[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 13817-13831]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 THOMASINA E. JORDAN INDIAN TRIBES OF VIRGINIA FEDERAL RECOGNITION ACT 
                                OF 2009

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 490 and rule 
XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House 
on the State of the Union for the consideration of the bill, H.R. 1385.

                              {time}  1311


                     In the Committee of the Whole

  Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the 
Whole House on the State of the Union for the consideration of the bill 
(H.R. 1385) to extend Federal recognition to the Chickahominy Indian 
Tribe, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe-Eastern Division, the Upper 
Mattaponi Tribe, the Rappahannock Tribe, Inc., the Monacan Indian 
Nation, and the Nansemond Indian Tribe, with Mr. Holden in the chair.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The CHAIR. Pursuant to rule, the bill is considered read the first 
time.
  The gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) and the gentleman from 
Washington (Mr. Hastings) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from West Virginia.
  Mr. RAHALL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, we are here today, over 400 years after the first 
English settlers landed in what became Jamestown, Virginia, to finally 
acknowledge a government-to-government relationship with some of the 
Indian tribes who met those early settlers.
  While the House passed a prior version of this legislation last 
Congress, the bill was not considered in the Senate, so we are here 
again.
  H.R. 1385, the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal 
Recognition Act of 2009, extends Federal recognition to the Virginia 
tribes that have lived in Virginia since before the settlers of 
Jamestown first arrived.
  This bill is sponsored by our colleague, Representative Jim Moran of 
Virginia, and enjoys bipartisan support, including from other Virginia 
colleagues, Congressman Rob Wittman, Bobby Scott, Thomas Perriello, and 
Gerry Connolly. I, too, am a cosponsor of H.R. 1385.
  The bill is named for Thomasina ``Red Hawk Woman'' Jordan, whose 
lifelong pursuit of advancing Native American rights encompassed the 
promise of education for all Indians and securing Federal recognition 
of Virginia Indian tribes. Ms. Jordan also served as chairperson of the 
Virginia Council of Indians.
  H.R. 1385 would extend Federal recognition status to six Indian 
tribes of Virginia. All six tribes have obtained State recognition by 
the State of Virginia. Former Virginia Governors George Allen and Mark 
Warner, as well as current Governor Tim Kaine have endorsed the tribes' 
recognition as sovereign governments.
  During his recent trip to England, President Obama presented Queen 
Elizabeth with an iPod. Included on the iPod was a copy of the 400th 
anniversary ceremony commemorating the establishment of Jamestown, 
Virginia, that she attended last year. The highlight of this ceremony 
included the Queen and the Virginia Indian tribes.
  These six Virginia tribes have faced hundreds of years of 
discrimination, abuse, and outright attempts to extinguish their 
existence and rob them of their heritage.
  From 1912 to 1947, Dr. Walter Plecker, a white supremacist, set out 
to rid the Commonwealth of Virginia of any documents that recorded the 
existence of Indians or Indian tribes living

[[Page 13818]]

therein. He was instrumental in ensuring passage of the Racial 
Integrity Act in 1924, making it illegal for individuals to classify 
themselves or their newborn children as Indian.

                              {time}  1315

  But he went further than that and spent decades changing the race 
designation on birth certificates and on other legal documents from 
``Indian'' to ``Colored,'' ``Negro'' or ``Free Issue.'' Throughout it 
all, the Virginia Indians did not break but held firm to their culture 
and to their identity.
  To address claims that tribes are only interested in Federal 
recognition so they may conduct gaming, all six tribes supported an 
outright gaming prohibition to be included in this bill. This gaming 
prohibition precludes the Virginia tribes from engaging in, licensing 
or regulating gaming pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act on 
their lands.
  Congressman Moran has spent several years tirelessly working to 
achieve Federal recognition for Virginia's First Americans. It is 
because of his tireless dedication to this issue that this legislation 
is before us today. It is time to put this issue to rest and to do the 
right thing by extending Federal recognition to these tribes. I urge 
all of my colleagues to join me today in creating a government-to-
government relationship with these Virginia tribes.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1385, but not for the 
reason for which this legislation is intended to point out or to create 
but, rather, for reasons that I will outline in my remarks here this 
morning.
  In the last Congress, a nearly identical bill passed the House by 
voice vote. I do not expect to change anyone's mind, and I believe that 
the results will probably be the same as the last vote we had in the 
last Congress, but I must highlight serious shortcomings with this bill 
that should cause Members to reconsider their positions.
  First, the House has not acquired sufficient evidence to justify 
extending Federal recognition to the six Virginia tribes identified in 
this bill. In the committee hearing on H.R. 1385, we heard a lot of 
testimony from witnesses for the six tribes, from the Governor of 
Virginia, from a historian, and from the Department of the Interior. 
All provided interesting and often passionate statements.
  Although the Department provided no position on the bill, the 
Department's witnesses did remark that all six groups have petitioned 
for recognition with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but none of the six 
tribes have completed the process within the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
  If the Department lacks completely documented petitions, then how can 
we be sure that we in Congress have enough information about these six 
tribes?
  None of the witnesses explained why the six Virginia tribes should be 
recognized before all of the other tribes whose recognition petitions 
are within and are lingering within the Bureau of Indian Affairs. About 
nine of these groups have completed their petitions. In this respect, 
Mr. Chairman, they are more prepared for a final determination than the 
Virginia tribes with which this bill deals.
  H.R. 1385 contains ample lists of congressional findings about the 
history of these six groups, but there is no requirement to verify that 
members of these tribes can trace descendants to historic Virginia 
tribes. This is a basic standard that the House must observe if it 
wants to ensure the integrity of tribal recognition. If the House is 
not prepared to take additional time to study this, then we should ask 
the Secretary to study it and to provide us with the answers.
  The committee held no field hearings in Virginia to learn more about 
the tribes on their home turf. It has relatively little information 
from county officials and from private individuals who might be 
interested in tribal recognition and what it means to them. This is a 
State without a history of recognized tribes, unless you reach back to 
the colonial era, and Virginia presently has no Indian trust lands. We 
simply do not know if there are any counties or private individuals in 
affected areas who fully understand that placing land in trust removes 
property from the tax rolls and from State and municipal jurisdictions.
  On this note, the Rules Committee made in order an amendment by the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) to remove some counties from 
the bill. This suggests to me the majority is beginning to understand 
that counties in Virginia are just now becoming more informed on what 
this bill means.
  So, Mr. Chairman, prudence dictates that we put this bill on hold 
until these issues are vetted. If the House recognizes new tribes and 
acquires lands in trust for them without thoroughly examining the views 
of the jurisdiction where the lands are located, we potentially risk 
creating local problems. This is going to hamper our efforts to resolve 
land-in-trust controversies occurring elsewhere in the United States.
  Such controversies, Mr. Chairman, do occur. We have a huge one to 
deal with right now. In February, the Supreme Court, in Carcieri v. 
Salazar, held the Department of the Interior has no authority to 
acquire lands in trust for any tribe recognized after 1934 unless there 
is a specific act of Congress authorizing it. This is a major decision 
that has, frankly, Mr. Chairman, shaken Indian Country, and it is a 
case that has caught the attention of Governors, attorneys general, and 
county leaders around the country. The committee has held one hearing 
on the subject, and I am hopeful that there will be more.
  Virginia's tribes are directly affected by this decision because they 
were not recognized in 1934. Thus, anything done with H.R. 1385 could 
set a precedent for resolving the Carcieri issue. Under H.R. 1385, 
lands placed in trust for the Virginia tribes will be secure. 
Meanwhile, lands held in trust or proposed for trust status for others 
may not be secure. This kind of inconsistency in Federal Indian policy 
helped fuel the controversy that led to the Supreme Court's Carcieri in 
the first place.
  If the solution to Carcieri is to deal with each and every post-1934 
tribe's trust land application separately in Congress, then H.R. 1385 
might be appropriate. If the solution is to provide the Secretary of 
the Interior with the appropriate authority to acquire lands in trust, 
then H.R. 1385 is not appropriate.
  So, while the committee has held a hearing on Carcieri, there seems 
to be no consensus on how to resolve it. We have received no testimony 
from the Department, and none of the tribes, States or other concerned 
interests have had an opportunity to testify in the committee as of the 
time the report for H.R. 1385 was filed. It would be wise then, Mr. 
Chairman, to postpone floor action on any recognition bills until the 
committee acquires a better understanding of the impacts of Carcieri 
and what to do about it.
  With that, Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I recognize for 3 minutes the gentleman 
from Virginia, one of the cosponsors of the legislation, Mr. Bobby 
Scott.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 1385, the Thomasina E. Jordan 
Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act. I want to thank my 
colleague from Virginia (Mr. Moran) for, again, introducing this bill. 
Similar legislation passed this body by voice vote in the 110th 
Congress, but it was never acted on in the Senate.
  Two years ago, Virginia and the Nation celebrated the 400th 
anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent 
English settlement in North America. Jamestown is the cornerstone of 
our great Republic, and its success relied heavily on the help of the 
indigenous people of Virginia. Virginia's Native Americans played a 
critical role in helping the first settlers of Jamestown survive the 
harsh conditions of the New World.
  After the Jamestown colony weathered its first few years in the New

[[Page 13819]]

World, the colony expanded, and the English pushed further inland, but 
the same Native Americans who helped those first settlers were coerced 
and were pushed from their land without compensation. Treaties, many of 
which precede our own Constitution, were often made in an effort to 
compensate the Virginia Native Americans, but as history has shown, 
these treaties were rarely honored or upheld.
  Like many other Native Americans, the Virginia Indian tribes were 
marginalized from society. They were deprived of their land, prevented 
from getting an education, and they were denied a role in our society. 
Virginia's Native Americans were denied their fundamental human rights 
and were denied the very freedoms and liberties enshrined in our own 
Constitution.
  Mr. Chairman, the bill will finally grant Federal recognition to the 
Chickahominy, to the Eastern Chickahominy, to the Upper Mattaponi, to 
the Rappahannock, to the Monacan Indian Nation, and to the Nansemond 
tribes. H.R. 1385 will ensure the rightful status of Virginia's tribes 
in our national history. Federal recognition will provide housing and 
educational opportunities for those who cannot afford it. Federal 
recognition will also promote the tribal economic development that will 
allow Virginia's tribes to become self-sufficient. These new 
opportunities will allow Virginia's tribes to flourish culturally and 
economically, which will lead to a brighter future for a whole new 
generation. The Virginia tribes have waited far too long for Federal 
recognition.
  Again, I want to thank my colleague from Virginia (Mr. Moran) for his 
excellent leadership on this important issue. I urge my colleagues to 
support the bill.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 5 
minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf).
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I want to first thank the chairman and thank 
Mr. Moran for the language that explicitly prohibits gambling. I 
appreciate that very much. I think the chairman and Mr. Moran have to 
get the credit for doing this because, in previous cases, we have seen 
major, major expansions. So, as people talk about this, this is Earth-
shattering in some respects, and so I want to again thank the chairman 
and thank Mr. Moran.
  The Virginia tribes have consistently indicated that they oppose 
gambling, and I believe them. Yet, during the consideration of this 
measure in the last Congress, we heard rumors about an interest in 
challenging this gambling limitation in court. We have not heard those 
rumors today.
  The Virginia Indian tribes were the first to greet the settlers at 
Jamestown when they arrived 400 years ago. Without the Indians' 
friendship, the Jamestown settlement very likely would not have 
survived. The Americans owe the Virginia tribes a huge debt of 
gratitude.
  I also want to recognize the gentleman from Virginia for including 
language that explicitly forbids the establishment of tribal casinos. 
Current tribal leadership has consistently stated they do not want to 
pursue gambling. I believe them. However, I remain concerned that 
future leadership of the tribes will pursue establishing tribal 
casinos.
  Virginia does not have casino gambling, and because we do not, we 
have avoided the crime, corruption and scandal that sometimes comes 
with gambling. As the author of the legislation which created the 
National Gambling Impact Study Commission that released its 2-year 
study in 1999, we know firsthand of the devastating social and 
financial costs of gambling: crime, prostitution, corruption, suicide, 
destroyed families, child and spousal abuse, and bankruptcy.
  In moving forward with this, I want to ensure that Congress continues 
this, and I want to ensure that this language does not change when it 
goes to the Senate.
  Under this bill, Congress intends that no Virginia Indian tribe or 
tribal member, if granted Federal recognition, would have any greater 
rights to gamble or to conduct gambling operations under the laws of 
the Commonwealth of Virginia than would any other citizen of Virginia.
  Further, it is Congress' expectation that the provision limiting the 
tribes' ability to engage in gambling conforms with the Ysleta Del Sur 
Pueblo v. The State of Texas case. In that case, the U.S. Court of 
Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld a law prohibiting gaming by the 
tribe. In supporting H.R. 1385, Congress and the Virginia delegation, 
in particular, expect that the language restricting gambling operations 
by Indian tribes will be upheld if it is ever challenged.
  I would like to enter into the Record a letter I received from the 
Virginia tribal leadership, acknowledging the anti-gambling language in 
this bill and reaffirming the view of tribal leadership that the 
language prohibits gambling.

