[Senate Report 109-334]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 606
109th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     109-334

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



 
                         LUMBEE RECOGNITION ACT

                                _______
                                

               September 13, 2006.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 660]

    The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the 
bill, S. 660, to provide for the acknowlegment of the Lumbee 
Tribe of North Carolina, and for other purposes, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon and recommends 
that the bill do pass.

                                Purpose

    S. 660 would provide Federal recognition to the Lumbee 
Indians of North Carolina and make applicable to the group and 
its members all laws that are generally applicable to Indians 
and Federally-recognized Indian tribes and make available all 
services for which such groups are eligible.

                               Background


                     PREVIOUS RECOGNITION ATTEMPTS

    The issue of the status of the Lumbee Indians 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 group.\1\ Hearings were held and reports filed on 
several of these bills.\2\ In addition, Congress requested and 
obtained substantial reports from the Department of the 
Interior on the Lumbees' history and status.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ See, e.g., 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.; S. 420, 108th Cong, 1st Sess. [House 
companion H.R. 898].
    \2\ 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.; S. Rep. No. 108-213, 108th Cong., 1st Sess.
    \3\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Historically, the Department of the Interior has opposed 
Lumbee recognition bills, often on the grounds that recognition 
would entail Federal provision of costly services. For example, 
in 1890 Commissioner of Indian Affairs Moore recommended that 
Congress reject the Tribe's first request for recognition in 
1888, 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.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\ 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 p. 40, Doc. No. 677, 53d 
Cong., 2d sess. (1914).

    While Federal recognition of the group has been elusive, 
state recognition has been long-standing, since 1885. The name 
of the entity, however, has changed through time, depending 
upon the representations of local historians and members of the 
legislature regarding the Indian group's history. The State of 
North Carolina has recognized the group as Croatan [1885 to 
1911], Indians of Robeson County [1911 to 1913], and Cherokee 
Indians of Robeson County [1913-1953].
    Eventually the group became dissatisfied with its name 
under state law. In 1952, the group conducted a referendum on 
its name and voted overwhelmingly for the adoption of the name 
``Lumbee,'' derived from the Lumber River along which the group 
lived in the past and along which many members continue to live 
today. The State of North Carolina changed its law to reflect 
this name change in 1953. The group has since been recognized 
by the State as the Lumbee Tribe.
    In 1955, the Lumbees again sought Federal recognition based 
on the recently amended state law. Again, the Department of the 
Interior opposed the bill, but recommended an amendment that 
included language, consistent with the then-prevailing Federal 
Indian policy of termination, that declared the group 
ineligible for services and not subject to general statutes 
governing Indian affairs. This amended bill was enacted by 
Congress in 1956 and provided that the Indians inhabiting the 
coastal regions of North Carolina ``be known and designated as 
Lumbee Indians of North Carolina. * * * ''\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ Pub. L. 84-570, Act of June 7, 1956, 70 Stat. 254.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In 1988, the Associate Solicitor for Indian Affairs 
concluded that the 1956 Act was not a recognition act but 
instead ``essentially identifie[d] a group of Indians as Lumbee 
Indians.'' \6\ In 1989, the Associate Solicitor for Indian 
Affairs concluded in a formal opinion that the 1956 Lumbee Act 
precluded the Lumbees from participating in the Department of 
the Interior's acknowledgment process for Indian tribes and 
that Congress would need to amend that Act in order for the 
Department to proceed with the recognition process for the 
Lumbees.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\ See Memorandum to Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, U.S. 
Department of the Interior, Office of the Solicitor [BIA-IA-0929] 
(1988) in H.R. Rep. No. 102-215, at 24 (1991).
    \7\ See Memorandum to Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, U.S. 
Department of the Interior, Office of the Solicitor [BIA-IA-0929] 
(1989) in H.R. Rep. No. 102-215, at 26 (1991).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The only other Indian tribe placed by Congress in a similar 
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 an Indian 
tribe, but precluded the application of general Indian statutes 
and the delivery of Federal services to the tribe.\8\ As a 
result, the Tiwas were ineligible for the administrative 
acknowledgment process. 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\ See H. Rep. No. 1070, 90th Cong., 2d Sess.; 82 Stat. 93.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                           HEARING TESTIMONY

