[Senate Report 108-213]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 419
108th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session                                                    108-213

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



 
PROVIDING FOR THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE LUMBEE TRIBE OF NORTH CAROLINA, 
                         AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

               November 25, 2003.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 420]

    The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the 
bill (S. 420), to provide for the acknowledgment of the Lumbee 
Tribe of North Carolina, 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.

                                Purpose

    S. 420 would provide Federal recognition to the Lumbee 
Tribe of North Carolina and make applicable to the Lumbee Tribe 
and its members all laws that are generally applicable to 
Indians and Federally-recognized Indian tribes. The substitute 
amendment adopted by the Committee is identical to H.R. 898 
introduced by Mr. McIntyre and Mr. Hayes in the House of 
Representatives on February 25, 2003, and referred to the House 
Committee on Resources.

                               Background


Previous recognition attempts

    The issue of the status of the Lumbee Tribe of North 
Carolina (the ``Tribe'') comes to the Committee with a 
voluminous congressional and administrative record. Beginning 
in 1899, numerous bills have been introduced in Congress to 
recognize the Tribe. See H.R. 4009, 56th Cong., 1st Sess.; H.R. 
19036, 61st Cong., 2d Sess.; S. 3258, 62d Cong., 1st Sess.; 
[House companion H.R. 20728]; H.R. 8083, 68th Cong., 1st Sess.; 
S. 4595, 72d Cong., 2d Sess.; H.R. 5365, 73d Cong., 1st Sess. 
[Senate companion S. 1632]; H.R. 4656, 84th Cong., 1st Sess.; 
H.R. 5042, 100th Cong., 1st Sess. [Senate companion S. 2672]; 
H.R. 2335, 101st Cong., 1st Sess. [Senate companion S. 901]; 
H.R. 1426, 102d Cong., 1st Sess. [Senate companion S. 1036]; 
H.R. 334, 103d Cong., 1st Sess.
    Hearings were held and reports filed on several of these 
bills. See Hearing before the Senate Committee on Indian 
Affairs on S. 3258, 62d Cong., 2d Sess., April 4, 1912; Hearing 
before the Committee on Indian Affairs, House of 
Representatives, on S. 3258, Feb. 14, 1913; H. Rep. No. 1752, 
73d Cong., 2d Sess.; S. Rep. No. 204, 73d Cong., 2d Sess.; H. 
Rep. No. 1654, 84th Cong., 2d Sess.; S. Rep. No. 84-2012, 84th 
Cong., 2d Sess.; S. Rep. No. 100-579, 100th Cong., 2d Sess.; H. 
Rep. No. 102-215, 102d Cong., 1st Sess.; H. Rep. No. 103-290, 
103d Cong., 1st Sess. In addition, Congress requested and 
obtained substantial reports from the Department of the 
Interior on the Tribe's history and status. See Indian School 
Supervisor Pierce Report, filed with Senate on April 4, 1912; 
Special Indian Agent McPherson report, Doc. No. 677, 53d Cong., 
2d Sess., prepared in 1914; Report of J.R. Swanton, Smithsonian 
Institute, at request of Bureau of Indian Affairs and submitted 
to Congress at the 1933 hearing; and Fred A. Baker Report on 
the Siouan Tribe of Indians of Robeson County, July 9, 1935. 
These hearings and studies concluded that the Lumbees were a 
distinct, viable Indian community descended from Siouan 
speaking tribes, principally the Cheraw.
    The various bills to recognize the Tribe failed generally 
due to the opposition of the Department of the Interior. The 
Department's opposition was typically based on the cost of 
providing services, not on questions related to the Tribe's 
Indian ancestry or tribal governmental status. For example, in 
1890 Commissioner of Indian Affairs Moore recommended that 
Congress reject the Tribe's first request for recognition in 
1888, made in the form of a formal petition to Congress signed 
by tribal leaders, on the grounds of cost, advising Congress:

