[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 127 (Monday, November 13, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10884-S10885]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  AMENDING THE SHIVWITS BAND OF THE PAIUTE INDIAN TRIBE OF UTAH WATER 
                         RIGHTS SETTLEMENT ACT

  Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the 
immediate consideration of Calendar No. 531, S. 3501.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 3501) to amend the Shivwits Band of the Paiute 
     Indian Tribe of Utah Water Rights Settlement Act to establish 
     an acquisition fund for the water rights and habitat 
     acquisition program.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I am pleased that today the Senate has 
agreed to pass S. 3501, a bill to amend the Shivwits Band of the Paiute 
Indian Tribe of Utah Water Rights Settlement Act to establish an 
acquisition fund for the water rights and habitat acquisition program, 
with an amendment that I have also offered. This bill amends the 
Shivwits Band of Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah Water Rights Settlement 
Act, enacted in 2000, which ratified a negotiated settlement of the 
Shivwits Band of Paiute Indian Tribe's water entitlement to flow from 
the Santa Clara River in UT.
  S. 3501 was introduced to address a deficiency in the original 
statutory language of the Shivwits Water Rights Settlement Act. Section 
10 of that Act authorized a water rights and habitat acquisition 
program. Congress appropriated $3 million that was authorized by 
Section 10. When the Department of the Interior attempted to implement 
the law, the Treasury Department advised that the language in Section 
10 was insufficient for this purpose. The Treasury Department and 
Department of the Interior developed technical correction language to 
address this deficiency in the original statutory language. S. 3501 
facilitates this correction in the Shivwits Water Rights Settlement 
Act.
  However, subsequent to approval of this measure by the Indian Affairs 
Committee, the Congressional Budget Office determined that the language 
developed by Treasury and Interior, as reflected in S. 3501, could be 
interpreted to authorize an additional $3 million to the Acquisition 
Fund and thereby increase direct spending.
  Therefore, I have offered an amendment with the bill in an effort to 
avoid any ambiguity in S. 3501 concerning prior appropriations for the 
Acquisition Fund. The amendment strikes the potentially ambiguous 
language in the bill, and inserts new language, to the affect, that 
funds transferred to the Acquisition Fund are funds made available but 
not expended. The technical amendment therefore avoids the possibility 
of any redundant appropriations, keeping S. 3501 budget neutral, as was 
originally intended, and fully implements Section 10 of the Shivwits 
Band of Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah Water Settlement Act of 2000.
  Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent the amendment at the desk be 
agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the 
motion to reconsider be laid on the table, and any statements be 
printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 5133) was agreed to, as follows:

     (Purpose: To modify a provision relating to transfers to the 
                           Acquisition Fund)

         On page 2, strike lines 19 through 22 and insert the 
     following:

[[Page S10885]]

         ``(2) Transfers to acquisition fund.--There are 
     transferred to the Acquisition Fund any funds made available, 
     but not expended, under subsection (f).

  The bill (S. 3501), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a 
third reading, was read the third time, and passed, as follows:

                                S. 3501

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

     SECTION 1. ACQUISITION FUND.

       Section 10 of the Shivwits Band of the Paiute Indian Tribe 
     of Utah Water Rights Settlement Act (Public Law 106-263; 114 
     Stat. 743) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (f), by striking the second sentence; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(g) Acquisition Fund.--
       ``(1) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury 
     of the United States a fund to be known as the `Santa Clara 
     Water Rights and Habitat Acquisition Fund' (referred to in 
     this section as the `Acquisition Fund'), consisting of--
       ``(A) such amounts as are appropriated to the Acquisition 
     Fund under paragraph (2); and
       ``(B) any income earned on investment of amounts in the 
     Acquisition Fund under paragraph (4).
       ``(2) Transfers to acquisition fund.--There are transferred 
     to the Acquisition Fund any funds made available, but not 
     expended, under subsection (f).
       ``(3) Expenditures from acquisition fund.--On request by 
     the Secretary, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer 
     from the Acquisition Fund to the Secretary such amounts as 
     the Secretary determines to be necessary to carry out this 
     section.
       ``(4) Investment of amounts.--
       ``(A) In general.--On request by the Secretary, the 
     Secretary of the Treasury shall invest such portion of the 
     Acquisition Fund as is not, in the judgment of the Secretary, 
     required to meet current withdrawals.
       ``(B) Obligations.--Investments may be made only in public 
     debt securities with maturities suitable to the needs of the 
     Acquisition Fund, as determined by the Secretary, that bear 
     interest at a rate determined by the Secretary of the 
     Treasury, taking into consideration current market yields on 
     outstanding marketable obligations of the United States of 
     comparable maturity.
       ``(C) Acquisition of obligations.--For the purpose of 
     investments under subparagraph (A), obligations may be 
     acquired--
       ``(i) on original issue at the issue price; or
       ``(ii) by purchase of outstanding obligations at the market 
     price.
       ``(D) Sale of obligations.--Any obligation acquired by the 
     Acquisition Fund may be sold by the Secretary of the Treasury 
     at the market price.
       ``(E) Credits to acquisition fund.--The income on, and the 
     proceeds from the sale or redemption of, any obligations held 
     in the Acquisition Fund shall be credited to, and form a part 
     of, the Acquisition Fund.
       ``(5) Transfers of amounts.--
       ``(A) In general.--The amounts required to be transferred 
     to the Acquisition Fund under this subsection shall be 
     transferred at least monthly from the general fund of the 
     Treasury to the Acquisition Fund on the basis of estimates 
     made by the Secretary of the Treasury.
       ``(B) Adjustments.--Proper adjustment shall be made in 
     amounts subsequently transferred to the extent prior 
     estimates were in excess of or less than the amounts required 
     to be transferred.
       ``(6) Management.--The Acquisition Fund (including the 
     principal of the Acquisition Fund and any interest generated 
     on that principal) shall be managed in accordance with this 
     section.''.

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