[Senate Report 104-227]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 329
104th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE

 2d Session                                                     104-227
_______________________________________________________________________



 
TO PROVIDE FOR THE REORGANIZATION OF THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, AND 
                          FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
                                _______


                January 26, 1996.--Ordered to be printed

_______________________________________________________________________


    Mr. McCain, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 814]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Indian Affairs to which was referred the 
bill (S. 814) to provide for the reorganization of the Bureau 
of Indian Affairs, and for other purposes, having considered 
the same, reports favorably thereon with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute and recommends that the bill (as 
amended) do pass.
    The text of the bill, as amended, follows:
    Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE, PURPOSES, TABLE OF CONTENTS, AND DEFINITIONS.

  (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Bureau of Indian 
Affairs Reorganization Act of 1995''.
  (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
          (1) to ensure the meaningful involvement of Indian tribes as 
        full negotiation partners with the United States in all efforts 
        to reorganize and restructure the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and
          (2) to ensure the active participation by Indian tribes in 
        the development of the budget requests for the Bureau of Indian 
        Affairs and the Indian Health Services which are submitted to 
        the President by the Secretary of the Interior and the 
        Secretary of Health and Human Services for inclusion in the 
        annual budget request submitted by the President to the 
        Congress pursuant to section 1108 of title 31, United States 
        Code.
  (c) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title, purposes, table of contents, and definitions.

                    TITLE I--REORGANIZATION COMPACTS

Sec. 101. Reorganization of area offices.
Sec. 102. Reorganization of agency offices.
Sec. 103. Reorganization of central office.
Sec. 104. Authority to spend funds.
Sec. 105. Savings provisions.
Sec. 106. Additional conforming amendments.
Sec. 107. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 108. Effective date.
Sec. 109. Separability.
Sec. 110. Suspension of certain administrative actions.
Sec. 111. Statutory construction.
Sec. 112. Tribal authority recognized.
Sec. 113. Renegotiation authority.
Sec. 114. Disclosure of information.

  TITLE II--AMENDMENT TO THE INDIAN SELF-DETERMINATION AND EDUCATION 
                             ASSISTANCE ACT

Sec. 201. Budget development.

  TITLE III--REFORM OF THE REGULATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS

Sec. 301. BIA Manual.
Sec. 302. Task force.
Sec. 303. Authorization of appropriations.

  (d) Definitions.--For purposes of this Act, the following definitions 
shall apply:
          (1) Area office.--The term ``area office'' means 1 of the 12 
        area offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in existence on 
        the date of enactment of this Act.
          (2) Area office plan.--The term ``area office plan'' means a 
        plan for the reorganization of an area office negotiated by the 
        Secretary and Indian tribes pursuant to section 101.
          (3) Agency office.--The term ``agency office'' means an 
        agency office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in existence on 
        the date of enactment of this Act.
          (4) Agency office plan.--The term ``agency office plan'' 
        means a plan for the reorganization of an agency office 
        negotiated by the Secretary and Indian tribes pursuant to 
        section 102.
          (5) BIA manual.--The term ``BIA Manual'' means the most 
        recent edition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Manual issued by 
        the Department of the Interior.
          (6) Bureau.--The term ``Bureau'' means the Bureau of Indian 
        Affairs.
          (7) Central office.--The term ``central office'' means the 
        Central Office of the Bureau, and includes the offices of the 
        Central Office that are housed in Washington, D.C. and 
        Albuquerque, New Mexico.
          (8) Central office plan.--The term ``central office plan'' 
        means the plan for the reorganization of the central office 
        negotiated by the Secretary and Indian tribes pursuant to 
        section 103.
          (9) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the Department 
        of the Interior.
          (10) Director.--The term ``Director'' means, with respect to 
        an area office, the Director of the area office.
          (11) Function.--The term ``function'' means any duty, 
        obligation, power, authority, responsibility, right, privilege, 
        activity, or program.
          (12) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' has the same 
        meaning as in section 4(e) of the Indian Self-Determination and 
        Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)).
          (13) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
          (14) Superintendent.--The term ``Superintendent'' means the 
        Superintendent of an agency office.
          (15) Tribal priority allocation account.--The term ``tribal 
        priority allocation account'' means an account so designated by 
        the Bureau, with respect to which program priorities and 
        funding levels are established by individual Indian tribes.
          (16) Tribal recurring base funding.--The term ``tribal 
        recurring base funding'' means recurring base funding (as 
        defined and determined by the Secretary) for the tribal 
        priority allocation accounts of an Indian tribe allocated to a 
        tribe by the Bureau.

                    TITLE I--REORGANIZATION COMPACTS

SEC. 101. REORGANIZATION OF AREA OFFICES.

  (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law--
          (1) not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, the Secretary shall notify in writing each Indian 
        tribe served by an area office of the time and place of the 
        initial prenegotiation meeting to establish a schedule for 
        negotiations under this subsection; and
          (2) not later than 150 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, the Secretary shall conclude negotiations with the 
        Indian tribes served by each area office on a reorganization 
        plan for the area office.
  (b) Contents of Area Office Plans.--
          (1) In general.--Each area office plan that is prepared 
        pursuant to this subsection shall provide for the organization 
        of the area office covered under the plan. To the extent that a 
        majority of the Indian tribes served by the area office do not 
        exercise the option to maintain current organizational 
        structures, functions, or funding priorities pursuant to 
        paragraph (3), the reorganization plan shall provide, with 
        respect to the area office covered under the plan, for--
                  (A) the reorganization of the administrative 
                structure of the area office;
                  (B) the reallocation of personnel (including 
                determinations of office size and functions);
                  (C) the delegation of authority of the Secretary to 
                the Director, Superintendents, or Indian tribes;
                  (D) transfers of functions;
                  (E) the specification of functions--
                          (i) retained by the Bureau; or
                          (ii) transferred to Indian tribes served by 
                        the area office;
                  (F) the issuance of waivers or other authorities by 
                the Secretary so that functions and other 
                responsibilities of the Secretary may be carried out by 
                the area office or transferred to Indian tribes;
                  (G) the promulgation of revised regulations relating 
                to the functions of the area office that are performed 
                by the area office or transferred to Indian tribes;
                  (H) the reordering of funding priorities; and
                  (I) a formula for the transfer, to the tribal 
                recurring base funding for each Indian tribe served by 
                the area office, of unexpended balances of 
                appropriations and other Federal funds made available 
                to the area office in connection with any function 
                transferred to Indian tribes pursuant to subparagraph 
                (E)(ii).
          (2) Share of funding.--An area office plan shall include, for 
        each Indian tribe served by the area office, a negotiated 
        determination of the share of the Indian tribe of the funds 
        used by the area office on an annual basis to support functions 
        and services of each tribe (hereafter in this subsection 
        referred to as the ``tribal share'').
          (3) Option of maintenance of current status.--At the option 
        of a majority of the Indian tribes served by an area office, a 
        reorganization plan may provide for the continuation of 
        organizational structures, functions, or funding priorities of 
        the area office that are substantially similar to those in 
        effect at the time of the negotiation of the area office plan.
          (4) Approval of area office plan by indian tribes.--
                  (A) In general.--On the date on which the negotiation 
                of an area office plan is concluded, the Secretary 
                shall submit the plan to the Indian tribes served by 
                the area office for approval.
                  (B) Effect of failure of indian tribe to approve 
                plan.--If an Indian tribe served by an area office 
                fails to approve an area office plan by the date that 
                is 60 days after the Secretary submits the plan 
                pursuant to subparagraph (A) to the Indian tribes 
                served by that office, the plan shall be considered to 
                have been disapproved by that Indian tribe.
                  (C) Reorganization compact.--If, by the date 
                specified in subparagraph (B), a majority of the Indian 
                tribes approve the area office plan by tribal 
                resolution or other official act of the governing body 
                of each Indian tribe involved, the Secretary shall 
                enter into a reorganization compact pursuant to 
                subsection (c).
          (5) Single tribe area office.--Not later than 30 days after 
        the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall notify 
        in writing an Indian tribe that is served by an area office 
        that serves only that Indian tribe of the time and place of the 
        initial prenegotiation meeting to establish a schedule for 
        negotiations for an area office plan. If, by not later than 60 
        days after the date of enactment of this Act, an Indian tribe 
        that is served by an area office that serves only that Indian 
        tribe notifies the Secretary in writing that the Indian tribe 
        elects to enter into negotiations with the Secretary to prepare 
        a reorganization plan for the area office--
                  (A) not later than 150 days after the date of 
                enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall conclude 
                such negotiations; and
                  (B) if, by the date that is 60 days after the date 
                specified in subparagraph (A), the Indian tribe 
                approves the area office plan by tribal resolution or 
                other official act of the governing body of the Indian 
                tribe, the Secretary shall enter into a reorganization 
                compact with the Indian tribe to carry out the area 
                office plan.
          (6) Option to take tribal share.--
                  (A) In general.--If--
                          (i) by the date specified in paragraph 
                        (4)(B), a majority of the Indian tribes served 
                        by an area office fail to approve an area 
                        office plan, an Indian tribe may, not later 
                        than 60 days after the date specified in 
                        paragraph (4)(B), notify the Secretary in 
                        writing that the Indian tribe elects to receive 
                        directly the tribal share of the Indian tribe; 
                        or
                          (ii) by the date specified in paragraph 
                        (5)(B), the Indian tribe served by an area 
                        office fails to approve an area office plan, 
                        the Indian tribe may, not later than 60 days 
                        after the date specified in paragraph (5)(B), 
                        notify the Secretary in writing that the Indian 
                        tribe elects to receive directly the tribal 
                        share of the Indian tribe.
                  (B) Agreement.--Not later than 30 days after the date 
                on which the Secretary receives a notice under 
                subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall enter into an 
                agreement with the Indian tribe for the immediate and 
                direct transfer to the Indian tribe of an amount equal 
                to the tribal share, or if the agreement covers a 
                period of less than 12 months, a prorated amount of the 
                tribal share. The agreement shall include--
                          (i) a negotiated determination of the amount, 
                        if any, of residual Federal funds to be 
                        retained by the Secretary for the area office 
                        that are minimally necessary to carry out 
                        trustee and other functions of the Federal 
                        Government that are not delegable to the Indian 
                        tribes served by the area office; and
                          (ii) a negotiated description of the 
                        responsibilities to be carried out by--
                                  (I) the area office; and
                                  (II) the Indian tribe.
          (7) Self-determination and self-governance authorities not 
        affected.--If an Indian tribe exercises the option to receive a 
        tribal share of funds in accordance with paragraph (6), the 
        exercise of that option may not be construed to limit or 
        restrict any right of that tribe or any other tribe to receive 
        funds under title I or IV of the Indian Self-Determination and 
        Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.), and funds 
        received under that Act may be included as part of the tribal 
        share identified in paragraph (6).
          (8) Secretarial authority.--If, by the date specified in 
        subsection (c), a majority of the Indian tribes served by an 
        area office fail to approve the plan pursuant to paragraph (4), 
        the organizational structure, functions, and funding priorities 
        of the area office in effect at the time of the negotiation of 
        the area office plan shall be determined by the Secretary, in 
        consultation with the Indian tribes served by that area office, 
        and in a manner consistent with the exercise by any Indian 
        tribe of the option to receive directly the tribal share of the 
        Indian tribe under paragraph (6).
  (c) Area Office Reorganization Compacts.--
          (1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the date on 
        which a majority of the Indian tribes served by the area office 
        that is the subject of a reorganization plan have approved the 
        plan pursuant to subsection (b)(4), the Secretary shall enter 
        into an area office reorganization compact with the Indian 
        tribes that have approved the plan to carry out that plan 
        (hereafter in this subsection referred to as the ``area office 
        reorganization compact'').
          (2) Prohibition against certain limitations.--With respect to 
        an Indian tribe that is not a party to an area office 
        reorganization compact entered into by the Secretary under this 
        subsection, nothing in this section may limit or reduce the 
        level of any service or funding that the Indian tribe would 
        otherwise receive pursuant to applicable Federal law (including 
        title I or IV of the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
        Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.)).

SEC. 102. REORGANIZATION OF AGENCY OFFICES.

