[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 162 (Monday, December 17, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H6812-H6813]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
BARONA BAND OF MISSION INDIANS LAND TRANSFER CLARIFICATION ACT OF 2012
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass
the bill (S. 3193) to make technical corrections to the legal
description of certain land to be held in trust for the Barona Band of
Mission Indians, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
S. 3193
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 ``Barona Band of Mission
Indians Land Transfer Clarification Act of 2012''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) the legal description of land previously taken into
trust by the United States for the benefit of the Barona Band
of Mission Indians may be interpreted to refer to private,
nontribal land;
(2) there is a continued, unresolved disagreement between
the Barona Band of Mission Indians and certain off-
reservation property owners relating to the causes of
diminishing native groundwater;
(3) Congress expresses no opinion, nor should an opinion of
Congress be inferred, relating to the disagreement described
in paragraph (2); and
(4) it is the intent of Congress that, if the land
described in section 121(b) of the Native American Technical
Corrections Act of 2004 (118 Stat. 544) (as amended by
section 3) is used to bring water to the Barona Indian
Reservation, the effort is authorized only if the effort also
addresses water availability for neighboring off-reservation
land located along Old Barona Road that is occupied as of the
date of enactment of this Act by providing guaranteed access
to that water supply at a mutually agreeable site on the
southwest boundary of the Barona Indian Reservation.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to clarify the legal description of the land placed
into trust for the Barona Band of Mission Indians in 2004;
and
(2) to remove all doubt relating to the specific parcels of
land that Congress has placed into trust for the Barona Band
of Mission Indians.
SEC. 3. LAND TRANSFER.
Section 121 of the Native American Technical Corrections
Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-204; 118 Stat. 544) is amended--
(1) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following:
``(b) Description of Land.--The land referred to in
subsection (a) is land comprising approximately 86.87 acres
in T. 14 S., R. 1 E., San Bernardino Meridian, San Diego
County, California, and described more particularly as
follows:
``(1) The approximately 69.85 acres located in Section 21
and described as--
``(A) SW\1/4\ SW\1/4\, excepting the north 475 feet;
``(B) W\1/2\ SE\1/4\ SW\1/4\, excepting the north 475 feet;
``(C) E\1/2\ SE\1/4\ SW\1/4\, excepting the north 350 feet;
and
``(D) the portion of W\1/2\ SE\1/4\ that lies southwesterly
of the following line: Beginning at the intersection of the
southerly line of said SE\1/4\ of Section 21 with the
westerly boundary of Rancho Canada De San Vicente Y Mesa Del
Padre Barona as shown on United States Government Resurvey
approved January 21, 1939, and thence northwesterly along
said boundary to an intersection with the westerly line of
said SE\1/4\.
``(2) The approximately 17.02 acres located in Section 28
and described as NW\1/4\ NW\1/4\, excepting the east 750
feet.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(d) Clarifications.--
``(1) Effect on section.--The provisions of subsection (c)
shall apply to the land described in subsection (b), as in
effect on the day after the date of enactment of the Barona
Band of Mission Indians Land Transfer Clarification Act of
2012.
``(2) Effect on private land.--The parcel of private, non-
Indian land referenced in subsection (a) and described in
subsection (b), as in effect on the day before the date of
enactment of the Barona Band of Mission Indians Land Transfer
Clarification Act of 2012, but excluded from the revised
description of the land in subsection (b) was not intended to
be--
``(A) held in trust by the United States for the benefit of
the Band; or
``(B) considered to be a part of the reservation of the
Band.''.
Passed the Senate September 22 (legislative day, September
21), 2012.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Utah (Mr. Bishop) and the gentleman from the Northern Mariana Islands
(Mr. Sablan) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah.
General Leave
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I also ask unanimous consent that
all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Utah?
There was no objection.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
This particular bill corrects an error that was made in 2004 under an
act of Congress under which land that was intended to be placed in
trust for the Barona Band of Mission Indians in California. That law
that was improperly written--amazing--gave a written legal description
of the trust land that contained several mistakes. The unfortunate
result was to put Congress on record as declaring that non-Indian
private property is to be held in trust rather than the tribe's
property.
This action placed a cloud on the title of the non-Indians' property
and frustrated the tribe's effort to use the lands that Congress
intended to place in trust for its benefit. However, this lagan
attached to a buoy is able to be retrieved at this time and fixed in
this particular piece of legislation.
Senate bill 3193 corrects this error, clearing the title to the non-
Indians' property and affirming the trust status of the correct lands.
The subcommittee on the Interior and Alaskan Native Affairs held a
legislative hearing on the bill, which the director of the BIA and the
Barona Band affirmed that this bill does, indeed, solve these issues;
and we have heard no objections in the course of this bill to this
particular bill.
I want to commend the efforts of the gentleman from California,
Congressman Duncan Hunter. Mr. Hunter has been instrumental in working
with the tribe, the surrounding community, the sponsor, and the Natural
Resources Committee to bring this bill to the final legislative step
before sending it to the President for signing. I also want to thank
him for allowing a Senate bill to be part of the solution so that they
can actually do something over there.
This is a noncontroversial bill, I urge my colleagues to pass it, and
I reserve the balance of my time.
{time} 1640
Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
(Mr. SABLAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, S. 3193, the Barona Band of Mission Indians
[[Page H6813]]
Land Transfer Clarification Act of 2012, corrects the legal description
of land placed into trust for the Barona Band of Mission Indians in
2004. The bill places the proper parcel into trust as originally
intended and clears title to the property misidentified under existing
law.
S. 3193 was discharged by the Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska
Native Affairs earlier this month by unanimous consent after having
been passed by the full Senate in September, also by unanimous consent.
This bill is supported by the administration, the tribe, and the
affected non-Indian stakeholders. I, too, support this legislation to
correct Congress' error and urge my colleagues to vote in favor of
passage.
With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Once again, I'm the only speaker we have over
here, and I'm prepared to close when the gentleman from the Northern
Mariana Islands is.
Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, this is another bill that is
noncontroversial. It solves a problem that should have been solved a
long time ago, and I urge my colleagues to vote for it.
With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Bishop) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, S. 3193.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
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