[House Report 115-703]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


115th Congress    }                                    {       Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session       }                                    {      115-703

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

 
     TO REPEAL SECTION 2141 OF THE REVISED STATUTES TO REMOVE THE 
      PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN ALCOHOL MANUFACTURING ON INDIAN LANDS

                                _______
                                

  May 24, 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 H.R. 5317]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 5317) to repeal section 2141 of the Revised 
Statutes to remove the prohibition on certain alcohol 
manufacturing on Indian 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. 5317 is to repeal section 2141 of the 
Revised Statutes to remove the prohibition on certain alcohol 
manufacturing on Indian lands.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    H.R. 5317 repeals an 1834 federal law prohibiting the 
establishment and operation of alcohol distilleries in Indian 
Country.\1\ The 1834 law was one of the Indian Trade and 
Intercourse Acts enacted in the 18th and 19th centuries. The 
purpose of these laws was to regulate non-Indian interaction 
with individual Indians and Indian tribes on Indian lands. 
While the operation of the Trade and Intercourse Acts have been 
repealed or superseded by subsequent laws, several of them--
including the one prohibiting distilleries on Indian lands--
remain in effect today.
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    \1\25 U.S.C. Sec. 251 (R.S. 2141 derived from act of June 30, 1834, 
ch. 161, Sec. 21, 4 Stat. 732).
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    The Indian Trade and Intercourse Acts\2\ reserved to the 
United States the exclusive right to acquire Indian lands and 
to regulate and restrict trade with tribes. The early-19th 
century acts were intended to implement and enforce the terms 
of Indian treaties against ``obstreperous whites, [and] 
gradually came to embody the basic features of federal Indian 
policy.''\3\
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    \2\25 U.S.C. Ch. 5, 6.
    \3\Francis Paul Prucha, The Great Father (Abridged Edition), 
(Lincoln and London, University of Nebraska Press, 1986), p. 31.
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    A Trade and Intercourse Act passed in 1834 (entitled An Act 
to regulate trade and intercourse with Indian tribes and to 
preserve peace on the frontier)\4\ imposed restrictions on the 
sale, exchange, or barter of spirituous liquors to Indians in 
Indian country. Section 21 of that Act (codified at 25 U.S.C. 
251) provides that if any person sets up or continues a 
distillery for the manufacturing of ardent spirits in Indian 
country, the penalty shall be $1,000 and the superintendent of 
Indian affairs shall destroy and break up the distillery.\5\
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    \4\25 U.S.C. Sec. 241 et seq.
    \5\25 U.S.C. Sec. 251.
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    Most of the 1834 law remained in effect until 1953 when 
Congress passed An Act to eliminate certain discriminatory 
legislation against Indians in the United States.\6\ Under the 
1953 law, the production and distribution of liquor is 
permitted in Indian Country subject to the laws of the State in 
which such acts or transactions occur, and subject also to 
tribal ordinances approved by the Secretary of the Interior.
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    \6\18 U.S.C. Sec. 1161.
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    Nonetheless, because the 1834 law imposing restrictions on 
distilleries in Indian Country remains in effect, there is a 
question whether a tribe may lawfully construct and operate a 
distillery on its reservation even though it may be permitted 
to build and run a brewery or winery.
    The 1834 law prevents any tribe from hosting a distillery 
project on its lands. While the law may have advanced a valid 
public policy goal in the mid-19th century, it is not 
compatible with the modern policy of promoting tribal self-
determination and economic diversification on Indian lands 
where existing laws provide reasonable regulation of liquor 
transactions.
    The bill is especially supported by the Confederated Tribes 
of the Chehalis Reservation, which plans to construct and 
operate a distillery on its lands. According to the Tribe, the 
project--part of a larger brewery, distillery, and educational 
project--will be wholly tribally-owned and operated, with net 
profits going to the Tribe.

                            Committee Action

    H.R. 5317 was introduced on March 15, 2018, by 
Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA). 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 April 26, 2018, the Subcommittee held a 
hearing on the bill. On May 8, 2018, 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.

            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, May 22, 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 H.R. 5317, a bill to 
repeal section 2141 of the Revised Statutes to remove the 
prohibition on certain alcohol manufacturing on Indian lands.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Robert Reese.
            Sincerely,
                                             Mark P. Hadley
                                        (For Keith Hall, Director).

H.R. 5317--A bill to repeal section 2141 of the Revised Statutes to 
        remove the prohibition on certain alcohol manufacturing on 
        Indian lands

    H.R. 5317 would repeal a law enacted in 1834 that prohibits 
the establishment of a distillery on Indian lands. Using 
information from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, CBO expects 
there would be minimal administrative costs associated with 
implementing the bill.
    Enacting H.R. 5317 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
    CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 5317 would not increase 
net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four 
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029.
    H.R. 5317 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Robert Reese. 
The estimate was reviewed 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 repeal section 2141 of the Revised 
Statutes to remove the prohibition on certain alcohol 
manufacturing on Indian 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 Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, 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 and 
existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman):

       SECTION 2141 OF THE REVISED STATUTES OF THE UNITED STATES

  [Sec. 2141.  Every person who shall, within the Indian 
country, set up or continue any distillery for manufacturing 
ardent spirits, shall be liable to a penalty of one thousand 
dollars; and the superintendent of Indian affairs, Indian 
agent, or sub-agent, within the limits of whose agency any 
distillery of ardent spirits is set up or continued, shall 
forthwith destroy and break up the same.]

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