  (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law--
          (1) not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, the Secretary shall notify each Indian tribe in 
        writing of the time and place of the initial prenegotiation 
        meeting to establish a schedule for negotiations under this 
        subsection; and
          (2) not later than 150 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, the Secretary, acting through the Superintendent (or 
        a designee of the Superintendent) of each agency office, shall 
        conclude negotiations with the Indian tribes served by each 
        agency office on an agency office plan for each agency office.
  (b) Contents of Agency Office Plans.--
          (1) In general.--Each agency office plan that is prepared by 
        the Secretary pursuant to this subsection shall provide for the 
        organization of the agency office covered under the plan. To 
        the extent that a majority of the Indian tribes served by the 
        agency office do not exercise the option to maintain current 
        organizational structures, functions, or funding priorities 
        pursuant to paragraph (3), the agency office plan shall 
        provide, with respect to the agency office covered under the 
        agency office plan, for--
                  (A) the reorganization of the administrative 
                structure of the agency office;
                  (B) the reallocation of personnel (including 
                determinations of office size and functions);
                  (C) the delegation of authority of the Secretary to 
                the Superintendent or Indian tribes;
                  (D) transfers of functions;
                  (E) the specification of functions--
                          (i) retained by the Bureau; or
                          (ii) transferred to Indian tribes served by 
                        the agency office;
                  (F) the issuance of waivers or other authorities by 
                the Secretary so that functions and other 
                responsibilities of the Secretary may be carried out by 
                the agency office or transferred to Indian tribes;
                  (G) the promulgation of revised regulations relating 
                to the functions of the agency office that are carried 
                by the agency office or transferred to Indian tribes;
                  (H) the reordering of funding priorities; and
                  (I) a formula for the transfer, to the tribal 
                recurring base funding for each Indian tribe served by 
                the agency office, of unexpended balances of 
                appropriations and other Federal funds made available 
                to the agency office in connection with any function 
                transferred to Indian tribes pursuant to subparagraph 
                (E)(ii).
          (2) Share of funding.--An agency office plan shall include, 
        for each Indian tribe served by the agency office, a negotiated 
        determination of the share of the Indian tribe of the funds 
        used by the agency office on an annual basis to support 
        functions and services of the tribe (hereafter in this 
        subsection referred to as the ``tribal share'').
          (3) Option of maintenance of current status.--At the option 
        of a majority of the Indian tribes served by an agency office, 
        an agency office plan may provide for the continuation of 
        organizational structures, functions, or funding priorities of 
        the agency office that are substantially similar to those in 
        effect at the time of the development of the agency office 
        plan.
          (4) Approval of agency office plan by indian tribes.--
                  (A) In general.--On the date on which the negotiation 
                of an agency office plan is concluded, the Secretary 
                shall submit the agency office plan to the Indian 
                tribes served by the agency office for approval.
                  (B) Effect of failure of indian tribe to approve 
                plan.--If an Indian tribe served by an agency office 
                fails to approve an agency office plan by the date that 
                is 60 days after the Secretary submits the plan 
                pursuant to subparagraph (A) to the Indian tribes 
                served by that office, the plan shall be considered to 
                have been disapproved by that Indian tribe.
                  (C) Reorganization compact.--If, by the date 
                specified in subparagraph (B), a majority of the Indian 
                tribes approve the agency office plan by a tribal 
                resolution or other official act of the governing body 
                of each Indian tribe involved, the Secretary shall 
                enter into a reorganization compact pursuant to 
                subsection (c).
          (5) Single tribe agency office.--Not later than 30 days after 
        the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall notify 
        in writing an Indian tribe that is served by an agency office 
        that serves only that Indian tribe of the time and place of the 
        initial prenegotiation meeting to establish a schedule for 
        negotiations for an agency office plan. If, by not later than 
        60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, an Indian 
        tribe that is served by an agency office that serves only that 
        Indian tribe notifies the Secretary in writing that the Indian 
        tribe elects to enter into negotiations with the Secretary to 
        prepare a reorganization plan for the agency office--
                  (A) not later than 150 days after the date of 
                enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall conclude 
                such negotiations; and
                  (B) if, by the date that is 60 days after the date 
                specified in subparagraph (A), the Indian tribe 
                approves the agency office plan by tribal resolution or 
                other official act of the governing body of the Indian 
                tribe, the Secretary shall enter into a reorganization 
                compact with the Indian tribe to carry out the area 
                office plan.
          (6) Option to take tribal share.--
                  (A) In general.--If--
                          (i) by the date specified in paragraph 
                        (4)(B), a majority of the Indian tribes served 
                        by an agency office fail to approve an agency 
                        office plan, an Indian tribe may, not later 
                        than 60 days after the date specified in 
                        paragraph (4)(B), notify the Secretary in 
                        writing that the Indian tribe elects to receive 
                        directly the tribal share of the Indian tribe; 
                        or
                          (ii) by the date specified in paragraph 
                        (5)(B), the Indian tribe served by an agency 
                        office fails to approve an agency office plan, 
                        the Indian tribe may, not later than 60 days 
                        after the date specified in paragraph (5)(B), 
                        notify the Secretary in writing that the Indian 
                        tribe elects to receive directly the tribal 
                        share of the Indian tribe.
                  (B) Agreement.--Not later than 30 days after the date 
                on which the Secretary receives a notice under 
                subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall enter into an 
                agreement with the Indian tribe for the immediate and 
                direct transfer to the Indian tribe of an amount equal 
                to the tribal share, or if the agreement covers a 
                period of less than 12 months, a prorated amount of the 
                tribal share. The agreement shall include--
                          (i) a negotiated determination of the amount, 
                        if any, of residual Federal funds to be 
                        retained by the Secretary for the agency office 
                        that are minimally necessary to carry out 
                        trustee and other functions of the Federal 
                        Government that are not delegable to the Indian 
                        tribes served by the agency office; and
                          (ii) a negotiated description of the 
                        responsibilities to be carried out by--
                                  (I) the agency office; and
                                  (II) the Indian tribe.
          (7) Self-determination and self-governance authorities not 
        affected.--If an Indian tribe exercises the option to receive a 
        tribal share of funds in accordance with paragraph (6), the 
        exercise of that option may not be construed to limit or 
        restrict any right of that tribe or any other tribe to receive 
        funds under title I or IV of the Indian Self-Determination and 
        Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.), and funds 
        received under that Act may be included as part of the tribal 
        share identified in paragraph (6).
          (8) Secretarial authority.--If, by the date specified in 
        subsection (c), a majority of the Indian tribes served by an 
        agency office fail to approve the plan pursuant to paragraph 
        (4), the organizational structure, functions, and funding 
        priorities of the agency office in effect at the time of the 
        negotiation of the agency office plan shall be determined by 
        the Secretary, in consultation with the Indian tribes served by 
        that agency office, and in a manner consistent with the 
        exercise by any Indian tribe of the option to receive directly 
        the tribal share of the Indian tribe under paragraph (6).
  (c) Agency Office Reorganization Compacts.--
          (1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the date on 
        which a majority of the Indian tribes served by an agency 
        office that is the subject of an agency office plan have 
        approved that plan pursuant to subsection (b)(4), the Secretary 
        shall enter into a reorganization compact with the Indian 
        tribes to carry out the agency office plan (hereafter in this 
        subsection referred to as the ``agency office reorganization 
        compact'').
          (2) Prohibition against certain limitations.--With respect to 
        an Indian tribe that is not a party to an agency office 
        reorganization compact entered into under this subsection, 
        nothing in this section may limit or reduce the level of any 
        service or funding that the Indian tribe would otherwise 
        receive pursuant to applicable Federal law (including title I 
        or IV of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
        Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.)).

SEC. 103. REORGANIZATION OF CENTRAL OFFICE.

  (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law--
          (1) not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, the Secretary shall notify in writing each Indian 
        tribe of the time and place of the initial prenegotiation 
        meeting to establish a schedule for negotiations under this 
        subsection; and
          (2) not later than 150 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, the Secretary shall conclude negotiations with Indian 
        tribes on a reorganization plan for the central office. The 
        Secretary shall negotiate on an area-by-area basis with a 
        representative from each of the Indian tribes in each area, to 
        determine the appropriate allocation of personnel and funding 
        made available to the central office to serve the area and 
        agency offices and Indian tribes in each area office.
  (b) Content of Central Office Plan.--
          (1) In general.--The central office plan shall provide for 
        determinations on the basis of the negotiations described in 
        subsection (a) concerning--
                  (A) which portion of the funds made available to the 
                Secretary for the central office shall--
                          (i) be used to support the area and agency 
                        offices in each area; or
                          (ii) be considered funds that may be 
                        transferred directly to Indian tribes in each 
                        area pursuant to a formula developed pursuant 
                        to paragraph (2)(J); and
                  (B) the allocation of the personnel of the central 
                office to provide support to the area and agency 
                offices.
          (2) Reallocation of funds and personnel.--In developing the 
        central office plan, to the extent that the Secretary and the 
        Indian tribes do not exercise the option to maintain current 
        organizational structures, functions, or funding priorities, 
        the central office plan shall provide, to the extent necessary 
        to accommodate the determinations made under paragraph (1), 
        for--
                  (A) the reorganization of the administrative 
                structure of the central office;
                  (B) the reallocation of personnel (including 
                determinations of office size and functions);
                  (C) the delegation of authority of the Secretary 
                carried out through the central office to the 
                Directors, Superintendents, or Indian tribes;
                  (D) transfers of functions;
                  (E) the specification of functions--
                          (i) retained by the central office; or
                          (ii) transferred to area offices, agency 
                        offices or Indian tribes;
                  (F) the issuance of waivers or other authorities by 
                the Secretary so that functions and other 
                responsibilities of the Secretary may be carried out by 
                the central office or transferred to area offices, 
                agency offices, or Indian tribes;
                  (G) the promulgation of revised regulations relating 
                to the functions of the central office that are carried 
                by the central office or transferred to area offices, 
                agency offices, or Indian tribes;
                  (H) the reordering of funding priorities;
                  (I) allocation formulas to provide for the remaining 
                services to be provided to the area and agency offices 
                and Indian tribes by the central office; and
                  (J) with respect to the transfer of funds to the area 
                and agency offices and Indian tribes in each area, a 
                formula, negotiated with the tribal representatives 
                identified in subsection (a), for the transfer to the 
                Indian tribes of all or a portion of the funds 
                described in paragraph (1)(A)(ii).
          (3) Share of funding.--The central office plan shall include, 
        for each Indian tribe, a negotiated determination of the share 
        of the Indian tribe (hereafter in this subsection referred to 
        as the ``tribal share'') of the funds used by the central 
        office on an annual basis to support functions and services of 
        the Indian tribe and the personnel and services identified in 
        subsection (a), after any funds identified in paragraph 
        (1)(A)(ii) have been allocated directly to Indian tribes.
          (4) Option to take tribal share.--
                  (A) In general.--An Indian tribe may, not later than 
                60 days after the date specified in subsection (c), 
                notify the Secretary in writing that the Indian tribe 
                elects to receive directly the tribal share for that 
                Indian tribe determined under paragraph (3) if that 
                Indian tribe--
                          (i) receives a tribal share of an area office 
                        under section 101(b) and also receives a tribal 
                        share of an agency office under section 102(b); 
                        or
                          (ii) receives a share pursuant to title I or 
                        IV of the Indian Self-Determination and 
                        Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et 
                        seq.).
                  (B) Agreement.--Not later than 30 days after the date 
                on which an Indian tribe provides written notification 
                to the Secretary under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 
                shall enter into an agreement with the Indian tribe for 
                the immediate and direct transfer to the Indian tribe 
                of an amount equal to the tribal share, or if the 
                period covered by the agreement is less than 12 months, 
                a prorated amount of the tribal share. The agreement 
                shall include--
                          (i) a negotiated determination of the amount 
                        of residual Federal funds to be retained by the 
                        Secretary for the central office that are 
                        minimally necessary to carry out trustee and 
                        other functions of the Federal Government that 
                        are not delegable to the Indian tribes served 
                        by the central office; and
                          (ii) a negotiated description of the 
                        responsibilities to be carried out by--
                                  (I) the central office; and
                                  (II) the Indian tribe.
          (5) Self-determination and self-governance authorities not 
        affected.--If an Indian tribe exercises the option to receive a 
        tribal share of funds in accordance with paragraph (4), the 
        exercise of that option may not be construed to limit or 
        restrict any right of that tribe or any other tribe to receive 
        funds under title I or IV of the Indian Self-Determination and 
        Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.), and funds 
        received under that Act may be included as part of the tribal 
        share identified in paragraph (4).
  (c) Central Office Reorganization Compacts.--
          (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the Secretary 
        has concluded a negotiation of a central office plan pursuant 
        to subsection (a), the Secretary shall, for each area office, 
        enter into a central office reorganization compact with the 
        Indian tribes in that area to implement the central office plan 
        (hereafter in this subsection referred to as the ``central 
        office reorganization compact''). The Secretary may not 
        implement the component of a central office plan relating to an 
        area until such time as a majority of the Indian tribes in that 
        area have entered into a central office reorganization compact. 
        If a majority of the Indian tribes in an area do not enter into 
        a central office reorganization compact with the Secretary 
        pursuant to this paragraph, the organizational structure, 
        functions, and funding priorities of the central office 
        relating to the area and agency offices and Indian tribes in 
        that area and in effect at the time of the negotiation of the 
        central office plan shall be determined by the Secretary, in 
        consultation with the Indian tribes served by each area office, 
        and in a manner that is consistent with the exercise by any 
        Indian tribe of the option to receive directly the tribal share 
        of the Indian tribe under subsection (b)(4).
          (2) Coordination with area and agency office plans.--Each 
        central office reorganization compact entered into by the 
        Secretary under this subsection shall specify that in the event 
        the Secretary determines that a central office reorganization 
        compact is inconsistent with a related area office 
        reorganization compact entered into under section 101(c) or a 
        related agency office reorganization compact entered into under 
        section 102(c), the Secretary, in negotiation with the Indian 
        tribes that are parties to the central office reorganization 
        compact, shall amend the compact to make such modifications as 
        are necessary to ensure consistency with the applicable area or 
        agency office plan.

SEC. 104. AUTHORITY TO SPEND FUNDS.

  Each Indian tribe that receives funds under this title shall 
administer and expend those funds in a manner consistent with the 
authorities provided to Indian tribes under the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.).

SEC. 105. SAVINGS PROVISIONS.

  (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, 
all orders, determinations, rules, regulations, permits, agreements, 
grants, contracts, certificates, licenses, registrations, privileges, 
and other administrative actions--
          (1) that have been issued, made, granted, or allowed to 
        become effective by the President, any Federal agency or 
        official thereof, or by a court of competent jurisdiction, in 
        the performance of any function that is transferred to Indian 
        tribes pursuant to a reorganization compact that the Secretary 
        enters into pursuant to section 101, 102, or 103; and
          (2) that are in effect on the effective date of the 
        reorganization compact, or were final before the effective date 
        of the reorganization compact and are to become effective on or 
        after such date;

shall continue in effect according to their terms until modified, 
terminated, superseded, set aside, or revoked in accordance with law by 
the President, the Secretary, or other authorized official, a court of 
competent jurisdiction, or by operation of law.
  (b) Proceedings Not Affected.--
          (1) In general.--The provisions of a reorganization compact 
        that the Secretary enters into pursuant to section 101, 102, or 
        103 shall not affect any proceedings, including notices of 
        proposed rulemaking, or any application for any license, 
        permit, certificate, or financial assistance pending before the 
        Bureau at the time the reorganization compact takes effect, 
        with respect to the functions transferred by the reorganization 
        compact.
          (2) Continuation of proceedings.--The proceedings and 
        applications referred to in paragraph (1) shall be continued. 
        Orders shall be issued in such proceedings, appeals shall be 
        taken from such orders, and payments shall be made pursuant to 
        such orders, as if the compact had not been entered into, and 
        orders issued in any such proceedings shall continue in effect 
        until modified, terminated, superseded, or revoked by a duly 
        authorized official, by a court of competent jurisdiction, or 
        by operation of law.
          (3) Statutory construction.--Nothing in this subsection shall 
        be deemed to prohibit the discontinuance or modification of any 
        such proceeding under the same terms and conditions and to the 
        same extent that such proceeding could have been discontinued 
        or modified if this title had not been enacted.
  (c) Nonabatement of Actions.--No suit, action, or other proceeding 
commenced by or against the Bureau or by or against any individual in 
the official capacity of such individual as an officer of the Bureau 
shall abate by reason of the enactment of this title.

SEC. 106. ADDITIONAL CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

  (a) Recommended Legislation.--After consultation with Indian tribes 
and the appropriate committees of the Congress, the Secretary shall 
prepare and submit to the Congress appropriate recommendations for 
legislation containing technical and conforming amendments to reflect 
the changes made pursuant to this title.
  (b) Submission to the Congress.--Not later than 120 days after the 
effective date of this title, the Secretary shall submit to the 
Congress the recommended legislation referred to in subsection (a).

SEC. 107. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

  There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary 
to carry out this title.

SEC. 108. EFFECTIVE DATE.

  This title shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 109. SEPARABILITY.

  If a provision of this title or its application to any person or 
circumstance is held invalid, neither the remainder of this title nor 
the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances 
shall be affected.

SEC. 110. SUSPENSION OF CERTAIN ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS.

  (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, during 
the 2-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary shall suspend the implementation of all administrative 
activities that affect the Bureau associated with reinventing 
government, national performance review, or other down sizing 
initiatives of the executive branch of the Federal Government.
  (b) Consideration of Compacts.--During the period specified in 
subsection (a), the reorganization compacts entered into under this 
title shall be deemed to satisfy the goals of the initiatives referred 
to in subsection (a).

