[House Report 114-250]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


114th Congress}                                           {   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session  }                                           {   114-250

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

 

TO ALLOW THE MIAMI TRIBE OF OKLAHOMA TO LEASE OR TRANSFER CERTAIN LANDS

                                _______
                                

 September 8, 2015.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Bishop of Utah, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted 
                             the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 487]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 487) to allow the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma to 
lease or transfer certain lands, 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. 487 is to allow the Miami Tribe of 
Oklahoma to lease or transfer certain lands.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma (``Tribe'') is a federally 
recognized tribe and organized under the Oklahoma Indian 
Welfare Act of 1936.\1\ The Tribe voted to adopt the Oklahoma 
Indian Welfare Act Constitution and Bylaws on October 10, 1939.
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    \1\49 Stat. 1967.
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    The Non-Intercourse Act (25 U.S.C. Sec. 177) reserves to 
the United States the exclusive right to acquire Indian lands. 
The Act was intended to protect Indian tribes by preventing the 
loss of their lands, except by treaty. It does so by preventing 
the transfer, sale, lease, or other conveyance of land owned by 
an Indian tribe to third parties without federal approval. This 
prohibition applies to both trust and fee lands, regardless of 
the source of money used to obtain the lands. Over the 
centuries, a number of laws providing for the acquisition, 
conveyance, and leasing of land in trust for Indians have had 
the effect of superseding the Non-Intercourse Act even though 
this Act has never been repealed.
    In recent years, the Non-Intercourse Act has generally not 
interfered with a tribe's ability to buy, sell, or lease land 
that it owns in fee simple. However, there is precedent for 
tribes to seek legislation in Congress to waive the Non-
Intercourse Act, as H.R. 487 does, for transactions of non-
trust land over an abundance of caution by both the tribal and 
non-tribal parties. In the 113th Congress, a bill nearly 
identical to H.R. 487 was enacted into law, allowing the Fond 
du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa to lease or transfer fee 
land the tribe owned.\2\ In the 106th Congress, a bill was 
enacted into law with a similar purpose for the Lower Sioux 
Indian Community in Minnesota.\3\ Congress has also enacted 
several other pieces of legislation authorizing several tribes 
to sell or mortgage specific lands.\4\
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    \2\Public Law 102-497, 106 Stat. 3255.
    \3\Public Law 107-331, 116 Stat. 2834.
    \4\Public Law 103-435, 108 Stat. 4566; Public Law 105-256, 112 
Stat. 1896.
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    H.R. 487 would allow the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma to have 
more control over land that the tribe owns in fee without 
further Congressional approval. The bill simply ensures that 
the Non-intercourse Act does not interfere with the ability to 
convey fee land owned by the Tribe, which is viewed by the 
tribe as an interference with economic development and the 
creation of jobs. The tribe has stated that title insurance 
companies may not issue title commitments to either lenders or 
prospective purchasers due to uncertainties raised by an old 
act of Congress.
    As noted previously, the Non-Intercourse Act has not 
generally interfered with a tribe's fee land dealings. However, 
the Act has generated a great deal of litigation throughout 
history which has resulted in several court decisions on the 
issue. Although the purpose of the Non-Intercourse Act is 
viewed by some as quite outdated, the U.S. Supreme Court in 
2005 said it ``remain[s] substantially in force today . . . 
[and] bars sales of tribal land without the acquiescence of the 
Federal Government.''\5\
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    \5\City of Sherill v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York, 544 U.S. 
197, 204 (2005).
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                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 487 was introduced on January 22, 2015, by Congressman 
Markwayne Mullin (R-OK). The bill was referred to the Committee 
on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the 
Subcommittee on Indian, Insular, and Alaska Native Affairs. On 
June 10, 2015, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On 
July 8, 2015, the Natural Resources Committee met to consider 
the bill. The Subcommittee was discharged by unanimous consent. 
No amendments were offered, and the bill was ordered favorably 
reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous consent 
on July 9, 2015.

            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 Natural Resources' oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

    1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) 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)(2)(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. 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:

H.R. 487--A bill to allow the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma to lease or 
        transfer certain lands

    H.R. 487 would authorize the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma to 
lease, sell, warrant, or otherwise transfer any tribal property 
that is not held in trust by the federal government for the 
benefit of the tribe. Based on information provided by the 
Bureau of Indian Affairs, CBO estimates that implementing the 
legislation would have no effect on the federal budget.
    Enacting H.R. 487 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. Any 
receipts from the transfer of the land under the legislation 
would be paid directly to the tribe.
    H.R. 487 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would benefit the tribe.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Martin von 
Gnechten. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
    2. Section 308(a) of 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. The Congressional 
Budget Office estimates that implementation of this bill 
``would have no effect on the federal budget.''
    3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or 
objective of this bill is to allow the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma 
to lease or transfer certain lands.

                           EARMARK STATEMENT

    This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined 
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                       COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5

    Directed Rule Making. The Chairman does not believe that 
this bill directs any executive branch official to conduct any 
specific rule-making proceedings.
    Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not 
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government 
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was 
not included in any report from the Government Accountability 
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139 
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program 
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law 
98-169) as relating to other programs.

                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.

                                  [all]