[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 206 (Thursday, December 14, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6008-S6009]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    KEWEENAW BAY INDIAN COMMUNITY LAND CLAIM SETTLEMENT ACT OF 2023

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 272, S. 195.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 195) to provide compensation to the Keweenaw Bay 
     Indian Community for the taking without just compensation of 
     land by the United States inside the exterior boundaries of 
     the L'Anse Indian Reservation that were guaranteed to the 
     Community under a treaty signed in 1854, and for other 
     purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. SCHUMER. I further ask consent that the bill be considered read a 
third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered 
made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 195) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, 
was read the third time, and passed, as follows:

                                 S. 195

       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 ``Keweenaw Bay Indian 
     Community Land Claim Settlement Act of 2023''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community is a federally 
     recognized Indian Tribe residing on the L'Anse Indian 
     Reservation in Baraga County in the Upper Peninsula of the 
     State of Michigan;
       (2) the Community is a successor in interest to the Treaty 
     with the Chippewa Indians of the Mississippi and Lake 
     Superior, made and concluded at La Pointe of Lake Superior 
     October 4, 1842 (7 Stat. 591) (referred to in this section as 
     the ``1842 Treaty''), which, among other things, guaranteed 
     the usufructuary rights of the Community over a large area of 
     land that was ceded to the United States, until such time 
     that those usufructuary rights were properly and legally 
     extinguished;
       (3) the Community is also a successor in interest to the 
     Treaty with the Chippewa Indians of Lake Superior and the 
     Mississippi, made and concluded at La Pointe September 30, 
     1854 (10 Stat. 1109) (referred to in this section as the 
     ``1854 Treaty'');
       (4) article 2, paragraph 1 of the 1854 Treaty created the 
     L'Anse Indian Reservation as a permanent reservation;
       (5) pursuant to article 13 of the 1854 Treaty, the 1854 
     Treaty became ``obligatory on the contracting parties'' when 
     ratified by the President and the Senate on January 10, 1855;
       (6) in 1850, Congress enacted the Act of September 28, 1850 
     (commonly known and referred to in this section as the 
     ``Swamp Land Act'') (9 Stat. 519, chapter 84), which 
     authorized the State of Arkansas and other States, including 
     the State of Michigan, to ``construct the necessary levees 
     and drains to reclaim'' certain unsold ``swamp and overflowed 
     lands, made unfit thereby for cultivation'' and stating that 
     those lands ``shall remain unsold at the passage of this act 
     . . . .'';
       (7) following enactment of the Swamp Land Act, the State 
     claimed thousands of acres of swamp land in the State 
     pursuant to that Act;
       (8) between 1893 and 1937, the General Land Office patented 
     2,743 acres of land to the State that were located within the 
     exterior boundaries of the Reservation (referred to in this 
     section as ``Reservation Swamp Lands'');
       (9) the right of the Community to use and occupy the unsold 
     land within the Reservation had not been extinguished when 
     the

[[Page S6009]]

     United States patented the Reservation Swamp Lands to the 
     State;
       (10) in 1852, Congress enacted the Act of August 26, 1852 
     (10 Stat. 35, chapter 92) (referred to in this section as the 
     ``Canal Land Act''), to facilitate the building of the Sault 
     Ste. Marie Canal at the Falls of the St. Mary's River, to 
     connect Lake Superior to Lake Huron;
       (11) pursuant to the Canal Land Act, the United States 
     granted the State the right to select 750,000 acres of unsold 
     public land within the State to defray the cost of 
     construction of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal;
       (12) the State identified and selected, among other land, a 
     minimum of 1,333.25 and up to 2,720 acres within the exterior 
     boundaries of the Reservation (referred to in this section as 
     the ``Reservation Canal Lands'');
       (13) the Department of the Interior approved the land 
     selections of the State, including the Reservation Canal 
     Lands, after ratification of the 1854 Treaty;
       (14) the Secretary noted that the approval described in 
     paragraph (13) was ``subject to any valid interfering 
     rights'';
       (15) the 1854 Treaty set apart from the public domain all 
     unsold land within the Reservation to the Community as of 
     September 30, 1854, which preceded the date on which the 
     State established legally effective title to the Reservation 
     Canal Lands;
       (16) the Community made claims to the Department of the 
     Interior with respect to the Reservation Swamp Lands and the 
     Reservation Canal Lands, providing legal analysis and 
     ethnohistorical support for those claims;
       (17) in December 2021, the Department of the Interior 
     stated that ``We have carefully reviewed pertinent documents, 
     including the Tribe's expert reports, and have determined 
     that the Tribe's claims to the Swamp Lands and Canal Lands 
     have merit'';
       (18) the United States, through the actions of the General 
     Land Office, deprived the Community of the exclusive use and 
     occupancy of the Reservation Swamp Lands and the Reservation 
     Canal Lands within the Reservation, without just compensation 
     as required under the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment 
     to the Constitution of the United States;
       (19) the loss of the Reservation Swamp Lands and the 
     Reservation Canal Lands without just compensation has--
       (A) impacted the exercise by the Community of cultural, 
     religious, and subsistence rights on the land;
       (B) caused a harmful disconnect between the Community and 
     its land;
       (C) impacted the ability of the Community to fully exercise 
     its economy within the Reservation; and
       (D) had a negative economic impact on the development of 
     the economy of the Community;
       (20) certain non-Indian individuals, entities, and local 
     governments occupy land within the boundaries of the 
     Reservation--
       (A) acquired ownership interests in the Reservation Swamp 
     Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands in good faith; and
       (B) have an interest in possessing clear title to that 
     land;
       (21) this Act allows the United States--
       (A) to secure a fair and equitable settlement of past 
     inequities suffered by the Community as a result of the 
     actions of the United States that caused the taking of the 
     Reservation Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands 
     without just compensation; and
       (B) to ensure protection of the ownership of the 
     Reservation Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands by 
     non-Indian occupants of the Reservation, through the 
     settlement of the claims of the Community to that land, and 
     through that action, the relief of any clouds on title;
       (22) a settlement will allow the Community to receive just 
     compensation and the local landowners to obtain clear title 
     to land, without long and protracted litigation that would be 
     both costly and detrimental to all involved; and
       (23) this Act achieves both justice for the Community and 
     security for current landowners through a restorative and 
     non-confrontational process.

     SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

       The purposes of this Act are--
       (1) to acknowledge the uncompensated taking by the Federal 
     Government of the Reservation Swamp Lands and the Reservation 
     Canal Lands;
       (2) to provide compensation to the Community for the 
     uncompensated taking of the Reservation Swamp Lands and the 
     Reservation Canal Lands by the Federal Government;
       (3) to extinguish all claims by the Community to the 
     Reservation Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands and 
     to confirm the ownership by the current landowners of the 
     Reservation Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands, who 
     obtained that land in good faith;
       (4) to extinguish all potential claims by the Community 
     against the United States, the State, and current landowners 
     concerning title to, use of, or occupancy of the Reservation 
     Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands; and
       (5) to authorize the Secretary--
       (A) to compensate the Community; and
       (B) to take any other action necessary to carry out this 
     Act.

     SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Community.--The term ``Community'' means the Keweenaw 
     Bay Indian Community.
       (2) County.--The term ``County'' means Baraga County, 
     Michigan.
       (3) Reservation.--The term ``Reservation'' means the L'Anse 
     Indian Reservation, located in--
       (A) T. 51 N., R. 33 W.;
       (B) T. 51 N., R. 32 W.;
       (C) T. 50 N., R. 33 W., E\1/2\;
       (D) T. 50 N., R. 32 W., W\1/2\; and
       (E) that portion of T. 51 N., R. 31 W. lying west of Huron 
     Bay.
       (4) Reservation canal lands.--The term ``Reservation Canal 
     Lands'' means the 1,333.25 to 2,720 acres of Community land 
     located within the exterior boundaries of the Reservation 
     that the Federal Government conveyed to the State pursuant to 
     the Act of August 26, 1852 (10 Stat. 35, chapter 92).
       (5) Reservation swamp lands.--The term ``Reservation Swamp 
     Lands'' means the 2,743 acres of land located within the 
     exterior boundaries of the Reservation that the Federal 
     Government conveyed to the State between 1893 and 1937 
     pursuant to the Act of September 28, 1850 (commonly known as 
     the ``Swamp Land Act'') (sections 2479 through 2481 of the 
     Revised Statutes (43 U.S.C. 982 through 984)).
       (6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior.
       (7) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of Michigan.

     SEC. 5. PAYMENTS.

       (a) Transfer of Funds.--As soon as practicable after the 
     date on which the amount authorized to be appropriated under 
     subsection (c) is made available to the Secretary, the 
     Secretary shall transfer $33,900,000 to the Community.
       (b) Use of Funds.--
       (1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the Community 
     may use the amount received under subsection (a) for any 
     lawful purpose, including--
       (A) governmental services;
       (B) economic development;
       (C) natural resources protection; and
       (D) land acquisition.
       (2) Restriction on use of funds.--The community may not use 
     the amount received under subsection (a) to acquire land for 
     gaming purposes.
       (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out subsection 
     (a) $33,900,000 for fiscal year 2024, to remain available 
     until expended.

     SEC. 6. EXTINGUISHMENT OF CLAIMS.

       (a) In General.--Effective on the date on which the 
     Community receives the payment under section 5(a), all claims 
     of the Community to the Reservation Swamp Lands and the 
     Reservation Canal Lands owned by persons or entities other 
     than the Community are extinguished.
       (b) Clear Title.--Effective on the date on which the 
     Community receives the payment under section 5(a), the title 
     of all current owners to the Reservation Swamp Lands and the 
     Reservation Canal Lands is cleared of all preexisting rights 
     held by the Community and any of the members of the 
     Community.

     SEC. 7. EFFECT.

       Nothing in this Act authorizes--
       (1) the Secretary to take land into trust for the benefit 
     of the Community for gaming purposes; or
       (2) the Community to use land acquired using amounts 
     received under this Act for gaming purposes.

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