          While I regret exceedingly that the provisions made 
        by the State of North Carolina are entirely inadequate, 
        I find it quite impractical to render any assistance at 
        this time. The government is responsible for the 
        education of something like 36,000 Indian children and 
        has provision for less than half that number. So long 
        as the immediate wards of the government are so 
        insufficiently provided for, I do not see how I can 
        consistently render any assistance to the Croatans or 
        any other civilized tribes.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs, as quoted in the O.M. McPherson 
Report on Condition and Tribal Rights of the Indians of Robeson 
and Adjoining Counties of North Carolina, at page 40, Doc. No. 
677, 53d Cong., 2d sess. (1914).
    As Commissioner Moore indicated, the Tribe was recognized 
by the State of North Carolina, and has been so continuously 
since 1885. In its recognition acts, the State of North 
Carolina imposed various names on the Tribe, based on the 
representations of local historians and members of the 
legislature regarding the Tribe's history. These included 
Croatan [1885 to 1911], Indians of Robeson County [1911 to 
1913], Cherokee Indians of Robeson County [1913-1953], and 
finally Lumbee Indians [1953 to present]. Because of the 
Department's research, the Tribe became dissatisfied with its 
name under state law. Under pressure from the Tribe, the state 
authorized the Tribe to conduct a referendum on its name. The 
Tribe did so in 1952 and voted overwhelmingly for the adoption 
of the name Lumbee, derived from the Lumber River, where the 
Tribe resided historically and continues to reside at present. 
The State of North Carolina changed its law to reflect this 
name change in 1953. The Tribe has ever since been recognized 
by the state as the Lumbee Tribe.
    Congress' deliberations on the Tribe's history produced 
more authoritative reports by the Department of the Interior. 
In 1934, the Department expressed to Congress the view, based 
upon a report by the eminent John R. Swanton of the Bureau of 
Ethnology, that the Lumbees descend from the Cheraw and related 
Siouan speaking tribes of coastal North Carolina. This 
conclusion has since been corroborated by leading historians in 
the field, including Dr. William Sturtevant, editor in chief of 
the Smithsonian Institution's Handbook of North American 
Indians and Dr. James Merrell, professor of colonial history at 
Vassar College.
    As it had in the past, the Tribe in 1955 sought Federal 
recognition based on the recently amended state law. Again, the 
Department opposed the bill and recommended that Congress amend 
the bill by including termination language, consistent with the 
then-prevailing Federal Indian policy of termination. This 
amended bill was enacted by Congress in 1956, Pub. L. 84-570, 
Act of June 7, 1956, 70 Stat. 254. Thus, Congress 
simultaneously acknowledged the Lumbee Indians and terminated 
the Tribe from Federal Indian services and benefits. In 1989, 
the Associate Solicitor for Indian Affairs concluded in a 
formal opinion that the 1956 Lumbee Act precludes the Tribe 
from participating in the Department of the Interior's 
acknowledgment process for Indian tribes. See Memorandum to 
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the 
Interior, Office of the Solicitor [BIA.IA.0929] (1988).
    The only other Indian tribe placed by Congress in precisely 
the same anomalous position is the Tiwa Tribe of Texas. Using 
the 1956 Lumbee Act as the model, in 1968 the Congress enacted 
a statute that acknowledged the Tiwas--a state recognized 
tribe--as Indians but precluded the application of general 
Indian statutes and the delivery of Federal services to the 
tribe. See H. Rep. No. 1070, 90th Cong., 2d Sess.; 82 Stat. 93. 
As a result, the Tiwas were ineligible for the administrative 
acknowledgment process, just as are the Lumbees. In 1987, 
Congress enacted legislation to restore the Tiwas, renamed the 
Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, to the Federal relationship, Pub. L. 
100-89, Act of August 18, 1987, 101 Stat. 667.

