[Senate Report 116-324]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 627
116th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 116-324
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AMENDING THE GRAND RONDE RESERVATION ACT, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
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December 15, 2020.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Hoeven, from the Committee on Indian Affairs,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 2716]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred to
the bill (S. 2716) to amend the Grand Ronde Reservation Act,
and for other purposes, having considered the same, reports
favorably thereon with an amendment and recommends that the
bill, as amended, do pass.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to resolve an error created by
an 1871 land survey, and later the 1994 amendment to the Grand
Ronde Reservation Act, that provides for the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde (Tribe) to relinquish its claims to only
the Thompson Strip, located in Oregon.
BACKGROUND
The Tribe's reservation was originally established by
treaties entered into and ratified between 1853 and 1855, and
by the Executive Order of June 30, 1857. In 1954, Congress
terminated the Tribe through Public Law 83-588\1\ and later
reversed the termination in 1983 by enactment of the Grand
Ronde Restoration Act (Public Law 98-165). The Grand Ronde
Restoration Act restored the Tribe's federal recognition by
reinstating its Indian Reorganization Act charter and requiring
Congressional legislation to reestablish a reservation.
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\1\A bill to provide for the termination of Federal supervision
over the property of certain tribes and bands of Indians located in
western Oregon and the individual members thereof, and for other
purposes, Pub. L. No. 83-588, 68 Stat. 724 (1954).
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Following the development of a reservation plan, Congress
passed the Grand Ronde Reservation Act in 1988 for the Tribe to
establish 9,811 acres as reservation land.\2\ After the Grand
Ronde Reservation Act was enacted, the U.S. Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) detected a land survey error dating back to
1871 when David Thompson, U.S. Deputy Surveyor, incorrectly
surveyed the eastern boundary of the Tribe's original
reservation by not accounting for an additional 84 acres.
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\2\Through subsequent amendments to the 1988 Act, the Tribe's
reservation further grew to 9,879 acres.
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Since the 1871 surveying, the BLM treated the 84 acres as
Oregon & California Railroad Grant Lands and permitted the
harvesting of timber from the land. Once informed of the land
survey error, the Tribe found that the harvested land, also
known as the Thompson Strip, was unmanageable due to its narrow
boundaries and that it divided ownership interests between
several parties. The Tribe determined a land exchange with BLM
was the best course of compensation for the land survey error.
In 1994, Congress passed Public Law 103-435 that allowed the
Tribe to exchange an additional 240 acres of BLM land for
relinquishing claims to any land that was part of their
original reservation prior to termination. This agreement was
included in a 1994 amendment to the Grand Ronde Reservation Act
that was passed in an Indian technical corrections bill and
later signed into law on November 2, 1994.\3\
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\3\The House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources
committee report acknowledged the work of the Bureau of Land Management
and Bureau of Indian Affairs officials for negotiating with the Tribe a
fair and equitable settlement that was agreed to by the Tribe and the
Department of the Interior. See House Report 103-704 at 6-7.
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SUMMARY OF THE BILL
The bill amends section 1 of the Grand Ronde Reservation
Act\4\ by striking ``lands within the State of Oregon'' and
replacing with ``the 84 acres known as the Thompson Strip.''
Under Section 1 of the bill, there is a prohibition on class II
and class III gaming on any land transferred to the Tribe as
part of a land claim settlement. In Section 2 of the bill,
there is acknowledgement that nothing in the bill, including
its amendments, will not enlarge, confirm, adjudicate, affect,
or modify any treaty right of an Indian Tribe.
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\4\A bill to establish a reservation for the Confederated Tribes of
the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, and for other purposes, Pub. L.
No. 100 425, 102 Stat. 1594 (1988), amended by Pub. L. No. 103-435
(1994).
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LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
S. 2716, A bill to amend the Grand Ronde Reservation Act,
and for other purposes was introduced by Senators Merkley and
Wyden on October 28, 2019. The Committee held a legislative
hearing on June 24, 2020. Mr. Darryl LaCounte, Director of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, testified on behalf of the U.S.
Department of the Interior on the bill stating that they were
willing to work with the Committee on technical corrections.
On July 29, 2020, the Committee held a duly called business
meeting to consider eleven bills, including S. 2716. One
amendment (KEN20119) was timely filed by Senator Udall, on
behalf of Senator Merkley. The amendment made technical
corrections, to be in line with the House companion bill, H.R.
4888, by further clarifying that any lands obtained from a land
claim settlement are not eligible, or to be used, for Class II
or Class III gaming, as these terms are defined under the
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
A House companion bill, H.R. 4888, To amend the Grand Ronde
Reservation Act, and for other purposes, was introduced by
Representatives Kurt Schrader, Suzanne Bonamici, Peter A.
DeFazio, and Earl Blumenauer on October 28, 2019, and referred
to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of
Representatives. On November 12, 2019, the bill was further
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee for
Indigenous Peoples (Subcommittee) of the United States of the
House of Representatives. The Subcommittee held a hearing on
the bill on February 5, 2020. To date, no further action has
been taken on H.R. 4888.
NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The language used in the 1994 amendment to the Grand Ronde
Reservation Act relinquished any land claims by the Tribe
within the State of Oregon. The Tribe seeks enactment of S.
2716 to ensure that they have the right to compensation should
another land survey error arise and passage of the bill will
alleviate any potential issues.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF S. 2716, AS AMENDED
Section 1. Grand Ronde Reservation Act Amendment
This section amends section 1(d) of the Grand Ronde
Reservation Act by striking ``lands within the State of
Oregon'' and inserting ``the 84 acres known as the Thompson
Strip''. The section also redesignates paragraphs and inserts a
paragraph 2 which provides for a prohibition of Class II or
Class III gaming (as these terms are defined by section 4 of
the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act) on any lands obtained as part
of a land claim settlement for the Tribe.
Sec. 2. Treaty Rights of Federally Recognized Tribes
This section provides that nothing in this Act, or the
amendments made by this Act, will not enlarge, confirm,
adjudicate, affect, or modify any treaty right of an Indian
tribe (as defined by section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination
and Education Assistance Act).
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
As of the date of publishing this report, the Committee has
received the following informal communication from the
Congressional Budget Office regarding the cost and budgetary
considerations for S. 2716:
CBO estimates S. 2716 would not affect direct spending or
revenues. CBO estimates that S. 2716 would increase spending,
subject to appropriation (discretionary spending) by an
insignificant amount (less than $500,000) over the 2021-2025
period.
Sincerely,
Jon Sperl,
Principal Analyst,
Congressional Budget Office.
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 S. 2716 will have
minimal impact on regulatory or paperwork requirements.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
The Committee has received no communications from the
Executive Branch regarding S. 2716.
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.