                                            Virginia Indian Tribal


                                    Alliance for Life (Vital),

                                       New Kent, VA, May 18, 2009.
     House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Member of Congress: Corn, or in the Virginia 
     Algonquian tongue, hominy, represents the sustenance of the 
     early American cultures. When the English came to 
     Tsenacomoco, now called Virginia, our tribes traded corn, 
     sometimes unwillingly, to the men of the Virginia Company. As 
     historians will tell you, corn saved the colony in these 
     early years. But corn also represents participatory 
     government. Our elders tell us that corn was used when voting 
     on matters of importance in the early years. Each eligible 
     member was given a kernel of corn and a pea. Corn signified a 
     ``yes'' vote and the pea, a ``no'' vote.
       Soon you will be given an opportunity to vote on HR 1385, 
     the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal 
     Recognition Act of 2009, which extends federal recognition to 
     the six Virginia Tribes comprising the Virginia Indian Tribal 
     Alliance for Life (VITAL): (1) the Chickahominy Tribe; (2) 
     the Chickahominy Indian Tribe--Eastern Division; (3) the 
     Upper Mattaponi Tribe; (4) the Rappahannock Tribe, Inc.; (5) 
     the Monacan Indian Nation; and (6) the Nansemond Indian 
     Tribe.
       On behalf of our Tribes, we ask that you use your kernel of 
     corn to vote YES on HR 1385 when it comes to the floor of the 
     House of Representatives for a vote.
       We are sure you have questions about this bill which is of 
     such vital importance to us.
       If these Tribes have been in existence since first contact 
     with the Europeans, why haven't they already been recognized 
     by the United States?
       Quite simply, because our Tribes never waged war on the 
     United States of America. The hostilities between our Tribes 
     and the Europeans who came here in 1607 effectively ended 
     with the Treaty of Middle Plantation in 1677. This Treaty was 
     signed between England and our Tribes. Predating the creation 
     of the United States of America by just short of 100 years, 
     our Treaty was never recognized by the founding fathers of 
     the United States because it was not negotiated with them. 
     Our Treaty of 1677 is still commemorated annually on the 
     steps of the Governor's Mansion in Virginia but has yet to be 
     recognized by the United States of America.
       If these Tribes have been here since first contact with the 
     Europeans, has there ever been any federal recognition of 
     these Tribes?
       Not officially by the entity called the United States and 
     that is why we seek this federal acknowledgement now. 
     However, hundreds of our sons and daughters have fought on 
     behalf of the United States of America in many wars over the 
     years. The ``dog tags'' of our military people, who have 
     fought alongside Americans from across the country, have 
     stated our race as ``American Indian.''
       If these Tribes deserve recognition, why don't they utilize 
     the administrative route created by Congress instead of 
     seeking legislation?
       For five decades the official policy of Virginia, enforced 
     through the Racial Integrity Act of 1924, stated that there 
     were only two races, white and colored. Over the years our 
     Tribes were subjected to paper genocide. Not only were we 
     denied our race in the everyday requests for birth and 
     marriage certificates, but the Commonwealth of Virginia went 
     into its records and changed the race of our documented 
     ancestors. This law was continually upheld by Virginia Courts 
     until the final vestiges of the law were struck down in 1971. 
     In addition, five of the six courthouses that held the vast 
     majority of the records that our Tribes would need to 
     document our history to the degree required by the Bureau of 
     Indian Affairs Office of Federal Acknowledgement were 
     destroyed in the Civil War. As much as our Tribes would like 
     to comply with the administrative rules to gain recognition, 
     the combination of the official laws of the Commonwealth, the 
     bureaucracy implementing those laws and the loss of our 
     records create an insurmountable burden. We believe that 
     since it was an act of government (Virginia) that denied us 
     our heritage,

[[Page 13820]]

     it should be an act of government that restores it.
       But still there is a process that has been established; why 
     should Congress be asked to make this decision?
       Of the 562 Tribes recognized by the United States of 
     America, 140 were recognized by Treaties and other 
     negotiations and only 16 were recognized by the 
     administrative process (which has been in effect since 1978). 
     Acts of Congress recognized the remaining 406 Tribes. We are 
     not asking for your vote to do the extraordinary. We ask for 
     your vote to recognize our heritage and our place in history.
       What about gaming? Won't this allow gaming by the Indian 
     Tribes?
       Our goal is not now, nor has it ever been, to establish or 
     utilize gaming. Our heritage is such that our affiliation 
     with churches has been strong, having embraced collectively 
     (and individually) the faith, beliefs and sacraments of 
     several Christian denominations. Gaming is, however, an issue 
     that concerns many of you. As such, HR 1385 has strong anti-
     gaming language. In fact, the language prohibits our Tribes 
     from gaming even if it is allowed in the Commonwealth of 
     Virginia for its citizens generally!
       With our deepest respect and admiration, we ask you to use 
     this kernel of corn to vote YES on HR 1385.
           Sincerely,
                                                     Wayne Adkins,
                                                        President.

       Enclosure.

  Again, my concern is not with the Federal recognition of Virginia 
Indian tribes but with the explosive spread of gambling and with the 
potential for casino gambling to come to the State of Virginia.
  I also continue to have concerns about the broader Indian recognition 
process. Quite frankly, this Congress has not done enough to help 
Indian tribes. The process is broken. We have seen that in the past; 
but today, I'm supporting this bill because I believe it ensures that 
the State of Virginia's interests are safeguarded while still providing 
full recognition.
  Again, I want to thank the chairman, and I want to thank Mr. Moran. 
This is really significant. If only we had had this language in 
previous recognitions; I think a lot of the problems we have in this 
country with gambling and with corruption and crime would not have 
taken place.

                              {time}  1330

  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I am happy to yield 3 minutes to the 
distinguished gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran), the main sponsor of 
this legislation and without whose leadership we would not be 
considering it today.
  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Thank you very much, Chairman Rahall. And I 
thank my colleagues Mr. Wolf and Mr. Scott. I understand Mr. Wolf's 
original reluctance to originally agree with the bill, but we have put 
in language that I understand is now acceptable to Mr. Wolf. Mr. Wolf 
genuinely was concerned about the possibility of casino gambling in 
Virginia. The language in this bill addresses that satisfactorily to 
Mr. Wolf. So I would hope that others who have previously opposed this 
legislation would follow Mr. Wolf's leadership and support it. We are 
having some discussions on a very small piece of land with Mr. 
Goodlatte, another colleague from Virginia, and I trust we can work 
that out.
  These six Indian tribes have sacrificed a great deal and have 
undergone quite an amount of demeaning treatment over generations. This 
is the right thing to do. We don't do this very often in the Congress 
of the United States, but this is a unique situation. These are the 
Indian tribes that enabled the first English settlers to survive in the 
colonies. We have right here in the Dome of the Capitol John Gadsby 
Chapman's dramatic painting of Pocahontas' baptism. That commemorates a 
landmark historic event, but it is connected to what happened 400 years 
ago when these Indians enabled the English settlers to survive, and 
eventually it led to Virginia being one of the original 13 colonies. We 
know the situation today, but what we do not know is the history of the 
Indian tribes that enabled the English settlers to survive on this 
continent. They have been very badly treated. And, in fact, even though 
they have a treaty signed with King Charles II in 1677, in the early 
part of the 20th century, the Commonwealth of Virginia conducted what 
was called a paper genocide. They made it illegal to be an American 
Indian in Virginia. They went into the courthouses and destroyed the 
birth records and everything they could relating to the legitimacy of 
these Indian tribes, even though everyone knew that they did actually 
exist. This was a time of severe racism, a time that we are very shamed 
by. But these Indian tribes never gave up their pride or their stature.
  The CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. RAHALL. I yield the gentleman 2 additional minutes.
  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. I thank my good friend, Chairman Rahall from 
West Virginia, who has been tremendous in supporting this legislation.
  To go back to the history behind this bill, this is so much a matter 
of pride and the restoration of justice. They survived even though they 
were denied employment and were denied educational opportunities. The 
only people who provided it were Christian missionaries. They oppose 
gambling. They don't even take advantage of the opportunity to have 
bingo games, which other nonprofits do in their vicinity, because they 
don't think it's the right thing. So I don't think that's any kind of a 
threat. Every other objection that has been raised I think has been 
adequately and fully addressed.
  These are good people, and they have been subjected to a great deal 
that was unjust. We should have done this by the 400th anniversary of 
Jamestown, but today we are about to do so two years later.
  Now there was a Supreme Court decision just a few months ago in 
February, and that Supreme Court decision said that the Secretary of 
the Interior no longer has unilateral discretion to determine what 
lands can be put in trust. That's why some additional lands and 
counties were included in this bill in case there is land that would be 
given to these Indian tribes in the future. They are willing to 
compromise on this, to give up virtually all of that potential 
territory. They're left with very little land and very few rights. The 
laws of Virginia would apply on this land. They are not allowed to 
engage in gambling like other Indian tribes. This is a part of a list 
of compromises they have made. They've made all of these compromises 
because it is important to them that their children, grandchildren and 
great grandchildren recognize that these are Native American people 
deserving of our utmost respect. They are people who deserve to be able 
to hold their chins up in pride for what they meant to this country.
  I strongly urge support of this legislation. It's overdue.
  Mr. Chairman, I know it is against the rules of the House to address 
anyone but the Speaker.
  If it were allowed, I would want to address the 2,500 or so members 
of the six Virginia tribes seeking Federal recognition.
  I would say that I know their quest to assert their identity and 
their rights has been a long struggle.
  Despite centuries of racial hostility and coercion by the 
Commonwealth of Virginia and others, they have refused to yield their 
most basic human right and have suffered and lost much.
  But, throughout the centuries they have retained their dignity and 
supported their people.
  When it appeared that no one else would, when little was available, 
when even the doors of public school house were closed to their 
children, they have never yielded to those who said they didn't exist.
  Mr. Chairman, I would say to the Virginia tribes; win or lose today, 
you have already won by refusing to yield and by remaining true and 
faithful to who you are.
  I would also say that it has been an honor for me to have helped 
carry this legislation.
  While it is less than ideal, it moves you closer to the day our 
national government recognizes your existence.
  Mr. Chairman, as Members of this chamber know, the crafting of 
congressional legislation is far from a perfect process. But, when it 
speaks, it speaks with the people's voice.
  Today, I encourage my colleagues to speak and finally affirm that the 
Virginia tribes exist and deserve Federal recognition.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wittman).
  Mr. WITTMAN. I rise in support of H.R. 1385, the Thomasina E. Jordan 
Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2009. I would like 
to

[[Page 13821]]

start by thanking Ranking Member Hastings for yielding time to me. I 
would like to thank Representative Moran for his hard work in 
introducing this bill and for his work on behalf of the tribes. I would 
like to thank Chairman Rahall for his leadership in moving this 
legislation forward. We thank you for your efforts. It is an effort 
long overdue.
  As a cosponsor of H.R. 1385, I am supportive of Federal recognition 
of Virginia's Indian tribes. This bill would extend Federal recognition 
to six Virginia tribes; and my district, the First Congressional 
District of Virginia, better known as America's First District, 
includes the historic tribal areas of the Chickahominy, Chickahominy 
Eastern Division, Upper Mattaponi, Rappahannock and Nansemond tribes. 
These tribes are important culturally and historically to the 
Commonwealth of Virginia. Tribal ancestors from these tribes populated 
coastal Virginia when Captain John Smith settled at Jamestown in 1607. 
These ``first contact'' tribes have been intertwined with the birth of 
our Nation for over 400 years and continue to preserve a culture and 
heritage important to both Virginia and the Nation.
  I believe that it's especially important to recognize these tribes 
because so many tribal members served our country bravely and 
heroically as members of our armed services. These tribal members who 
served our country during our Nation's conflicts have not been 
officially recognized by our government. This legislation, after nearly 
400 years, will recognize these tribes.
  Mr. Chairman, I'm a cosponsor of this bill, and I definitely and 
strongly support its passage. However, I do want to bring up one point. 
I have heard from some in the convenience store and gasoline marketing 
industry who have faced issues in other States when tribal businesses 
sell gasoline and tobacco tax-free to nontribal members, negatively 
impacting off-reservation business and State tax revenue. I don't want 
to see these types of problems in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and I 
don't believe that we will. I have assurance from the tribes that that 
is not their intent, and we've had a great working relationship with 
the Virginia General Assembly who have said that they will be working 
to make sure that through State compacts that this is taken care of. I 
bring this up with the hope that, moving forward, we can address this 
issue while respecting tribal sovereignty and protecting nontribal 
businesses. I do believe that that will happen. I believe that folks 
with the tribes are going to make that happen. I think they have 
reached out and have done an extraordinary job in doing everything to 
make sure that they are helpful in getting this issue taken care of.
  Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to strongly support this bill, and I ask 
my colleagues to do the same.
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I am happy to yield 2 minutes to the very 
valued member of our Committee on Natural Resources, the gentleman from 
American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega).
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Chairman, I do want to thank the distinguished 
chairman of our committee, Mr. Rahall, and our ranking member, Mr. 
Hastings, even though he may have some reservations concerning this 
bill but especially also to thank my colleague Mr. Moran as the chief 
author of this important bill.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1385, 
legislation to extend Federal recognition of the Thomasina E. Jordan 
Indian Tribes of Virginia.
  Mr. Chairman, under the current Federal recognition process for 
recognizing Indian tribes, the six Virginia tribes considered under 
this bill may not be able to meet the strict qualifying requirements 
under the Federal recognition process. This is despite the wealth of 
documentation that exists for each of these tribes. While references 
exist from the 1600s until the present showing the existence of these 
Indian tribes in the Virginia area, much of the documentation that is 
needed to meet the criteria in the Federal recognition process has been 
tampered with or destroyed.
  Mr. Chairman, this is another perfect example of a recognition 
process that has not worked and that any group of people who don't make 
a paper trail to prove their existence aren't worthy of Federal 
recognition. Congress has the authority to correct this grave injustice 
to these tribes. After some 400 years, Mr. Chairman, it is long 
overdue. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself as much time 
as I may consume.
  The gentleman from Northern Virginia (Mr. Moran) made an observation 
about the paper genocide issue, and I have to say that every member at 
the committee hearing that attended that hearing and heard the 
testimony on H.R. 1385 were, frankly, shocked and saddened and dismayed 
that, in fact, this sort of action went on in Virginia, how they 
treated the Indian people in the 20th century. I think that goes 
without saying. But I do want to point out, Mr. Chairman, for the 
record that there was a career employee of the Bureau of Indian Affairs 
who heads up the Office of Federal Acknowledgement that had a different 
view, and I just at least want to put that on the record as we debate 
this issue.
  He said, ``Records in Virginia do exist, and they were not destroyed. 
The vital records of birth, marriage, divorce, death and probate, they 
are in the record. Not only are they in the hands of the individuals to 
whom they pertain, but they are available at the local registrar level 
and State registrar level.'' He went on, continuing to quote, ``In 
preparation for this hearing, I wanted to reach into what evidence was 
submitted on behalf of the Virginia groups, and in 2001 this was the 
material that we received. And one of the group's materials were copies 
of vital records that were not destroyed.''
  So this BIA witness went on to describe how these documents 
identified the persons and Indians. So it appears that there are 
records in Virginia, notwithstanding the fact that the State of 
Virginia went through this process in the last century.
  So, Mr. Chairman, I just wanted to point that out that in the 
committee hearing we did hear testimony that at least in part disputed 
the issue of paper genocide. I wanted to make that observation in the 
debate today.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, how much time remains on both sides?
  The CHAIR. The gentleman from West Virginia has 17\1/2\ minutes 
remaining, and the gentleman from Washington has 15 minutes remaining.
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Washington (Mr. McDermott).
  Mr. MCDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate Mr. Rahall, Mr. 
Moran, Mr. Wittman, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Scott, Mr. 
Abercrombie and Mr. Kildee for introducing legislation that confers 
Federal recognition on the Indian tribes of Virginia.
  Affirming sovereign recognition first conferred by treaties is a 
matter of both history and conscience for the United States. Today we 
are correcting the mistakes of the past that relate to tribes that were 
among the very first to be in contact with white settlers when they 
came to these shores in 1607. While this is a great day for the tribes 
of Virginia, we must not forget that our work is not finished. The 
Duwamish tribe has lived in Seattle, which I represent, and has been 
there for centuries, long before there was the United States or a State 
of Washington. Seattle, in fact, was named after the great Duwamish 
chief, Chief Seattle.

