[House Report 115-507]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



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115th Congress     }                                   {       Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session        }                                   {       115-507
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                 OREGON TRIBAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACT

                                _______
                                

January 10, 2018.--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 S. 1285]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (S. 1285) to allow the Confederated Tribes of Coos, 
Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians, the Confederated Tribes of 
the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes of 
Siletz Indians of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes of Warm 
Springs, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, the 
Klamath Tribes, and the Burns Paiute Tribes 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 S. 1285 is to allow the Confederated Tribes 
of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians, the Confederated 
Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, the Confederated 
Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes of 
Warm Springs, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, 
the Klamath Tribes, and the Burns Paiute Tribes to lease or 
transfer certain lands.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The Indian Trade and Intercourse Act reserves to the United 
States the exclusive right to acquire Indian lands.\1\ 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 acts of Congress providing for the 
acquisition, conveyance, and leasing of land in trust for 
Indians have had the effect of superseding the Indian Trade and 
Intercourse Act even though this Act has never been repealed.
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    \1\25 U.S.C. 177.
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    In recent years, the Act has generally not interfered with 
the ability of a tribe 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 it in an abundance of caution 
by tribal and non-tribal parties, as S. 1285 does, for 
transactions of non-trust land. In the 113th and 114th 
Congresses, similar bills were enacted into law, allowing the 
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake 
Superior Chippewa to lease or transfer fee land.\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\See P.L. 114-127 and P.L. 113-88.
    \3\See P.L. 106-217.
    \4\See P.L. 102-497; P.L. 107-331; P.L. 103-435; P.L. 105-256; and 
P.L. 110-76.
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    As noted previously, while the Indian Trade and Intercourse 
Act has not generally interfered with a tribe's fee land 
dealings, 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 Act is 
viewed by some as 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 Sherrill v. Oneida Nation of New York, 544 U.S. 197, 204 
(2005) (internal citation omitted).
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    S. 1285 would allow seven tribes\6\ in Oregon to lease, 
sell, convey, warrant, or transfer all or any portion of 
interest in any real property not held in trust for the tribes. 
Without such clarity, these tribes have difficulty securing 
financing or demonstrating clear title, both of which are 
crucial to successfully executing real estate transactions. 
This bill is intended to facilitate the tribes' ability to 
purchase sell, lease, transfer, or otherwise convey their 
interests in non-trust real property.
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    \6\Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians, 
the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, the 
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon, the Confederated 
Tribes of Warm Springs, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, 
the Klamath Tribes, and the Burns Paiute Tribes.
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                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    S. 1285 was introduced on May 25, 2017, by Senator Jeff 
Merkley (D-OR). The Senate passed the bill with amendments and 
an amendment to the title by Unanimous Consent on November 29, 
2017. In the House of Representatives, the bill was referred to 
the Committee on Natural Resources. On December 12, 2017, the 
Natural 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 
on December 13, 2017.

            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 AND CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT

    1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act. 
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and (3) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
sections 308(a) and 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974, the Committee has received the following estimate for the 
bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                   Washington, DC, January 5, 2018.
Hon. Rob Bishop,
Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1285, the Oregon 
Tribal Economic Development Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Robert Reese.
            Sincerely,
                                                Keith Hall,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

S. 1285--Oregon Tribal Economic Development Act

    S. 1285 would authorize seven Indian tribes located in 
Oregon to lease, sell, or otherwise transfer any real property 
owned by those tribes that is not held in trust by the United 
States for the benefit of those tribes. Under current law, 
those tribes are prohibited from leasing, selling, or otherwise 
transferring any land, whether or not the government holds it 
in trust for their benefit, without specific Congressional 
approval.
    Because S. 1285 would not affect land that has any costs or 
benefits to the federal government, CBO estimates that enacting 
the legislation would have no effect on the federal budget.
    Enacting S. 1285 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO 
estimates that enacting S. 1285 would not increase net direct 
spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 
10-year periods beginning in 2028.
    S. 1285 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in UMRA. The act would benefit the 
Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians, 
the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, 
the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon, the 
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the Cow Creek Band of 
Umpqua Tribe of Indians, the Klameth Tribes, and the Burns 
Paiute Tribes by allowing the tribes to lease or transfer some 
land.
    On September 25, 2017, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for 
S. 1285 as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Indian 
Affairs on September 13, 2017. The two versions of S. 1285 are 
similar, and CBO's estimates of their budgetary effects are the 
same.
    The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Robert Reese 
(for federal costs) and Rachel Austin (for mandates). The 
estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.
    2. 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 Confederated Tribes of 
Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians, the Confederated 
Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, the Confederated 
Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes of 
Warm Springs, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, 
the Klamath Tribes, and the Burns Paiute Tribes 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. This bill does not contain any 
directed rule makings.
    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 to existing 
law.

                                  [all]