    At the July 12, 2006, hearing, the Committee received 
testimony from several sources indicating that the Lumbee have 
existed through history as a tribe. Dr. Jack Campisi, an 
anthropologist who provided consulting services to the Lumbee, 
testified that the Lumbee could meet each of the mandatory 
criteria set forth in the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Federal 
Acknowledgment Process (FAP). See 25 C.F.R. Sec. 83.7.\9\ 
Although Congress is not bound by the BIA criteria when making 
its own recognition decisions, the Committee notes the 
persuasive evidence that has been marshaled in support of 
administrative recognition. Dr. Campisi testified to the 
continuous existence of Indians along the Lumber River, with 
examples of documented presence from 1725 to the present. Dr. 
Campisi specified that the Lumbee are descended from the 
historic Cheraw and related Siouan-speaking tribes as evidenced 
by their historical location on the Lumber River and by the 
fact that traditional Cheraw surnames, such as Locklear, Chavis 
and Groom, continue to be shared by modern-day Lumbees. He 
noted that the Lumbee community remains distinct, as evidenced 
both by its geographic concentration in Robeson County and by 
the high percentage of group members who are married to other 
members of the group.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \9\ Legislative Hearing on S. 660, ``To provide for the 
acknowledgment of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, and for other 
purposes,'' Before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, 109th Cong. 
11 (2006) (statement of Dr. Jack Campisi). At the hearing, however, it 
was also acknowledged that the group could have difficulty meeting the 
last of the mandatory criteria, that ``Neither the petitioner nor its 
members are the subject of congressional legislation that has expressly 
terminated or forbidden the Federal relationship.'' 25 C.F.R. 83.7(g). 
Dr. Campisi acknowledged that the Department of the Interior Office of 
the Solicitor determined in 1989 that the 1956 Lumbee Act forbad the 
federal relationship for the purposes of 25 C.F.R. 83.7(g). The 
Solicitor did not rule out a future federal relationship, however, 
stating that Congress could either amend the 1956 Act to allow the 
group to go through the Federal Acknowledgment Process or enact 
legislation granting recognition.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Dr. Campisi also noted that the Lumbee have maintained 
political authority as evidenced by the group's control over 
its school system and teacher's training college. In 1887, for 
example, the State of North Carolina established a separate 
state-funded school system for Lumbee children. The Lumbee 
managed the school and when, in 1913, the State Attorney 
General opined that the county school board could override 
tribal decisions regarding eligibility to attend the Lumbee 
schools, Lumbee leaders convinced the State Legislature to pass 
special legislation setting aside the Attorney General's 
opinion. The Indian Normal Schoolestablished by the State in 
1888 to train Lumbee teachers for the group's school system has been in 
continuous operation and is today the University of North Carolina at 
Pembroke. Dr. Campisi also testified that key events in the history of 
the Lumbee also corroborate its separate existence as a political 
community. For example, 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. According to Dr. 
Campisi, 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 group.
    Other witnesses testified to the long and difficult path 
that the Lumbee have taken in pursuit of federal recognition. 
James Goins, Chairman of the Lumbee, and Arlinda Locklear, 
counsel for the Lumbee, both testified to the hundred years of 
effort that the group has devoted to seeking legislative and 
administrative recognition. They and the legislation's 
sponsors, Senators Dole and Burr, testified that fundamental 
fairness requires legislative recognition.
    While the Committee thus has received extensive testimony 
that recognition is warranted, it notes one unique factor that 
requires attention. The Lumbee represent the largest non-
Federally recognized tribe in the country, with a tribal 
enrollment estimated between 53,000-75,000. As noted in the 
report provided to the Committee by the Congressional Budget 
Office and in testimony from the Eastern Band of Cherokee, who 
oppose Lumbee recognition, making the Tribe eligible for 
Federal services will result in a substantial budgetary impact 
on all the administrative agencies that provide programs and 
services for Indian tribes. In addition, the Department noted 
in testimony at the July 12, 2006, hearing that, given the 
number of members, it will need a substantial period of time to 
review the membership rolls of the tribe to certify that such 
lists include only Lumbee Indians. Other local Indian groups 
that identify with the historical Tuscarora Tribe located in 
North Carolina have expressed concern that they not be deemed 
Lumbee, either for the purposes of this recognition bill or for 
being subject to the provisions of the 1956 Act. Establishing 
clarity as to Lumbee membership is therefore imperative, both 
for the Department of the Interior and for other North Carolina 
Indians.

