[House Report 107-222]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]





                                                                       
107th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    107-222

======================================================================



 
              LONG WALK NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL STUDY ACT

                                _______
                                

 September 28, 2001.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Hansen, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 1384]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 1384) to amend the National Trails System Act to 
designate the Navajo Long Walk to Bosque Redondo as a national 
historic trail, having considered the same, report favorably 
thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill as amended 
do pass.
  The amendments are as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``Long Walk National Historic Trail 
Study Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

  Congress finds the following:
          (1) Beginning in the fall of 1863 and ending in the winter of 
        1864, the United States Government forced thousands of Navajos 
        and Mescalero Apaches to relocate from their ancestral lands to 
        Fort Sumner, New Mexico, where the tribal members were held 
        captive, virtually as prisoners of war, for over 4 years.
          (2) Thousands of Native Americans died at Fort Sumner from 
        starvation, malnutrition, disease, exposure, or conflicts 
        between the tribes and United States military personnel.

SEC. 3. DESIGNATION FOR STUDY.

  Section 5(c) of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(c)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
  ``(____) The Long Walk Trail, a series of routes which the Navajo and 
Mescalero Apache Indian tribes were forced to walk beginning in the 
fall of 1863 as a result of their removal by the United States 
Government from their ancestral lands, generally located within a 
corridor extending through portions of Canyon de Chelley, Arizona, and 
Albuquerque, Canyon Blanco, Anton Chico, Canyon Piedra Pintado, and 
Fort Sumner, New Mexico.''.

  Amend the title so as to read:

    A bill to amend the National Trails System Act to designate 
the route in Arizona and New Mexico which the Navajo and 
Mescalero Apache Indian tribes were forced to walk in 1863 and 
1864, for study for potential addition to the National Trails 
System.

                          Purpose of the Bill

    The purpose of H.R. 1384, as ordered reported, is to amend 
the National Trails System Act to designate the route in 
Arizona and New Mexico which the Navajo and Mescalero Apache 
Indian tribes were forced to walk in 1863 and 1864, for study 
for potential addition to the National Trails System.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    In the fall of 1863, Colonel Christopher ``Kit'' Carson, 
under the direction of the United States Army, initiated a 
military campaign against the Navajo people. Approximately 
8,000 Navajos and 500 members of the Mescalero tribe were 
forced to make a 350-mile forced march from their ancestral 
lands in northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico to a 
desolate strip of land known as the Bosque Redondo in the 
eastern region of New Mexico. This military campaign is often 
called ``The Long Walk.''
    Intended to be a reservation, the ill-planned site, named 
for a grove of cottonwoods by the river, turned into a virtual 
prison camp for the Native Americans. More than 3,000 Navajo 
people died due to starvation, malnutrition, exposure to 
freezing temperatures, disease, or by gunfire during the tragic 
years of the Long Walk.
    The Navajos were interred in the camp for four years until 
President Ulysses Grant, appalled by the abysmal conditions, 
issued an Executive Order demanding the termination of the 
military suppression. The United States and the Navajo tribes 
executed the Treaty of 1868 recognizing the Navajo Nation as it 
exists today.
    As ordered reported, H.R. 1384 will require the National 
Park Service to study the areas specified in the bill to 
determine if they are suitable for designation as a National 
Historic Trail.

                            Committee Action

    H.R. 1384 was introduced on April 3, 2001, by Congressman 
Tom Udall (D-NM). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Resources and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 
National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands. On May 8, 2001, 
the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On May 17, 2001, 
the Subcommittee met to mark up the bill. Congressman Udall 
offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute to address 
two concerns raised at the hearing. First, the amendment 
specified that instead of an outright designation of the route 
for inclusion in the National Trails System, the Secretary of 
the interior was authorized to examine the suitability of 
designating the route for potential inclusion in the National 
Trails System. The original bill added the trails to the 
National Trails System without first requesting a study. 
Second, the original title of the bill referred to the route as 
``the Navajo Long Walk to Bosque Redondo.'' The amendment 
modified the title to reflect that there were other Native 
American tribes in addition to the Navajo who were affected by 
the events described in the bill. The amendment in the nature 
of a substitute was adopted by voice vote. The bill as amended 
was then ordered favorably reported to the Full Committee. On 
September 12, 2001, the Full Resources Committee met to 
consider the bill. No further amendments were offered and the 
bill, as amended, was then ordered favorably reported to the 
House of Representatives by voice vote.

            Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations

    Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations 
are reflected in the body of this report.

                   Constitutional Authority Statement

    Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United 
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.

                    Compliance With House Rule XIII

    1. Cost of Legislation.--Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and 
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be 
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) 
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when 
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted 
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
    2. Congressional Budget Act.--As required by clause 3(c)(2) 
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this 
bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending 
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in 
revenues or tax expenditures.
    3. General Performance Goals and Objectives.--This bill 
does not authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives does not 
apply.
    4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate.--Under clause 
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act 
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate 
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                Washington, DC, September 21, 2001.
Hon. James V. Hansen,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1384, the Long 
Walk National Historic Trail Study Act of 2001.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact for this 
estimate is Deborah Reis.
            Sincerely,
                                          Barry B. Anderson
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.

     H.R. 1384--Long Walk National Historic Trail Study Act of 2001

    H.R. 1384 would amend the National Trails System Act (NTSA) 
to add the Long Walk Trail to the list of routes to be studied 
for possible inclusion in the National Trails System. Under the 
NTSA, the Secretary of the Interior would have three years to 
conduct a study of trail, which is composed of several routes 
located in Arizona and New Mexico.
    Based on information provided by the National Park Service 
and assuming appropriation of the necessary amount, CBO 
estimates that it would cost the federal government about 
$400,000 over the next three years to conduct the required 
study. H.R. 1384 would not affect direct spending or receipts; 
therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply. The bill 
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as 
defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no 
costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. 
The estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                    Compliance With Public Law 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                Preemption of State, Local or Tribal Law

    This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or 
tribal law.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is 
printed in italic and existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

              SECTION 5 OF THE NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM ACT


             national scenic and national historical trails

  Sec. 5. (a) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

  (c) The following routes shall be studied in accordance with 
the objectives outlined in subsection (b) of this section:
  (1) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

  (____) The Long Walk Trail, a series of routes which the 
Navajo and Mescalero Apache Indian tribes were forced to walk 
beginning in the fall of 1863 as a result of their removal by 
the United States Government from their ancestral lands, 
generally located within a corridor extending through portions 
of Canyon de Chelley, Arizona, and Albuquerque, Canyon Blanco, 
Anton Chico, Canyon Piedra Pintado, and Fort Sumner, New 
Mexico.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                                  