                              {time}  1345

  Despite the treaty of Point Elliot, which the Duwamish signed in good 
faith with the United States in 1855, Federal recognition has not been 
extended, and in my belief, this is wrong. It went through the process. 
It was signed by President Clinton. And in one of his first executive 
orders, President Bush reversed the decision of recognition of the 
Duwamish. And it is time to correct that injustice with the

[[Page 13822]]

Duwamish, just as we are doing here in Virginia.
  That is why I am introducing legislation today to confer Federal 
recognition on the Duwamish tribe. So long as one Native tribe is 
denied justice and rights to which they are entitled, we all suffer.
  It is my hope that the new day dawning across America is bright 
enough to shine enough light for us to see and correct the injustices 
endured for too long by the First Americans. I hope that we will have a 
day like this some time soon for the Duwamish tribe.
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Moran).
  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. I thank my good friend and outstanding 
chairman of the Natural Resources Committee.
  I know the House leadership and Chairman Rahall are undertaking some 
risk in having scheduled this legislation because this type of 
legislation is invariably controversial. But Congress' past reluctance 
to grant Federal recognition and the demeaning and dysfunctional 
acknowledgement process at the Bureau of Indian Affairs has served to 
compound a grave injustice that this legislation will redress.
  The Virginia tribes identified in this legislation, as I mentioned 
earlier, are the direct descendants of the tribes that greeted and 
ensured the survival of the first permanent English colony in the New 
World.
  Almost exactly 2 years ago to this day, we marked the 400th 
anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. It was an event important 
enough to bring Queen Elizabeth across the Atlantic to commemorate.
  While the 1607 settlement succeeded and laid the English claim and 
foundation for the original 13 colonies, history has not been very kind 
to Virginia's Native Americans of the great Powhatan Confederacy who 
greeted the English and provided food and assistance to ensure their 
initial survival.
  Few are aware today that the direct descendants of the Native 
Americans who met these settlers are with us today. And in fact, some 
are in the Chamber watching. And they are still awaiting their due 
recognition by our Federal Government. This is the opportunity to 
correct this grave wrong.
  This bill, at long last, is named after Thomasina E. Jordan, who 
fought in such a committed way to get this recognition once she 
realized the history of discrimination that necessitated it. It grants 
recognition to the six Indian tribes in Virginia, and I would like to 
name them: the Chickahominy, the Eastern Chickahominy, the Upper 
Mattaponi, the Rappahannock, the Monacan and the Nansemond. The 
Commonwealth of Virginia recognized all six tribes in the 1980s. It is 
now time for the Federal Government, by this act of the U.S. Congress, 
to do the same.
  Like most Native Americans, the Virginia tribes welcomed Western 
settlers but quickly became subdued. The settlers had guns, and Indians 
had bows and arrows. They were pushed off their land, and up through 
much of the 20th century, denied any rights as U.S. citizens.
  Despite their devastating loss of land and population, the Virginia 
Indians survived centuries of racial hostility and coercive State and 
State-sanctioned actions that tried to eradicate their heritage and 
cultural identity.
  The history of Virginia tribes is unique in two important ways that 
are relevant to why this bill is on the House floor today. The first 
explains why the Virginia tribes were never recognized by the Federal 
Government. The second explains why congressional action is absolutely 
needed. The first circumstance is that unlike most tribes that resisted 
encroachment and obtained Federal recognition when they signed peace 
treaties with the Federal Government, Virginia's tribes signed their 
peace treaties with the kings of England.
  Most notable among these was the Treaty of 1677 between these tribes 
and Charles II that is still observed by Virginia every year when the 
Governor accepts tribute. I was there with Mr. Scott just this year. 
Governor Kaine accepted a deer that was brought by the tribes. And it 
is a ceremony that has been observed for 331 years. It is the longest 
celebrated treaty in the United States today.
  Now the second unique circumstance for the Virginia tribes is what 
they experienced in the hands of the State government during the first 
half of the 20th century that Mr. Hastings has 
alluded to. It is called a ``paper genocide.'' At a time when the 
Federal 
Government granted Native Americans the right to vote, Virginia's 
elected officials adopted racially hostile laws
targeted at those classes of people who did not fit into the dominant 
white society.
  These actions culminated with the Racial Integrity Act of 1924 that 
targeted Native Americans and sought to deny them their identity. The 
act empowered zealots, like Dr. Walter Plecker. He was in charge of the 
Bureau of Records at the State and he destroyed all the State and local 
courthouse records and reclassified, in Orwellian fashion, all 
nonwhites in the words of the day as ``colored.''
  It targeted Native Americans and sought to deny them their identity. 
Calling yourself a ``Native American'' in Virginia risked a jail 
sentence of 1 year. For up to 50 years, State officials waged a war to 
destroy all public and private records that affirmed the existence of 
Native Americans in Virginia. That law remained in effect until it was 
struck down in the Federal courts in 1967.
  All six tribes have filed petitions with the Bureau of 
Acknowledgement seeking Federal recognition. But it is a heavy burden. 
They have been told it won't happen in their lifetime. The 
acknowledgement process is expensive. It is subject to unreasonable 
delays. It lacks dignity. We ought to address that separately. But 
Virginia's history of this paper genocide only further complicates 
these tribes' quest for Federal recognition, making it difficult to 
furnish corroborating State and official documents. They can't really 
prove it because the documents were destroyed.
  The CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. RAHALL. I yield the gentleman 3 additional minutes.
  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. I thank my good friend. So here they are told 
to prove their existence, and yet the State government destroyed the 
proof of their existence, again aggravating an injustice that had 
already been visited upon these people. The only people who cared about 
them were Christian missionaries who allowed them to get some 
education. But they were denied employment for much of their history in 
the 20th century in Virginia.
  We are rectifying this wrong today. And in light of the 400th 
anniversary of Jamestown, we will bring closure to this national 
injustice. There is no doubt that these tribes have existed on a 
continuous basis since before the first Western European settlers set 
foot in America, and they are here with us today.
  I know there is great resistance from Congress to grant any American 
tribe Federal recognition. And I can appreciate how the issue of 
gambling and its economic and moral dimension influence many Members' 
perspectives in tribal recognition issues.
  The Virginia tribes have agreed to forgo gaming. An amendment offered 
by Congressman Duncan offered last session was approved by the Natural 
Resources Committee. That is in this bill before us. It prohibits these 
tribes from gaming under Federal law even if one day the State were to 
reverse course and set up gambling casinos in the State. The State can 
have gambling casinos. These Indians cannot. Go figure. But that is the 
way the legislation reads.
  The Virginia tribes, under the bill being considered today, could not 
engage in gambling on their sovereign lands. The Virginia tribes are 
also prepared to grant Virginia full civil and criminal jurisdiction 
over any future reservation lands until such time as the Secretary of 
the Interior and the U.S. Attorney General agree that they have 
developed an acceptable alternative judicial framework that the Federal 
Government can honor.
  Mr. Chairman, these tribes recognize that the legislative route to 
recognition is a very imperfect process and

[[Page 13823]]

that compromise is a necessary ingredient. That compromise and that 
balance have now been struck. Now is the time to pass this legislation. 
Failure to do so would unravel the progress we have made and lose this 
time in history for these tribes to finally gain Federal recognition. 
It would be a setback and an injustice. They have suffered enough 
injustices. Let's not add another one.
  Congress has the power to recognize these tribes. It has exercised 
these powers in the past. It should exercise this power again for these 
six tribes. More than 300 of the 562 federally recognized tribes have 
been recognized by an act of Congress.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. We will be doing 
our part to bring closure to some tragic and unjust acts that have 
transpired since Englishmen established their first permanent 
settlement more than 400 years ago in this New World. This is the right 
thing to do. I trust that Congress will do it today.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Chairman, I reserve my time.
  Mr. RAHALL. If I might ask the ranking member, do you have further 
speakers?
  Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Chairman, I advised my friend, I have 
no further speakers. But I just want to take a moment here to close 
beforehand.
  So with that I yield myself the balance of the time.
  I think what has been demonstrated on the floor here is the passion 
surrounding this issue. And I can certainly understand that passion, 
especially with the history, particularly here in the eastern part of 
the United States. And I don't expect that my opposition or my 
arguments are going to change the outcome of the votes, as I mentioned 
in my opening remarks. But as I mentioned in my opening remarks, 
because of the Carcieri decision, I think it is important for us to set 
at least some guidelines as to what process we in Congress, who have 
the constitutional right, by the way, to recognize tribes, at least to 
have a set of criteria that we should look at. And one of them ought to 
be at least some verification at the minimal.
  I know that at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and admittedly this is 
regulatory, there are seven or eight steps that certainly make sense. A 
lot of tribes have gone through that process. So I understand the 
passion. I respect the passion and the work that has been done on this. 
But for the reasons I outlined, more of a process reason than anything 
else, I urge my colleagues to vote against this legislation.
  And with that, I yield back my time.
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Just to respond to my dear friend, the gentleman from Washington, the 
Carcieri decision did not impact Congress' power to place land into 
trust for an Indian tribe directly or Congress' power to authorize the 
Secretary to place land in a trust for a specific tribe beyond the 
general authority found in the Indian Reorganization Act.
  There is much precedent for this legislation. Congress has recognized 
other Indian tribes and placed land into trust and/or authorized the 
Secretary to place land into trust for those tribes on numerous 
occasions. So I just conclude by saying that this legislation, again, 
is not affected by the Carcieri decision, nor does this legislation 
overturn said decision.
  Mr. Chairman, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The CHAIR. All time for general debate has expired.
  Pursuant to the rule, the amendment in the nature of a substitute 
printed in the bill shall be considered as an original bill for the 
purpose of amendment under the 5-minute rule and shall be considered 
read.
  The text of the committee amendment is as follows:

                               H.R. 1385

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

       (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Thomasina 
     E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act 
     of 2009''.
       (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act 
     is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

                   TITLE I--CHICKAHOMINY INDIAN TRIBE

Sec. 101. Findings.
Sec. 102. Definitions.
Sec. 103. Federal recognition.
Sec. 104. Membership; governing documents.
Sec. 105. Governing body.
Sec. 106. Reservation of the Tribe.
Sec. 107. Hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, and water rights.
Sec. 108. Jurisdiction of Commonwealth of Virginia.

         TITLE II--CHICKAHOMINY INDIAN TRIBE--EASTERN DIVISION

Sec. 201. Findings.
Sec. 202. Definitions.
Sec. 203. Federal recognition.
Sec. 204. Membership; governing documents.
Sec. 205. Governing body.
Sec. 206. Reservation of the Tribe.
Sec. 207. Hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, and water rights.
Sec. 208. Jurisdiction of Commonwealth of Virginia.

                    TITLE III--UPPER MATTAPONI TRIBE

Sec. 301. Findings.
Sec. 302. Definitions.
Sec. 303. Federal recognition.
Sec. 304. Membership; governing documents.
Sec. 305. Governing body.
Sec. 306. Reservation of the Tribe.
Sec. 307. Hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, and water rights.
Sec. 308. Jurisdiction of Commonwealth of Virginia.

                   TITLE IV--RAPPAHANNOCK TRIBE, INC.

Sec. 401. Findings.
Sec. 402. Definitions.
Sec. 403. Federal recognition.
Sec. 404. Membership; governing documents.
Sec. 405. Governing body.
Sec. 406. Reservation of the Tribe.
Sec. 407. Hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, and water rights.
Sec. 408. Jurisdiction of Commonwealth of Virginia.

                     TITLE V--MONACAN INDIAN NATION

Sec. 501. Findings.
Sec. 502. Definitions.
Sec. 503. Federal recognition.
Sec. 504. Membership; governing documents.
Sec. 505. Governing body.
Sec. 506. Reservation of the Tribe.
Sec. 507. Hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, and water rights.
Sec. 508. Jurisdiction of Commonwealth of Virginia.

                    TITLE VI--NANSEMOND INDIAN TRIBE

Sec. 601. Findings.
Sec. 602. Definitions.
Sec. 603. Federal recognition.
Sec. 604. Membership; governing documents.
Sec. 605. Governing body.
Sec. 606. Reservation of the Tribe.
Sec. 607. Hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, and water rights.
Sec. 608. Jurisdiction of Commonwealth of Virginia.