The Federal Acknowledgment Process criteria

    At the September 17, 2003, hearing the Committee received 
testimony indicating that, were the Lumbee Tribe eligible for 
administrative acknowledgment, the Tribe would meet all but one 
of the mandatory criteria set forth in the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs' Federal Acknowledgment Process (FAP). See 25 C.F.R. 
Sec. 83.7.
    First, the evidence contained in the numerous Congressional 
and Administrative reports establishes that the Tribe is 
descended from the historic Cheraw and related Siouan-speaking 
tribes. Historically, the Cheraw were located on Drowning Creek 
in North Carolina. Drowning Creek was renamed the Lumber River 
by the State of North Carolina in 1809. The ancestors of the 
modern day Lumbee Tribe have been located on and around 
Drowning Creek/Lumber River ever since the first contact with 
Europeans in the early 1700's. Modern day Lumbee Indians share 
the same distinctive surnames as the historic Cheraw Tribe, 
i.e., Locklear, Chavis, Groom and others. This evidence 
supports the Department's view expressed in 1934 that the 
Lumbee Tribe descends from the historic Cheraw Tribe and meets 
one of the FAP mandatory criteria. See 25 C.F.R. Sec. 83.7(e).
    Second, Dr. Jack Campisi, a recognized expert in matters of 
Federal recognition and on the Lumbee Tribe's history, 
testified at the Committee's hearing on September 17, 2003, 
that the Tribe meets the high evidence standard for community 
and political authority two ways: by geographic concentration 
and in-marriage. Dr. Campisi testified that approximately 65% 
of the approximately 53,000 tribal members reside in the core 
area of Robeson and adjoining counties; this exceeds the 50% 
requirement for conclusive proof of community and political 
authority under the regulations. See 25 C.F.R. 
Sec. 83.7(b)(2)(i). Dr. Campisi also testified that 70% of 
those tribal members who are married are married to other 
tribal members. Again, this exceeds the 50% requirement for 
conclusive proof of community and political authority in the 
regulations. Id. at Sec. 83.7(b)(2)(ii), and Sec. 83.7(c)(3).
    Key events in the history of the Tribe corroborate its 
separate existence as a political community. See 25 C.F.R. 
Sec. 83.7(a). During the Civil War, the North Carolina Home 
Guard attempted to conscript ancestors of the Lumbee into 
confederate service. The Lumbees resisted this effort, 
resulting in the formation of a defensive band led by Henry 
Berry Lowrie. Lowrie was protected by tribal members and never 
captured by the Home Guard. Lowrie is a folk hero among the 
Lumbee and his life is commemorated today in the annual 
``Strike at the Wind'' outdoor drama held by the Tribe.
    Later, in 1887 the State of North Carolina established a 
separate state-funded school system for Lumbee children, one 
that the Tribe itself ran. In 1913, the State Attorney General 
opined that the county school board could override tribal 
decisions regarding eligibility to attend the Lumbee schools. 
Tribal leaders objected to this infringement on their 
independence and in 1921 convinced the state legislature to 
pass special legislation setting aside the Attorney General's 
opinion. The Indian Normal School established by the state in 
1888 to train Lumbee teachers for the Tribe's school system has 
been in continuous operation and is today the University of 
North Carolina at Pembroke.
    It appears that the Tribe can provide substantial evidence 
to support its claim to meet all of the mandatory criteria 
except one--that it is not ``the subject of congressional 
legislation that has expressly terminated or forbidden the 
federal relationship.'' 25 C.F.R. Sec. 83.7(g).
    Finally, the Committee stresses that the Lumbee Tribe of 
North Carolina is different from every other non-Federally 
recognized tribe in several respects. First, it is the largest 
non-Federally recognized tribe in the country, with a tribal 
enrollment of 53,000. The Committee received a letter of 
support for S. 420 from retired Bureau of Indian Affairs 
official Bud Shapard, the principal author of the 
acknowledgment regulations. Mr. Shapard observed that the 
administrative process was simply not designed to handle 
petitions from tribes the size of the Lumbee Tribe. Second, the 
Congress has an extraordinary record on the Lumbee Tribe 
developed in response to the Tribe's more than hundred year 
effort to obtain Federal recognition. This record corroborates 
the tribal existence of the Lumbees. Finally, the Lumbee Tribe 
has received substantial support from Indian tribal leaders 
throughout the country, and Indian tribal organizations, 
including the National Congress of American Indians, and from 
some, but not all, of the tribes within the United South and 
Eastern Tribes organization. For these reasons, the Committee 
is of the view that recognition by special legislation is the 
appropriate remedy to the Tribe's anomalous status.

