating 
     floods of the Missouri River; and
       (D) for other purposes;
       (2) the waters impounded for the Fort Randall and Gavins 
     Point projects of the Pick-Sloan program have inundated the 
     fertile, wooded bottom lands along the Missouri River that 
     constituted the most productive agricultural and pastoral 
     lands of, and the homeland of, the members of the Yankton 
     Sioux Tribe and the Santee Sioux Tribe;
       (3) the Fort Randall project (including the Fort Randall 
     Dam and Reservoir) overlies the western boundary of the 
     Yankton Sioux Tribe Indian Reservation;
       (4) the Gavins Point project (including the Gavins Point 
     Dam and Reservoir) overlies

[[Page S1769]]

     the eastern boundary of the Santee Sioux Tribe;
       (5) although the Fort Randall and Gavins Point projects are 
     major components of the Pick-Sloan program, and contribute to 
     the economy of the United States by generating a substantial 
     amount of hydropower and impounding a substantial quantity of 
     water, the reservations of the Yankton Sioux Tribe and the 
     Santee Sioux Tribe remain undeveloped;
       (6) the United States Army Corps of Engineers took the 
     Indian lands used for the Fort Randall and Gavins Point 
     projects by condemnation proceedings;
       (7) the Federal Government did not give Yankton Sioux Tribe 
     and the Santee Sioux Tribe an opportunity to receive 
     compensation for direct damages from the Pick-Sloan program, 
     even though the Federal Government gave 5 Indian reservations 
     upstream from the reservations of those Indian tribes such an 
     opportunity;
       (8) the Yankton Sioux Tribe and the Santee Sioux Tribe did 
     not receive just compensation for the taking of productive 
     agricultural Indian lands through the condemnation referred 
     to in paragraph (6);
       (9) the settlement agreement that the United States entered 
     into with the Yankton Sioux Tribe and the Santee Sioux Tribe 
     to provide compensation for the taking by condemnation 
     referred to in paragraph (6) did not take into account the 
     increase in property values over the years between the date 
     of taking and the date of settlement; and
       (10) in addition to the financial compensation provided 
     under the settlement agreements referred to in paragraph 
     (9)--
       (A) the Yankton Sioux Tribe should receive an aggregate 
     amount equal to $23,023,743 for the loss value of 2,851.40 
     acres of Indian land taken for the Fort Randall Dam and 
     Reservoir of the Pick-Sloan program; and
       (B) the Santee Sioux Tribe should receive an aggregate 
     amount equal to $4,789,010 for the loss value of 593.10 acres 
     of Indian land located near the Santee village.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' has the 
     meaning given that term in section 4(e) of the Indian Self-
     Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 
     450b(e)).
       (2) Santee sioux tribe.--The term ``Santee Sioux Tribe'' 
     means the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska.
       (3) Yankton sioux tribe.--The term Yankton Sioux Tribe'' 
     means the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.

     SEC. 4. YANKTON SIOUX TRIBE DEVELOPMENT TRUST FUND.

       (a) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury of 
     the United States a fund to be known as the ``Yankton Sioux 
     Tribe Development Trust Fund'' (referred to in this section 
     as the ``Fund''). The Fund shall consist of any amounts 
     deposited in the Fund under this Act.
       (b) Funding.--On the first day of the 11th fiscal year that 
     begins after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
     of the Treasury shall, from the General Fund of the Treasury, 
     deposit into the Fund established under subsection (a)--
       (1) $23,023,743; and
       (2) an additional amount that equals the amount of interest 
     that would have accrued on the amount described in paragraph 
     (1) if such amount had been invested in interest-bearing 
     obligations of the United States, or in obligations 
     guaranteed as to both principal and interest by the United 
     States, on the first day of the first fiscal year that begins 
     after the date of enactment of this Act and compounded 
     annually thereafter.
       (c) Investment of Trust Fund.--It shall be the duty of the 
     Secretary of the Treasury to invest such portion of the Fund 
     as is not, in the Secretary of Treasury's judgment, required 
     to meet current withdrawals. Such investments may be made 
     only in interest-bearing obligations of the United States or 
     in obligations guaranteed as to both principal and interest 
     by the United States. The Secretary of the Treasury shall 
     deposit interest resulting from such investments into the 
     Fund.
       (d) Payment of Interest to Tribe.--
       (1) Withdrawal of interest.--Beginning on the first day of 
     the 11th fiscal year after the date of enactment of this Act 
     and, on the first day of each fiscal year thereafter, the 
     Secretary of the Treasury shall withdraw the aggregate amount 
     of interest deposited into the Fund for that fiscal year and 
     transfer that amount to the Secretary of the Interior for use 
     in accordance with paragraph (2). Each amount so transferred 
     shall be available without fiscal year limitation.
       (2) Payments to yankton sioux tribe.--
       (A) In general.--The Secretary of the Interior shall use 
     the amounts transferred under paragraph (1) only for the 
     purpose of making payments to the Yankton Sioux Tribe, as 
     such payments are requested by that Indian tribe pursuant to 
     tribal resolution.
       (B) Limitation.--Payments may be made by the Secretary of 
     the Interior under subparagraph (A) only after the Yankton 
     Sioux Tribe has adopted a tribal plan under section 6.
       (C) Use of payments by yankton sioux tribe.--The Yankton 
     Sioux Tribe shall use the payments made under subparagraph 
     (A) only for carrying out projects and programs under the 
     tribal plan prepared under section 6.
       (e) Transfers and Withdrawals.--Except as provided in 
     subsections (c) and (d)(1), the Secretary of the Treasury may 
     not transfer or withdraw any amount deposited under 
     subsection (b).