                   TITLE I--CHICKAHOMINY INDIAN TRIBE

     SEC. 101. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) in 1607, when the English settlers set shore along the 
     Virginia coastline, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe was 1 of 
     about 30 tribes that received them;
       (2) in 1614, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe entered into a 
     treaty with Sir Thomas Dale, Governor of the Jamestown 
     Colony, under which--
       (A) the Chickahominy Indian Tribe agreed to provide 2 
     bushels of corn per man and send warriors to protect the 
     English; and
       (B) Sir Thomas Dale agreed in return to allow the Tribe to 
     continue to practice its own tribal governance;
       (3) in 1646, a treaty was signed which forced the 
     Chickahominy from their homeland to the area around the York 
     Mattaponi River in present-day King William County, leading 
     to the formation of a reservation;
       (4) in 1677, following Bacon's Rebellion, the Queen of 
     Pamunkey signed the Treaty of Middle Plantation on behalf of 
     the Chickahominy;
       (5) in 1702, the Chickahominy were forced from their 
     reservation, which caused the loss of a land base;
       (6) in 1711, the College of William and Mary in 
     Williamsburg established a grammar school for Indians called 
     Brafferton College;
       (7) a Chickahominy child was 1 of the first Indians to 
     attend Brafferton College;
       (8) in 1750, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe began to migrate 
     from King William County back to the area around the 
     Chickahominy River in New Kent and Charles City Counties;
       (9) in 1793, a Baptist missionary named Bradby took refuge 
     with the Chickahominy and took a Chickahominy woman as his 
     wife;
       (10) in 1831, the names of the ancestors of the modern-day 
     Chickahominy Indian Tribe began to appear in the Charles City 
     County census records;
       (11) in 1901, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe formed Samaria 
     Baptist Church;
       (12) from 1901 to 1935, Chickahominy men were assessed a 
     tribal tax so that their children could receive an education;
       (13) the Tribe used the proceeds from the tax to build the 
     first Samaria Indian School, buy supplies, and pay a 
     teacher's salary;

[[Page 13824]]

       (14) in 1919, C. Lee Moore, Auditor of Public Accounts for 
     Virginia, told Chickahominy Chief O.W. Adkins that he had 
     instructed the Commissioner of Revenue for Charles City 
     County to record Chickahominy tribal members on the county 
     tax rolls as Indian, and not as white or colored;
       (15) during the period of 1920 through 1930, various 
     Governors of the Commonwealth of Virginia wrote letters of 
     introduction for Chickahominy Chiefs who had official 
     business with Federal agencies in Washington, DC;
       (16) in 1934, Chickahominy Chief O.O. Adkins wrote to John 
     Collier, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, requesting money to 
     acquire land for the Chickahominy Indian Tribe's use, to 
     build school, medical, and library facilities and to buy 
     tractors, implements, and seed;
       (17) in 1934, John Collier, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 
     wrote to Chickahominy Chief O.O. Adkins, informing him that 
     Congress had passed the Act of June 18, 1934 (commonly known 
     as the ``Indian Reorganization Act'') (25 U.S.C. 461 et 
     seq.), but had not made the appropriation to fund the Act;
       (18) in 1942, Chickahominy Chief O.O. Adkins wrote to John 
     Collier, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, asking for help in 
     getting the proper racial designation on Selective Service 
     records for Chickahominy soldiers;
       (19) in 1943, John Collier, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 
     asked Douglas S. Freeman, editor of the Richmond News-Leader 
     newspaper of Richmond, Virginia, to help Virginia Indians 
     obtain proper racial designation on birth records;
       (20) Collier stated that his office could not officially 
     intervene because it had no responsibility for the Virginia 
     Indians, ``as a matter largely of historical accident'', but 
     was ``interested in them as descendants of the original 
     inhabitants of the region'';
       (21) in 1948, the Veterans' Education Committee of the 
     Virginia State Board of Education approved Samaria Indian 
     School to provide training to veterans;
       (22) that school was established and run by the 
     Chickahominy Indian Tribe;
       (23) in 1950, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe purchased and 
     donated to the Charles City County School Board land to be 
     used to build a modern school for students of the 
     Chickahominy and other Virginia Indian tribes;
       (24) the Samaria Indian School included students in grades 
     1 through 8;
       (25) in 1961, Senator Sam Ervin, Chairman of the 
     Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights of the Committee on the 
     Judiciary of the Senate, requested Chickahominy Chief O.O. 
     Adkins to provide assistance in analyzing the status of the 
     constitutional rights of Indians ``in your area'';
       (26) in 1967, the Charles City County school board closed 
     Samaria Indian School and converted the school to a 
     countywide primary school as a step toward full school 
     integration of Indian and non-Indian students;
       (27) in 1972, the Charles City County school board began 
     receiving funds under the Indian Self-Determination and 
     Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 458aa et seq.) on behalf 
     of Chickahominy students, which funding is provided as of the 
     date of enactment of this Act under title V of the Indian 
     Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 
     458aaa et seq.);
       (28) in 1974, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe bought land and 
     built a tribal center using monthly pledges from tribal 
     members to finance the transactions;
       (29) in 1983, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe was granted 
     recognition as an Indian tribe by the Commonwealth of 
     Virginia, along with 5 other Indian tribes; and
       (30) in 1985, Governor Gerald Baliles was the special guest 
     at an intertribal Thanksgiving Day dinner hosted by the 
     Chickahominy Indian Tribe.

     SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS.

       In this title:
       (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior.
       (2) Tribal member.--The term ``tribal member'' means--
       (A) an individual who is an enrolled member of the Tribe as 
     of the date of enactment of this Act; and
       (B) an individual who has been placed on the membership 
     rolls of the Tribe in accordance with this title.
       (3) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Chickahominy 
     Indian Tribe.

     SEC. 103. FEDERAL RECOGNITION.

       (a) Federal Recognition.--
       (1) In general.--Federal recognition is extended to the 
     Tribe.
       (2) Applicability of laws.--All laws (including 
     regulations) of the United States of general applicability to 
     Indians or nations, Indian tribes, or bands of Indians 
     (including the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.)) 
     that are not inconsistent with this title shall be applicable 
     to the Tribe and tribal members.
       (b) Federal Services and Benefits.--
       (1) In general.--On and after the date of enactment of this 
     Act, the Tribe and tribal members shall be eligible for all 
     services and benefits provided by the Federal Government to 
     federally recognized Indian tribes without regard to the 
     existence of a reservation for the Tribe.
       (2) Service area.--For the purpose of the delivery of 
     Federal services to tribal members, the service area of the 
     Tribe shall be considered to be the area comprised of New 
     Kent County, James City County, Charles City County, and 
     Henrico County, Virginia.

     SEC. 104. MEMBERSHIP; GOVERNING DOCUMENTS.

       The membership roll and governing documents of the Tribe 
     shall be the most recent membership roll and governing 
     documents, respectively, submitted by the Tribe to the 
     Secretary before the date of enactment of this Act.

     SEC. 105. GOVERNING BODY.

       The governing body of the Tribe shall be--
       (1) the governing body of the Tribe in place as of the date 
     of enactment of this Act; or
       (2) any subsequent governing body elected in accordance 
     with the election procedures specified in the governing 
     documents of the Tribe.

     SEC. 106. RESERVATION OF THE TRIBE.

       (a) In General.--Upon the request of the Tribe, the 
     Secretary of the Interior--
       (1) shall take into trust for the benefit of the Tribe any 
     land held in fee by the Tribe that was acquired by the Tribe 
     on or before January 1, 2007, if such lands are located 
     within the boundaries of New Kent County, James City County, 
     Charles City County, or Henrico County, Virginia; and
       (2) may take into trust for the benefit of the Tribe any 
     land held in fee by the Tribe, if such lands are located 
     within the boundaries of New Kent County, James City County, 
     Charles City County, or Henrico County, Virginia.
       (b) Deadline for Determination.--The Secretary shall make a 
     final written determination not later than three years of the 
     date which the Tribe submits a request for land to be taken 
     into trust under subsection (a)(2) and shall immediately make 
     that determination available to the Tribe.
       (c) Reservation Status.--Any land taken into trust for the 
     benefit of the Tribe pursuant to this paragraph shall, upon 
     request of the Tribe, be considered part of the reservation 
     of the Tribe.
       (d) Gaming.--The Tribe may not conduct gaming activities as 
     a matter of claimed inherent authority or under the authority 
     of any Federal law, including the Indian Gaming Regulatory 
     Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) or under any regulations 
     thereunder promulgated by the Secretary or the National 
     Indian Gaming Commission.

     SEC. 107. HUNTING, FISHING, TRAPPING, GATHERING, AND WATER 
                   RIGHTS.

       Nothing in this title expands, reduces, or affects in any 
     manner any hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, or water 
     rights of the Tribe and members of the Tribe.

     SEC. 108. JURISDICTION OF COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA.

       (a) In General.--The Commonwealth of Virginia shall 
     exercise jurisdiction over--
       (1) all criminal offenses that are committed on; and
       (2) all civil actions that arise on,

     lands located within the Commonwealth of Virginia that are 
     owned by, or held in trust by the United States for, the 
     Tribe.
       (b) Acceptance of State Jurisdiction by Secretary.--The 
     Secretary of the Interior is authorized to accept on behalf 
     of the United States, after consulting with the Attorney 
     General of the United States, all or any portion of the 
     jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of Virginia described in 
     subsection (a) upon verification by the Secretary of a 
     certification by a tribe that it possesses the capacity to 
     reassume such jurisdiction.

         TITLE II--CHICKAHOMINY INDIAN TRIBE--EASTERN DIVISION

     SEC. 201. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) in 1607, when the English settlers set shore along the 
     Virginia coastline, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe was 1 of 
     about 30 tribes that received them;
       (2) in 1614, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe entered into a 
     treaty with Sir Thomas Dale, Governor of the Jamestown 
     Colony, under which--
       (A) the Chickahominy Indian Tribe agreed to provide 2 
     bushels of corn per man and send warriors to protect the 
     English; and
       (B) Sir Thomas Dale agreed in return to allow the Tribe to 
     continue to practice its own tribal governance;
       (3) in 1646, a treaty was signed which forced the 
     Chickahominy from their homeland to the area around the York 
     River in present-day King William County, leading to the 
     formation of a reservation;
       (4) in 1677, following Bacon's Rebellion, the Queen of 
     Pamunkey signed the Treaty of Middle Plantation on behalf of 
     the Chickahominy;
       (5) in 1702, the Chickahominy were forced from their 
     reservation, which caused the loss of a land base;
       (6) in 1711, the College of William and Mary in 
     Williamsburg established a grammar school for Indians called 
     Brafferton College;
       (7) a Chickahominy child was 1 of the first Indians to 
     attend Brafferton College;
       (8) in 1750, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe began to migrate 
     from King William County back to the area around the 
     Chickahominy River in New Kent and Charles City Counties;
       (9) in 1793, a Baptist missionary named Bradby took refuge 
     with the Chickahominy and took a Chickahominy woman as his 
     wife;
       (10) in 1831, the names of the ancestors of the modern-day 
     Chickahominy Indian Tribe began to appear in the Charles City 
     County census records;
       (11) in 1870, a census revealed an enclave of Indians in 
     New Kent County that is believed to be the beginning of the 
     Chickahominy Indian Tribe--Eastern Division;
       (12) other records were destroyed when the New Kent County 
     courthouse was burned, leaving a State census as the only 
     record covering that period;

[[Page 13825]]

       (13) in 1901, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe formed Samaria 
     Baptist Church;
       (14) from 1901 to 1935, Chickahominy men were assessed a 
     tribal tax so that their children could receive an education;
       (15) the Tribe used the proceeds from the tax to build the 
     first Samaria Indian School, buy supplies, and pay a 
     teacher's salary;
       (16) in 1910, a 1-room school covering grades 1 through 8 
     was established in New Kent County for the Chickahominy 
     Indian Tribe--Eastern Division;
       (17) during the period of 1920 through 1921, the 
     Chickahominy Indian Tribe--Eastern Division began forming a 
     tribal government;
       (18) E.P. Bradby, the founder of the Tribe, was elected to 
     be Chief;
       (19) in 1922, Tsena Commocko Baptist Church was organized;
       (20) in 1925, a certificate of incorporation was issued to 
     the Chickahominy Indian Tribe--Eastern Division;
       (21) in 1950, the 1-room Indian school in New Kent County 
     was closed and students were bused to Samaria Indian School 
     in Charles City County;
       (22) in 1967, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe and the 
     Chickahominy Indian Tribe--Eastern Division lost their 
     schools as a result of the required integration of students;
       (23) during the period of 1982 through 1984, Tsena Commocko 
     Baptist Church built a new sanctuary to accommodate church 
     growth;
       (24) in 1983 the Chickahominy Indian Tribe--Eastern 
     Division was granted State recognition along with 5 other 
     Virginia Indian tribes;
       (25) in 1985--
       (A) the Virginia Council on Indians was organized as a 
     State agency; and
       (B) the Chickahominy Indian Tribe--Eastern Division was 
     granted a seat on the Council;
       (26) in 1988, a nonprofit organization known as the 
     ``United Indians of Virginia'' was formed; and
       (27) Chief Marvin ``Strongoak'' Bradby of the Eastern Band 
     of the Chickahominy presently chairs the organization.

     SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS.

       In this title:
       (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior.
       (2) Tribal member.--The term ``tribal member'' means--
       (A) an individual who is an enrolled member of the Tribe as 
     of the date of enactment of this Act; and
       (B) an individual who has been placed on the membership 
     rolls of the Tribe in accordance with this title.
       (3) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Chickahominy 
     Indian Tribe--Eastern Division.

     SEC. 203. FEDERAL RECOGNITION.