SEC. 111. STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.

  Nothing in this title may be construed to alter or diminish the 
Federal trust responsibility to Indian tribes, individual Indians, or 
Indians with trust allotments.

SEC. 112. TRIBAL AUTHORITY RECOGNIZED.

  Nothing in this title may be construed to prohibit or limit the 
capacity of 2 or more Indian tribes to authorize, by tribal resolution 
or other official act of the governing body of each Indian tribe 
involved, a group of Indian tribes to exercise any authority granted to 
an Indian tribe under this title, except that the approval of an area 
office or agency office reorganization plan under sections 101(b)(4) 
and 102(b)(4), and the entering into a central office reorganization 
compact under section 103(c)(1), shall be authorized by the separate 
tribal resolution or other official act of the governing body of each 
Indian tribe involved.

SEC. 113. RENEGOTIATION AUTHORITY.

  The Indian tribes served by an agency or area office may annually 
exercise any authorities that the Indian tribes are authorized to 
exercise under this title during any calendar year that begins after 
the date of enactment of this Act, including authorities relating to 
the negotiation of reorganization plans and the election to receive 
tribal shares. In any case in which an Indian tribe exercises an 
authority pursuant to the preceding sentence, the timeframes set forth 
in this title shall be calculated from the annual anniversary date of 
the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 114. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.

  (a) In General.--Upon entering into negotiations required under 
sections 101, 102, and 103, and in a timely manner throughout that 
negotiation process, the Secretary shall provide to Indian tribes the 
budgetary, structural, administrative, and legal information that is 
necessary for the negotiated reorganization of the agency offices, area 
offices, and central office.
  (b) Technical Assistance.--Upon the request of an Indian tribe, the 
Secretary shall provide such technical assistance as may be required to 
interpret the information provided under subsection (a).

  TITLE II--AMENDMENT TO THE INDIAN SELF-DETERMINATION AND EDUCATION 
                             ASSISTANCE ACT

SEC. 201. BUDGET DEVELOPMENT.

  The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 
450 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new title:

                     ``TITLE V--BUDGET DEVELOPMENT

``SEC. 501. PARTICIPATION OF INDIAN TRIBES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF BUDGET 
                    REQUESTS.

  ``(a) Budget Requests for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, not later than 120 days 
after the date of enactment of this title, the Secretary of the 
Interior shall establish a program--
          ``(1) to provide information to Indian tribes concerning the 
        development of budget requests for the Bureau of Indian Affairs 
        that are submitted to the President by the Secretary of the 
        Interior for inclusion in the annual budget of the President 
        submitted to the Congress pursuant to section 1108 of title 31, 
        United States Code; and
          ``(2) to ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, the 
        participation by each Indian tribe in the development of the 
        budget requests referred to in paragraph (1).
  ``(b) Budget Requests for the Indian Health Service.--Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, not later than 120 days after the date of 
enactment of this title, the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
shall establish a program--
          ``(1) to provide information to Indian tribes concerning the 
        development of budget requests by the Secretary of Health and 
        Human Services for the Indian Health Service that are submitted 
        to the President by the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
        for inclusion in the annual budget referred to in subsection 
        (a)(1); and
          ``(2) to ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, the 
        participation by each Indian tribe in the development of the 
        budget requests referred to in paragraph (1).
  ``(c) Requirements for Programs.--
          ``(1) In general.--Each program established under this 
        section shall, to the maximum extent practicable--
                  ``(A) provide for the estimation of--
                          ``(i) the funds authorized to be appropriated 
                        on an annual basis for the benefit of Indian 
                        tribes; and
                          ``(ii) for each Indian tribe, the portion of 
                        the funds described in clause (i) that will be 
                        provided for the benefit of the Indian tribe;
                  ``(B) provide, for each Indian tribe--
                          ``(i) the opportunity to establish priorities 
                        for using the estimated funds described in 
                        subparagraph (A)(ii); and
                          ``(ii) the authority and flexibility to 
                        design tribal and Federal programs that receive 
                        Federal funds to best meet the needs of the 
                        community served by the Indian tribe; and
                  ``(C) provide for the collection and dissemination of 
                information that is necessary for effective planning, 
                evaluation, and reporting by the Secretary of the 
                Interior or the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
                and Indian tribes concerning the comparative social and 
                public health conditions of Indian communities (as 
                defined and determined by the Secretary of the Interior 
                and the Secretary of Health and Human Services) at 
                local, regional, and national levels.
          ``(2) Duties of the secretaries.--In carrying out the 
        programs established under this section, the Secretary of the 
        Interior and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall--
                  ``(A) use any information provided by Indian tribes 
                concerning the priorities referred to in paragraph 
                (1)(B);
                  ``(B) support the creation of stable recurring base 
                funding (as defined and determined by each such 
                Secretary) for each Indian tribe;
                  ``(C) seek to maintain stability in the planning and 
                allocation of the amounts provided for in the budget of 
                the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health 
                Service for Indian tribes; and
                  ``(D) assess the Federal programs or assistance 
                provided to each Indian tribe to determine--
                          ``(i) the relative need for providing Federal 
                        funds to carry out each such program; and
                          ``(ii) the amount of recurring base funding 
                        available to each Indian tribe to carry out 
                        each such program.
          ``(3) Contracts, grants, and annual funding agreements.--To 
        provide, to the maximum extent practicable, for the full 
        participation by the governing bodies of Indian tribes on an 
        effective government-to-government basis in carrying out the 
        collection and sharing of information under this section, the 
        Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Health and Human 
        Services may--
                  ``(A) enter into a self-determination contract with 
                an Indian tribe or make a grant to an Indian tribe 
                pursuant to section 102 or 103;
                  ``(B) with respect to the Secretary of Health and 
                Human Services, enter into a funding agreement with a 
                participating Indian tribe pursuant to title III; and
                  ``(C) with respect to the Secretary of the Interior, 
                enter into a funding agreement with a participating 
                Indian tribe pursuant to title IV.

``SEC. 502. ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY.

  ``(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this title, the Secretary shall, in cooperation with 
Indian tribes, and in accordance with the negotiated rulemaking 
procedures under subchapter III of chapter 5 of title 5, United States 
Code (as in effect on the date of enactment of this title), promulgate 
standardized assessment methodologies to be used in carrying out any 
budget determination for the Bureau concerning the levels of funding 
that are necessary to fund each program area (as defined and determined 
by the Secretary) of the Bureau.
  ``(b) Participation by Indian Tribes.--In carrying out subsection 
(a), the Secretary shall take such action as may be necessary to 
ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, the direct and active 
participation of Indian tribes at the local, regional, and national 
levels in the negotiated rulemaking process specified in subchapter III 
of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code.
  ``(c) Committee.--
          ``(1) Composition.--The negotiated rulemaking committee 
        established pursuant to the requirements of section 565 of 
        title 5, United States Code (as in effect on the date of 
        enactment of this title), to carry out subsection (a) shall 
        only be comprised of--
                  ``(A) individuals who represent the Federal 
                Government; and
                  ``(B) individuals who represent Indian tribes.
          ``(2) Representation by indian tribes.--A majority of the 
        members of the committee referred to in paragraph (1) shall be 
        individuals who represent Indian tribes.
  ``(d) Adaptation of Procedures.--The Secretary shall adapt the 
negotiated rulemaking procedures carried out under this section in the 
same manner as the Secretary adapts, in accordance with section 407(c), 
the procedures carried out pursuant to section 407.

``SEC. 503. REPORTS TO THE CONGRESS.

  ``At the earliest practicable date after the date of promulgation of 
the regulations under section 502 on which the Secretary of the 
Interior submits a budget request to the President for inclusion in the 
annual budget of the President submitted to the Congress pursuant to 
section 1108 of title 31, United States Code, and annually thereafter, 
the Secretary shall prepare and submit to the President for inclusion 
in the annual budget submitted to the Congress, a report that--
          ``(1) describes the standardized methodologies that are the 
        subject of the regulations promulgated pursuant to section 502; 
        and
          ``(2) includes--
                  ``(A) for each program area of the Bureau of Indian 
                Affairs, an assessment of the level of funding that is 
                necessary to fund the program area; and
                  ``(B) for each Indian tribe served by a program area 
                referred to in paragraph (2)--
                          ``(i) an assessment of the level of funding 
                        that is necessary for each Indian tribe served 
                        by the program area;
                          ``(ii) the total amount of funding necessary 
                        to cover all program areas with respect to 
                        which the tribe receives services (as 
                        determined by taking the aggregate of the 
                        applicable amounts determined under paragraph 
                        (3)); and
                          ``(iii) a breakdown, for each program area 
                        with respect to which the Indian tribe receives 
                        service, of the amount determined under clause 
                        (ii).

``SEC. 504. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

  ``There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this title.''.

  TITLE III--REFORM OF THE REGULATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS

SEC. 301. BIA MANUAL.

  (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary shall--
          (1) conduct a review of all provisions of the BIA Manual;
          (2) promulgate as proposed regulations those provisions of 
        the BIA Manual that the Secretary deems necessary for the 
        efficient implementation of the Federal functions retained by 
        the Bureau under the reorganization compacts authorized by this 
        Act; and
          (3) revoke all provisions of the BIA Manual that are not 
        promulgated as proposed regulations under paragraph (2).
  (b) Consultation With Indian Tribes.--In carrying out subsection (a), 
the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, consult with 
Indian tribes in such manner as to provide for the full participation 
of Indian tribes.

SEC. 302. TASK FORCE.

  (a) Establishment of Task Force.--
          (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a task 
        force on regulatory reform (hereafter in this section referred 
        to as the ``task force'').
          (2) Duties.--The task force shall--
                  (A) review the regulations under title 25, Code of 
                Federal Regulations; and
                  (B) make recommendations concerning the revision of 
                the regulations.
          (3) Membership.--The task force shall be composed of 16 
        members, appointed by the Secretary, including 12 members who 
        are representatives of Indian tribes from each of the 12 areas 
        served by area offices.
          (4) Initial meeting.--Not later than 60 days after the date 
        on which all members of the task force have been appointed, the 
        task force shall hold its first meeting.
          (5) Meetings.--The task force shall meet at the call of the 
        Chairperson.
          (6) Quorum.--A majority of the members of the task force 
        shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number of members may 
        hold hearings.
          (7) Chairperson.--The task force shall select a Chairperson 
        from among its members.
  (b) Reports.--
          (1) Reports to secretary.--The task force shall submit to the 
        Secretary such reports as the Secretary determines to be 
        appropriate.
          (2) Report to the congress and to indian tribes.--In addition 
        to submitting the reports described in paragraph (1), not later 
        than 120 days after its initial meeting, the task force shall 
        prepare, and submit to the Congress and to the governing body 
        of each Indian tribe, a report that includes--
                  (A) the findings of the task force concerning the 
                review conducted pursuant to subsection (a)(2)(A); and
                  (B) the recommendations described in subsection 
                (a)(2)(B).
  (c) Powers of the Task Force.--
          (1) Hearings.--The task force may hold such hearings, sit and 
        act at such times and places, take such testimony, and receive 
        such evidence as the task force considers advisable to carry 
        out the duties of the task force specified in subsection 
        (a)(2).
          (2) Information from federal agencies.--The task force may 
        secure directly from any Federal department or agency such 
        information as the task force considers necessary to carry out 
        the duties of the task force specified in subsection (a)(2).
          (3) Postal services.--The task force may use the United 
        States mails in the same manner and under the same conditions 
        as other departments and agencies of the Federal Government.
          (4) Gifts.--The task force may accept, use, and dispose of 
        gifts or donations of services or property.
  (d) Task Force Personnel Matters.--
          (1) Compensation of members.--Members of the task force who 
        are not officers or employees of the Federal Government shall 
        serve without compensation, except for travel expenses, as 
        provided under paragraph (2). Members of the task force who are 
        officers or employees of the United States shall serve without 
        compensation in addition to that received for their services as 
        officers or employees of the United States.
          (2) Travel expenses.--The members of the task force shall be 
        allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of 
        subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies 
        under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 
        Code, while away from their homes or regular places of business 
        in the performance of services for the task force.
          (3) Staff.--
                  (A) In general.--The Chairperson of the task force 
                may, without regard to the civil service laws, appoint 
                and terminate such personnel as may be necessary to 
                enable the task force to perform its duties.
                  (B) Procurement of temporary and intermittent 
                services.--The Chairperson of the task force may 
                procure temporary and intermittent service under 
                section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, at 
                rates for individuals that do not exceed the daily 
                equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed 
                under GS-13 of the General Schedule established under 
                section 5332 of title 5, United States Code.
  (e) Termination of Task Force.--The task force shall terminate 30 
days after the date on which the task force submits its reports to the 
Congress and to Indian tribes under subsection (b)(2).
  (f) Exemption From Federal Advisory Committee Act.--All of the 
activities of the task force conducted under this title shall be exempt 
from the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).
  (g) Prohibition.--Beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, no 
provision of any internal manual or handbook or other written procedure 
purporting to govern the conduct of the Department in relation to 
Indian tribes shall be binding upon any Indian tribe unless that 
provision has been promulgated as a final regulation in accordance with 
applicable Federal law.

SEC. 303. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

  There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary 
to carry out this title.

                                PURPOSE

    The purpose of S. 814, as amended, the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs Reorganization Act of 1995, is to provide Federal 
authority to permit Native American tribal governments to 
reorganize the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) through a process 
of government-to-government negotiation concerning the size, 
shape, scope and location of the programs, services and 
functions to be carried out, within available appropriations, 
by the BIA or by the Indian tribes themselves.

                               BACKGROUND

         A. Nearly Two Centuries of BIA Reorganization Efforts

    Since the BIA was first established as part of the War 
Department in 1824, Native Americans have relied on the BIA as 
the lead agency through which the Federal government has 
focused its efforts to carry out this Nation's trust 
obligations for American Indians and Alaska Natives. But based 
on its own studies and investigations, the BIA has utterly 
failed to meet this Nation's solemn obligations to American 
Indians.
    The Committee has received overwhelming evidence to support 
the disturbing conclusion that, as trustee for Indian tribes 
and their members, the BIA has not met even the most minimal of 
fiduciary obligation standards. Billions of dollars held in 
trust for the Indians by the United States through the BIA 
cannot be reconciled to the degree required of a fiduciary, 
according to a 1992 report of the U.S. General Accounting 
Office. Other income-producing assets held in trust for the 
Indians are mismanaged by the Federal bureaucracy within the 
Department of the Interior (DOI). Government auditors report 
there are $1.9 billion worth of BIA construction project costs 
which cannot be reconciled, and billions of BIA assets which 
cannot be accounted for. The Interior Department Inspector 
General has reported that many BIA school facilities are very 
poorly maintained and, in some instances, Indian children must 
sit in classrooms in school buildings that have been condemned 
and must sleep in dormitories the Inspector General has 
described as ``uninhabitable''.
    From the first reorganization efforts in 1834 through the 
Meriam Report in 1929 to the 1994 Joint Tribal/BIA/DOI Task 
Force Report on BIA Reorganization, there has been report after 
report detailing how the BIA should be reformed, restructured, 
and reorganized. At the request of the Committee, the 
Congressional Research Service recently uncovered more than 
1,050 such investigations, reports, commissions, and studies on 
BIA reorganization compiled since 1834. The continuing, abysmal 
living conditions in most Native American communities reflect 
the human impact of these many failed efforts at BIA reform.

