[House Report 108-502]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



108th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     108-502

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    TO REAFFIRM THE INHERENT SOVEREIGN RIGHTS OF THE OSAGE TRIBE TO 
            DETERMINE ITS MEMBERSHIP AND FORM OF GOVERNMENT

                                _______
                                

  May 19, 2004.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 2912]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 2912) to reaffirm the inherent sovereign rights of the 
Osage Tribe to determine its membership and form of government, 
having considered the same, report favorably thereon without 
amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 2912 is to reaffirm the inherent 
sovereign rights of the Osage Tribe to determine its membership 
and form of government.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    H.R. 2912 affirms the right of the Osage Tribe to form its 
own membership rules and tribal government, provided that no 
one's rights to any shares in the mineral estate of the tribe's 
reservation are diminished.
    The Osage Tribe is a federally recognized tribe with a 
nearly 1.5 million-acre reservation in northeast Oklahoma. In 
1906, Congress enacted the Osage Allotment Act (``1906 Act''), 
which is unique among federal Indian laws in that it restricts 
the Osage Tribe from defining its own membership rules, and 
prescribes a particular form of government which the tribe 
cannot change. All other federally recognized Indian tribes 
generally have the sovereign right to make their own internal 
membership rules and to form suitable tribal governments.
    In brief, the 1906 Act--
           Defined the legal membership of the tribe to 
        consist of all living Osage Indians who were on the 
        Secretary of the Interior's 1906 roll for the tribe, 
        plus their children born before July 1, 1907;
           Allotted a certain amount of surface land in 
        the Osage Reservation to the tribal members;
           Provided that the tribe retained all mineral 
        rights to the entire reservation in undivided 
        ownership; and
           Provided for the distribution of royalties 
        from development of mineral resources to each of the 
        enrollees; such shares in the royalties are called 
        ``headright shares.''
    Federal court decisions have interpreted the 1906 Act to 
mean that Congress took away the Osage Tribe's right to 
determine its own membership rules. The only ones who may be 
members of the Osage tribe and participate in the tribal 
government are those who are the lineal descendants of the 
original enrollees under the 1906 Act and have a headright 
share of the mineral revenues from the reservation.
    As a result, the 1906 Act excludes many thousands of Osage 
persons from being members of the tribe because they do not 
have headright shares. Ironically, in the eyes of the federal 
government, such individuals (including full-blooded Osages) 
are not ``Indians'' because one must be a member of a federally 
recognized tribe to be an Indian. Those Osage people who are 
precluded from being members of the tribe under the terms of 
the 1906 Act are thus denied important services and benefits, 
such as Native American academic scholarships, and more 
importantly, a role in participating in the life and government 
of the tribe. Without clarifying the 1906 Act, the Osage Tribe 
is prevented from attaining the self-sufficiency and strength 
of all other tribes who have the sovereign right and freedom to 
form their own rules.
    H.R. 2912 clarifies the 1906 Act and enables the Osage 
Tribe to craft its own membership and tribal government rules 
on the same footing as all other federally-recognized tribes. 
The bill provides that no one's rights to shares in the mineral 
estate are diminished through the Osage Tribe's new ability to 
determine its own membership. Significantly, in a hearing on 
this bill, a representative of an association of headright 
owners testified in support of the legislation. The bill 
additionally provides that the Secretary of the Interior shall 
assist the tribe in holding appropriate elections and referenda 
at the request of the tribe.
    The full committee hearing on H.R. 2912 was held on the 
Osage Reservation on March 15, 2004, where testimony was 
received from the regional director of the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs, the tribal chief, a tribal councilman, a 
representative of the Osage Shareholders Association, and two 
young Osage Indians who are currently denied membership in the 
tribe because of the 1906 Act. All testified in support of the 
legislation.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 2912 was introduced on July 25, 2003, by Congressman 
Frank Lucas (R-OK). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Resources. On March 15, 2004, the full Committee held a hearing 
on the bill. On May 5, 2004, the Full Resources Committee met 
to consider the bill. No amendments were offered and the bill 
was ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives 
by unanimous consent.

            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, May 17, 2004.
Hon. Richard W. Pombo,
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. 2912, a bill to 
reaffirm the inherent sovereign rights of the Osage Tribe to 
determine its membership and form of government.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Lanette J. 
Walker.
            Sincerely,
                                         Elizabeth Robinson
                               (For Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Director).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 2912--A bill to reaffirm the inherent sovereign rights of the 
        Osage Tribe to determine its membership and form of government

    H.R. 2912 would enable the Osage Tribe to determine the 
tribe's membership roll and government rules in the same manner 
as other federally recognized tribes. In 1906, the Congress 
enacted the Osage Allotment Act that defined membership in the 
Osage Tribe. Under the act, Osage Indians may be legal members 
of the tribe and participate in the tribal government only if 
they are lineal descendants of the original enrollees under the 
1906 act and own a share of the mineral revenues from the 
reservation. CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 2912 would 
have no effect on the federal budget because federal agencies 
currently provide services to all Osage Indians and do not 
restrict services to those considered to be members of the 
tribe under the Osage Allotment Act. Enacting H.R. 2912 would 
not affect revenues or direct spending.
    S. 1423 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. 
Enacting this legislation would benefit the Osage Tribe.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Lanette J. 
Walker. This 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

    If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing 
law.

                                  
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