                      Summary of Major Provisions

    The Lumbee Recognition Act, S. 420, amends Pub. L. 84-570, 
to provide recognition to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina 
and to apply to the Tribe all Federal laws of general 
application to Indians and Indian tribes.
    The Committee notes the new section 2 imposes the same 
trust responsibilities on the United States with respect to the 
Lumbee Tribe that the United States holds with respect to every 
other Federally recognized tribe. Under this bill, the Lumbee 
Tribe shall enjoy no more and no less in terms of privileges, 
immunities, powers, services and benefits than every other 
Federally recognized tribe. The Committee further notes that 
section 2 does not restore the Tribe, but extends Federal 
recognition. Thus, the bill is not deemed to be a restoration 
act, for purposes of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 25 
U.S.C. Sec. 2701 et seq., or otherwise.
    The bill does not create an Indian reservation but merely 
defines a service delivery area within which the Tribe and its 
members will be eligible to receive Federal services. 
Additionally, land within that area will be eligible to be 
taken into trust acquisition by the United States and will be 
treated as on-reservation for all administrative purposes.
    S. 420 also provides for verification of the tribal 
membership roll by the Secretary of the Interior for purposes 
of delivery of services. The Committee notes that this 
verification is not intended to authorize the Secretary to 
independently impose eligibility standards for membership. 
Rather it is simply intended to provide the Secretary, in 
keeping with her trust responsibilities, with oversight to 
insure that each enrolled member actually appears on the 
Tribe's membership roll with the supporting documentation 
required by the Tribe.
    The bill provides for the State of North Carolina to 
continue to exercise civil and criminal jurisdiction over 
tribal members and any lands that may be acquired in trust for 
the Tribe. The Committee notes that this provision is a 
departure from long-established Federal Indian policy, which 
provides generally for exclusive Federal and tribal civil and 
criminal jurisdiction over tribal members and tribal lands. 
However, similar jurisdictional provisions have been provided 
by Federal statute on a case-by-case basis for specific Indian 
reservations or within specific states. See e.g. P.L. 83-280, 
67 Stat. 589, Aug. 15, 1953. The intent of this provision is to 
maintain the status quo with respect to jurisdiction, since the 
Tribe has enjoyed a long-standing relationship with the State 
of North Carolina, and is well represented among elected 
members of local governments where tribal members are 
geographically concentrated. The Committee further notes that 
this bill makes provision for retrocession of that jurisdiction 
from the State of North Carolina to the United States upon 
agreement between the Tribe and the State of North Carolina.

                          Legislative History

    S. 420 was introduced by Senator Dole on February 14, 2003, 
and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. The Committee 
held a hearing on the bill on September 17, 2003.
    On October 30, 2003, Senator Edwards was added as 
cosponsor. On November 10, 2003, Senators Akaka, Bennett, 
Campbell, Craig, Crapo, Hatch, Inouye, McCain, McConnell, 
Mikulski, Pryor, Smith, and Snowe were added as cosponsors. 
Senator Lott was added as an additional cosponsor on November 
13, 2003.
    The Committee ordered the bill to be reported favorably 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute on October 29, 
2003. The substitute is identical to H.R. 898, sponsored by Mr. 
McIntyre and Mr. Hayes, and introduced in the House of 
Representatives on February 25, 2003.