           B. Joint Tribal/BIA/DOI Reorganization Task Force

    On December 20, 1990, Secretary Lujan chartered the Joint 
Tribal/BIA/DOI Reorganization Task Force (hereinafter Joint 
Reorganization Task Force). The Joint Reorganization Task Force 
was established to develop recommendations for the 
reorganization of the BIA in order to strengthen the 
administration of Indian programs funded through the BIA. It 
submitted its final recommendations in the fall of 1994.
    The Joint Reorganization Task Force was comprised of 36 
tribal representatives, five BIA employees and two Department 
of Interior employees. The tribes selected three 
representatives from each of the 12 BIA service areas to serve 
on the task force. Over the next four years, the Joint 
Reorganization Task Force met 22 times across the country and 
developed 44 recommendations for the reorganization of the BIA. 
These recommendations were developed through various working 
groups and task forces established by the Joint Reorganization 
Task Force.
    The recommendations fell into four general categories: 
organizational reform, regulatory reform, educational reform, 
and budgetary reform. The Joint Reorganization Task Force 
adopted the following guiding principles for BIA 
reorganization: decentralize decision-making to the tribe/
agency level, provide maximum funding to the service delivery 
level, maintain flexibility of the area/agency organizational 
design, specify well-defined roles at all levels of the 
bureaucracy, strengthen educational support, create a tribal-
Federal participatory consultation process to govern all 
aspects of reorganization actions, and improve performance and 
accountability.
    The recommendations of the Joint Reorganization Task Force 
were not new. Many of its recommendations have been discussed 
since the Meriam report was released in 1929. Like each 
subsequent report and recommendation, from the Hoover 
Commission in 1955 to the American Indian Policy Review 
Commission in 1977, the Meriam report recommended that the 
BIA's principle focus be the social and economic advancement of 
American Indians to achieve ``a minimum standard of health and 
decency.'' The Meriam report concluded that the BIA must be 
reorganized to provide maximum administrative control and 
responsibility to the local BIA Agency Superintendent at the 
Indian reservation and community level.
    On October 14, 1994, soon after the Joint Reorganization 
Task Force had filed its report and recommendations, the BIA 
proposed a separate, organizational streamlining plan in 
compliance with the directives of the National Performance 
Review (NPR) efforts of the Clinton-Gore Administration. The 
BIA streamlining plan called for a 50% reduction in Central 
Office staff, reducing it by 212 employees. Several key aspects 
of the plan were not revealed to the Congress nor to the 
tribes. The lack of detail in the Administration's 
reorganization plan raised many questions and provided few 
answers. Some of these questions focused on how many full time 
equivalent positions would be retained in the Area Offices, 
what specific authorities would be vested in the local 
agencies, and what would happen to any financial cost savings 
realized through the NPR ``downsizing'' of the BIA.
    Tribal opposition to the 1994 NPR streamlining proposal for 
the BIA was nearly unanimous. This may have been in large part 
due to the fact that the BIA proposal bore little resemblance 
to the recommendations of the Joint Reorganization Task Force. 
Many tribes raised concerns that four years of work by many 
tribal representatives had been completely ignored. In response 
to this tribal opposition, in early 1995 the Secretary of the 
Interior Department, the Honorable Bruce Babbitt, agreed to a 
one-year moratorium on implementation of the NPR plan for BIA 
and upon the application of the NPR mandates on the BIA. Within 
weeks of that announcement, the Committee began to receive 
reports from several concerned tribes that the moratorium has 
not slowed efforts in the Agency and Area Offices to meet the 
staffing reductions mandated under the NPR.
    Tribal leaders have consistently maintained the same basic 
position on the BIA from the days of the 1929 Meriam Report to 
this decade's Joint Reorganization Task Force: true BIA 
reorganization and reform is required in order to put an end to 
the series of Federal failures in Indian Country. The Committee 
believes that actual reform of the BIA can only be achieved by 
providing the authority directly to the tribes to design both 
the structure and function of the principal agent of their 
trustee, the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

    C. Impact of Fiscal Year 1996 Appropriations Reductions on BIA 
                             Reorganization

    Reorganization of the BIA can be driven by any number of 
factors, including a sharp decrease in the Federal 
appropriations provided to the BIA. S. 814 was introduced 
before the fiscal year 1996 appropriations process began in the 
Congress. Since then, a major reduction has been proposed for 
BIA and tribal funding in fiscal year 1996.
    The fiscal year 1996 Interior Appropriations Conference 
Report calls for significant reductions in three general areas 
of the BIA budget: Tribal Priority Allocations (TPA), which are 
funds directly controlled by tribal governments, Central Office 
Accounts, and Area Office Accounts. In August, 1995, the Senate 
approved TPA funding reductions of more than $200 million from 
the fiscal year 1995 levels, nearly a 28% cut. In mid-December, 
1995, the House-Senate Conference Committee lessened that 
reduction, providing $654 million for TPA in fiscal year 1996, 
a reduction of $68 million (a 9.5% cut) from fiscal year 1995 
funding levels. The conference level would also fund Central 
Office operations at $50 million, which is $14 million below (a 
22% cut) the fiscal year 1995 funding levels. The conference 
action would fund BIA Area Office operations at $37 million, 
which is $16 million below (a 30% cut) fiscal year 1995 funding 
levels.
    The proposed reductions at the Area Offices (30%), the 
Central Office (22%) and at the agency/tribal level (9.5%) will 
have significant impacts on the program staffing levels of the 
BIA and tribal governments. The BIA reports that if its Central 
Office is funded at the conference committee level passed by 
both the House and the Senate in mid-December, the BIA 
immediately will be required to reduce its Central Office staff 
from 857 positions to 532 positions. Alone, these sharp 
reductions in funding will require a major restructuring of BIA 
offices and staffing patterns in fiscal year 1996 and future 
years.
    As these cuts materialized, tribal governments informed the 
Committee that they were all the more convinced of the need for 
prompt enactment of S. 814. Without the tribal negotiating 
authority provided under S. 814, tribes have concluded that the 
BIA staff reductions required by the fiscal 1996 funding cuts 
will not be made pursuant to any tribally-developed plans or 
reflect any tribal priorities for BIA reorganization. Instead, 
tribes believe these appropriations-driven reorganization 
efforts will be made unilaterally by the BIA based on the 
priorities of the internal BIA bureaucracy, not the priorities 
of the tribal governments.

                DISCUSSION OF MAJOR PROVISIONS OF S. 814

                              A. Overview

    S. 814, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Reorganization Act of 
1995, would implement many of the recommendations of the Joint 
Reorganization Task Force. This legislation provides Indian 
tribes with the option to reorganize the BIA at its 12 Area 
Offices, 83 Agency Offices, 3 sub-Agency Offices, 6 Field 
Stations, 2 Irrigation Offices, and multiple Central Offices. 
This reorganization authority is provided so that Indian tribes 
themselves can tailor the structure of the BIA to meet their 
unique circumstances and needs.
    S. 814 provides the authority to Indian tribes to develop, 
in negotiations with the Interior Department, reorganization 
plans for each level of the BIA. These plans may include a 
reorganization of BIA organizational structures, reallocation 
of personnel, delegations of secretarial authority, transfers 
of functions, waivers of regulations or other authorities, 
reordering of funding priorities, and the transfer of any 
savings realized by such reorganization directly to the Indian 
tribes. At issue in the negotiations between tribal governments 
and the Interior Department will be the redesignation, transfer 
or termination of more than 14,500 Federal employee positions 
within the BIA.
    S. 814 provides for the transfer or delegation of decision-
making authority to the tribe or the Agency Office level of the 
BIA, consistent with the principles of Tribal Self-Governance 
and Self-Determination authorized under Public Law 93-638, as 
amended. The bill provides that Indian tribes from each Area 
Office may determine how the BIA Central Office resources used 
to provide services to their Area should be allocated. Tribes 
in each Area of the BIA will be able to determine what services 
will be provided by the Central Office, what Central Office 
funds and authorities should be distributed or delegated to the 
Area and Agency Offices, and what Central Office funds and 
authorities should be distributed or delegated to the tribes 
themselves. Likewise, tribes in each Area and Agency Office of 
the BIA will be permitted to determine what services will be 
provided by their Area and Agency Offices, what funds and 
authorities should be distributed or delegated from the Area 
Office to the Agency Office, or the Agency Office to the Area 
Office, and what Area Office and Agency Office funds and 
authorities should be distributed or delegated to the tribes 
themselves.
    The bill requires the Secretary to repeal the provisions of 
the BIA manual, an internal document of uncertain length and 
content, which is used to guide Federal and tribal decision-
making but has never been subjected to the tribal review and 
comment under the Administrative Procedures Act. Any provision 
of the BIA manual which is deemed necessary will have to be 
promulgated as a regulation subject to review and comment. The 
bill also provides for the establishment of a tribal task force 
to recommend regulatory reforms in the BIA manual and title 25 
of the Code of Federal Regulations.
    S. 814 was developed to complement the changes in the BIA 
that have been made by tribal governments over the past two 
decades pursuant to the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
Assistance Act and the Tribal Self-Governance Act (Public Law 
93-638, as amended, 25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.). This legislation is 
not meant to supplant or replace Self-Determination contracting 
or Self-Governance compacting. Rather, S. 814 is intended to 
complement these policies and to accommodate the BIA downsizing 
that is occurring under these laws. To date, this BIA 
downsizing has been haphazard and disjointed. Tribes have 
reported that much of the downsizing that has resulted from 
tribal assumption of BIA duties under Public Law 93-638, as 
amended, has occurred when Area Directors and Agency 
Superintendents simply do not replace personnel who quit, 
retire or are transferred, whether or not these personnel had 
been carrying out functions taken over by the tribes. As a 
result, the personnel remaining on the BIA payroll often are 
ill-suited to carry out the tasks remaining with the BIA. By 
way of contrast, S. 814 is intended to produce BIA 
reorganization plans that are shaped by the priorities of 
tribal governments, not the personal priorities of Federal 
bureaucrats.

                         B. Negotiation Process

    In general terms, the Committee intends this legislation to 
accord to Indian tribes the Federal authority necessary to 
effect a complete reorganization of the BIA, the Federal agency 
whose sole purpose and reason for existence is to serve the 
interests of the Indian tribes and their members in fulfillment 
of the trust obligations of the United States. The bill 
mandates a negotiation process. It does not prescribe the 
outcome of those negotiations, but instead it requires that the 
outcomes be those upon which the tribal governments have 
agreed.
    The negotiations are premised on a government-to-government 
relationship which each Indian tribe has with the United States 
and its agents, including the BIA. Consistent with this 
relationship, the Committee expects the BIA to conduct its 
negotiations with the tribal governments in a dignified and 
governmental way that fosters respect for each tribal 
government. No unilateral Federal decisions are permitted under 
such a negotiating framework. The tribal right to negotiate a 
reorganization plan under this legislation is as solemn and 
enforceable as the right accorded Indian tribes to negotiate 
contracts or compacts under titles I and IV of Public Law 93-
638, as amended.
    Decades ago, the necessary and proper role of the BIA may 
well have been to unilaterally, if not paternalistically, 
manage and administer virtually every aspect of tribal life. 
But for nearly every Indian tribe today, that paternal role is 
part of an increasingly distant past. Many if not all Indian 
tribes today operate complex governmental systems and 
administer a variety of Federal, State, and tribal programs. 
Some Indian tribal governments also manage sophisticated 
economic enterprises. In this era of Tribal Self-Determination 
and Self-Governance, the appropriate role of the BIA is that of 
a trustee and a technical resource, not that of a tribal 
manager or tribal administrator. The Committee anticipates that 
Indian tribes will use the authority provided them under this 
legislation to do what tribes have long sought to do--
dramatically restructure the BIA into a technical assistance 
agency serving tribal priorities.

      C. Trust Relationship--Delegable and Non-Delegable Functions

    The role of the United States as trustee can take many 
different forms. The Committee intends this legislation to 
permit Indian tribes, as the beneficiaries of the trust 
relationship, to shape how the trustee's duties are carried 
out. Many of the day-to-day functions of the trustee are 
delegable to the Indian tribes if the tribes so request. For 
example, nearly all of the work required for the transfer of a 
leasehold interest can be delegated to an Indian tribe under 
current law. The only non-delegable act may be the review and 
signature of an official representative of the Federal trustee. 
Should the Indian tribes so choose, this legislation provides a 
process by which the tribal and Federal negotiators can 
delineate the specific functions retained by the BIA (for 
example, review and signature authority) and require the 
delegation of all other functions to the tribal government 
involved.

                     D. Scheduling of Negotiations

    The timelines in the bill were carefully drawn to strike a 
balance between the need to provide adequate time for full and 
complete negotiations, and the need for deadlines that 
encourage the parties to resolve differences and make decisions 
in an efficient manner.
    The Committee assumes that the Secretary will direct all 
BIA personnel to make as their top priority the immediate 
implementation of this legislation with their full and active 
cooperation. The Committee expects action from the Office of 
the Secretary within days of the bill being signed into law. 
Notices should be sent to each tribal government and to each 
Agency, Area and Central Office. The Committee is concerned 
that the BIA will not vest the Federal negotiators with full 
decision-making authority to reach agreements during the 
negotiation sessions. In other settings, the Committee is aware 
of circumstances where Federal negotiators lacked the basic 
authority to strike an agreement on behalf of the Department. 
This lack of authority resulted in a series of wholly non-
productive negotiations between the Federal and tribal 
governments. Accordingly, it is the Committee's intention that 
the Federal negotiation team should be promptly appointed by 
the Secretary, with clear lines of authority delegated to the 
actual Federal negotiators. Decisions should be made and 
defended by the Federal negotiators themselves, and not by 
persons of authority who are not present during negotiations 
with the tribal negotiators. The Committee intends to maintain 
extensive and vigilant oversight throughout the reorganization 
negotiations to ensure that the spirit and intention of the law 
is fulfilled by the Department and its negotiators.
    The Committee anticipates that, in most cases, the Indian 
tribes will choose to arrange for the simultaneous negotiation 
of Agency, Area and Central Office plans, and that the location 
of these negotiations will be near the Area Offices. This 
process will assist in coordinating negotiations so that plans 
for each administrative level are consistent with each other, 
and it will encourage all the negotiation decision-makers to be 
accessible to each party in a timely and efficient manner. For 
example, if the tribes previously served by an Agency Office 
wish to completely dissolve the Office so that there are no 
longer any Federal employees in the Agency Office, that should 
reduce the requirements for administrative supervision and 
personnel support in the Area or Central Offices reorganization 
plans. Conversely, if the tribes in an Area decide to dissolve 
the Area Office and transfer to the Agency Office level certain 
functions previously carried out at the Area Office, some 
administrative supervision and personnel support activities may 
have to be carried out at the Central Office level for those 
tribes.