                      Summary of Major Provisions

    The Lumbee Recognition Act, S. 660, amends Pub. L. 84-570, 
the 1956 Lumbee Act, 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.
    Section 2 adds additional precatory clauses to the preamble 
of the 1956 Lumbee Act.
    Section 3 amends the 1956 Lumbee Act by striking the 
current Section 2 of the 1956 Lumbee Act, and inserting a new 
Section 2 that will provide Federal recognition to the Lumbee 
Tribe. Language of this new section further provides that any 
other group of Indians in Robeson and adjoining counties, North 
Carolina, which heretofore has been prevented from pursuing 
petitions pursuant to 25 C.F.R. Part 83, will be deemed 
eligible to have their petitions for tribal acknowledgment 
considered. The Committee received testimony at the July 12, 
2006, hearing from the BIA's Office of Federal Acknowledgment 
Director, who indicated that six other groups in Robeson and 
adjoining counties in North Carolina, who have petitioned under 
the Federal Acknowledgment Process, have been determined 
ineligible to petition, based on the 1989 Solicitor's opinion. 
In addition, more than 80 other groups that have contacted the 
Office of Federal Acknowledgment are affected by the 1956 
Lumbee Act.
    The Committee further notes that section 2 does not restore 
the Tribe, but extends Federal recognition. It is the express 
intent of the Committee that this bill not bedeemed to be a 
restoration act, for purposes of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 25 
U.S.C. 2701 et seq., or otherwise.
    Section 3 of the bill further amends the 1956 Lumbee Act to 
provide a new Section 3 that provides that the Tribe and its 
members will be eligible for the programs and services that are 
available to other Federally recognized tribes. The bill does 
not automatically 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. The new 
Section 3 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 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.
    With regard to land, the bill will insert a new Section 4 
into the 1956 Lumbee Act. This new section will provide that 
land within Robeson County, North Carolina, will be eligible to 
be taken into trust by the United States and will be treated as 
on-reservation for all administrative purposes. Notwithstanding 
the taking of land into trust for the Tribe, the bill will 
insert into the 1956 Lumbee Act a new Section 5 that provides 
that the State of North Carolina will continue to exercise 
civil and criminal jurisdiction over tribal members and any 
lands that may be acquired in trust for the Tribe, except for 
application of Section 109 of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 
1978.\10\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \10\ 25 U.S.C. Sec. 1919.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                          Legislative History

    S. 660 was introduced by Senators Dole and Burr on March 
17, 2005, and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. On 
May 24, 2006, Senator Crapo was added as a cosponsor. The 
Committee held a hearing on the bill on July 12, 2006.
    The Committee ordered the bill to be reported favorably on 
August 2, 2006.

                 Section-by-Section Analysis of S. 660

    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 acknowledged the 
Lumbee Indians as an Indian tribe but withheld the benefits, 
privileges and immunities to which other Federally recognized 
tribes are entitled; and (4) are entitled to Federal 
recognition as a distinct Indian tribe and to the benefits, 
privileges and immunities that accompany such status.
    Section 3 amends the 1956 Act by striking the last sentence 
of the first section and all of section 2 and inserting the 
following provisions to the Act:
    A new section 2(a) 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 2(b) provides that notwithstanding (a), any 
group of Indians in Robeson and adjoining counties, North 
Carolina, whose members are not enrolled in the Lumbee Tribe 
may petition under part 83 of title 25 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations for acknowledgment of tribal existence.
    A new section 3(a) provides that the Lumbee Tribe and its 
members 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 departments of the Interior and 
Health and Human Services to conduct a needs assessment and 
develop a budget for the services to which members of the Tribe 
are eligible, in consultation with the Tribe. Both secretaries 
are directed to submit to Congress a written statement of such 
needs and budget the first fiscal year following the 
verification of a tribal roll under subsection (c). Subsection 
(c) authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to verify a tribal 
roll for the purposes of the delivery of federal 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.
    A new section 6 authorizes such sums as are necessary to 
carry out the Act.

            Committee Recommendation and Tabulation of Vote

    The Committee held a business meeting to consider S.660 on 
August 2, 2006. At that business meeting, Senator Thomas 
offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute to the bill 
as introduced. Senator Thomas's amendment in the nature of a 
substitute would enable the Lumbees (and any other group of 
Indians in Robeson and adjoining counties in North Carolina) to 
go through the administrative Federal Acknowledgment Process in 
the Bureau of Indian Affairs, notwithstanding the 1956 Lumbee 
Act and, if recognized under the administrative process, to 
receive federal services. The amendment would also deem the 
documented petition of the Lumbee Indians (Petitioner #65) that 
was submitted to the BIA in 1988 to be complete. The Thomas 
amendment was defeated in a 6 to 8 rollcall vote, listed below.