       (a) Federal Recognition.--
       (1) In general.--Federal recognition is extended to the 
     Tribe.
       (2) Applicability of laws.--All laws (including 
     regulations) of the United States of general applicability to 
     Indians or nations, Indian tribes, or bands of Indians 
     (including the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.)) 
     that are not inconsistent with this title shall be applicable 
     to the Tribe and tribal members.
       (b) Federal Services and Benefits.--
       (1) In general.--On and after the date of enactment of this 
     Act, the Tribe and tribal members shall be eligible for all 
     future services and benefits provided by the Federal 
     Government to federally recognized Indian tribes without 
     regard to the existence of a reservation for the Tribe.
       (2) Service area.--For the purpose of the delivery of 
     Federal services to tribal members, the service area of the 
     Tribe shall be considered to be the area comprised of New 
     Kent County, James City County, Charles City County, and 
     Henrico County, Virginia.

     SEC. 204. MEMBERSHIP; GOVERNING DOCUMENTS.

       The membership roll and governing documents of the Tribe 
     shall be the most recent membership roll and governing 
     documents, respectively, submitted by the Tribe to the 
     Secretary before the date of enactment of this Act.

     SEC. 205. GOVERNING BODY.

       The governing body of the Tribe shall be--
       (1) the governing body of the Tribe in place as of the date 
     of enactment of this Act; or
       (2) any subsequent governing body elected in accordance 
     with the election procedures specified in the governing 
     documents of the Tribe.

     SEC. 206. RESERVATION OF THE TRIBE.

       (a) In General.--Upon the request of the Tribe, the 
     Secretary of the Interior--
       (1) shall take into trust for the benefit of the Tribe any 
     land held in fee by the Tribe that was acquired by the Tribe 
     on or before January 1, 2007, if such lands are located 
     within the boundaries of New Kent County, James City County, 
     Charles City County, or Henrico County, Virginia; and
       (2) may take into trust for the benefit of the Tribe any 
     land held in fee by the Tribe, if such lands are located 
     within the boundaries of New Kent County, James City County, 
     Charles City County, or Henrico County, Virginia.
       (b) Deadline for Determination.--The Secretary shall make a 
     final written determination not later than three years of the 
     date which the Tribe submits a request for land to be taken 
     into trust under subsection (a)(2) and shall immediately make 
     that determination available to the Tribe.
       (c) Reservation Status.--Any land taken into trust for the 
     benefit of the Tribe pursuant to this paragraph shall, upon 
     request of the Tribe, be considered part of the reservation 
     of the Tribe.
       (d) Gaming.--The Tribe may not conduct gaming activities as 
     a matter of claimed inherent authority or under the authority 
     of any Federal law, including the Indian Gaming Regulatory 
     Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) or under any regulations 
     thereunder promulgated by the Secretary or the National 
     Indian Gaming Commission.

     SEC. 207. HUNTING, FISHING, TRAPPING, GATHERING, AND WATER 
                   RIGHTS.

       Nothing in this title expands, reduces, or affects in any 
     manner any hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, or water 
     rights of the Tribe and members of the Tribe.

     SEC. 208. JURISDICTION OF COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA.

       (a) In General.--The Commonwealth of Virginia shall 
     exercise jurisdiction over--
       (1) all criminal offenses that are committed on; and
       (2) all civil actions that arise on,

     lands located within the Commonwealth of Virginia that are 
     owned by, or held in trust by the United States for, the 
     Tribe.
       (b) Acceptance of State Jurisdiction by Secretary.--The 
     Secretary of the Interior is authorized to accept on behalf 
     of the United States, after consulting with the Attorney 
     General of the United States, all or any portion of the 
     jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of Virginia described in 
     subsection (a) upon verification by the Secretary of a 
     certification by a tribe that it possesses the capacity to 
     reassume such jurisdiction.

                    TITLE III--UPPER MATTAPONI TRIBE

     SEC. 301. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) during the period of 1607 through 1646, the 
     Chickahominy Indian Tribes--
       (A) lived approximately 20 miles from Jamestown; and
       (B) were significantly involved in English-Indian affairs;
       (2) Mattaponi Indians, who later joined the Chickahominy 
     Indians, lived a greater distance from Jamestown;
       (3) in 1646, the Chickahominy Indians moved to Mattaponi 
     River basin, away from the English;
       (4) in 1661, the Chickahominy Indians sold land at a place 
     known as ``the cliffs'' on the Mattaponi River;
       (5) in 1669, the Chickahominy Indians--
       (A) appeared in the Virginia Colony's census of Indian 
     bowmen; and
       (B) lived in ``New Kent'' County, which included the 
     Mattaponi River basin at that time;
       (6) in 1677, the Chickahominy and Mattaponi Indians were 
     subjects of the Queen of Pamunkey, who was a signatory to the 
     Treaty of 1677 with the King of England;
       (7) in 1683, after a Mattaponi town was attacked by Seneca 
     Indians, the Mattaponi Indians took refuge with the 
     Chickahominy Indians, and the history of the 2 groups was 
     intertwined for many years thereafter;
       (8) in 1695, the Chickahominy and Mattaponi Indians--
       (A) were assigned a reservation by the Virginia Colony; and
       (B) traded land of the reservation for land at the place 
     known as ``the cliffs'' (which, as of the date of enactment 
     of this Act, is the Mattaponi Indian Reservation), which had 
     been owned by the Mattaponi Indians before 1661;
       (9) in 1711, a Chickahominy boy attended the Indian School 
     at the College of William and Mary;
       (10) in 1726, the Virginia Colony discontinued funding of 
     interpreters for the Chickahominy and Mattaponi Indian 
     Tribes;
       (11) James Adams, who served as an interpreter to the 
     Indian tribes known as of the date of enactment of this Act 
     as the ``Upper Mattaponi Indian Tribe'' and ``Chickahominy 
     Indian Tribe'', elected to stay with the Upper Mattaponi 
     Indians;
       (12) today, a majority of the Upper Mattaponi Indians have 
     ``Adams'' as their surname;
       (13) in 1787, Thomas Jefferson, in Notes on the 
     Commonwealth of Virginia, mentioned the Mattaponi Indians on 
     a reservation in King William County and said that 
     Chickahominy Indians were ``blended'' with the Mattaponi 
     Indians and nearby Pamunkey Indians;
       (14) in 1850, the census of the United States revealed a 
     nucleus of approximately 10 families, all ancestral to modern 
     Upper Mattaponi Indians, living in central King William 
     County, Virginia, approximately 10 miles from the 
     reservation;
       (15) during the period of 1853 through 1884, King William 
     County marriage records listed Upper Mattaponis as 
     ``Indians'' in marrying people residing on the reservation;
       (16) during the period of 1884 through the present, county 
     marriage records usually refer to Upper Mattaponis as 
     ``Indians'';
       (17) in 1901, Smithsonian anthropologist James Mooney heard 
     about the Upper Mattaponi Indians but did not visit them;
       (18) in 1928, University of Pennsylvania anthropologist 
     Frank Speck published a book on modern Virginia Indians with 
     a section on the Upper Mattaponis;
       (19) from 1929 until 1930, the leadership of the Upper 
     Mattaponi Indians opposed the use of a ``colored'' 
     designation in the 1930 United States census and won a 
     compromise in which the Indian ancestry of the Upper 
     Mattaponis was recorded but questioned;
       (20) during the period of 1942 through 1945--
       (A) the leadership of the Upper Mattaponi Indians, with the 
     help of Frank Speck and others, fought against the induction 
     of young men of

[[Page 13826]]

     the Tribe into ``colored'' units in the Armed Forces of the 
     United States; and
       (B) a tribal roll for the Upper Mattaponi Indians was 
     compiled;
       (21) from 1945 to 1946, negotiations took place to admit 
     some of the young people of the Upper Mattaponi to high 
     schools for Federal Indians (especially at Cherokee) because 
     no high school coursework was available for Indians in 
     Virginia schools; and
       (22) in 1983, the Upper Mattaponi Indians applied for and 
     won State recognition as an Indian tribe.

     SEC. 302. DEFINITIONS.

       In this title:
       (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior.
       (2) Tribal member.--The term ``tribal member'' means--
       (A) an individual who is an enrolled member of the Tribe as 
     of the date of enactment of this Act; and
       (B) an individual who has been placed on the membership 
     rolls of the Tribe in accordance with this title.
       (3) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Upper Mattaponi 
     Tribe.

     SEC. 303. FEDERAL RECOGNITION.

       (a) Federal Recognition.--
       (1) In general.--Federal recognition is extended to the 
     Tribe.
       (2) Applicability of laws.--All laws (including 
     regulations) of the United States of general applicability to 
     Indians or nations, Indian tribes, or bands of Indians 
     (including the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.)) 
     that are not inconsistent with this title shall be applicable 
     to the Tribe and tribal members.
       (b) Federal Services and Benefits.--
       (1) In general.--On and after the date of enactment of this 
     Act, the Tribe and tribal members shall be eligible for all 
     services and benefits provided by the Federal Government to 
     federally recognized Indian tribes without regard to the 
     existence of a reservation for the Tribe.
       (2) Service area.--For the purpose of the delivery of 
     Federal services to tribal members, the service area of the 
     Tribe shall be considered to be the area within 25 miles of 
     the Sharon Indian School at 13383 King William Road, King 
     William County, Virginia.

     SEC. 304. MEMBERSHIP; GOVERNING DOCUMENTS.

       The membership roll and governing documents of the Tribe 
     shall be the most recent membership roll and governing 
     documents, respectively, submitted by the Tribe to the 
     Secretary before the date of enactment of this Act.

     SEC. 305. GOVERNING BODY.

       The governing body of the Tribe shall be--
       (1) the governing body of the Tribe in place as of the date 
     of enactment of this Act; or
       (2) any subsequent governing body elected in accordance 
     with the election procedures specified in the governing 
     documents of the Tribe.

     SEC. 306. RESERVATION OF THE TRIBE.

       (a) In General.--Upon the request of the Tribe, the 
     Secretary of the Interior--
       (1) shall take into trust for the benefit of the Tribe any 
     land held in fee by the Tribe that was acquired by the Tribe 
     on or before January 1, 2007, if such lands are located 
     within the boundaries of King William County, Caroline 
     County, Hanover County, King and Queen County, and New Kent 
     County, Virginia; and
       (2) may take into trust for the benefit of the Tribe any 
     land held in fee by the Tribe, if such lands are located 
     within the boundaries of King William County, Caroline 
     County, Hanover County, King and Queen County, and New Kent 
     County, Virginia.
       (b) Deadline for Determination.--The Secretary shall make a 
     final written determination not later than three years of the 
     date which the Tribe submits a request for land to be taken 
     into trust under subsection (a)(2) and shall immediately make 
     that determination available to the Tribe.
       (c) Reservation Status.--Any land taken into trust for the 
     benefit of the Tribe pursuant to this paragraph shall, upon 
     request of the Tribe, be considered part of the reservation 
     of the Tribe.
       (d) Gaming.--The Tribe may not conduct gaming activities as 
     a matter of claimed inherent authority or under the authority 
     of any Federal law, including the Indian Gaming Regulatory 
     Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) or under any regulations 
     thereunder promulgated by the Secretary or the National 
     Indian Gaming Commission.

     SEC. 307. HUNTING, FISHING, TRAPPING, GATHERING, AND WATER 
                   RIGHTS.

       Nothing in this title expands, reduces, or affects in any 
     manner any hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, or water 
     rights of the Tribe and members of the Tribe.

     SEC. 308. JURISDICTION OF COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA.

       (a) In General.--The Commonwealth of Virginia shall 
     exercise jurisdiction over--
       (1) all criminal offenses that are committed on; and
       (2) all civil actions that arise on,

     lands located within the Commonwealth of Virginia that are 
     owned by, or held in trust by the United States for, the 
     Tribe.
       (b) Acceptance of State Jurisdiction by Secretary.--The 
     Secretary of the Interior is authorized to accept on behalf 
     of the United States, after consulting with the Attorney 
     General of the United States, all or any portion of the 
     jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of Virginia described in 
     subsection (a) upon verification by the Secretary of a 
     certification by a tribe that it possesses the capacity to 
     reassume such jurisdiction.

                   TITLE IV--RAPPAHANNOCK TRIBE, INC.

