[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 17193-17194]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 BARONA BAND OF MISSION INDIANS LAND TRANSFER CLARIFICATION ACT OF 2012

  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (S. 3193) to make technical corrections to the legal 
description of certain land to be held in trust for the Barona Band of 
Mission Indians, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                S. 3193

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Barona Band of Mission 
     Indians Land Transfer Clarification Act of 2012''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
       (1) the legal description of land previously taken into 
     trust by the United States for the benefit of the Barona Band 
     of Mission Indians may be interpreted to refer to private, 
     nontribal land;
       (2) there is a continued, unresolved disagreement between 
     the Barona Band of Mission Indians and certain off-
     reservation property owners relating to the causes of 
     diminishing native groundwater;
       (3) Congress expresses no opinion, nor should an opinion of 
     Congress be inferred, relating to the disagreement described 
     in paragraph (2); and
       (4) it is the intent of Congress that, if the land 
     described in section 121(b) of the Native American Technical 
     Corrections Act of 2004 (118 Stat. 544) (as amended by 
     section 3) is used to bring water to the Barona Indian 
     Reservation, the effort is authorized only if the effort also 
     addresses water availability for neighboring off-reservation 
     land located along Old Barona Road that is occupied as of the 
     date of enactment of this Act by providing guaranteed access 
     to that water supply at a mutually agreeable site on the 
     southwest boundary of the Barona Indian Reservation.
       (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
       (1) to clarify the legal description of the land placed 
     into trust for the Barona Band of Mission Indians in 2004; 
     and
       (2) to remove all doubt relating to the specific parcels of 
     land that Congress has placed into trust for the Barona Band 
     of Mission Indians.

     SEC. 3. LAND TRANSFER.

       Section 121 of the Native American Technical Corrections 
     Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-204; 118 Stat. 544) is amended--
       (1) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following:
       ``(b) Description of Land.--The land referred to in 
     subsection (a) is land comprising approximately 86.87 acres 
     in T. 14 S., R. 1 E., San Bernardino Meridian, San Diego 
     County, California, and described more particularly as 
     follows:
       ``(1) The approximately 69.85 acres located in Section 21 
     and described as--
       ``(A) SW\1/4\ SW\1/4\, excepting the north 475 feet;
       ``(B) W\1/2\ SE\1/4\ SW\1/4\, excepting the north 475 feet;
       ``(C) E\1/2\ SE\1/4\ SW\1/4\, excepting the north 350 feet; 
     and
       ``(D) the portion of W\1/2\ SE\1/4\ that lies southwesterly 
     of the following line: Beginning at the intersection of the 
     southerly line of said SE\1/4\ of Section 21 with the 
     westerly boundary of Rancho Canada De San Vicente Y Mesa Del 
     Padre Barona as shown on United States Government Resurvey 
     approved January 21, 1939, and thence northwesterly along 
     said boundary to an intersection with the westerly line of 
     said SE\1/4\.
       ``(2) The approximately 17.02 acres located in Section 28 
     and described as NW\1/4\ NW\1/4\, excepting the east 750 
     feet.''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(d) Clarifications.--
       ``(1) Effect on section.--The provisions of subsection (c) 
     shall apply to the land described in subsection (b), as in 
     effect on the day after the date of enactment of the Barona 
     Band of Mission Indians Land Transfer Clarification Act of 
     2012.
       ``(2) Effect on private land.--The parcel of private, non-
     Indian land referenced in subsection (a) and described in 
     subsection (b), as in effect on the day before the date of 
     enactment of the Barona Band of Mission Indians Land Transfer 
     Clarification Act of 2012, but excluded from the revised 
     description of the land in subsection (b) was not intended to 
     be--
       ``(A) held in trust by the United States for the benefit of 
     the Band; or
       ``(B) considered to be a part of the reservation of the 
     Band.''.
       Passed the Senate September 22 (legislative day, September 
     21), 2012.