 E. Residual Functions and Costs are the First Issues To Be Negotiated

    Under the bill, the Committee expects the reorganization 
negotiations to first take up the issue of what are the minimum 
Federal residual functions, including those related to the 
Federal trust obligation, and what specific amount of funds is 
required to carry out that function.
    Residual functions are those which by Federal law may not 
be delegated to anyone other than a Federal official. These 
inherently Federal activities include the hiring and firing of 
Federal personnel, approving on behalf of the United States the 
obligation of appropriated funds, the preparation of the 
President's annual budget request, the response to 
congressional inquiries, and the review and approval of audit 
reports or similar activities.
    The Committee expects the Federal negotiators to give due 
respect to the use of the term ``minimal'' in the legislative 
language. The negotiated residual functions are to be kept to a 
minimum for three reasons. First, Federal negotiators naturally 
may be tempted to expansively define everything they now do as 
``residual'' in order to preserve the status quo of Federal 
employment and Federal power. But much of what Federal 
employees now do can lawfully be delegated to a non-Federal 
person or entity. One does not have to be a Federal official to 
prepare documents for a lease of trust land. Nor must one be a 
Federal employee to conduct audits and reviews or to carry out 
other systems of oversight and accountability according to 
Federal standards. There are many Indian tribes, inter-tribal 
groups and Indian organizations which can and do carry out 
these and other functions on behalf of Indian tribes.
    Second, Federal negotiators, and perhaps the Indian tribes 
as well, naturally may be tempted to expansively define 
residual functions so as to include everything that the Federal 
agency should be doing in a so-called perfect world of no 
financial or structural limitations. This approach, however, 
would be self-defeating for the tribal governments, because it 
would result in all power and funds remaining with the Federal 
bureaucracy. Rather than an expanded wish list, the Committee 
anticipates that the negotiated residual functions will begin 
with what has been done in recent years by Federal officials, 
and then be pared down in BIA-tribal negotiations to the bare 
essentials that cannot, by Federal law, be performed by anyone 
other than a Federal employee.
    Third, residual functions are to be distinguished from 
those things that are done most wisely or efficiently, in the 
opinion of the Federal and tribal negotiators, in a combined 
manner by the Federal government for the benefit of all Indian 
tribes. Such activities are not included within the definition 
of Federal residuals in the bill. Rather, these non-residual 
activities can be funded, if the tribes so agree, by some 
portion of the remaining money that is identified as tribal 
shares for the benefit of each Indian tribe. For example, among 
the functions of the BIA's present congressional and 
legislative affairs office may be an inherently Federal 
residual function--that of monitoring congressional activity 
and assisting the Assistant Secretary in preparing responses. 
But another function of that office has been to monitor 
congressional activity for Indian tribes and to inform Indian 
tribes on legislative matters. The latter function is not an 
inherently Federal function, it can be delegated to a non-
Federal entity or person. Regardless of whether the tribal and 
Federal negotiators agree that this function is most wisely and 
efficiently performed by the BIA on behalf of all Indian 
tribes, or is best left to the tribes themselves to do singly 
or in combination with each other, the cost of carrying out 
that function should be identified in the next stage of the 
negotiations--the determination of tribal shares for each 
tribe.

         F. Tribal Shares Are the Second Issue To Be Negotiated

    Once the negotiations have identified the residual 
functions and the amount of money that must be reserved to fund 
them, the Committee expects the BIA-tribal negotiations will 
next turn to the question of what is each Indian tribe's share 
of the remaining funds previously expended by the Agency, Area 
and Central Offices. This step is the last step before the 
negotiators develop reorganization plans for each Agency, Area 
and Central Office.
    The identification of tribal share amounts for each Indian 
tribe simply means that the BIA and Indian tribes negotiate how 
much of the present funding levels are identified to the 
benefit of each Indian tribe after a negotiated amount of funds 
is reserved to pay for the negotiated Federal residual 
functions.
    The Committee acknowledges that the negotiated 
determination of tribal shares in each Agency, Area and Central 
Office may be one of the most contentious activities of the 
negotiation process. The Committee suggests as guidance for 
this process the rules which are soon to be promulgated under 
Title IV of Public Law 93-638, as amended. Developed under 
negotiated rulemaking procedures by tribal and Federal 
government representatives, these rules could provide a 
framework for the fair and equitable identification of tribal 
shares based upon rational factors. For example, a tribe's 
share of the Agency Office human services budget would be keyed 
to that tribe's relative share of the service population of all 
tribes in the Agency Office. Similarly, a tribe's share of the 
forestry-related funds in an Area Office budget would be keyed 
to that tribe's relative share of the forestry acreage (or 
other negotiated measure) of all tribes in the Area Office. The 
Committee intends the same procedure to be applied at the 
Central Office level.
    Once each tribe's share of the remaining funds is 
identified, the next step in the negotiations is to decide who 
spends how much of those tribal shares--the tribes themselves, 
or the BIA for the benefit of those tribes, or a group of 
tribes combining their efforts as one, or any combination of 
these entities. A majority of the tribes previously served by 
an Agency or Area Office can negotiate a reorganization plan 
that includes a transfer of part or all of their tribal shares 
to the tribes. Under such a plan, tribes could negotiate to 
receive differing portions of their tribal shares. These shares 
could include the portion of their shares they already receive 
under Self-Determination contracts or Self-Governance compacts, 
or it could include a larger amount. If a tribe chooses to 
receive more of its share than it already receives, these funds 
can be transferred under existing law to that tribe under a new 
or modified Self-Determination contract or Self-Governance 
agreement. If the tribes choose to have the BIA spend some of 
their tribal shares for the benefit of tribes, in addition to 
the residual funds already retained, how and where those funds 
are spent is subject to the negotiated approval of the tribes. 
In other words, any part of the tribal shares that is held back 
by the BIA with the consent of the affected tribes must be 
expended on behalf of those consenting tribes according to the 
requirements of the plan those tribes have negotiated and 
approved.
    A negotiated plan may continue, in part or in whole, the 
existing organizational structures, functions, or funding 
priorities of an Agency or Area Office, or a portion of the 
Central Office. The negotiated plan may also completely 
dissolve, restructure or reorganize any such Office. In any 
event, if the negotiated plan retains any programs, services, 
non-residual functions or activities with a BIA Agency Office, 
Area Office, or Central Office, the reorganization plan must 
include a negotiated determination of the share of funds used 
by the Area Office to support those programs, services, non-
residual functions and activities benefiting each Indian tribe, 
identified on a tribe-by-tribe basis.

                          G. Majority Approval

    Before any negotiated reorganization plan is implemented, 
it must first be approved by a simple majority of the Indian 
tribes previously served by the Agency, Area or Central Office 
which is the subject of the reorganization plan. If an Indian 
tribe fails to approve the negotiated plan within sixty days of 
when it is distributed, its inaction is deemed a disapproval.
    The Committee wishes to encourage, wherever possible, 
tribal agreement on the reorganization plans. However, the 
legislation does not compel a reorganization plan to require 
each Indian tribe to make identical decisions on how or whether 
it wants the BIA to benefit that tribe under an approved 
reorganization plan. For example, in negotiating a 
reorganization plan one tribe may choose to receive 80% of its 
tribal share funds and leave the remaining 20% with the BIA for 
Federal expenditure on specific programs, services, non-
residual functions, and activities of benefit to that tribe. 
Another Indian tribe may negotiate a provision in the same 
reorganization plan to receive 10% of its tribal share funds 
and leave the remaining 90% with the BIA for Federal 
expenditures on specific programs, services, non-residual 
functions, and activities of benefit to that tribe. In any 
event, whatever is left for BIA expenditure is to be subject to 
the negotiated direction of the tribe or tribes to be 
benefitted by those expenditures.
    Any Indian tribe which is among a minority of tribes 
failing to approve a reorganization plan is protected. The 
level of its funding and services must be maintained, subject 
to available appropriations, and it has the option to receive 
directly all or part of its tribal share previously used by a 
BIA office to carry out programs, services, non-residual 
functions, and activities for the benefit of that tribe. The 
agreement to receive the tribal share must include a negotiated 
determination of the amount of residual funds, if any, to be 
retained by the Secretary for that BIA office to pay for those 
trust or other Federal functions that are not delegable to 
Indian tribes, and a negotiated determination of the respective 
responsibilities of that BIA office and the Indian tribe.

             H. Implementation Efforts and Related Funding

    The Committee would discourage any effort by the BIA to set 
up an ``office of reorganization'' to implement this 
legislation. The task of reorganization lies within the Office 
of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs and the Office of the 
Deputy Commissioner for the BIA. This legislation requires no 
special office to develop reorganization policies. The only 
reorganization policy that is required is that which is set 
forth in this legislation--Indian tribes, not Federal 
officials, are the ones who have the authority to redesign the 
BIA from top to bottom. Upon enactment of this bill, the 
Committee expects the Offices cited in this paragraph to halt 
all other reorganization efforts and redirect their focus, 
through the exercise of their existing management authorities, 
to the task of implementing the procedures required by this 
legislation.
    Likewise, the Committee does not anticipate any need for 
any substantial reprogramming of funds from other BIA 
activities in order to fund the negotiations required under 
this legislation. For the Federal side, the negotiation costs 
should be funded from the regular administrative and management 
functions of the BIA. Without enactment of this bill, the BIA 
would continue to engage itself in reorganization efforts to 
which it dedicates a portion of the funds appropriated for 
administrative and executive management functions. The 
Committee expects these funds to be redirected by the BIA for 
the purposes of this bill. However, the Committee directs that 
the BIA properly vest its negotiators with full authority to 
make decisions during negotiations on behalf of the BIA and its 
various offices at each level. There are two reasons for this. 
Unrestrained, every BIA official with something at stake in the 
negotiations would be tempted to create an official excuse to 
attend the negotiations, whether in the role of an assistant to 
the negotiator or that of a mere spectator. The Committee 
strongly encourages the Assistant Secretary and Deputy 
Commissioner to establish a Federal negotiation team of no more 
than three persons for each negotiation, and that the number of 
Federal officials attending the negotiations be kept to a bare 
minimum in order to conserve funds and provide for a coherent 
and efficient presentation of the Federal positions during 
negotiations. The BIA should discipline its various offices and 
programs to present a unified approach to the reorganization 
negotiation process. The BIA's negotiation objectives should 
not be to maintain the status quo but rather to see that Indian 
tribes have the authority and flexibility to redesign the BIA 
from top to bottom.
    Similarly, for the tribal side of the negotiations, the 
Committee anticipates that tribal governments will fund their 
negotiation activity by redirecting some of the funds they 
already expend for ongoing governmental, administrative and 
management functions and activities. The tribal costs 
associated with negotiation will primarily be in travel and per 
diem associated with several weeks of negotiations. Since the 
negotiations for all three levels of the BIA are expected to 
occur near each Area Office location, the travel costs for most 
tribal leaders should be limited. The assumption for tribal 
governments, like for the BIA, is that the task of reorganizing 
and restructuring is part of the associated costs of their 
ongoing administrative and management responsibilities. In 
fact, many of the tribal and Federal activities and expenses 
contemplated in the bill are similar to those incurred during 
the negotiation of Self-Determination contracts or Self-
Governance agreements.

  I. Flexible Inter-Tribal Efforts on Direct Services Are Anticipated

    The Committee notes that a majority of the Indian tribes 
now served by an Agency or Area Office may vote to do away with 
that Office altogether. In such an instance, the Secretary must 
ensure that Indian tribes which do not want to take over these 
functions themselves, but instead seek to continue to receive 
direct services should be allowed to do so. There are several 
alternative ways in which those direct services from the BIA 
could be provided. The Committee would consider it entirely 
permissible for the Secretary to delegate to one or more Indian 
tribes the responsibility of carrying out the provision of 
direct services to other tribes. Of course, such an arrangement 
would require the agreement of all three parties: the BIA, the 
tribe(s) providing services, and the tribe(s) receiving 
services. In any event, funds would be made available for the 
provision of those services based upon the tribal share amount 
of each tribe receiving services. In addition, a specific 
provision in the bill recognizes the sovereign authority of two 
or more tribes to choose to combine their efforts to expend 
tribal share or other funds allocated to them under this 
legislation. This authority should prove of some assistance to 
smaller tribes who face the challenge of economies of scale in 
administering services at the tribal level.

                        J. Information Exchange

    The Committee included a provision in the bill to require 
the Secretary to provide Indian tribes with information on the 
BIA budget and structure during the reorganization process. The 
Committee notes that Indian tribes have indicated that the BIA 
has been sometimes reluctant, sometimes recalcitrant, and 
sometimes hostile in response to tribal requests for 
information, especially information regarding budgetary and 
organizational details internal to the various BIA offices. The 
Committee wishes to underscore the fact that the legislation 
compels the BIA to provide to any requesting tribe all 
documents required for the negotiating process. However, the 
Committee expects the BIA to anticipate the negotiation needs 
of tribes and not wait until specific documents are requested 
by the tribal government. BIA staff should be instructed to 
resist any temptation to conceal negotiation information from 
tribal governments. The key to successful implementation of 
this legislation is a cooperative negotiation between the BIA 
and tribal governments, and in this regard, the cooperation of 
the BIA is mandated by law.

            K. Suspension of Certain Administrative Actions

    The Committee has included a directive that, within 
available appropriations, all other reorganization activities 
related to downsizing of the BIA be suspended while the 
reorganization process mandated under this legislation is 
implemented. The purpose of this provision is to suspend the 
reinventing government initiative, the National Performance 
Review, and other activities that tribal governments have 
opposed because they have been barred from participating in the 
actual decision-making and because the objective of those 
efforts has been to transfer to the U.S. Treasury, rather than 
to the Indian tribes, any funds saved by the Federal 
downsizing. In contrast, the approach taken in S. 814 is to 
``tribalize'' the funding that has been made available for the 
benefit of the Indian tribes through the BIA. Within available 
appropriations, any funds freed up through the reorganization 
of the BIA under a tribal plan are to be ``tribalized'' in a 
process that identifies, by tribe and by amount, each tribe's 
share of these funds which are then either spent by the BIA on 
behalf of the tribe identified, or are transferred to that 
tribe for its expenditure on its own behalf.
    The Committee has adopted this approach for several 
reasons. First, the United States owes a trust responsibility 
to Indian tribes that flows from treaties, statutes and the 
general course of dealings, government-to-government, between 
the United States and the Indian tribes. This trust is a legal 
relationship that involves some promise of funding based upon 
treaty obligations undertaken in exchange for peace and title 
to some of the most valuable land and resources on earth. The 
promises made to Indian tribes are as binding as are other 
domestic and international agreements entered into by the 
United States. The United States Constitution characterizes 
these treaties as the highest law of our land. Consequently, 
the Federal responsibility for the Indian programs funded as a 
result of these obligations cannot be devolved to State or 
local governments, nor can they be devolved to the Indian 
tribal governments themselves without a corresponding transfer 
of funds. Hence, as a general policy, it is the intent of the 
Committee that any BIA downsizing that occurs by reduction in 
BIA personnel or office structure shall result in a 
``dividend'' to the tribal governments those personnel and 
structures were supposed to benefit. Funds appropriated for the 
benefit of Indians should remain dedicated to that purpose. As 
the number of Federal employees decreases, the amount of 
``tribalized dollars'' transferred to the Indian tribes should 
correspondingly increase.