     SEC. 401. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) during the initial months after Virginia was settled, 
     the Rappahannock Indians had 3 encounters with Captain John 
     Smith;
       (2) the first encounter occurred when the Rappahannock 
     weroance (headman)--
       (A) traveled to Quiyocohannock (a principal town across the 
     James River from Jamestown), where he met with Smith to 
     determine whether Smith had been the ``great man'' who had 
     previously sailed into the Rappahannock River, killed a 
     Rappahannock weroance, and kidnapped Rappahannock people; and
       (B) determined that Smith was too short to be that ``great 
     man'';
       (3) on a second meeting, during John Smith's captivity 
     (December 16, 1607 to January 8, 1608), Smith was taken to 
     the Rappahannock principal village to show the people that 
     Smith was not the ``great man'';
       (4) a third meeting took place during Smith's exploration 
     of the Chesapeake Bay (July to September 1608), when, after 
     the Moraughtacund Indians had stolen 3 women from the 
     Rappahannock King, Smith was prevailed upon to facilitate a 
     peaceful truce between the Rappahannock and the Moraughtacund 
     Indians;
       (5) in the settlement, Smith had the 2 Indian tribes meet 
     on the spot of their first fight;
       (6) when it was established that both groups wanted peace, 
     Smith told the Rappahannock King to select which of the 3 
     stolen women he wanted;
       (7) the Moraughtacund King was given second choice among 
     the 2 remaining women, and Mosco, a Wighcocomoco (on the 
     Potomac River) guide, was given the third woman;
       (8) in 1645, Captain William Claiborne tried unsuccessfully 
     to establish treaty relations with the Rappahannocks, as the 
     Rappahannocks had not participated in the Pamunkey-led 
     uprising in 1644, and the English wanted to ``treat with the 
     Rappahannocks or any other Indians not in amity with 
     Opechancanough, concerning serving the county against the 
     Pamunkeys'';
       (9) in April 1651, the Rappahannocks conveyed a tract of 
     land to an English settler, Colonel Morre Fauntleroy;
       (10) the deed for the conveyance was signed by Accopatough, 
     weroance of the Rappahannock Indians;
       (11) in September 1653, Lancaster County signed a treaty 
     with Rappahannock Indians, the terms of which treaty--
       (A) gave Rappahannocks the rights of Englishmen in the 
     county court; and
       (B) attempted to make the Rappahannocks more accountable 
     under English law;
       (12) in September 1653, Lancaster County defined and marked 
     the bounds of its Indian settlements;
       (13) according to the Lancaster clerk of court, ``the tribe 
     called the great Rappahannocks lived on the Rappahannock 
     Creek just across the river above Tappahannock'';
       (14) in September 1656, (Old) Rappahannock County (which, 
     as of the date of enactment of this Act, is comprised of 
     Richmond and Essex Counties, Virginia) signed a treaty with 
     Rappahannock Indians that--
       (A) mirrored the Lancaster County treaty from 1653; and
       (B) stated that--
       (i) Rappahannocks were to be rewarded, in Roanoke, for 
     returning English fugitives; and
       (ii) the English encouraged the Rappahannocks to send their 
     children to live among the English as servants, who the 
     English promised would be well-treated;
       (15) in 1658, the Virginia Assembly revised a 1652 Act 
     stating that ``there be no grants of land to any Englishman 
     whatsoever de futuro until the Indians be first served with 
     the proportion of 50 acres of land for each bowman'';
       (16) in 1669, the colony conducted a census of Virginia 
     Indians;
       (17) as of the date of that census--
       (A) the majority of the Rappahannocks were residing at 
     their hunting village on the north side of the Mattaponi 
     River; and
       (B) at the time of the visit, census-takers were counting 
     only the Indian tribes along the rivers, which explains why 
     only 30 Rappahannock bowmen were counted on that river;
       (18) the Rappahannocks used the hunting village on the 
     north side of the Mattaponi River as their primary residence 
     until the Rappahannocks were removed in 1684;
       (19) in May 1677, the Treaty of Middle Plantation was 
     signed with England;
       (20) the Pamunkey Queen Cockacoeske signed on behalf of the 
     Rappahannocks, ``who were supposed to be her tributaries'', 
     but before the treaty could be ratified, the Queen of 
     Pamunkey complained to the Virginia Colonial Council ``that 
     she was having trouble with Rappahannocks and Chickahominies, 
     supposedly tributaries of hers'';
       (21) in November 1682, the Virginia Colonial Council 
     established a reservation for the Rappahannock Indians of 
     3,474 acres ``about the town where they dwelt'';
       (22) the Rappahannock ``town'' was the hunting village on 
     the north side of the Mattaponi River, where the 
     Rappahannocks had lived throughout the 1670s;
       (23) the acreage allotment of the reservation was based on 
     the 1658 Indian land act, which translates into a bowman 
     population of 70, or an approximate total Rappahannock 
     population of 350;
       (24) in 1683, following raids by Iroquoian warriors on both 
     Indian and English settlements,

[[Page 13827]]

     the Virginia Colonial Council ordered the Rappahannocks to 
     leave their reservation and unite with the Nanzatico Indians 
     at Nanzatico Indian Town, which was located across and up the 
     Rappahannock River some 30 miles;
       (25) between 1687 and 1699, the Rappahannocks migrated out 
     of Nanzatico, returning to the south side of the Rappahannock 
     River at Portobacco Indian Town;
       (26) in 1706, by order of Essex County, Lieutenant Richard 
     Covington ``escorted'' the Portobaccos and Rappahannocks out 
     of Portobacco Indian Town, out of Essex County, and into King 
     and Queen County where they settled along the ridgeline 
     between the Rappahannock and Mattaponi Rivers, the site of 
     their ancient hunting village and 1682 reservation;
       (27) during the 1760s, 3 Rappahannock girls were raised on 
     Thomas Nelson's Bleak Hill Plantation in King William County;
       (28) of those girls--
       (A) 1 married a Saunders man;
       (B) 1 married a Johnson man; and
       (C) 1 had 2 children, Edmund and Carter Nelson, fathered by 
     Thomas Cary Nelson;
       (29) in the 19th century, those Saunders, Johnson, and 
     Nelson families are among the core Rappahannock families from 
     which the modern Tribe traces its descent;
       (30) in 1819 and 1820, Edward Bird, John Bird (and his 
     wife), Carter Nelson, Edmund Nelson, and Carter Spurlock (all 
     Rappahannock ancestors) were listed on the tax roles of King 
     and Queen County and taxed at the county poor rate;
       (31) Edmund Bird was added to the tax roles in 1821;
       (32) those tax records are significant documentation 
     because the great majority of pre-1864 records for King and 
     Queen County were destroyed by fire;
       (33) beginning in 1819, and continuing through the 1880s, 
     there was a solid Rappahannock presence in the membership at 
     Upper Essex Baptist Church;
       (34) that was the first instance of conversion to 
     Christianity by at least some Rappahannock Indians;
       (35) while 26 identifiable and traceable Rappahannock 
     surnames appear on the pre-1863 membership list, and 28 were 
     listed on the 1863 membership roster, the number of surnames 
     listed had declined to 12 in 1878 and had risen only slightly 
     to 14 by 1888;
       (36) a reason for the decline is that in 1870, a Methodist 
     circuit rider, Joseph Mastin, secured funds to purchase land 
     and construct St. Stephens Baptist Church for the 
     Rappahannocks living nearby in Caroline County;
       (37) Mastin referred to the Rappahannocks during the period 
     of 1850 to 1870 as ``Indians, having a great need for moral 
     and Christian guidance'';
       (38) St. Stephens was the dominant tribal church until the 
     Rappahannock Indian Baptist Church was established in 1964;
       (39) at both churches, the core Rappahannock family names 
     of Bird, Clarke, Fortune, Johnson, Nelson, Parker, and 
     Richardson predominate;
       (40) during the early 1900s, James Mooney, noted 
     anthropologist, maintained correspondence with the 
     Rappahannocks, surveying them and instructing them on how to 
     formalize their tribal government;
       (41) in November 1920, Speck visited the Rappahannocks and 
     assisted them in organizing the fight for their sovereign 
     rights;
       (42) in 1921, the Rappahannocks were granted a charter from 
     the Commonwealth of Virginia formalizing their tribal 
     government;
       (43) Speck began a professional relationship with the Tribe 
     that would last more than 30 years and document Rappahannock 
     history and traditions as never before;
       (44) in April 1921, Rappahannock Chief George Nelson asked 
     the Governor of Virginia, Westmoreland Davis, to forward a 
     proclamation to the President of the United States, along 
     with an appended list of tribal members and a handwritten 
     copy of the proclamation itself;
       (45) the letter concerned Indian freedom of speech and 
     assembly nationwide;
       (46) in 1922, the Rappahannocks established a formal school 
     at Lloyds, Essex County, Virginia;
       (47) prior to establishment of the school, Rappahannock 
     children were taught by a tribal member in Central Point, 
     Caroline County, Virginia;
       (48) in December 1923, Rappahannock Chief George Nelson 
     testified before Congress appealing for a $50,000 
     appropriation to establish an Indian school in Virginia;
       (49) in 1930, the Rappahannocks were engaged in an ongoing 
     dispute with the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United 
     States Census Bureau about their classification in the 1930 
     Federal census;
       (50) in January 1930, Rappahannock Chief Otho S. Nelson 
     wrote to Leon Truesdell, Chief Statistician of the United 
     States Census Bureau, asking that the 218 enrolled 
     Rappahannocks be listed as Indians;
       (51) in February 1930, Truesdell replied to Nelson saying 
     that ``special instructions'' were being given about 
     classifying Indians;
       (52) in April 1930, Nelson wrote to William M. Steuart at 
     the Census Bureau asking about the enumerators' failure to 
     classify his people as Indians, saying that enumerators had 
     not asked the question about race when they interviewed his 
     people;
       (53) in a followup letter to Truesdell, Nelson reported 
     that the enumerators were ``flatly denying'' his people's 
     request to be listed as Indians and that the race question 
     was completely avoided during interviews;
       (54) the Rappahannocks had spoken with Caroline and Essex 
     County enumerators, and with John M.W. Green at that point, 
     without success;
       (55) Nelson asked Truesdell to list people as Indians if he 
     sent a list of members;
       (56) the matter was settled by William Steuart, who 
     concluded that the Bureau's rule was that people of Indian 
     descent could be classified as ``Indian'' only if Indian 
     ``blood'' predominated and ``Indian'' identity was accepted 
     in the local community;
       (57) the Virginia Vital Statistics Bureau classed all 
     nonreservation Indians as ``Negro'', and it failed to see why 
     ``an exception should be made'' for the Rappahannocks;
       (58) therefore, in 1925, the Indian Rights Association took 
     on the Rappahannock case to assist the Rappahannocks in 
     fighting for their recognition and rights as an Indian tribe;
       (59) during the Second World War, the Pamunkeys, 
     Mattaponis, Chickahominies, and Rappahannocks had to fight 
     the draft boards with respect to their racial identities;
       (60) the Virginia Vital Statistics Bureau insisted that 
     certain Indian draftees be inducted into Negro units;
       (61) finally, 3 Rappahannocks were convicted of violating 
     the Federal draft laws and, after spending time in a Federal 
     prison, were granted conscientious objector status and served 
     out the remainder of the war working in military hospitals;
       (62) in 1943, Frank Speck noted that there were 
     approximately 25 communities of Indians left in the Eastern 
     United States that were entitled to Indian classification, 
     including the Rappahannocks;
       (63) in the 1940s, Leon Truesdell, Chief Statistician, of 
     the United States Census Bureau, listed 118 members in the 
     Rappahannock Tribe in the Indian population of Virginia;
       (64) on April 25, 1940, the Office of Indian Affairs of the 
     Department of the Interior included the Rappahannocks on a 
     list of Indian tribes classified by State and by agency;
       (65) in 1948, the Smithsonian Institution Annual Report 
     included an article by William Harlen Gilbert entitled, 
     ``Surviving Indian Groups of the Eastern United States'', 
     which included and described the Rappahannock Tribe;
       (66) in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Rappahannocks 
     operated a school at Indian Neck;
       (67) the State agreed to pay a tribal teacher to teach 10 
     students bused by King and Queen County to Sharon Indian 
     School in King William County, Virginia;
       (68) in 1965, Rappahannock students entered Marriott High 
     School (a white public school) by executive order of the 
     Governor of Virginia;
       (69) in 1972, the Rappahannocks worked with the Coalition 
     of Eastern Native Americans to fight for Federal recognition;
       (70) in 1979, the Coalition established a pottery and 
     artisans company, operating with other Virginia tribes;
       (71) in 1980, the Rappahannocks received funding through 
     the Administration for Native Americans of the Department of 
     Health and Human Services to develop an economic program for 
     the Tribe; and
       (72) in 1983, the Rappahannocks received State recognition 
     as an Indian tribe.

     SEC. 402. DEFINITIONS.

       In this title:
       (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior.
       (2) Tribal member.--The term ``tribal member'' means--
       (A) an individual who is an enrolled member of the Tribe as 
     of the date of enactment of this Act; and
       (B) an individual who has been placed on the membership 
     rolls of the Tribe in accordance with this title.
       (3) Tribe.--
       (A) In general.--The term ``Tribe'' means the organization 
     possessing the legal name Rappahannock Tribe, Inc.
       (B) Exclusions.--The term ``Tribe'' does not include any 
     other Indian tribe, subtribe, band, or splinter group the 
     members of which represent themselves as Rappahannock 
     Indians.

     SEC. 403. FEDERAL RECOGNITION.

       (a) Federal Recognition.--
       (1) In general.--Federal recognition is extended to the 
     Tribe.
       (2) Applicability of laws.--All laws (including 
     regulations) of the United States of general applicability to 
     Indians or nations, Indian tribes, or bands of Indians 
     (including the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.)) 
     that are not inconsistent with this title shall be applicable 
     to the Tribe and tribal members.
       (b) Federal Services and Benefits.--
       (1) In general.--On and after the date of enactment of this 
     Act, the Tribe and tribal members shall be eligible for all 
     services and benefits provided by the Federal Government to 
     federally recognized Indian tribes without regard to the 
     existence of a reservation for the Tribe.
       (2) Service area.--For the purpose of the delivery of 
     Federal services to tribal members, the service area of the 
     Tribe shall be considered to be the area comprised of King 
     and Queen County, Caroline County, Essex County, Spotsylvania 
     County, Stafford County, and Richmond County, Virginia.

     SEC. 404. MEMBERSHIP; GOVERNING DOCUMENTS.

       The membership roll and governing documents of the Tribe 
     shall be the most recent membership roll and governing 
     documents, respectively, submitted by the Tribe to the 
     Secretary before the date of enactment of this Act.

[[Page 13828]]



     SEC. 405. GOVERNING BODY.

       The governing body of the Tribe shall be--
       (1) the governing body of the Tribe in place as of the date 
     of enactment of this Act; or
       (2) any subsequent governing body elected in accordance 
     with the election procedures specified in the governing 
     documents of the Tribe.

     SEC. 406. RESERVATION OF THE TRIBE.

       (a) In General.--Upon the request of the Tribe, the 
     Secretary of the Interior--
       (1) shall take into trust for the benefit of the Tribe any 
     land held in fee by the Tribe that was acquired by the Tribe 
     on or before January 1, 2007, if such lands are located 
     within the boundaries of King and Queen County, Stafford 
     County, Spotsylvania County, Richmond County, Essex County, 
     and Caroline County, Virginia; and
       (2) may take into trust for the benefit of the Tribe any 
     land held in fee by the Tribe, if such lands are located 
     within the boundaries of King and Queen County, Stafford 
     County, Spotsylvania County, Richmond County, Essex County, 
     and Caroline County, Virginia.
       (b) Deadline for Determination.--The Secretary shall make a 
     final written determination not later than three years of the 
     date which the Tribe submits a request for land to be taken 
     into trust under subsection (a)(2) and shall immediately make 
     that determination available to the Tribe.
       (c) Reservation Status.--Any land taken into trust for the 
     benefit of the Tribe pursuant to this paragraph shall, upon 
     request of the Tribe, be considered part of the reservation 
     of the Tribe.
       (d) Gaming.--The Tribe may not conduct gaming activities as 
     a matter of claimed inherent authority or under the authority 
     of any Federal law, including the Indian Gaming Regulatory 
     Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) or under any regulations 
     thereunder promulgated by the Secretary or the National 
     Indian Gaming Commission.