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


                             General Leave

  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I also ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Utah?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  This particular bill corrects an error that was made in 2004 under an 
act of Congress under which land that was intended to be placed in 
trust for the Barona Band of Mission Indians in California. That law 
that was improperly written--amazing--gave a written legal description 
of the trust land that contained several mistakes. The unfortunate 
result was to put Congress on record as declaring that non-Indian 
private property is to be held in trust rather than the tribe's 
property.
  This action placed a cloud on the title of the non-Indians' property 
and frustrated the tribe's effort to use the lands that Congress 
intended to place in trust for its benefit. However, this lagan 
attached to a buoy is able to be retrieved at this time and fixed in 
this particular piece of legislation.
  Senate bill 3193 corrects this error, clearing the title to the non-
Indians' property and affirming the trust status of the correct lands. 
The subcommittee on the Interior and Alaskan Native Affairs held a 
legislative hearing on the bill, which the director of the BIA and the 
Barona Band affirmed that this bill does, indeed, solve these issues; 
and we have heard no objections in the course of this bill to this 
particular bill.
  I want to commend the efforts of the gentleman from California, 
Congressman Duncan Hunter. Mr. Hunter has been instrumental in working 
with the tribe, the surrounding community, the sponsor, and the Natural 
Resources Committee to bring this bill to the final legislative step 
before sending it to the President for signing. I also want to thank 
him for allowing a Senate bill to be part of the solution so that they 
can actually do something over there.
  This is a noncontroversial bill, I urge my colleagues to pass it, and 
I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1640

  Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, S. 3193, the Barona Band of Mission Indians Land 
Transfer Clarification Act of 2012, corrects the legal description of 
land placed into trust for the Barona Band of Mission Indians in 2004. 
The bill places the proper parcel into trust as originally intended and 
clears title to the property misidentified under existing law.
  S. 3193 was discharged by the Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska 
Native Affairs earlier this month by unanimous consent after having 
been passed by the full Senate in September, also by unanimous consent.
  This bill is supported by the administration, the tribe, and the 
affected non-Indian stakeholders. I, too, support this legislation to 
correct Congress' error and urge my colleagues to vote in favor of 
passage.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

[[Page 17194]]


  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Once again, I'm the only speaker we have over 
here, and I'm prepared to close when the gentleman from the Northern 
Mariana Islands is.
  Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, this is another bill that is 
noncontroversial. It solves a problem that should have been solved a 
long time ago, and I urge my colleagues to vote for it.
  With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 3193, 
which amends the Native American Technical Corrections Act of 2004 to 
revise the description of the land to be held in trust for the Barona 
Band of Mission Indians of California. This noncontroversial bill 
states that the parcel of private, non-Indian land that is excluded 
from the revised description was not intended to be held in trust for 
the Band or considered to be part of its reservation.
  As a member of the Native American Caucus, I have worked with my 
colleagues in Congress to address the needs of Native Americans. 
California is home to nearly one hundred federally recognized tribes. I 
have made it a priority of mine in Congress to safeguard the interests 
of our tribes.
  After thousands of years of peaceful life in the region, known today 
as San Diego County, Native American life was abruptly changed in the 
late 1700s. More than 200 years of hardship for Native Americans began 
with the arrival of the Spanish military and the establishment of the 
first presidio and mission in 1769.
  In 1875, the Federal Government established the Capitan Grande 
Reservation for the native people living in the area at that time. 
About 40 years later in 1932, the city literally bought the Capitan 
Grande Reservation to build a reservoir and the people were removed 
from their land.
  In 1932, without a homeland but with some Federal monies allotted 
from the sale, a group of the Capitan Grande tribal members purchased 
the Barona Ranch which today is the Barona Indian Reservation near 
Lakeside, about 30 miles northeast of San Diego. For many years living 
without electricity and other services, the tribal members tried to 
create a living through the ranch and farming.
  Until the early 1990s, the Barona Tribe was still struggling 
economically in the backwoods of San Diego County. In 1994, the tribe, 
with the consulting guidance of Venture Catalyst, opened the Barona 
Casino ``Big Top'', and this property eventually became the world-class 
Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino.
  The casino has become the means to a restoration of self-sufficiency, 
prosperity and renewed hope. Unemployment and welfare dependency have 
dropped from 70 percent to zero on the Barona reservation.
  Mr. Speaker, the Barona Band of Mission Indians has a long and strong 
tradition that continues to this day. I urge my colleagues to join me 
in supporting this legislation.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Bishop) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, S. 3193.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.

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