           L. Tribal Priority Allocations Account Established

    S. 814 establishes, for the first time in statute, a 
``tribal priority allocations account'' (TPA). The Committee 
notes that in previous years the methodologies established by 
the BIA, including the Indian Priority System (IPS), have 
purported to represent the views of Indian Country on budget 
priorities. The Committee has received reports that the systems 
set up by the BIA have never adequately reflected the true 
priorities of Indian Country. The TPA account provided for 
under this legislation seeks to establish an accurate, fair 
and, most importantly, tribally-driven system to establish 
tribal funding priorities. Likewise, the bill references 
recurring base funding for tribes. While all such references 
are subject to available appropriations, it is the intention of 
this Committee to facilitate the provision by the Congress of 
stable, base funding amounts annually to each tribe so that 
tribal governments may execute long-term financial planning and 
investment activities for governmental purposes.

                         M. Budget Development

    The bill adds a new title V to the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act. One of the goals of 
the Committee is to assure that Indian tribes be permitted to 
play a significant role as an equal partner at each stage of 
the budget formulation for the BIA and for the Indian Health 
Service. Of key importance to the success of this title is the 
cooperation of both the Department of the Interior and the 
Department of Health and Human Services. This new title 
mandates the input of Indian tribes in the formulation of 
annual agency budgets by both Departments. It allows for the 
provision of stable, base funding for all tribes, subject of 
course to the willingness of the Administration and the 
Congress to make available sufficient appropriations for that 
purpose. And it mandates the development of standardized and 
tribally-driven needs assessment methodologies that employ 
objective criterion. Such a needs assessment effort would mark 
the first time the Congress has authorized the development of a 
comprehensive measure of tribal needs and conditions to be used 
in the allocation of limited Federal resources. This approach 
for BIA funding has some precedent. For example, in the area of 
Indian health, the Congress authorized the development of 
resource allocation methodologies in the Indian Health Care 
Improvement Act of 1976, as amended. The budget development 
process adopted in S. 814 is premised on the legal trust 
responsibility borne by the United States for Indian tribes, 
and assumes that the budget preparation process should be done 
with the participation of the Indian tribes who were promised 
this funding when they gave up substantial rights to property 
and resources.

                          legislative history

    S. 814, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Reorganization Act of 
1995, was introduced on May 17, 1995 by Senator McCain, for 
himself and Senators Inouye and Domenici. On May 24, 1995, 
Senator Thomas was added as a co-sponsor. The Committee held 
oversight hearings on March 8, 1995 and May 18, 1995 on the 
recommendations of the Joint Reorganization Task Force and on 
the various efforts of the Administration to restructure the 
BIA under the National Performance Review process. In addition, 
the Committee held two hearings on S. 814, one in Washington, 
D.C. on June 28, 1995 and one in Anchorage, Alaska on October 
6, 1995.

            committee recommendation and tabulation of vote

    On December 12, 1995, the Committee on Indian Affairs, in 
an open business session, considered an amendment in the nature 
of a substitute to S. 814 proposed by Chairman McCain. By 
unanimous vote, the Committee adopted the Substitute Amendment 
to S. 814 and ordered S. 814 to be favorably reported to the 
Senate as amended with a recommendation that it do pass.

                      section-by-section analysis

Section 1. Short title, table of contents, and definitions

    Section 1 cites the short title of the Act as the Bureau of 
Indian Affairs Reorganization Act of 1995. This section also 
sets forth the table of contents for the Act and the 
definitions used in the Act. This section also states the 
general purposes of the Act.

                    Title I--Reorganization Compacts

Sec. 101. Reorganization of area offices

    Subsection (a) of this section provides that, not later 
than 30 days after enactment, the Secretary must notify in 
writing each Indian tribe served by each Area Office of the BIA 
of the time and place of the initial prenegotiation meeting to 
establish a schedule of negotiations for the Area Office, and 
not later than 150 days after enactment, the Secretary shall 
conclude negotiations with those Indian tribes to prepare a 
reorganization plan for the Area Office.
    Subsection (b) of this section sets forth the requirement 
that each Area Office plan must provide for the reorganization 
of the administrative structure of the Area Office, the 
reallocation of personnel, the delegation of secretarial 
authorities, the issuance of waivers of regulations and other 
authorities, the reordering of funding priorities, and specify 
which functions are retained by the BIA and which functions are 
transferred to the tribes. The Area Office plan shall include a 
formula for transferring unexpended balances to the recurring 
base funding of the tribes.
    Paragraph (2) of this subsection provides that an Area 
Office plan must include a negotiated determination of the 
share of funds used by the Area Office to support the programs, 
services, functions and activities benefiting each tribe.
    Paragraph (3) of this subsection provides that a majority 
of tribes served by an Area Office may elect to continue the 
existing organizational structures, functions, or funding 
priorities of the Area Office.
    Paragraph (4) of this subsection provides that upon 
completion of the negotiation of an Area Office plan the 
Secretary shall submit the plan for approval by the Indian 
tribes served by the Area Office. If an Indian tribe fails to 
approve the plan within 60 days, the plan shall be considered 
to have been disapproved by that tribe. If a majority of tribes 
approve the Area Office plan, the Secretary shall enter into a 
reorganization compact with the tribes.
    Paragraph (5) of this subsection provides that for an Area 
Office which serves only one Indian tribe, the Secretary must 
notify in writing that Indian tribe, not later than 30 days 
after enactment, of the time and place of the initial 
prenegotiation meeting to establish a schedule of negotiations 
for the Area Office, and not later than 150 days after 
enactment, the Secretary shall conclude negotiations with that 
Indian tribe to prepare a reorganization plan for the Area 
Office, if the tribe elects to develop a reorganization plan 
for its Area Office. Once the tribe approves the plan, the 
Secretary shall enter into a reorganization compact with the 
tribe to carry out the reorganization plan.
    If a majority of the Indian tribes served by an Area Office 
fail to approve the reorganization plan for that Area Office, 
paragraph (6) of this subsection provides that an Indian tribe 
served by that Area Office may elect to receive its tribal 
share of the funds used by the Area Office to carry out 
programs, services, functions, and activities directly from the 
Secretary. The agreement to receive the tribal share must 
include a negotiated determination of the amount of residual 
funds, if any, to be retained by the Secretary for the Area 
Office to pay for trustee and other Federal functions that are 
not delegable to Indian tribes, and a negotiated determination 
of the respective responsibilities of the Area Office and the 
Indian tribe.
    If an Indian tribe elects to receive its tribal share under 
this subsection, paragraph (7) of this subsection prohibits the 
exercise of that option from being construed to limit or 
restrict the right of that or any other tribe to receive funds 
under title I or title IV of the Indian Self-Determination and 
Education Assistance Act (P.L. 93-638). However, funds received 
under P.L. 93-638 may be included in the tribal share 
identified in this subsection.
    If a majority of the Indian tribes served by an Area Office 
fail to approve the reorganization plan, paragraph (8) of this 
subsection provides that the Secretary has the authority to 
determine the organizational structure, functions, and funding 
priorities of the Area Office after consulting with the Indian 
tribes served by that Area Office and in a manner consistent 
with the exercise by any Indian tribe of its option to receive 
directly its tribal share under this subsection.
    Subsection (c) of this section provides that not later than 
30 days after a majority of the Indian tribes served by an Area 
Office have approved a reorganization plan, the Secretary shall 
enter into an Area Office reorganization compact with the 
Indian tribes to carry out the Area Office reorganization plan. 
This subsection also provides that nothing in this section may 
limit or reduce the level of any service or funding that an 
Indian tribe would otherwise receive under Federal law, 
including contracts, grants or annual funding agreements under 
P.L. 93-638.

Sec. 102. Reorganization of agency offices

    Subsection (a) of this section provides that not later than 
30 days after enactment, the Secretary must notify in writing 
each Indian tribe served by each Agency Office of the BIA of 
the time and place of the initial prenegotiation meeting to 
establish a schedule of negotiations for the Agency Office, and 
not later than 150 days after enactment, the Secretary shall 
conclude negotiations with those Indian tribes to prepare a 
reorganization plan for the Agency Office.
    Subsection (b) of this section sets forth the requirement 
that each Agency Office plan must provide for the 
reorganization of the administrative structure of the Agency 
Office, the reallocation of personnel, the delegation of 
secretarial authorities, the issuance of waivers of regulations 
and other authorities, the reordering of funding priorities, 
and must specify which functions are retained by the BIA and 
which functions are transferred to the tribes. The Agency 
Office plan shall include a formula for transferring unexpended 
balances to the recurring base funding of the tribes.
    Paragraph (2) of this subsection provides that an Agency 
Office plan must include a negotiated determination of the 
share of funds used by the Agency Office to support the 
programs, services, functions and activities benefiting each 
tribe.
    Paragraph (3) of this subsection provides that a majority 
of tribes served by an Agency Office may elect to continue the 
existing organizational structures, functions, or funding 
priorities of the Agency Office.
    Paragraph (4) of this subsection provides that upon 
completion of the negotiation of an Agency Office plan the 
Secretary shall submit the plan for approval by the Indian 
tribes served by the Agency Office. If an Indian tribe fails to 
approve the plan within 60 days, the plan shall be considered 
to have been disapproved by that tribe. If a majority of tribes 
approve the Agency Office plan, the Secretary shall enter into 
a reorganization compact with the tribes.
    Paragraph (5) of this subsection provides that for an 
Agency Office which serves only one Indian tribe, the Secretary 
must notify in writing that Indian tribe, not later than 30 
days after enactment, of the time and place of the initial 
prenegotiation meeting to establish a schedule of negotiations 
for the Agency Office, and not later than 150 days after 
enactment, the Secretary shall conclude negotiations with that 
Indian tribe to prepare a reorganization plan for the Agency 
Office, if the tribe elects to develop a reorganization plan 
for its Agency Office. Once the tribe approves the plan, the 
Secretary shall enter into a reorganization compact with the 
tribe to carry out the reorganization plan.
    If a majority of the Indian tribes served by an Agency 
Office fail to approve the reorganization plan for that Agency 
Office, paragraph (6) of this subsection provides that an 
Indian tribe served by that Agency Office may elect to receive 
its tribal share of the funds used by the Agency Office to 
carry out programs, services, functions, and activities 
directly from the Secretary. The agreement to receive the 
tribal share must include a negotiated determination of the 
amount of residual funds, if any, to be retained by the 
Secretary for the Agency Office to pay for trustee and other 
Federal functions that are not delegable to Indian tribes, and 
a negotiated determination of the respective responsibilities 
of the Agency Office and the Indian tribe.
    If an Indian tribe elects to receive its tribal share under 
this subsection, paragraph (7) of this subsection prohibits the 
exercise of that option from being construed to limit or 
restrict the right of that or any other tribe to receive funds 
under title I or title IV of the Indian Self-Determination and 
Education Assistance Act (P.L. 93-638). However, funds received 
under P.L. 93-638 may be included in the tribal share 
identified in this subsection.
    If a majority of the Indian tribes served by an Agency 
Office fail to approve the reorganization plan, paragraph (8) 
of this subsection provides that the Secretary has the 
authority to determine the organizational structure, functions, 
and funding priorities of the Agency Office after consulting 
with the Indian tribes served by that Agency Office and in a 
manner consistent with the exercise by any Indian tribe of its 
option to receive directly its tribal share under this 
subsection.
    Subsection (c) of this section provides that not later than 
30 days after a majority of the Indian tribes served by an 
Agency Office have approved a reorganization plan, the 
Secretary shall enter into an Agency Office reorganization 
compact with the Indian tribes to carry out the Agency Office 
reorganization plan. This subsection also provides that nothing 
in this section may limit or reduce the level of any service or 
funding that an Indian tribe would otherwise receive under 
Federal law, including contracts, grants or annual funding 
agreements under P.L. 93-638.

Sec. 103. Reorganization of central office

    Subsection (a) of this section provides that, not later 
than 30 days after enactment, the Secretary must notify in 
writing each Indian tribe of the time and place of the initial 
prenegotiation meeting to establish a schedule of negotiations 
for the Central Office and that, not later than 150 days from 
the date of enactment, the Secretary must conclude negotiations 
with Indian tribes to develop a Central Office reorganization 
plan. The Secretary must conduct negotiations on an Area by 
Area basis with representatives from each tribe in each Area in 
order to develop the Central Office plan, which must include a 
negotiated determination of the appropriate allocation of 
personnel and funding made available to Central Office to serve 
the Area and Agency Offices and the tribes in each Area.
    Subsection (b) of this section sets forth the contents of 
the Central Office reorganization plan.
    Paragraph (1) of this subsection provides that the Central 
Office plan must contain a determination of funds and personnel 
used to support the Area and Agency Offices in each Area and 
those funds which may be allocated directly to Indian tribes 
pursuant to the formula developed under this section.
    Paragraph (2) of this subsection sets forth the requirement 
that the Central Office plan must provide for the negotiated 
reorganization of the administrative structure of the Central 
Office, the reallocation of personnel, the delegation of 
secretarial authorities, the issuance of waivers of regulations 
and other authorities, the reordering of funding priorities, 
and must specify which functions are retained by the BIA and 
which functions are transferred to the Indian tribes. The 
Central Office plan must include an allocation formula to 
provide for the remaining services to be provided to the Area 
and Agency Offices and the Indian tribes by the Central Office 
and a formula for the transfer of savings to the recurring base 
funding of the tribes and to the Area and Agency Offices.
    Paragraph (3) of this subsection provides that the Central 
Office plan must include a negotiated determination of the 
share of funds used by the Central Office to support the 
programs, services, functions and activities benefiting each 
tribe.
    Paragraph (4) of this subsection provides that an Indian 
tribe that has received a tribal share of both an Area and 
Agency Office, or has received a tribal share pursuant to title 
I or IV of P.L. 93-638, may elect to receive its tribal share 
of the funds used by the Central Office to carry out programs, 
services, functions, and activities directly from the 
Secretary. The agreement to receive the tribal share must 
include a negotiated determination of the amount of residual 
funds, if any, to be retained by the Secretary for the Central 
Office to pay for Federal functions that are not delegable to 
Indian tribes, and a negotiated determination of the respective 
responsibilities of the Central Office and the Indian tribe.
    Paragraph (5) of this subsection provides that an Indian 
tribe's exercise of the option to receive directly a tribal 
share of funds under this section may not be construed to limit 
or restrict any right of that tribe or any other tribe to 
receive funds under P.L. 93-638, and funds received under that 
Act may be included as part of the tribal share.
    Subsection (c) of this section provides that not later than 
90 days after the Secretary has concluded the negotiation of a 
Central Office plan, the Secretary shall, for each Area Office, 
enter into a Central Office reorganization compact with the 
tribes in that Area to implement the Central Office 
reorganization plan. The Secretary may not implement the 
component of a Central Office reorganization plan relating to 
an Area Office until a majority of tribes served by that Area 
Office have entered into a Central Office reorganization 
compact with the Secretary. This subsection also provides that 
if a majority of the Indian tribes served by an Area Office do 
not enter into a Central Office reorganization compact, the 
Secretary has the authority to determine the organizational 
structure, functions, and funding priorities of the component 
of the Central Office which relates to that Area Office, but 
only after consulting with the Indian tribes served by that 
Area Office and in a manner consistent with the exercise by any 
Indian tribe of its option to receive directly its tribal share 
under this section. Where the Secretary determines that a 
Central Office reorganization compact is inconsistent with a 
related Area or Agency Office reorganization compact, the 
Secretary and the Indian tribes served by that Area or Agency 
Office must negotiate such modifications to the Central Office 
compact as are necessary to ensure its consistency with the 
applicable Area or Agency Office compact.