                 Section-by-Section Analysis of S. 420

    Section 1 titles the bill the Lumbee Recognition Act.
    Section 2 amends the preamble to the Act of June 7, 1956 by 
incorporating Congressional findings that the Lumbee Indians of 
Robeson and adjoining counties in North Carolina: (1) are 
descendants of North Carolina Indian tribes, mainly Cheraw; (2) 
have been recognized by the State of North Carolina since 1885; 
(3) are subject to a 1956 Act of Congress that acknowledges the 
Lumbee Indians as an Indian tribe but withholds the benefits, 
privileges and immunities to which other Federally recognized 
tribes are entitled; and (4) are entitled to Federal 
recognition as a distinct Indian community.
    Section 3 amends the 1956 Act by striking the last sentence 
of the first section and section 2 and inserting the following 
provisions to the Act:
    A new section 2 provides for Federal recognition of the 
Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and for application to such 
tribe of all Federal laws of general application to Indians and 
Indian tribes.
    A new section 3 (a) that provides that all members of the 
Lumbee Tribe shall be eligible for services provided to Indians 
because of their status as Indians and defines the service area 
for delivery of those services as Robeson, Cumberland, Hoke, 
and Scotland Counties in North Carolina. Subsection (b) directs 
the Secretaries of the Department of the Interior and Health 
and Human Services to conduct a needs assessment and develop a 
budget for those services in consultation with the Tribe. Both 
secretaries are directed to submit to Congress a written 
statement of such needs and budget to Congress the first fiscal 
year following the verification of a tribal roll under 
subsection (c). Subsection (c) authorizes the Secretary of the 
Department of the Interior to verify a tribal roll for the 
purposes of the delivery of services within one year after the 
date of enactment.
    A new section 4 provides that any request by the tribe to 
the Secretary of the Interior for a trust acquisition of land 
in Robeson County, North Carolina, shall be treated as an on-
reservation acquisition under governing Federal regulations.
    A new section 5(a) provides that the State of North 
Carolina shall continue to exercise civil and criminal 
jurisdiction over tribal members and any lands that may be 
acquired in trust for the tribe. Subsection (b) authorizes the 
Secretary of the Interior, after consultation with the Attorney 
General of the United States, to accept a transfer of any 
portion of jurisdiction from the state pursuant to an agreement 
between the Lumbee Tribe and the state providing for such.
    A new section 6 authorizes such sums as are necessary to 
carry out the Act.

            Committee Recommendation and Tabulation of Vote

    On October 29, 2003, the Committee in an open business 
session considered S. 420. During consideration of S. 420, a 
substitute amendment was considered by the Committee. The 
Committee by a voice vote favorably reported the bill, as 
amended by substitute amendment, and recommended that the 
Senate pass S. 420. Senator Thomas requested that he be 
recorded as opposing the legislation.

                   Cost and Budgetary Considerations

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                 Washington, DC, November 21, 2003.
Hon. Ben Nighthorse Campbell,
Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 420, the Lumbee 
Recognition Act.
    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 M. Robinson
                               (For Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Director).
    Enclosure.

S. 420--Lumbee Recognition Act

    Summary: S. 420 would provide federal recognition to the 
Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. CBO estimates that implementing 
S. 420 would cost the federal government about $430 million 
over the 2004-2008 period, assuming that the tribe receives 
services and benefits at a level similar to other currently 
recognized tribes and that the necessary funds are 
appropriated. Enacting S. 420 would have no effect on direct 
spending or revenues.
    S. 420 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) 
and would impose no direct costs on state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated 
budgetary impact of S. 420 is shown in the following table. The 
costs of this legislation fall within budget functions 450 
(community and regional development) and 550 (health).
    Basis of estimate: S. 420 would provide federal recognition 
to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina as an Indian tribe. 
Although the bill does not specifically authorize the 
appropriation of funds, it would make members of the Lumbee 
eligible to receive services through the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs (BIA) and the Indian Health Service (IHS). Thus, those 
federal agencies would be required to include members of the 
tribe among those eligible for benefits and may need additional 
appropriated funds to provide such benefits.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                       By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
                                                                    --------------------------------------------
                                                                       2004     2005     2006     2007     2008
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION

Bureau of Indian Affairs:
    Estimated authorization level..................................       20       21       21       22       22
    Estimated outlays..............................................       15       20       21       21       22
Indian Health Service:
    Estimated authorization level..................................       62       64       66       67       69
    Estimated outlays..............................................       62       64       66       67       69
  Total
      Estimated authorization level................................       82       85       87       89       91
      Estimated outlays............................................       77       84       87       88       91
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bureau of Indian Affairs

    As a federally recognized tribe, the Lumbee would be 
eligible for various programs administered by BIA, including 
child welfare services, adult care, child and family services, 
and general assistance. Based on information from the tribe, 
CBO estimates that S. 420 would increase such costs by about 
$15 million in 2004 and about $100 million over the next five 
years to support approximately 34,000 members of the Lumbee 
Tribe, subject to the availability of appropriations. This 
estimate is based on BIA's current per capita expenditures for 
other tribes located in the eastern United States.