        Voting no                     Voting aye
Senator McCain                      Senator Thomas
Senator Murkowski                   Senator Coburn
Senator Domenici                    Senator Dorgan
Senator Smith                       Senator Conrad
Senator Crapo                       Senator Johnson
Senator Burr                        Senator Cantwell
                                    Senator Inouye
                                    Senator Akaka

    The Committee then voted, by voice vote, to report S. 660 
favorably to the full Senate, without amendment.

                   Cost and Budgetary Considerations

    The cost estimate for S. 660 as calculated by the 
Congressional Budget Office, is set forth below:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                Washington, DC, September 11, 2006.
Hon. John McCain,
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. 660, the Lumbee 
Recognition Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Daniel S. 
Hoople.
            Sincerely,
                                          Donald B. Marron,
                                                   Acting Director.
    Enclosure.

S. 660--Lumbee Recognition Act

    Summary: S. 660 would provide federal recognition to the 
Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. CBO estimates that implementing 
this legislation would cost the Federal Government about $80 
million in fiscal year 2007 and $473 million over the 2007-2011 
period, assuming the appropriation of the necessary funds. 
Enacting S. 660 would have no effect on direct spending or 
revenues.
    S. 660 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. 660 is shown in the following table. The 
costs of this legislation fall within budget functions 450 
(community and regional development) and 550 (health).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                       By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
                                                                    --------------------------------------------
                                                                       2007     2008     2009     2010     2011
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRlATION
Bureau of Indian Affairs:
    Estimated Authorization Level..................................       22       22       23       23       24
    Estimated Outlays..............................................       15       21       22       23       23
Indian Health Service:
    Estimated Authorization Level..................................       70       72       75       78       81
    Estimated Outlays..............................................       63       72       75       78       81
    Total Changes:
        Estimated Authorization Level..............................       92       94       98      101      105
        Estimated Outlays..........................................       78       93       97      101      104
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Basis of estimate: S. 660 would provide federal recognition 
to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Such recognition would 
allow the Lumbee to receive funding from various programs 
administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), including 
child welfare services, adult care, family services, general 
assistance, and the Indian Health Service (IHS).

Bureau of Indian Affairs

    BIA provides funding to federally recognized Indian tribes 
based on membership population or acreage of land held in trust 
by the federal government. Based on information from the Lumbee 
Tribe, there are approximately 39,700 Lumbee currently residing 
``on or near the reservation'' as defined by the bill. Assuming 
the appropriation of the necessary funds, CBO estimates that 
implementing S. 660 would cost approximately $15 million in 
2007 and $104 million in BIA funding over the 2007-2011 period. 
This estimate is based on expenditures for other federally 
recognized tribes located in the eastern United States; the 
Lumbee Tribe may qualify for more or fewer services and funding 
than other tribes in the region, thus the cost to implement 
this bill is uncertain.

Indian Health Service

    S. 660 also would make members of the Lumbee Tribe eligible 
to receive health benefits from the Indian Health Service. 
Based on information from IHS, CBO estimates that about 55 
percent of tribal members--or about 22,000 people--would 
receive benefits each year. CBO assumes that the cost to serve 
those individuals would be similar to funding for current 
beneficiaries--about $3,100 per person in 2007. Assuming 
appropriation of the necessary funds, CBO estimates that IHS 
benefits for the Lumbee Tribe would cost $63 million in 2007 
and $369 million over the 2007-2011 period.

Other

    In addition to BIA and IHS funds, certain Indian tribes 
also receive funding from other federal programs within the 
Departments of Education, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, 
and Agriculture. Based on their status as a state-recognized 
tribe, the Lumbee are currently eligible to receive funding 
from those sources. Thus, CBO estimates that enactment of S. 
660 would not add to the cost of those programs.
    Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: S. 660 
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: Bureau of Indian 
Affairs--Daniel Hoople, Indian Health Service--Eric Rollins. 
Impact on state, local, and tribal governments: Marjorie 
Miller. Impact on the Private Sector: Carla-Marie Ulerie.
    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. 660 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 show 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 
recurrent 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 
he 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 
        deemed 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.''

                                  
