[House Report 114-77]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


114th Congress     }                               {       Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session       }                               {       114-77
===================================================================
 
TO REVOKE THE CHARTER OF INCORPORATION OF THE MIAMI TRIBE OF OKLAHOMA 
          AT THE REQUEST OF THAT TRIBE, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

 April 15, 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. 533]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 533) to revoke the charter of incorporation of 
the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma at the request of that tribe, and 
for other purposes, 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. 533 is to revoke the charter of 
incorporation of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma at the request of 
that tribe.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    H.R. 533 is a non-controversial bill that would revoke a 
corporate charter issued to the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma under 
the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of 1936 (49 Stat. 1967). This 
Act is similar to but separate from the 1934 Indian 
Reorganization Act (25 U.S.C. 461) which mainly concerned 
recognized tribes located outside the state of Oklahoma. The 
Tribe voted to adopt the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act 
Constitution and Bylaws on October 10, 1939. Accordingly, on 
June 1, 1940, the Department of the Interior ratified the 
Tribe's Corporate Charter. The Charter allows the tribe to 
create a federally chartered corporation with the power ``to 
purchase, take by gift, or bequest, or otherwise, own, hold, 
manage, operate, and dispose of property of every description, 
real and personal, including the power to purchase restricted 
Indian lands and to issue in exchange for therefore interests 
in corporate property, and such further powers as may be 
incidental to the conduct of corporate business.'' The Tribe's 
corporate charter may be revoked only by an Act of Congress.
    The Tribe has requested that Congress revoke its Charter. 
Though some tribes opt to run their business activities through 
corporate charters, the Miami Tribe has testified it has never 
used and does not intend to use its corporate charter because 
the Tribe views it to be an outdated mode for conducting 
business in the 21st century.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 533 was introduced on January 26, 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 
March 24, 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 March 25, 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. 533--A bill to revoke the charter of incorporation of the Miami 
        Tribe of Oklahoma at the request of that tribe, and for other 
        purposes

    H.R. 533 would revoke the charter of incorporation of the 
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. Based on information provided by the 
Bureau of Indian Affairs, CBO estimates that implementing the 
legislation would have no effect on the federal budget. The 
tribe has not been operating under the charter for the last 
several decades. Enacting H.R. 533 would not affect direct 
spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do 
not apply.
    H.R. 533 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Martin von 
Gnechten. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, 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. According to the 
Congressional Budget Office, implementing the 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 revoke the charter of 
incorporation of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma at the request of 
that tribe.

                           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]