Indian Health Service

    S. 420 also would make members of the Lumbee Tribe eligible 
to receive health benefits from the IHS. Based on information 
from IHS, CBO estimates that average spending per eligible 
individual would be about $1,800 in 2004. As noted above, the 
bill would make approximately 34,000 members of the Lumbee 
Tribe eligible for benefits. Thus, CBO estimates that S. 420 
would cost about $60 million in 2004 and about $330 million 
over the 2004-2008 period, assuming appropriation of the 
necessary funds.
    Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: S. 420 
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as 
defined in UMRA and would impose no direct costs on state, 
local, or tribal governments.
    Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Lanette J. Walker--
Bureau of Indian Affairs and Eric Rollins--Indian Health 
Service. Impact on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: 
Marjorie Miler. Impact on the Private Sector: Cecil McPherson.
    Estimate approved by: Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                      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. 420, as 
amended, will have a minimal impact on regulatory or paperwork 
requirements.

                        Executive Communications

    There have been no executive communications received on 
this legislation.

                        Changes in Existing Law

    In compliance with subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman:)

                           Public Law 84-570


        AN ACT Relating to the Lumbee Indians of North Carolina

Whereas many Indians now living in Robeson and adjoining 
        counties are descendants of that once large and 
        prosperous tribe which occupied the lands along the 
        Lumbee River at the time of the earliest white 
        settlements in that section; [and]
Whereas at the time of their first contacts with the colonists, 
        these Indians were a well-established and distinctive 
        people, living in European-type houses in settled towns 
        and communities, owning slaves and livestock, tilling 
        the soil, and practicing many of the arts and crafts of 
        European civilization; [and]
Whereas by reason of tribal legend, coupled with a distinctive 
        appearance and manner of speech and the frequent 
        recurrence among them of family names such as Oxendine, 
        Locklear, Chavis, Drinkwater, Bullard, Lowery, Sampson, 
        and other, also found on the roster of the earliest 
        English settlements, these Indians may, with 
        considerable show of reason, trace their origin to an 
        admixture of colonial blood with certain coastal tribes 
        of Indians; [and]
Whereas these people are naturally and understandably proud of 
        their heritage, and desirous of establishing their 
        social status and preserving their racial history[: 
        Now, therefore,];
Whereas the Lumbee Indians of Robeson and adjoining counties in 
        North Carolina are descendants of coastal North 
        Carolina Indian tribes, principally Cheraw, and have 
        remained a distinct Indian community since the time of 
        contact with white settlers;
Whereas since 1885 the State of North Carolina has recognized 
        the Lumbee Indians as an Indian tribe;
Whereas in 1956 the Congress of the United States acknowledged 
        the Lumbee Indians as an Indian tribe, but withheld 
        from the Lumbee Tribe the benefits, privileges and 
        immunities to which the Tribe and its members otherwise 
        would have been entitled by virtue of the Tribe status 
        as a federally recognized tribe; and
Whereas the Congress finds that the Lumbee Indians should now 
        be entitled to full Federal recognition of their status 
        as an Indian tribe and that the benefits, privileges 
        and immunities that accompany such status should be 
        accorded to the Lumbee Tribe: Now, Therefore,
    Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of 
Representatives of the United States of America in Congress 
assembled, That the Indians now residing in Robeson and 
adjoining counties of North Carolina, originally found by the 
first white settlers on the Lumbee River in Robeson County, and 
claiming joint descent from remnants of early American 
colonists and certain tribes of Indians originally inhabiting 
the coastal regions of North Carolina, shall, from and after 
the ratification of this Act, be known and designated as Lumbee 
Indians of North Carolina and shall continue to enjoy all 
rights, privileges, and immunities enjoyed by them as citizens 
of the State of North Carolina and of the United States as they 
enjoyed before the enactment of this Act, and shall continue to 
be subject to all the obligations and duties of such citizens 
under the laws of the State of North Carolina and the United 
States. [Nothing in this Act shall make such Indians eligible 
for any services performed by the United States for Indians 
because of their status as Indians, and none of the statutes of 
the United States which affect Indians because of their status 
as Indians shall be applicable to the Lumbee Indians. Sec. 2. 
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are hereby 
repealed.]