     SEC. 5. SANTEE SIOUX TRIBE DEVELOPMENT TRUST FUND.

       (a) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury of 
     the United States a fund to be known as the ``Santee Sioux 
     Tribe Development Trust Fund'' (referred to in this section 
     as the ``Fund''). The Fund shall consist of any amounts 
     deposited in the Fund under this Act.
       (b) Funding.--On the first day of the 11th fiscal year that 
     begins after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
     of the Treasury shall, from the General Fund of the Treasury, 
     deposit into the Fund established under subsection (a)--
       (1) $4,789,010; and
       (2) an additional amount that equals the amount of interest 
     that would have accrued on the amount described in paragraph 
     (1) if such amount had been invested in interest-bearing 
     obligations of the United States, or in obligations 
     guaranteed as to both principal and interest by the United 
     States, on the first day of the first fiscal year that begins 
     after the date of enactment of this Act and compounded 
     annually thereafter.
       (c) Investment of Trust Fund.--It shall be the duty of the 
     Secretary of the Treasury to invest such portion of the Fund 
     as is not, in the Secretary of Treasury's judgment, required 
     to meet current withdrawals. Such investments may be made 
     only in interest-bearing obligations of the United States or 
     in obligations guaranteed as to both principal and interest 
     by the United States. The Secretary of the Treasury shall 
     deposit interest resulting from such investments into the 
     Fund.
       (d) Payment of Interest to Tribe.--
       (1) Withdrawal of interest.--Beginning on the first day of 
     the 11th fiscal year after the date of enactment of this Act 
     and, on the first day of each fiscal year thereafter, the 
     Secretary of the Treasury shall withdraw the aggregate amount 
     of interest deposited into the Fund for that fiscal year and 
     transfer that amount to the Secretary of the Interior for use 
     in accordance with paragraph (2). Each amount so transferred 
     shall be available without fiscal year limitation.
       (2) Payments to santee sioux tribe.--
       (A) In general.--The Secretary of the Interior shall use 
     the amounts transferred under paragraph (1) only for the 
     purpose of making payments to the Santee Sioux Tribe, as such 
     payments are requested by that Indian tribe pursuant to 
     tribal resolution.
       (B) Limitation.--Payments may be made by the Secretary of 
     the Interior under subparagraph (A) only after the Santee 
     Sioux Tribe has adopted a tribal plan under section 6.
       (C) Use of payments by santee sioux tribe.--The Santee 
     Sioux Tribe shall use the payments made under subparagraph 
     (A) only for carrying out projects and programs under the 
     tribal plan prepared under section 6.
       (e) Transfers and Withdrawals.--Except as provided in 
     subsections (c) and (d)(1), the Secretary of the Treasury may 
     not transfer or withdraw any amount deposited under 
     subsection (b).

