[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 101 (Thursday, June 26, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S4156]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. Cruz):
  S. 2537. A bill to provide legal certainty to property owners along 
the Red River in Texas, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of 
the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 2537

       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 ``Red River Private Property 
     Protection Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds as follows:
       (1) In 1923, the Supreme Court found the border between 
     Texas and Oklahoma to be: ``the water-washed and relatively 
     permanent elevation or acclivity at the outer line of the 
     river bed which separates the bed from the adjacent upland, 
     whether valley or hill, and serves to confine the waters 
     within the bed and to preserve the course of the river, and 
     that the boundary intended is on and along the bank at the 
     average or mean level attained by the waters in the periods 
     when they reach and wash the bank without overflowing it. 
     When we speak of the bed, we include all of the area which is 
     kept practically bare of vegetation by the wash of the waters 
     of the river from year to year in their onward course, 
     although parts of it are left dry for months at a time, and 
     we exclude the lateral valleys, which have the 
     characteristics of relatively fast land and usually are 
     covered by upland grasses and vegetation, although 
     temporarily overflowed in exceptional instances when the 
     river is at flood.''.
       (2) This would become known as the ``gradient boundary''.
       (3) This decision makes clear that, absent water that is 
     physically touching the bank, the high bluff or ``ancient 
     bank'' along the southern edge of the Red River is not the 
     boundary between Texas and Oklahoma.
       (4) In 2000, Public Law 106-288 ratified the Red River 
     Boundary Compact agreed to and signed into State law by Texas 
     and Oklahoma that sets the boundary between the States to be 
     the vegetation line on the south bank of the Red River, 
     except for the Texoma area where the boundary is established 
     pursuant to procedures provided for in the Compact.
       (5) Therefore, the Bureau of Land Management should have no 
     claim to land that is either south of the ``gradient 
     boundary'' established by the Supreme Court or south of the 
     vegetation line on the southern bank of the Red River 
     pursuant to Public Law 106-288 whereby landowners have proof 
     of their right, title, and interest to the land and have been 
     paying property taxes accordingly.

     SEC. 3. ISSUANCE OF QUIT CLAIM DEEDS.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary shall relinquish and shall 
     transfer by quit claim deed all right, title, and interest of 
     the United States in and to Red River lands to any claimant 
     who demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary that 
     official county or State records indicate that the claimant 
     holds all right, title, and interest to those lands.
       (b) Public Notification.--The Secretary shall publish in 
     the Federal Register and on official and appropriate Web 
     sites the process to receive written and/or electronic 
     submissions of the documents required under subsection (a). 
     The Secretary shall treat all proper notifications received 
     from the claimant as fulfilling the satisfaction requirements 
     under subsection (a).
       (c) Standard of Approval.--The Secretary shall accept all 
     official county and State records as filed in the county on 
     the date of submission proving right, title, and interest.
       (d) Time Period for Approval or Disapproval of Request.--
     The Secretary shall approve or disapprove a request for a 
     quit claim deed under subsection (a) not later than 120 days 
     after the date on which the written request is received by 
     the Secretary. If the Secretary fails to approve or 
     disapprove such a request by the end of such 120-day period, 
     the request shall be deemed to be approved.

     SEC. 4. RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN.

       The Secretary shall ensure that no parcels of Red River 
     lands are treated as Federal land for the purpose of any 
     resource management plan until the Secretary has ensured that 
     such parcels are not subject to transfer under section 3.

     SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

       For the purposes of this Act--
       (1) the term ``Red River lands'' means lands along the 
     approximately 539-mile stretch of the Red River between the 
     States of Texas and Oklahoma; and
       (2) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the 
     Interior, acting through the Director of Bureau of Land 
     Management.
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