[Senate Report 116-130]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                       Calendar No. 244
                                                       
116th Congress   }                                            {   Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session     }                                            {  116-130

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

 
TO REPEAL THE ACT ENTITLED ``AN ACT TO CONFER JURISDICTION ON THE STATE 
 OF NORTH DAKOTA OVER OFFENSES COMMITTED BY OR AGAINST INDIANS ON THE 
                    DEVILS LAKE INDIAN RESERVATION''

                                _______
                                

                October 16, 2019.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 2159]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the 
bill (S. 2159) to repeal the Act entitled ``An Act to confer 
jurisdiction on the State of North Dakota over offenses 
committed by or against Indians on the Devils Lake Indian 
Reservation'', having considered the same, reports favorably 
thereon without amendment and recommends the bill do pass.

                                PURPOSE

    The purpose of S. 2159 is to repeal a federal law that 
grants criminal jurisdiction to the State of North Dakota over 
offenses committed by or against Indians on the Devils Lake 
Reservation, currently known as the Spirit Lake Reservation.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\In May 1995, by general referendum, the Tribe made a 
constitutional revision to change its name from the ``Devils Lake 
Sioux'' to the ``Spirit Lake Tribe.'' The name refers to the location 
of the reservation, which was first established as the Devils Lake 
settlement and later changed to reservation, as named in the bill. The 
tribal members have always called themselves Mni Wakan Oyate (Spirit 
Lake People).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                          SUMMARY OF THE BILL

    The bill, S. 2159, repeals the Act entitled ``An Act to 
confer jurisdiction on the State of North Dakota over offenses 
committed by or against Indians on the Devils Lake Indian 
Reservation'' in its entirety.
    In 1944, the Devils Lake Sioux Tribal Council passed a 
resolution to continue state jurisdiction over misdemeanor 
crimes occurring within their reservation boundaries. This was 
due to a lack of Tribal judicial resources, such as no law 
enforcement officers, or a formally established Tribal court. 
In 1946, Congress delegated arrest and prosecution authority to 
the State of North Dakota for all crimes committed on the 
Devils Lake Reservation.\2\ The Spirit Lake Tribe has since 
established a Tribal law enforcement agency, a comprehensive 
criminal code, and a Tribal court system which adjudicates both 
criminal and civil matters on the reservation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\Act of May 31, 1946, Pub. L. No. 79-394, 60 Stat. 229 (1946).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    According to testimony received by the Committee in the 
115th Congress, the State of North Dakota rarely exercises its 
delegated authority to prosecute crimes committed by or against 
Indians on the reservation. In the 116th Congress, the Governor 
of North Dakota, as well as Spirit Lake Tribe of North Dakota, 
have submitted letters of support for S. 2159.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    On July 18, 2019, Senator Hoeven introduced A bill to 
repeal the Act entitled ``An Act to confer jurisdiction on the 
State of North Dakota over offenses committed by or against 
Indians on the Devils Lake Indian Reservation.'' Senator Cramer 
joined as an original cosponsor. The bill was referred to the 
Indian Affairs Committee. On July 24, 2019, S. 2159 was 
reported favorably without amendment.
    On July 18, 2019, a companion bill, H.R. 3831, was 
introduced by Representative Kelly Armstrong in the House of 
Representatives. On August 2, 2019, the House companion bill 
was referred to the House Natural Resources Subcommittee for 
Indigenous Peoples of the United States. No further action has 
been taken.
    In the 115th Congress, on April 26, 2018, Senator Heidi 
Heitkamp introduced legislation identical to S. 2159. A 
legislative hearing was held on November 14, 2018. Mr. Darryl 
LaCounte, Acting Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. 
Department of the Interior, and the Honorable Douglas Yankton, 
Sr., Vice Chairman of the Spirit Lake Tribe, both testified in 
support of the bill. On November 28, 2018, the Committee met to 
consider the bill, which was reported favorably without 
amendment to the Senate. No further action was taken.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Repeal

     This section repeals, in its entirety, the federal 
statute (60 Stat. 229) entitled ``An Act to confer jurisdiction 
on the State of North Dakota over offenses committed by or 
against Indians on the Devils Lake Indian Reservation'' which 
was signed into law on May 31, 1946.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The following cost estimate, as provided by the 
Congressional Budget Office, dated August 2, 2019, was prepared 
for S. 2159:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                    Washington, DC, August 2, 2019.
Hon. John Hoeven,
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. 2159, a bill to 
repeal the Act entitled ``An Act to confer jurisdiction on the 
State of North Dakota over offenses committed by or against 
Indians on the Devils Lake Indian Reservation.''
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jon Sperl.
            Sincerely,
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

    
    

    S. 2159 would repeal a law enacted in 1946 that gave the 
state of North Dakota jurisdiction over crimes committed by or 
against Indians on the Devils Lake Indian Reservation. Under 
current law, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) provides 
assistance to the tribe for law enforcement and detention 
services. Because enacting S. 2159 would not affect the amount 
of assistance the tribe is receiving from BIA, CBO estimates 
that implementing S. 2159 would have no cost to the federal 
government.
    The bill also would prohibit the state of North Dakota from 
exercising jurisdiction over crimes committed by or against 
Indians on the Devil's Lake Indian Reservation. That 
prohibition would be a mandate as defined in the Unfunded 
Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). CBO estimates that the cost of the 
mandate, in the form of forgone monetary penalties, would be 
minimal and would not exceed the threshold established in UMRA 
($82 million in 2019, adjusted annually for inflation).
    S. 2159 contains no private-sector mandates as defined in 
UMRA.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jon Sperl (for 
federal costs) and Rachel Austin (for mandates). The estimate 
was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant Director 
for Budget Analysis.

               REGULATORY AND PAPERWORK 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. 2159 will 
have minimal impact on regulatory or paperwork requirements.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    Except as otherwise noted, the Committee has received no 
communications from the Executive Branch regarding S. 2159.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    On February 6, 2019, the Committee unanimously approved a 
motion to waive subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 
Rules of the Senate. In the opinion of the Committee, it is 
necessary to dispense with subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate to expedite the business of the 
Senate.