     SEC. 407. HUNTING, FISHING, TRAPPING, GATHERING, AND WATER 
                   RIGHTS.

       Nothing in this title expands, reduces, or affects in any 
     manner any hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, or water 
     rights of the Tribe and members of the Tribe.

     SEC. 408. JURISDICTION OF COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA.

       (a) In General.--The Commonwealth of Virginia shall 
     exercise jurisdiction over--
       (1) all criminal offenses that are committed on; and
       (2) all civil actions that arise on,
     lands located within the Commonwealth of Virginia that are 
     owned by, or held in trust by the United States for, the 
     Tribe.
       (b) Acceptance of State Jurisdiction by Secretary.--The 
     Secretary of the Interior is authorized to accept on behalf 
     of the United States, after consulting with the Attorney 
     General of the United States, all or any portion of the 
     jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of Virginia described in 
     subsection (a) upon verification by the Secretary of a 
     certification by a tribe that it possesses the capacity to 
     reassume such jurisdiction.

                     TITLE V--MONACAN INDIAN NATION

     SEC. 501. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) in 1677, the Monacan Tribe signed the Treaty of Middle 
     Plantation between Charles II of England and 12 Indian 
     ``Kings and Chief Men'';
       (2) in 1722, in the Treaty of Albany, Governor Spotswood 
     negotiated to save the Virginia Indians from extinction at 
     the hands of the Iroquois;
       (3) specifically mentioned in the negotiations were the 
     Monacan tribes of the Totero (Tutelo), Saponi, Ocheneeches 
     (Occaneechi), Stengenocks, and Meipontskys;
       (4) in 1790, the first national census recorded Benjamin 
     Evans and Robert Johns, both ancestors of the present Monacan 
     community, listed as ``white'' with mulatto children;
       (5) in 1782, tax records also began for those families;
       (6) in 1850, the United States census recorded 29 families, 
     mostly large, with Monacan surnames, the members of which are 
     genealogically related to the present community;
       (7) in 1870, a log structure was built at the Bear Mountain 
     Indian Mission;
       (8) in 1908, the structure became an Episcopal Mission and, 
     as of the date of enactment of this Act, the structure is 
     listed as a landmark on the National Register of Historic 
     Places;
       (9) in 1920, 304 Amherst Indians were identified in the 
     United States census;
       (10) from 1930 through 1931, numerous letters from Monacans 
     to the Bureau of the Census resulted from the decision of Dr. 
     Walter Plecker, former head of the Bureau of Vital Statistics 
     of the Commonwealth of Virginia, not to allow Indians to 
     register as Indians for the 1930 census;
       (11) the Monacans eventually succeeded in being allowed to 
     claim their race, albeit with an asterisk attached to a note 
     from Dr. Plecker stating that there were no Indians in 
     Virginia;
       (12) in 1947, D'Arcy McNickle, a Salish Indian, saw some of 
     the children at the Amherst Mission and requested that the 
     Cherokee Agency visit them because they appeared to be 
     Indian;
       (13) that letter was forwarded to the Department of the 
     Interior, Office of Indian Affairs, Chicago, Illinois;
       (14) Chief Jarrett Blythe of the Eastern Band of Cherokee 
     did visit the Mission and wrote that he ``would be willing to 
     accept these children in the Cherokee school'';
       (15) in 1979, a Federal Coalition of Eastern Native 
     Americans established the entity known as ``Monacan Co-
     operative Pottery'' at the Amherst Mission;
       (16) some important pieces were produced at Monacan Co-
     operative Pottery, including a piece that was sold to the 
     Smithsonian Institution;
       (17) the Mattaponi-Pamunkey-Monacan Consortium, established 
     in 1981, has since been organized as a nonprofit corporation 
     that serves as a vehicle to obtain funds for those Indian 
     tribes from the Department of Labor under Native American 
     programs;
       (18) in 1989, the Monacan Tribe was recognized by the 
     Commonwealth of Virginia, which enabled the Tribe to apply 
     for grants and participate in other programs; and
       (19) in 1993, the Monacan Tribe received tax-exempt status 
     as a nonprofit corporation from the Internal Revenue Service.

     SEC. 502. DEFINITIONS.

       In this title:
       (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior.
       (2) Tribal member.--The term ``tribal member'' means--
       (A) an individual who is an enrolled member of the Tribe as 
     of the date of enactment of this Act; and
       (B) an individual who has been placed on the membership 
     rolls of the Tribe in accordance with this title.
       (3) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Monacan Indian 
     Nation.

     SEC. 503. FEDERAL RECOGNITION.

       (a) Federal Recognition.--
       (1) In general.--Federal recognition is extended to the 
     Tribe.
       (2) Applicability of laws.--All laws (including 
     regulations) of the United States of general applicability to 
     Indians or nations, Indian tribes, or bands of Indians 
     (including the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.)) 
     that are not inconsistent with this title shall be applicable 
     to the Tribe and tribal members.
       (b) Federal Services and Benefits.--
       (1) In general.--On and after the date of enactment of this 
     Act, the Tribe and tribal members shall be eligible for all 
     services and benefits provided by the Federal Government to 
     federally recognized Indian tribes without regard to the 
     existence of a reservation for the Tribe.
       (2) Service area.--For the purpose of the delivery of 
     Federal services to tribal members, the service area of the 
     Tribe shall be considered to be the area comprised of all 
     land within 25 miles from the center of Amherst, Virginia.

     SEC. 504. MEMBERSHIP; GOVERNING DOCUMENTS.

       The membership roll and governing documents of the Tribe 
     shall be the most recent membership roll and governing 
     documents, respectively, submitted by the Tribe to the 
     Secretary before the date of enactment of this Act.

     SEC. 505. GOVERNING BODY.

       The governing body of the Tribe shall be--
       (1) the governing body of the Tribe in place as of the date 
     of enactment of this Act; or
       (2) any subsequent governing body elected in accordance 
     with the election procedures specified in the governing 
     documents of the Tribe.

     SEC. 506. RESERVATION OF THE TRIBE.

       (a) In General.--Upon the request of the Tribe, the 
     Secretary of the Interior--
       (1) shall take into trust for the benefit of the Tribe any 
     land held in fee by the Tribe that was acquired by the Tribe 
     on or before January 1, 2007, if such lands are located 
     within the boundaries of Albemarle County, Alleghany County, 
     Amherst County, Augusta County, Campbell County, Nelson 
     County, and Rockbridge County, Virginia; and
       (2) may take into trust for the benefit of the Tribe any 
     land held in fee by the Tribe, if such lands are located 
     within the boundaries of Albemarle County, Alleghany County, 
     Amherst County, Augusta County, Campbell County, Nelson 
     County, and Rockbridge County, Virginia.
       (b) Deadline for Determination.--The Secretary shall make a 
     final written determination not later than three years of the 
     date which the Tribe submits a request for land to be taken 
     into trust under subsection (a)(2) and shall immediately make 
     that determination available to the Tribe.
       (c) Reservation Status.--Any land taken into trust for the 
     benefit of the Tribe pursuant to this paragraph shall, upon 
     request of the Tribe, be considered part of the reservation 
     of the Tribe.
       (d) Gaming.--The Tribe may not conduct gaming activities as 
     a matter of claimed inherent authority or under the authority 
     of any Federal law, including the Indian Gaming Regulatory 
     Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) or under any regulations 
     thereunder promulgated by the Secretary or the National 
     Indian Gaming Commission.

     SEC. 507. HUNTING, FISHING, TRAPPING, GATHERING, AND WATER 
                   RIGHTS.

       Nothing in this title expands, reduces, or affects in any 
     manner any hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, or water 
     rights of the Tribe and members of the Tribe.

     SEC. 508. JURISDICTION OF COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA.

       (a) In General.--The Commonwealth of Virginia shall 
     exercise jurisdiction over--
       (1) all criminal offenses that are committed on; and
       (2) all civil actions that arise on,
     lands located within the Commonwealth of Virginia that are 
     owned by, or held in trust by the United States for, the 
     Tribe.
       (b) Acceptance of State Jurisdiction by Secretary.--The 
     Secretary of the Interior is authorized to accept on behalf 
     of the United

[[Page 13829]]

     States, after consulting with the Attorney General of the 
     United States, all or any portion of the jurisdiction of the 
     Commonwealth of Virginia described in subsection (a) upon 
     verification by the Secretary of a certification by a tribe 
     that it possesses the capacity to reassume such jurisdiction.

                    TITLE VI--NANSEMOND INDIAN TRIBE

     SEC. 601. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) from 1607 until 1646, Nansemond Indians--
       (A) lived approximately 30 miles from Jamestown; and
       (B) were significantly involved in English-Indian affairs;
       (2) after 1646, there were 2 sections of Nansemonds in 
     communication with each other, the Christianized Nansemonds 
     in Norfolk County, who lived as citizens, and the 
     traditionalist Nansemonds, who lived further west;
       (3) in 1638, according to an entry in a 17th century sermon 
     book still owned by the Chief's family, a Norfolk County 
     Englishman married a Nansemond woman;
       (4) that man and woman are lineal ancestors of all of 
     members of the Nansemond Indian tribe alive as of the date of 
     enactment of this Act, as are some of the traditionalist 
     Nansemonds;
       (5) in 1669, the 2 Nansemond sections appeared in Virginia 
     Colony's census of Indian bowmen;
       (6) in 1677, Nansemond Indians were signatories to the 
     Treaty of 1677 with the King of England;
       (7) in 1700 and 1704, the Nansemonds and other Virginia 
     Indian tribes were prevented by Virginia Colony from making a 
     separate peace with the Iroquois;
       (8) Virginia represented those Indian tribes in the final 
     Treaty of Albany, 1722;
       (9) in 1711, a Nansemond boy attended the Indian School at 
     the College of William and Mary;
       (10) in 1727, Norfolk County granted William Bass and his 
     kinsmen the ``Indian privileges'' of clearing swamp land and 
     bearing arms (which privileges were forbidden to other 
     nonwhites) because of their Nansemond ancestry, which meant 
     that Bass and his kinsmen were original inhabitants of that 
     land;
       (11) in 1742, Norfolk County issued a certificate of 
     Nansemond descent to William Bass;
       (12) from the 1740s to the 1790s, the traditionalist 
     section of the Nansemond tribe, 40 miles west of the 
     Christianized Nansemonds, was dealing with reservation land;
       (13) the last surviving members of that section sold out in 
     1792 with the permission of the Commonwealth of Virginia;
       (14) in 1797, Norfolk County issued a certificate stating 
     that William Bass was of Indian and English descent, and that 
     his Indian line of ancestry ran directly back to the early 
     18th century elder in a traditionalist section of Nansemonds 
     on the reservation;
       (15) in 1833, Virginia enacted a law enabling people of 
     European and Indian descent to obtain a special certificate 
     of ancestry;
       (16) the law originated from the county in which Nansemonds 
     lived, and mostly Nansemonds, with a few people from other 
     counties, took advantage of the new law;
       (17) a Methodist mission established around 1850 for 
     Nansemonds is currently a standard Methodist congregation 
     with Nansemond members;
       (18) in 1901, Smithsonian anthropologist James Mooney--
       (A) visited the Nansemonds; and
       (B) completed a tribal census that counted 61 households 
     and was later published;
       (19) in 1922, Nansemonds were given a special Indian school 
     in the segregated school system of Norfolk County;
       (20) the school survived only a few years;
       (21) in 1928, University of Pennsylvania anthropologist 
     Frank Speck published a book on modern Virginia Indians that 
     included a section on the Nansemonds; and
       (22) the Nansemonds were organized formally, with elected 
     officers, in 1984, and later applied for and received State 
     recognition.

     SEC. 602. DEFINITIONS.

       In this title:
       (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior.
       (2) Tribal member.--The term ``tribal member'' means--
       (A) an individual who is an enrolled member of the Tribe as 
     of the date of enactment of this Act; and
       (B) an individual who has been placed on the membership 
     rolls of the Tribe in accordance with this title.
       (3) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Nansemond Indian 
     Tribe.

     SEC. 603. FEDERAL RECOGNITION.

       (a) Federal Recognition.--
       (1) In general.--Federal recognition is extended to the 
     Tribe.
       (2) Applicability of laws.--All laws (including 
     regulations) of the United States of general applicability to 
     Indians or nations, Indian tribes, or bands of Indians 
     (including the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.)) 
     that are not inconsistent with this title shall be applicable 
     to the Tribe and tribal members.
       (b) Federal Services and Benefits.--
       (1) In general.--On and after the date of enactment of this 
     Act, the Tribe and tribal members shall be eligible for all 
     services and benefits provided by the Federal Government to 
     federally recognized Indian tribes without regard to the 
     existence of a reservation for the Tribe.
       (2) Service area.--For the purpose of the delivery of 
     Federal services to tribal members, the service area of the 
     Tribe shall be considered to be the area comprised of the 
     cities of Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, 
     Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach, Virginia.

     SEC. 604. MEMBERSHIP; GOVERNING DOCUMENTS.

       The membership roll and governing documents of the Tribe 
     shall be the most recent membership roll and governing 
     documents, respectively, submitted by the Tribe to the 
     Secretary before the date of enactment of this Act.

     SEC. 605. GOVERNING BODY.