SEC. 2. RECOGNITION.

    (a) In General.--Federal recognition is extended to the 
Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. All laws and regulations of the 
United States of general application to Indians and Indian 
tribes shall apply to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and 
its members.
    (b) Petition.--Notwithstanding the first section, any group 
of Indians in Robeson and adjoining counties, North Carolina, 
whose members are not enrolled in the Lumbee Tribe of North 
Carolina as determined under section 3(c), may petition under 
part 83 of title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations for 
acknowledgment of tribal existence.

SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR SERVICES AND BENEFITS.

    (a) In General.--
          (1) Services and benefits.--The Lumbee Tribe of North 
        Carolina and its members shall be eligible for all 
        services and benefits provided to Indians because of 
        their status as members of a federal recognized tribe.
          (2) Residence on or near reservation.--For the 
        purposes of the delivery of such services, those 
        members of the tribe residing in Robeson, Cumberland, 
        Hoke, and Scotland counties in North Carolina shall be 
        deeded to be residing on or near an Indian reservation.
    (b) Determination of Needs and Budget.--
          (1) In general.--On verification by the Secretary of 
        the Interior of a tribal roll under subsection (c), the 
        Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services shall develop, in consultation with 
        the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, a determination of 
        needs and budget to provide the services to which 
        members of the tribe are eligible.
          (2) Inclusion in budget request.--The Secretary of 
        the Interior and Secretary of Health and Human Services 
        shall each submit a written statement of such needs and 
        budget with the first budget request submitted to 
        Congress after the fiscal year in which the tribal roll 
        is verified.
    (c) Tribal Roll.--
          (1) In general.--For purposes of the delivery of 
        Federal services, the tribal roll in effect on the date 
        of the enactment of this section shall, subject to 
        verification by the Secretary of the Interior, define 
        the service population of the tribe.
          (2) Verification.--The Secretary's verification shall 
        be limited to confirming compliance with the membership 
        criteria set out in the tribe's constitution adopted on 
        November 11, 2000, which verification shall be 
        completed not less than 1 year after the date of the 
        enactment of this section.

SEC. 4. FEE LAND.

    Fee land that the tribe seeks to convey to the United 
States to be held in trust shall be treated by the Secretary of 
the Interior as on-reservation trust acquisitions under part 
151 of title 25 Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor 
regulation) if the land is located within Robeson County, North 
Carolina.

SEC. 5. STATE JURISDICTION.

    (a) In General.--The State of North Carolina shall exercise 
jurisdiction over--
          (1) all criminal offenses that are committed on; and
          (2) all civil actions that arise on, lands located 
        within the State of North Carolina that are owned by, 
        or held in trust by the United States for, the Lumbee 
        Tribe of North Carolina, or any dependent Indian 
        community of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.
    (b) Transfer.--
          (1) In general.--The Secretary of the Interior may 
        accept on behalf of the United States, after consulting 
        with the Attorney General of the United States any 
        transfer by the State of North Carolina to the United 
        States of any portion of the jurisdiction of the State 
        of North Carolina described in paragraph (1) under an 
        agreement between the Lumbee Tribe and the State of 
        North Carolina.
          (2) Effective date.--Such transfer or jurisdiction 
        may not take effect until 2 years after the effective 
        date of the agreement.
    (c) Effect of Section.--This section shall not affect the 
application of section 109 of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 
1978 (25 U.S.C. 1919).

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

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

                                
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