Sec. 104. Authority to spend funds

    Each Indian tribe receiving funds under this title must 
administer and expend those funds in a manner consistent with 
the authorities provided Indian tribes under P.L. 93-638.

Sec. 105. Savings provisions

    Subsection (a) of this section provides that all orders, 
determinations, rules, regulations, permits, agreements, 
grants, contracts, licenses, and other administrative actions 
that are in effect on the effective date of the reorganization 
compact shall continue in effect according to their terms until 
modified, terminated, superseded or set aside in accordance 
with law.
    Subsection (b) of this section provides that a 
reorganization compact may not affect any proceedings, 
including any notices for proposed rulemaking, that are pending 
at the time the reorganization compact takes effect. These 
proceedings may continue as if the compact had not been entered 
into and any orders issued in such proceedings shall continue 
in effect until modified, terminated or superseded by a duly 
authorized official, a court of competent jurisdiction, or by 
operation of law.
    Subsection (c) of this section provides that no suit, 
action, or other proceeding commenced by or against the BIA or 
any official in the BIA shall abate by reason of enactment of 
this title.

Sec. 106. Additional conforming amendments

     Subsection (a) of this section authorizes the Secretary to 
prepare and submit to the Congress, after consultation with the 
Indian tribes and the Committees of jurisdiction in the 
Congress, recommended legislation containing technical and 
conforming amendments to reflect changes made pursuant to this 
title.
    Subsection (b) of this section requires the Secretary to 
submit such legislation to the Congress within 120 days of 
enactment of this title.

Sec. 107. Authorization of appropriations

    This section authorizes such sums as may be necessary to 
carry out this title to be appropriated.

Sec. 108. Effective date

    This section provides that this title shall take effect on 
the date of enactment.

Sec. 109. Separability

    This section provides that if a provision of this title or 
its application is held invalid, neither the remainder of this 
title nor the application of the provision to other persons or 
circumstances shall be affected.

Sec. 110. Suspension of certain administrative actions

    This section provides that during the two year period 
beginning on the date of enactment the Secretary shall suspend 
the implementation of all administrative activities associated 
with reinventing government, the national performance review 
and other downsizing initiatives affecting the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs. This section also provides that during this two year 
period the reorganization compacts entered into under this 
title shall be deemed to satisfy the goals of reinventing 
government, the national performance review and other 
downsizing initiatives of the Executive Branch of the United 
States.

Sec. 111. Statutory construction

    This section provides that nothing in this title may be 
construed to alter or diminish the Federal trust responsibility 
to Indian tribes, individual Indians, or Indians with trust 
allotments.

Sec. 112. Tribal authority recognized

    This section provides that nothing in this title may be 
construed to prohibit or limit the capacity of two or more 
Indian tribes to authorize a group of Indian tribes to exercise 
any authority granted to an Indian tribe under this title, 
except that the approval by an Indian tribe of an agency or 
Area Office plan, and the entering into of a Central Office 
plan by an Indian tribe, shall require the separate tribal 
resolution or other official act of the governing body of the 
Indian tribe involved.

Sec. 113. Renegotiation authority

    In the years following the year of enactment, the Indian 
tribes may annually exercise the authorities provided under 
this title, including those relating to the negotiation of 
reorganization plans and elections to receive tribal shares, in 
which case the timeframes set forth in this title shall be 
calculated from the annual anniversary date of the date of 
enactment of this title.

Sec. 114. Disclosure of information

    Upon entering negotiations on agency, Area and Central 
Offices, and in a timely manner throughout the negotiations, 
the Secretary must provide to Indian tribes all budgetary, 
structural, administrative and legal information necessary to 
negotiate the reorganization of those offices, and, at the 
request of a tribe, must provide technical assistance to 
interpret that information.

  Title II--Amendment to the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
                             Assistance Act

Sec. 201. Budget development

    Section 201 amends the Indian Self-Determination Act (25 
U.S.C. 450 et seq.) by adding the following new title:

                     ``Title V--Budget Development

Sec. 501. Participation of Indian tribes in the development of budget 
        requests

    Subsection (a) of this section requires, within 120 days 
after enactment, the Secretary to establish a program to 
provide information to Indian tribes concerning the development 
of budget requests for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and to 
ensure that each Indian tribe participates to the maximum 
extent practicable in the development of the budget request for 
the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
    Subsection (b) of this section requires, within 120 days 
after enactment, the Secretary of Health and Human Services to 
establish a program to provide information to Indian tribes 
concerning the development of budget requests for the Indian 
Health Service and to ensure that each Indian tribe 
participates to the maximum extent practicable in the 
development of the budget request for the Indian Health 
Service.
    Subsection (c) of this section sets forth certain 
requirements which the Secretary must carry out to the maximum 
extent practicable.
    Paragraph (1) of this subsection requires that each budget 
program under this section must provide for the estimation of 
the funds annually authorized to be appropriated for the 
benefit of Indian tribes and an estimation of the funds 
annually provided for the specific benefit of each Indian 
tribe. In addition, this paragraph requires each budget program 
to provide each Indian tribe with an opportunity to establish 
individual tribal funding priorities, and the authority and 
flexibility to design tribal and Federal programs in order to 
best address the needs of the Indian community served by the 
Indian tribe. The budget program shall also collect and 
disseminate information necessary for effective planning and 
evaluation relating to the comparative social and public health 
conditions of Indian communities at the local, regional, and 
national levels.
    Paragraph (2) of this subsection requires the Secretary of 
the Interior and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to 
support the creation of stable recurring base funding for each 
Indian tribe, to maintain stability in the planning and 
allocation of the IHS and BIA budgets to Indian tribes, to 
assess the Federal programs of assistance to Indian tribes to 
determine the relative need for providing Federal funds to 
carry out each such program and determine the amount of 
recurring base funding available to each Indian tribe to carry 
out each such program.
    Paragraph (3) of this subsection authorizes the Secretary 
of the Interior and the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
to enter into self-determination contracts, self-governance 
compacts or make a grant to an Indian tribe to carry out the 
information collection and dissemination functions under this 
title.

Sec. 502. Assessment methodology

    Subsection (a) of this section requires the Secretary of 
the Interior within 180 days of enactment to promulgate 
standardized assessment methodologies to be used in carrying 
out any budget determination for the BIA concerning levels of 
funding that are necessary for each program Area.
    Subsection (b) of this section requires the Secretary to 
ensure the direct and active participation of Indian tribes at 
the local, regional and national levels in the negotiated 
rulemaking process established under this section.
    Subsection (c) of this section provides that the negotiated 
rulemaking committee created under this section shall be 
comprised of individuals who represent the Federal government 
and individuals who represent Indian tribes. A majority of the 
Committee shall be comprised of individuals who represent 
Indian tribes.
    Subsection (d) of this section authorizes the Secretary to 
adapt the negotiated rulemaking procedures in accordance with 
section 407 of P.L. 93-638 (Title IV--Self-Governance).

Sec. 503. Reports to the Congress

    This section provides that the Secretary shall annually 
prepare a report that describes the standardized methodologies 
and includes an assessment of the level of funding that is 
necessary to fund each program Area of the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs. This report shall include an assessment for each 
Indian tribe of the level funding necessary for each Indian 
tribe to carry out each program Area and an assessment of the 
total amount of funds needed to carry out all the programs 
Areas with respect to which the tribe receives services. The 
report is to accompany the annual budget submission.

Sec. 504. Authorization of appropriations

    This section authorizes to be appropriated such sums as may 
be necessary to carry out this title.

  Title III--Reform of the Regulations of the Bureau of Indian Affairs

Sec. 301. BIA manual

    This section requires the Secretary not later than 180 days 
after enactment to conduct a review of all the provisions of 
the BIA manual and to promulgate as proposed regulations those 
provisions of the BIA manual that are deemed necessary and to 
revoke all provisions of the BIA manual that are not 
promulgated as proposed regulations. In carrying out this 
section, the Secretary shall consult with Indian tribes to the 
maximum extent practicable.

Sec. 302. Task Force

    This section provides for the establishment of a Joint 
Tribal-Federal task force on regulatory reform. The task force 
shall be composed of 16 members, including 12 members who are 
representatives of Indian tribes from each of the 12 Areas 
served by the BIA. The task force shall review the regulations 
under title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations and make 
recommendations concerning revision of the regulations. The 
task force shall submit reports to the Secretary as is deemed 
appropriate and, not later than 120 days after its initial 
meeting, submit a report to the Congress and the governing body 
of each Indian tribe that includes their findings and 
recommendations after reviewing title 25 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations. The task force shall terminate 30 days after the 
date on which the task force submits its report to the 
Congress. This section also prohibits the BIA from using any 
internal manual or handbook or other written procedure to bind 
any Indian tribe unless it is first published as a final 
regulation in accordance with Federal law.

Sec. 303. Authorization of Appropriations

    This section authorizes to be appropriated such sums as may 
be necessary to carry out this title.

                   cost and budgetary considerations

    The cost estimate for S. 814, as amended, as provided by 
the Congressional Budget Office, is set forth below:
                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                   Washington, DC, January 5, 1996.
Hon. John McCain,
Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
reviewed S. 814, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Reorganization 
Act of 1995, as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on 
Indian Affairs on December 12, 1995. CBO estimates that 
implementing S. 814 would cost approximately $1.5 million in 
1996, assuming appropriation of the necessary funds, but would 
have no significant impact on the federal budget thereafter. 
Enacting S. 814 would not affect direct spending or receipts; 
therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply.
    Bill Purpose.--Title I of S. 814 would require the Bureau 
of Indian Affairs (BIA) to change its structure and functions 
through direct negotiation with all interested Indian tribes. 
While such reorganization is taking place, the BIA would 
provide the tribes with any information necessary to carry out 
the negotiations, as well as technical assistance, if 
requested. Title II of the bill would require the direct 
involvement of the tribes in the development of the annual 
budgets of both the BIA and the Indian Health Service. This 
title would require these agencies to collect data regarding 
the comparative social and public health conditions of Indian 
communities. In addition, the Secretary of the Interior would 
be required to establish standardized assessment methodologies 
to determine each tribe's relative need for federal funds. 
Title III would require that any internal BIA rules be 
established as formal regulations. The bill also would create a 
temporary task force to review BIA's rules and regulations, and 
recommend any revisions to the Congress.
    Impact on the Federal Budget.--CBO estimates that 
implementing S. 814 would cost about $1.5 million in fiscal 
year 1996 for costs related to information gathering, 
dissemination, and travel for meetings with tribes at the 
regional level. Most of the bill's requirements would be 
fulfilled within the first six months after enactment. Because 
of the short timeframe, significant BIA staff time would have 
to be devoted to carrying out the requirements specified in the 
bill. Of the $1.5 million total, CBO estimates that about 
$500,000 would be spent for contracting out the collection of 
data required by Title II.
    Impact on State, Local, and Tribal Governments.--S. 814 
would have no impact on the budgets of state or local 
governments. While enacting the bill would affect Indian 
tribes, it would impose no new mandates on tribal governments.
    Impact on the Private Sector.--This bill would impose no 
new federal private sector mandates, as defined in Public Law 
104-4.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Rachel 
Robertson.
            Sincerely,
                                         June E. O'Neill, Director.

                      regulatory impact statement

    Paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the 
Senate requires each report accompanying a bill to evaluate the 
regulatory and paperwork impact that would be incurred in 
carrying out the bill. The Committee believes that S. 814, as 
amended, will have a minimal impact on regulatory or paperwork 
requirements.

                        executive communications

    Prior to the date on which it ordered the bill reported, 
the Committee received a letter dated December 1, 1995 from the 
Bureau of Indian Affairs which is reprinted below, providing 
the views of the Administration on S. 814 as introduced. Before 
the report was filed, the Committee received an additional 
letter dated January 22, 1996 from the Office of the Assistant 
Secretary-Indian Affairs, which is also reprinted below.

