[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 106 (Monday, June 25, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H5603-H5604]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                LAKE BISTINEAU LAND TITLE STABILITY ACT

  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 3392) to provide for stability of title to certain land 
in the State of Louisiana, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3392

       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 ``Lake Bistineau Land Title 
     Stability Act''.

     SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

       The purpose of this Act is to direct the Secretary of the 
     Interior to issue a recordable disclaimer of interest of the 
     United States in and to--
       (1) any land described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of 
     subsection (a) of section 4 that is located outside the 
     record meander lines of the Original Survey described in that 
     subsection; and
       (2) any omitted land.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Omitted land.--The term ``omitted land'' means any land 
     in S30-T16N-R10W, including adjacent islands and the meander 
     lines of the water body, that was in place during the 
     Original Survey, but that was not included in the Original 
     Survey, regardless of whether the exclusion of the land was 
     due to gross error in the Original Survey or fraud by any 
     individual conducting the Original Survey.
       (2) Original survey.--The term ``Original Survey'' means 
     the survey of land in northern Louisiana approved by the 
     Surveyor General on December 8, 1842.
       (3) Resurvey.--The term ``Resurvey'' means the document 
     entitled ``Dependent Re-Survey, Extension Survey and Survey 
     of Two Islands, Sections 17, 29, and 30'', which was 
     completed on November 24, 1967, approved on January 15, 1969, 
     and published in the Federal Register on February 27, 1969 
     (34 Fed. Reg. 2677).
       (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior.

     SEC. 4. MEANDER LINES; RECORDABLE DISCLAIMER OF INTEREST.

       (a) Meander Lines.--The meander lines in the Original 
     Survey are definitive for purposes of determining title to--
       (1) the land in S30-T16N-R10W; and
       (2) the 2 islands adjacent to the land described in 
     paragraph (1).
       (b) Recordable Disclaimer of Interest.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary shall prepare a recordable 
     disclaimer of interest in which the United States conveys and 
     disclaims any right, title, or interest of the United States 
     in and to--
       (A) any land described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of 
     subsection (a) that is located outside the recorded meander 
     lines described in that subsection; and
       (B) any omitted land.
       (2) Filing.--The Secretary shall record the disclaimer of 
     interest prepared under paragraph (1) in the appropriate 
     local office in the State of Louisiana in which real property 
     documents are recorded.
       (3) Inclusions.--The disclaimer of interest filed under 
     paragraph (2) shall include legal descriptions of the land 
     subject to the disclaimer of interest using the lot or tract 
     numbers included in the Resurvey.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Utah (Mr. Bishop) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Brown) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah.


                             General Leave

  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous materials 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. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume 
to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Johnson), who is the sponsor of 
this piece of legislation.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I do want to take a moment to 
thank Chairman Bishop and his team for their continued support of the 
Lake Bistineau Land Title Stability Act. This bill rights a decades-old 
wrong when the Federal Government failed to notify landowners of a 
resurvey of over 200 acres around Lake Bistineau, located in northwest 
Louisiana. When the Federal Government did that, it preempted the 
rights of landowners who had legal ownership of the land.
  It is unfathomable for many of us here today to imagine a morning 
where we wake up and we are told that the land our families owned for 
generations is no longer ours, to learn that the Federal Government has 
somehow staked claim to our very homes, the place where we were raised, 
the place where we are now raising our own families, and the land we 
had worked for decades, all of it just gone without so much as an 
opportunity to contest it.
  That is what happened here. The government's failure to properly 
notify landowners of the new boundaries and its claim to the land for 
nearly 50 years is shameful. This error led to unnecessary uncertainty 
regarding who rightfully owns the land. We genuinely believe the answer 
is very clear: the property rightfully belongs to the Louisianans who 
have owned the lands since the days the State of Louisiana first 
entered the Union.
  My bill provides certainty and clarity by directing the Secretary of 
the Interior to issue a disclaimer of interest on the disputed acres 
and rightfully restore land title ownership to the families that have 
lived and worked these

[[Page H5604]]

lands since the State's admittance to the Union.
  I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will support this 
bill and support the folks in my district who have simply had their 
land taken from them without due process.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the bill.
  Mr. BROWN of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3392 requires the Bureau of Land Management to 
disclaim interest in 230 acres of land in northern Louisiana. The land 
at issue was originally surveyed in 1842, transferred to the Bossier 
Levee District in 1892, and conveyed to private owners in 1904.
  However, BLM conducted a resurvey in 1967 after realizing that 
certain lands were omitted from previous Federal surveys. The resurvey 
puts more than 200 acres of land previously thought to belong to 
Louisiana and private interests back into Federal ownership.
  Until recently, the results of this resurvey were largely ignored or 
forgotten, and now there are several homeowners with clouded titles and 
some confusion regarding the ownership of mineral rights in the area.
  BLM is currently working to evaluate ownership and authorized 
conveyance where appropriate under the Color-of-Title Act. The Color-
of-Title Act authorizes the BLM to convey public lands that have been 
acquired by peaceful adverse possession often caused by historical 
surveying anomalies, such as in this case. However, the Color-of-Title 
Act does not authorize the transfer of mineral rights owned by the 
United States, which is why this bill is necessary.
  To be clear, under most circumstances, we would not support 
legislation to transfer Federal mineral rights without fair 
compensation to the American taxpayer, but this is a very unusual and 
special case. Over 40 years have passed since the BLM attempted to 
enforce Federal ownership of this land. This lack of clarity and 
communication is unacceptable. For that reason, I support this bill and 
I urge its adoption.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  This particular bill is not the first time we have talked about this 
on the floor. It is long overdue. In fact, it is about 100 years long 
overdue, with only a handful of homeowners having their title for which 
they have bought, sold, and lived for decades questioning whether they 
actually have the title to it or not.
  It is unfair, and it was wrong. It was wrong for BLM, and it is right 
for Congress to step in and try and solve this problem to bring some 
finality and certainty to an issue that never should have been an issue 
in the very first place. This harms the status quo and harms people.
  That is not our position, and that is not what we should be doing. So 
I appreciate the minority working with us on this particular bill very 
well because it is an extremely important one to try and finally solve 
this particular issue so we don't come back again.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. BROWN of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Again, Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Johnson for this 
particular bill that is solving a problem that should never have been 
there in his particular district, for his efforts on it.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to adopt this bill, and 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, H.R. 3392, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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