       The governing body of the Tribe shall be--
       (1) the governing body of the Tribe in place as of the date 
     of enactment of this Act; or
       (2) any subsequent governing body elected in accordance 
     with the election procedures specified in the governing 
     documents of the Tribe.

     SEC. 606. RESERVATION OF THE TRIBE.

       (a) In General.--Upon the request of the Tribe, the 
     Secretary of the Interior--
       (1) shall take into trust for the benefit of the Tribe any 
     land held in fee by the Tribe that was acquired by the Tribe 
     on or before January 1, 2007, if such lands are located 
     within the boundaries of the city of Suffolk, the city of 
     Chesapeake, or Isle of Wight County, Virginia; and
       (2) may take into trust for the benefit of the Tribe any 
     land held in fee by the Tribe, if such lands are located 
     within the boundaries of the city of Suffolk, the city of 
     Chesapeake, or Isle of Wight County, Virginia.
       (b) Deadline for Determination.--The Secretary shall make a 
     final written determination not later than three years of the 
     date which the Tribe submits a request for land to be taken 
     into trust under subsection (a)(2) and shall immediately make 
     that determination available to the Tribe.
       (c) Reservation Status.--Any land taken into trust for the 
     benefit of the Tribe pursuant to this paragraph shall, upon 
     request of the Tribe, be considered part of the reservation 
     of the Tribe.
       (d) Gaming.--The Tribe may not conduct gaming activities as 
     a matter of claimed inherent authority or under the authority 
     of any Federal law, including the Indian Gaming Regulatory 
     Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) or under any regulations 
     thereunder promulgated by the Secretary or the National 
     Indian Gaming Commission.

     SEC. 607. HUNTING, FISHING, TRAPPING, GATHERING, AND WATER 
                   RIGHTS.

       Nothing in this title expands, reduces, or affects in any 
     manner any hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, or water 
     rights of the Tribe and members of the Tribe.

     SEC. 608. JURISDICTION OF COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA.

       (a) In General.--The Commonwealth of Virginia shall 
     exercise jurisdiction over--
       (1) all criminal offenses that are committed on; and
       (2) all civil actions that arise on,
     lands located within the Commonwealth of Virginia that are 
     owned by, or held in trust by the United States for, the 
     Tribe.
       (b) Acceptance of State Jurisdiction by Secretary.--The 
     Secretary of the Interior is authorized to accept on behalf 
     of the United States, after consulting with the Attorney 
     General of the United States, all or any portion of the 
     jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of Virginia described in 
     subsection (a) upon verification by the Secretary of a 
     certification by a tribe that it possesses the capacity to 
     reassume such jurisdiction.

  The CHAIR. No amendment to the committee amendment is in order except 
those printed in House Report 111-131. Each amendment may be offered 
only in the order printed in the report, by a Member designated in the 
report, shall be considered read, shall be debatable for the time 
specified in the report, equally divided and controlled by the 
proponent and an opponent of the amendment, shall not be subject to 
amendment, and shall not be subject to demand for division of the 
question.


                Amendment No. 1 Offered by Mr. Goodlatte

  The CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 1 printed in 
House Report 111-131.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I offer an amendment.
  The CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment No. 1 offered by Mr. Goodlatte:
       At the end of the bill, add the following new title:

                       TITLE VII--EMINENT DOMAIN

     SEC. 701. LIMITATION.

       Eminent domain may not be used to acquire lands in fee or 
     in trust for an Indian tribe recognized under this Act.

  The CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 490, the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment to 
H.R. 1385, the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal 
Recognition Act. Given that this bill could

[[Page 13830]]

dramatically change localities in Virginia, I am offering an amendment 
to provide an additional protection for private property. This 
amendment would ensure that no use of eminent domain could be used to 
acquire private property to transfer it to the tribes. This would 
ensure that lands are not taken out of current private use for the sole 
purpose of expanding tribal lands and ensure some protection for 
private residents and localities. The bill greatly expands the 
congressionally recommended areas in which tribes can acquire lands for 
their trust. Given that this is a great expansion in comparison to 
versions of this bill introduced in previous Congresses, I believe that 
it is necessary and appropriate to provide this level of protection. I 
hope my colleagues will join me in supporting this amendment.
  Mr. RAHALL. Would the gentleman yield?
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I will be happy to yield.
  Mr. RAHALL. I appreciate the gentleman yielding.
  Under existing law, as the gentleman knows, and under this 
legislation, the Interior Secretary may place land owned by an Indian 
tribe into trust as part of a tribe's reservation. Eminent domain does 
not enter the picture.
  Indeed, the pending legislation states for each of the six tribes 
involved that the Secretary may take into trust ``any land held in fee 
by the tribe that was acquired by the tribe.'' Considering that neither 
the Interior Secretary or, for that matter, these tribes, made eminent 
domain authority, the gentleman's amendment is chasing a problem that 
does not exist. But having said that, if it makes the gentleman from 
Virginia feel better, and if it makes him more comfortable with this 
bill, and since it does pose no harm, I will accept the amendment.

                              {time}  1400

  Mr. GOODLATTE. Reclaiming my time, the chairman makes me feel a lot 
better, and I'm pleased that he will accept my amendment.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR (Ms. Baldwin). The question is on the amendment 
offered by the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte).
  The amendment was agreed to.


                Amendment No. 2 Offered by Mr. Goodlatte

  The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 2 
printed in House Report 111-131.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment No. 2 offered by Mr. Goodlatte:
       Page 51, beginning on line 1, strike ``Albemarle'' and all 
     that follows through ``Virginia'' on line 4 and insert 
     ``Amherst County, Virginia''.
       Page 51, line 7, strike ``Albermarle'' and all that follows 
     through ``Virginia'' on line 10 and insert ``Amherst County, 
     Virginia''.

  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 490, the gentleman 
from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Chairman, I have always supported granting these 
six Virginia tribes Federal recognition, and I am extremely happy that 
that bill has included language that seeks to prevent casino-style 
gaming in the Commonwealth of Virginia. However, I was troubled to 
learn of a change that was made to the bill without notification to any 
of the local communities that would be affected.
  In the section dealing with the Monacan Indian Tribe, the area that 
the tribe could have placed in trust for their reservation grew from 
one county to seven. Originally, it was an area of approximately 479 
square miles, and now it's an area of approximately 3,728 square miles.
  What is even more disturbing to me is that none of these new 
localities knew that they would be part of an area in which the tribes 
could acquire lands. My office only discovered it once the bill was 
scheduled for floor consideration.
  This bill could dramatically affect these counties. If tribal lands 
were established in these counties, it could mean the localities would 
lose all control of the lands that were placed in trust in them. We 
would no longer be in control of zoning, environmental reviews, and 
these localities could no longer collect tax revenues from these lands. 
These are serious concerns and could greatly impact operations of the 
counties.
  The fact that the bill would establish tribal land in these counties 
is a total surprise to these jurisdictions. They have not had a 
sufficient opportunity to discuss and study how such a change would 
affect them.
  The addition of these new counties is also a total surprise to me and 
the counties involved, and they should be removed from this bill. I've 
also spoken to my colleagues, Tom Perriello and Rick Boucher of the 
Fifth and Ninth Congressional Districts, who also represent these newly 
added counties, and they also support this amendment.
  These communities should have the right to know how these changes 
will affect them as far as this legislation is concerned and the far-
reaching consequences that could permanently change central Virginia.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. I rise to claim the time in opposition to the 
amendment.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Virginia is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Madam Chairman, first of all, this land was 
the Indians' land. The Monacan tribe owned much of this land. It was 
taken from them.
  Now, in terms of the counties that my friend, Mr. Goodlatte, has 
included, there is no land currently that would be placed in trust. All 
they want is the ability to place land in trust because of the recent 
Supreme Court decision that said that the Secretary of the Interior 
does not have discretion to do this.
  Now, this Supreme Court decision just occurred in February, so it's a 
brand new context in which these things are dealt with. If it had not 
been for the Supreme Court decision, these additional counties would 
not have been added. But they're added in case people in those counties 
who are understanding of the plight of the Monacan Indians chose to 
provide land to them. We don't know that that's even going to occur. 
There is only one very small parcel of land that the Monacan tribe is 
aware of that it would receive from a current landowner in Rockbridge 
County.
  Now, the Indian tribes have compromised so much for so long, I think 
that they would compromise again if necessary. But to deny them this 
one small plot of land that's relatively isolated, it's certainly a 
long ways from Interstate 81 or any main highway, it doesn't seem to me 
fair.
  So if the gentleman was willing to accommodate that land in 
Rockbridge County, maybe, once again, the Indian tribes would agree to 
compromise and preclude the other counties included in Mr. Goodlatte's 
amendment.
  I will reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume to say the gentleman's points are well taken. We certainly 
understand the concerns of the tribe and the interests of the 
individual who owns the land in Rockbridge County that would like to 
have it taken into trust.
  My concern, of course, is that this has happened at a late hour and, 
as you know, we've been scrambling to figure out exactly what that land 
is. We now think we have a reasonably good definition of it, and 
subject to the approval of the local government, I think that we could 
agree on language. And if the chairman and the ranking member, or other 
Members for that matter, do not object, I would be prepared to make a 
unanimous consent request.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Chair would inquire whether the gentleman is 
submitting a modification.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I am. I am asking unanimous consent to submit a 
modification.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the modification.

[[Page 13831]]

  The Clerk read as follows:

       Modification to amendment No. 2 offered by Mr. Goodlatte:
       In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted, insert the 
     following:
       Page 51, beginning on line 1, strike ``Albermarle'' and all 
     that follows through ``Virginia'' on line 4 and insert 
     ``Amherst County, Virginia''
       Page 51, beginning on line 7, strike ``Albermarle'' and all 
     that follows through ``Virginia'' on line 10 and insert 
     ``Amherst County, Virginia, and those parcels in Rockbridge 
     County, Virginia (subject to the consent of the local unit of 
     government), owned by Mr. J. Poole, described as East 731 
     Sandbridge (encompassing approximately 4.74 acres) and East 
     731 (encompassing approximately 5.12 acres)) .''.

  The Acting CHAIR. Is there objection to the modification?
  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Reserving the right to object, my concern with 
this modification is only one; not the specificity of the modifying 
amendment, but it's subject to the approval of Rockbridge County. What 
does that mean? Does there have to be some formal legislation passed by 
Rockbridge County? Is it the County Board? Do they have to pass formal 
legislation and by when?
  I would be fine with it up to the approval part, but I don't know 
what the approval part constitutes.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. If the gentleman would yield, the consent of the local 
unit of government, to me, would mean the approval of the Rockbridge 
County Board of Supervisors by way of an ordinance or some other 
measure that they would pass, a resolution, approving the action taken. 
If the gentleman has some perfecting language, I'm certainly willing to 
consider it.
  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Would the gentleman accept language that said, 
``unless disapproved by the Rockbridge County government''?
  In other words, I hate to have it so that the Rockbridge County 
government can just decide to sit on this indefinitely. But if they 
specifically, through their County Board, disapproved it, then I guess 
that would be acceptable. But I don't want to give the kind of leverage 
where inaction might preclude this from occurring.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Well, if the gentleman would yield further, I take the 
gentleman's point. However, by the same token, we would have to have 
some kind of a date by which they would have to act in disapproval, 
because otherwise they could disapprove some time well into the future. 
So I think that the appropriate step here would be to adopt this 
amendment with the unanimous consent modification, if no one objects to 
that, and then the tribe would then proceed to go to the Rockbridge 
County Board of Supervisors and ask them to approve this. If they 
refuse to approve it, they would still have the opportunity to come 
back in the future and ask them for approval at a later date. Whereas, 
the gentleman's language might be more confusing.
  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. By the same token, unless disapproved within 
180 days of passage, because your argument applies just as well.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. If the gentleman would yield, I don't think the 
gentleman is going down the right track because the gentleman who owns 
this land is still living, and it's my understanding that he's going to 
convey the land in a testamentary document, and therefore, to try to 
set a date for the action by the board seems to me to be trying to put 
the cart before the horse. I believe that I must insist, myself, on my 
own unanimous consent request.
  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. The gentleman makes a legitimate point, and I 
will withdraw my reservation.
  The Acting CHAIR. Without objection, the amendment is modified.
  There was no objection.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia 
(Mr. Goodlatte).
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Chairman, with that modification, I would urge 
my colleagues to support the amendment. And I do believe that this is a 
good and effective way to address the concerns that I raise and were 
raised by Congressman Perriello and Congressman Boucher in my 
conversations with them and my staffs conversations with their staffs 
about the impact that this could have on these particular localities. 
And, therefore, I would ask my colleagues to support the amendment, as 
modified.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte), as modified.
  The amendment, as modified, was agreed to.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the committee amendment in the 
nature of a substitute, as amended.
  The committee amendment in the nature of a substitute, as amended, 
was agreed to.
  The Acting CHAIR. Under the rule, the Committee rises.
  Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr. 
Doyle) having assumed the chair, Ms. Baldwin, Acting Chair of the 
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, reported that 
that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1385) to 
extend Federal recognition to the Chickahominy Indian Tribe, the 
Chickahominy Indian Tribe-Eastern Division, the Upper Mattaponi Tribe, 
the Rappahannock Tribe, Inc., the Monacan Indian Nation, and the 
Nansemond Indian Tribe, pursuant to House Resolution 490, she reported 
the bill back to the House with an amendment adopted by the Committee 
of the Whole.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the rule, the previous question is 
ordered.
  Is a separate vote demanded on any amendment to the amendment 
reported from the Committee of the Whole? If not, the question is on 
the amendment.
  The amendment was agreed to.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the engrossment and third 
reading of the bill.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, was read 
the third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the 
table.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Baldwin). Without objection, the title 
of H.R. 1385 is amended to read as follows:

       To extend Federal recognition to the Chickahominy Indian 
     Tribe, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe--Eastern Division, the 
     Upper Mattaponi Tribe, the Rappahannock Tribe Inc., the 
     Monacan Indian Nation, and the Nansemond Indian Tribe.

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