                   U.S. Department of the Interior,
                                  Bureau of Indian Affairs,
                                  Washington, DC, December 1, 1995.
Hon. John McCain,
Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: This is in response to your letter of 
July 12, 1995 in which you enclosed questions in follow up to 
the June 28, 1995 hearing before your Committee on S. 814, a 
bill ``To provide for the reorganization of the Bureau of 
Indian Affairs, and for other purposes.''
    Our responses to the questions are enclosed. For purposes 
of clarity, the questions are listed with our response 
following each question.
    Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the 
supplemental questions submitted by the Committee. If we can 
provide additional information to the Committee, please contact 
us again.
            Sincerely,
                                           Hilda A. Manuel,
                             Deputy Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
    Enclosure.


questions submitted by the senate indian affairs committee in follow up 
      to the june 28 hearing on s. 814, a bill to provide for the 
 reorganization of the bureau of indian affairs, and for other purposes


    Question 1. Your testimony indicates that the BIA is still 
under the one year moratorium for the implementation of the 
cuts mandated under the National Performance Review. Yet we 
have heard disturbing reports that in the field, Area Directors 
and Agency Superintendents are proceeding with the NPR staffing 
cuts without regard to this moratorium. Could you respond?
    Response. The Colorado River Agency was the site not 
specifically mentioned in the question where downsizing was 
occurring while a Bureau wide moratorium was in effect. The 
downsizing was the result of replacing people-operated power 
systems with a more cost-efficient computerized monitoring 
system which displaced several employees in the Branch of 
Irrigation and Power in the Colorado River Agency. Since the 
June 28 hearing, many other changes have occurred which 
required the BIA to lift the moratorium on reduction-in-force 
such as the House and Senate Appropriations Committees' actions 
on the FY 1996 budget. Both Houses made significant reductions 
in the BIA's budget which will result in a sizeable reduction-
in-force across the BIA. Approximately 1,500 jobs will be cut 
from the Agency and Area offices and the Central Office.
    Question 2. In the absence of legislation, what guarantees 
are there that savings realized through NPR reductions will be 
retained by the tribes themselves? Is there a written 
commitment on the part of OMB to ensure that savings realized 
through reorganization will be transferred to tribal 
governments?
    Response. The Conference Report language directs the BIA to 
``hold distribution of tribal shares of Central Office funding; 
to continue to implement tribal shares concepts at the Area 
Office level; and to hold distribution of tribal shares of 
pooled overhead funding''. Previous to the Appropriations 
Committees' actions, the Administration strongly supported the 
transfer of functions that strengthen tribal governments. The 
BIA is awaiting the final FY 1996 appropriation before it 
continues to pursue the establishment of Tribal Shares.
    Question 3. I note your opposition to the provision 
requiring the BIA to develop standard assessment methodologies 
in an effort to determine the level of need funded in each 
program area. As you know there is increasing pressure in 
Congress to examine the growing disparity between Indian tribes 
with gaming revenues and tribes that do not have those 
revenues. If we do not have these standard measures, we will 
have to rely on the historic funding levels of the BIA that 
lack basic justification. What is your alternative?
    Response. The BIA agrees we must have a mechanism that 
accurately measures the unmet needs of tribes. We do not oppose 
a standard assessment methodology for assessing the unmet needs 
in each program area. However, the process that was recommended 
by the task force is very costly, labor intensive and produced 
negligible results. It is our understanding that the Budget 
Reform Workgroup has submitted a revised methodology with which 
the BIA will again try to pilot for use.
    Question 4. In your testimony you have stated that the BIA 
has eliminated 2,000 pages of the BIA Manual. That gets us down 
to 14,000 pages. Have Indian tribes participated in these 
efforts to eliminate the BIA Manual and reexamine the 
provisions of 25 CFR?
    Response. As the Committee is aware, the BIA Manual is an 
internal procedural handbook which is used by BIA employees, 
not tribal governments. However, Tribes have been extensively 
involved in the revision of 25 CFR. In June 1995, in 
Albuquerque, New Mexico, a consultation was held with tribal 
leaders on three parts of 25 CFR. There are also two separate 
tribal working groups currently working on developing 
regulations to Self-Determination amendments and Self-
Governance. As a matter of fact, the BIA has published a 
Customer Service Plan which commits the BIA to consulting with 
Tribes in the development of all future regulations.
    Question 5. Although your testimony has indicated that 
there is no need for this legislation, it appears that only in 
the Portland Area have there been constructive discussions 
between the tribes and the Area Director in the formulation of 
an Area Office reorganization plan. Why have there not been 
similar efforts in other areas of the BIA?
    Response. There are several other areas, such as Muskogee 
and Juneau that have been heavily involved with Self-Governance 
Tribes in determining area tribal shares and have actively 
involved tribal participation during the last few years. It is 
our belief that Public Law 103-413, the Indian Self-
Determination Act Amendments of 1994, enacted by Congress to 
make the Self-governance demonstration project a permanent 
program, will serve as the single most compelling force to 
drive the reorganization of the BIA through a tribal shares 
determination process, if authorized. I have directed all of 
the 12 Area Directors to convene meetings with Tribes in their 
respective jurisdictions to develop, in partnership with 
tribes, the following action plan: (1) identification of 
uniform program definitions; (2) level of program functions to 
be left at each area and agency office; (3) formulas for the 
determination of tribal shares for those remaining programs; 
and (4) the core residual functions.
    Question 6. You testified our bill is unnecessary because 
the tribal share process you have begun, and which I support, 
will restructure the BIA. But what is left at the BIA after 
some tribes pull out their tribal shares? My bill would permit 
all tribes to negotiate the shape, size, location, and scope of 
what remains of the BIA. I fail to see any comparable role for 
tribes in the Administration's plans. Is this not a good reason 
for a bill like S. 814?
    Response. The process for determining tribal shares and 
residuals began in April 1995, with the first round to be 
completed by the end of the summer. It is our expectation that 
both agency and area programs will be reviewed and discussed to 
arrive at a tribal share for every Tribe in an area, including 
those who choose to rely on the BIA for delivery of program 
services. This is necessary in order to determine the size of 
the programs that will remain with the BIA. Through this 
process the BIA will be restructured based on negotiations of 
tribal shares and residual functions. As shown in the response 
to question 5, all steps involve tribal participation.
    Question 7. In formulating its reorganization plan, did the 
BIA consider a meaningful change in purpose, including a more 
equal partnership with tribal governments or is the plan simply 
a reflection of the National Performance Review goals to reduce 
the size of government?
    Response. The BIA's initiative under REGOII is to 
accelerate the transfer of programs and functions to 
contracting and compacting Tribes in order for the Tribes to be 
self-functioning. The premise of the plan is that downsizing 
and reorganization will be tribally driven from the local 
level. The process involved in REGOII, that of determining 
tribal shares, is based upon a partnership with tribal 
governments.
    Question 8. During the previous Congress, I was a co-
sponsor of the American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act 
which will address the problems associated with the 
mismanagement of Indian trust funds and provide Indian account 
holders with a greater role in managing their own funds. Can 
you assure the Congress that progress on this important issue, 
has not and will not, be adversely affected by BIA 
reorganization plans?
    Response. The Bureau of Indian Affairs is committed to 
implementing long term reforms in the area of trust funds 
management. The recently enacted American Indian Trust Funds 
Management Reform Act of 1994 is a major milestone in formally 
addressing reform efforts we have been undertaking in this 
area. We fully intend to continue with these efforts including 
providing adequate systems, adequate controls, periodic and 
timely reconciliations, determining of accurate cash balances, 
preparing and supplying account holders with periodic 
statements (with balances that are available daily), 
establishing written procedures and policies, providing 
adequate staffing and supervision and appropriately managing 
natural resources. Accordingly, we do not intend streamlining 
efforts within the BIA to adversely impact these reform 
efforts. However, any reduction in funding levels below the 
President's 1996 request level could adversely impact trust 
reform efforts.
    It is important to point out that the recent House and 
Senate action on the FY 1996 appropriation bill will be 
disastrous to Indian country and will obviate any attempts to 
accomplish Tribal Shares. The House reduced President Clinton's 
budget for BIA by $228 million. It is $48 million below 1995. 
The Senate reductions to BIA are even more severe than the 
House and will have even more negative impacts. The Senate 
slashed the FY 1996 President's Budget for BIA by $34 million, 
or 23 percent. The cut is $255 million (15 percent) below 1995.
    The House and Senate reductions to Central Office basically 
make the Tribal Shares policy impossible, as the BIA will not 
even have funds to carry out basic residual functions. While 
the BIA fully supports the concept of Tribal Shares, the recent 
House and Senate action on the BIA's budget make it unworkable.
                              ----------                              

                   U.S. Department of the Interior,
                                   Office of the Secretary,
                                  Washington, DC, January 22, 1996.
Hon. John McCain,
Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: This letter presents the Department of 
the Interior's concerns with S. 814, the proposed ``Bureau of 
Indian Affairs Reorganization Act of 1995.''
    The Department is strongly committed to the goals of S. 814 
and acknowledges that any successful reorganization of the 
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) must include the participation 
of Indian tribes. We also agree that Indian tribes, as primary 
stakeholders, should be assured an active role in the 
development of the BIA's annual budget requests.
    At the June hearing on S. 814, we reported that all efforts 
to ``streamline'' the BIA in accordance with the National 
Performance Review (NPR) mandates had been placed on hold in 
response to the strong opposition of the tribes, Instead, the 
Department decided to use the self-determination and self-
governance processes as the vehicle to streamline the BIA 
organization. The 1994 amendments to the Indian Self-
Determination Act of 1976, P.L. 103-413, authorized the 
``tribal share determination'' process by expanding the scope 
of contracting and compacting by tribes of all functions, 
activities and services without regard to the organizational 
level of the BIA.
    We found this process to be the most feasible means to 
ensure the involvement of the tribes in a reorganization 
effort. We believe that the tribal shares determination process 
is a critical first step because it presents the ultimate 
opportunity for tribes to learn all the necessary facts and 
information (including FTE staffing levels, costs or performing 
functions and residuals tied to federal functions) to make 
informed decisions about the reorganization. As tribal shares 
are determined, tribes will be in a better position to decide 
if they want to take their shares or leave their shares with 
the BIA. As tribes take their shares, the BIA will be required 
to downsize/streamline to accommodate the decrease in 
operational funding.
    The tribal shares determination process also sets out the 
framework for the BIA to reexamine its role and to begin 
focusing only on those core, residual functions that are 
necessary to fulfill the Federal trust responsibility. This, we 
believe, is another factor critical to a successful 
reorganization.
    In April 1995, the Deputy Commissioner of Indian Affairs 
directed all Area Directors to begin the seven-step tribal 
share determination process for each tribe in the respective 
Areas. With some minor exceptions, all Areas completed the 
identification of residual functions and tribal shares. This 
information was reviewed by Central Office directors and the 
Office of the Solicitor, Division of Indian Affairs, to 
determine whether such residuals were legally sound. The 
Solicitor's review resulted in a detailed listing of legal and 
statutory authorities for over 300 BIA programs and activities. 
This voluminous document will serve as the centerpiece of the 
tribal share determination process between the Bureau and the 
tribes.
    Unfortunately, the Congressional action on the FY 1996 
budget took precedence over the tribal share determination 
process resulting in all staff assigned to this process being 
reassigned to work only budget-related matters. Consequently, 
we were delayed in completing the residual and ``inherently 
federal'' documents for final review by the tribes. The drastic 
reductions to both the operational and Tribal Priority 
Allocation components of the BIA budget will make it difficult 
for tribes to operate contracted or compacted programs. While 
the BIA is committed to the tribal shares process, the 
reductions are making it difficult for the BIA to maintain 
adequate residual services without offsetting tribal shares. 
This undermines the intent and purpose of the tribal shares 
determination process contemplated by P.L. 103-413.
    We are concerned that S. 814 will have the unintended 
result of exacerbating this situation. Our experience over the 
past several months leads us to believe that tribes will not 
readily agree to close or consolidate their own Areas or 
Agencies if they have an option to maintain the status quo. In 
view of the budget levels contained in the most recent 
conference version of the FY 1996 Interior and Related Agencies 
Appropriations bill, we have serious concerns that any option 
of maintaining the current is unrealistic.
    Furthermore, on December 14, 1995, the Senate and House 
Appropriations Committee Chairmen and the Interior 
Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman wrote to the President to 
inform him that they believe future funding for the Interior 
Appropriations bill will be less than the FY 1996 conference 
level in order to help achieve a balanced Federal budget. 
Budget cuts of this magnitude not only threaten further tribal 
contracting envisioned by P.L. 103-413, but also diminish 
expectations of stable base funding as proposed in this 
legislation.
    Our immediate efforts, therefore, must focus on working in 
full partnership with the tribes to determine how 
reorganization of the BIA will be accomplished without 
jeopardizing our Federal Trust responsibility while maximizing 
the right of tribes to contract and compact for activities 
previously performed by the BIA. We believe that completion of 
the tribal shares determination process is the most expedient 
and efficient means to do this because it will allow for direct 
tribal participation and decisionmaking. In the end, we will 
achieve our goal of maximizing the amount of resources that are 
transferred to the tribes in this process without crippling our 
ability to perform the residual functions.
    Finally, we remain committed to tribal participation in the 
development of the BIA's budget through the Tribal Budget 
System, established at the recommendation of the Joint Tribal/
BIA/DOI Task Force on Reorganization, and the annual National 
Tribal Budget meetings.
    Our longstanding practice of involving Indian tribes in the 
budget formulation process will continue to be followed by the 
BIA tempered only by our efforts to improve the process. We 
also intend to provide every feasible opportunity for each 
tribe to develop individual funding priorities through growth 
in the Tribal Priority Allocation (TPA) budget activity.
    We also have concerns with the Budget Development 
requirements of S. 814 that will mandate the BIA to incur 
additional administrative costs to collect and disseminate 
information on the conditions of Indian communities and to 
develop a standard assessment methodology. The BIA does not 
have the resources to meet these additional requirements within 
the mandated time frames. Our best current estimate of the cost 
to complete these requirements is at least $14 million in the 
first year after enactment. During this critical time of budget 
reductions, the BIA is committed to moving all available 
resources to the tribes for reservation level programs. We 
would prefer to do this in lieu of increasing bureaucratic 
responsibilities as proposed by S. 814.
    Our position on the Standard Assessment Methodology (SAM) 
concept remains the same as indicated during the hearing on 
June 28, 1995. We do not believe that SAM will be an efficient 
or effective process in providing an objective measure of the 
overall need for government funded services. Our experience 
piloting the Indian Child Welfare Assistance program using SAM 
was disappointing. We learned that it is too costly and 
produces questionable results.
    Finally, with regard to the provisions on regulatory 
reform, we agree that there is a need to examine the need for 
extensive regulations and the appropriateness of the BIA 
Manual. We are pleased to report that over 2,000 pages of the 
BIAM have been eliminated to date with more pages to be deleted 
as program offices complete their review of the BIAM chapters 
specific to their respective programs. The BIA has also 
completed its review of Title 25 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations to determine whether the regulations are needed, 
duplicative, redundant or obsolete. This effort was conducted 
in response to the Administration's mandate to reduce 
regulations. We have completed this task and have begun to 
implement the plan for regulatory reform.
    In as much as this effort is currently in progress we 
cannot support the establishment of a task force which will 
duplicate the BIA's ongoing effort. Moreover, our experience 
working with task forces is that they become costly and 
unwieldy.
    Overall, we feel that S. 814 implicitly fails to recognize 
the current climate of diminishing resources. The BIA cannot 
guarantee a recurring base level of funding for tribes as such 
funds are subject to the availability of appropriations. The 
BIA also cannot guarantee to protect any tribe that is not part 
of a reorganization effort against a reduction in services or 
funding.
    While we remain committed to working with the Congress and 
the tribes to accomplish a streamlined and responsive 
organization of the Bureau, and to increase tribal involvement 
in the budget priority setting, the Department of the Interior 
oppose S. 814 in its present form. We urge you to delay final 
action by the Senate on the bill until we have had time to work 
with staff to revise several of the bill's provisions.
    Thank you for your consideration of this letter.
    The Office of Management and Budget has advised that it has 
no objection to the presentation of this report from the 
standpoint of the Administration's program.
            Sincerely,
                                               Ada E. Deer,
                                Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs.

                        changes in existing law

    In compliance with subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that, in its 
entirety, S. 814 as reported would add new provisions but make 
no changes in existing law.