     SEC. 6. TRIBAL PLANS.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 24 months after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the tribal council of each of the 
     Yankton Sioux and Santee Sioux Tribes shall prepare a plan 
     for the use of the payments to the tribe under section 4(d) 
     or 5(d) (referred to in this subsection as a ``tribal 
     plan'').
       (b) Contents of Tribal Plan.--Each tribal plan shall 
     provide for the manner in which the tribe covered under the 
     tribal plan shall expend payments to the tribe under 
     subsection (d) to promote--
       (1) economic development;
       (2) infrastructure development;
       (3) the educational, health, recreational, and social 
     welfare objectives of the tribe and its members; or
       (4) any combination of the activities described in 
     paragraphs (1), (2), and (3).
       (c) Tribal Plan Review and Revision.--
       (1) In general.--Each tribal council referred to in 
     subsection (a) shall make available for review and comment by 
     the members of the tribe a copy of the tribal plan for the 
     Indian tribe before the tribal plan becomes final, in 
     accordance with procedures established by the tribal council.
       (2) Updating of tribal plan.--Each tribal council referred 
     to in subsection (a) may, on an annual basis, revise the 
     tribal plan prepared by that tribal council to update the 
     tribal plan. In revising the tribal plan under this 
     paragraph, the tribal council shall provide the members of 
     the tribe opportunity to review and comment on any proposed 
     revision to the tribal plan.
       (3) Consultation.--In preparing the tribal plan and any 
     revisions to update the plan, each tribal council shall 
     consult with the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 
     of Health and Human Services.
       (4) Audit.--
       (A) In general.--The activities of the tribes in carrying 
     out the tribal plans shall be audited as part of the annual 
     single-agency audit that the tribes are required to prepare 
     pursuant to the Office of Management and Budget circular 
     numbered A-133.
       (B) Determination by auditors.--The auditors that conduct 
     the audit described in subparagraph (A) shall--
       (i) determine whether funds received by each tribe under 
     this section for the period covered by the audits were 
     expended to carry out the respective tribal plans in a manner 
     consistent with this section; and

[[Page S1770]]

       (ii) include in the written findings of the audits the 
     determinations made under clause (i).
       (C) Inclusion of findings with publication of proceedings 
     of tribal council.--A copy of the written findings of the 
     audits described in subparagraph (A) shall be inserted in the 
     published minutes of each tribal council's proceedings for 
     the session at which the audit is presented to the tribal 
     councils.
       (d) Prohibition on Per Capita Payments.--No portion of any 
     payment made under this Act may be distributed to any member 
     of the Yankton Sioux Tribe or the Santee Sioux Tribe of 
     Nebraska on a per capita basis.

     SEC. 7. ELIGIBILITY OF TRIBE FOR CERTAIN PROGRAMS AND 
                   SERVICES.

       (a) In General.--No payment made to the Yankton Sioux Tribe 
     or Santee Sioux Tribe pursuant to this Act shall result in 
     the reduction or denial of any service or program to which, 
     pursuant to Federal law--
       (1) the Yankton Sioux Tribe or Santee Sioux Tribe is 
     otherwise entitled because of the status of the tribe as a 
     federally recognized Indian tribe; or
       (2) any individual who is a member of a tribe under 
     paragraph (1) is entitled because of the status of the 
     individual as a member of the tribe.
       (b) Exemptions From Taxation.--No payment made pursuant to 
     this Act shall be subject to any Federal or State income tax.
       (c) Power Rates.--No payment made pursuant to this Act 
     shall affect Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin power rates.

     SEC. 8. STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.

       Nothing in this Act may be construed as diminishing or 
     affecting any water right of an Indian tribe, except as 
     specifically provided in another provision of this Act, any 
     treaty right that is in effect on the date of enactment of 
     this Act, any authority of the Secretary of the Interior or 
     the head of any other Federal agency under a law in effect on 
     the date of enactment of this Act.

     SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are 
     necessary to carry out this Act, including such sums as may 
     be necessary for the administration of the Yankton Sioux 
     Tribe Development Trust Fund under section 4 and the Santee 
     Sioux Tribe of Nebraska Development Trust Fund under section 
     5.

     SEC. 10. EXTINGUISHMENT OF CLAIMS.

       Upon the deposit of funds under sections 4(b) and 5(b), all 
     monetary claims that the Yankton Sioux Tribe or the Santee 
     Sioux Tribe of Nebraska has or may have against the United 
     States for loss of value or use of land related to lands 
     described in section 2(a)(10) resulting from the Fort Randall 
     and Gavins Point projects of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River 
     Basin program shall be extinguished.
                                 ______