[House Report 118-300]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


118th Congress }                                          { Report 
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session   }                                          { 118-300

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 TO AMEND THE SILETZ RESERVATION ACT TO ADDRESS THE HUNTING, FISHING, 
  TRAPPING, AND ANIMAL GATHERING RIGHTS OF THE CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF 
                 SILETZ INDIANS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

December 6, 2023.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Westerman, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 2839]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 2839) to amend the Siletz Reservation Act to 
address the hunting, fishing, trapping, and animal gathering 
rights of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, and for 
other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably 
thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                       Purpose of the Legislation

    The purpose of H.R. 2839 is to amend the Siletz Reservation 
Act to address the hunting, fishing, trapping, and animal 
gathering rights of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, 
and for other purposes.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    H.R. 2839 amends the Siletz Reservation Act\1\ to provide a 
process by which the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and 
the State of Oregon may negotiate, amend, or replace the 
current 1980 consent decree governing the tribe's hunting, 
fishing, trapping, and animal gathering rights.
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    \1\94 Stat. 1074.
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    The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians (Siletz tribe) is 
a confederation of more than 27 different tribes and bands of 
Indians from throughout western Oregon. Beginning in 1856, the 
tribes and bands were removed from their traditional lands to 
the 1.1 million acres Siletz Coast Reservation established by 
Executive Order on November 9, 1855.\2\ The Siletz Reservation 
was diminished by various federal actions over time until the 
Siletz Tribe was terminated in 1954.\3\ In 1977, Congress 
enacted a bill to restore the tribe.\4\ The Act established a 
process for the tribe to organize. The legislation further 
required the Department of the Interior and the tribe to 
develop a plan for creating a reservation, but required any 
reservation to be established through an Act of Congress.\5\
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    \2\``Confederated tribes of the Siletz Indians'', Tiller's Guide to 
Indian Country, Edited and Compiled by Veronica E. Velarde Tiller 
(2015).
    \3\History of the Siletz, available at: https://www.ctsi.nsn.us/wp-
content/uploads/2020/12/CTSI-Comprehensive-Plan-2005-2015-History-
Pt1.pdf.
    \4\Pub. L. No. 95-195.
    \5\Id.
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    As a condition reestablishing its reservation, the Siletz 
tribe's hunting, fishing, trapping, and animal gathering rights 
were limited through an agreement with the State of Oregon. On 
May 2, 1980, the U.S. District Court for Oregon made effective 
a consent decree between the tribe, the State of Oregon, and 
the United States that serves as the final determination of the 
tribe's hunting, fishing, trapping, and gathering rights. The 
consent decree provides limited allocations for salmon fishing 
and deer and elk hunting, and otherwise prohibits tribal 
hunting, fishing, gathering, and trapping, except as authorized 
under Oregon state law. After this consent decree was put in 
place, it was incorporated into the Siletz Reservation Act of 
1980.\6\
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    \6\Pub. L. No. 96-310.
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    H.R. 2839 would amend the Siletz Reservation Act to allow 
the State of Oregon and the Siletz tribe to amend, renegotiate, 
or terminate the 1980 consent decree. The 1980 consent decree 
remains in place until there is mutual agreement for a new 
agreement between both the tribe and the state. The bill also 
allows the tribe and Oregon to return to the U.S. District 
Court for the District of Oregon to request the modification or 
termination of the 1980 consent decree, and requires the U.S. 
District Court of Oregon adjudicate any change to the consent 
decree on the merits of the case and prevents any modification 
request from being dismissed from court because the matter has 
already been decided. Finally, the legislation also includes 
language preserving all other hunting and fishing treaty rights 
held by other treaty tribes.

                            Committee Action

    H.R. 2839 was introduced on April 25, 2023, by Rep. Val 
Hoyle (D-OR). The bill was referred to the Committee on Natural 
Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 
Indian and Insular Affairs. On June 7, 2023, the Subcommittee 
on Indian and Insular Affairs held a hearing on the bill. On 
July 19, 2023, the Committee on Natural Resources met to 
consider the bill. The Subcommittee on Indian and Insular 
Affairs was discharged from further consideration of H.R. 2839 
by unanimous consent. The bill was then ordered favorably 
reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous consent.

                                Hearings

    For the purposes of clause 3(c)(6) of House rule XIII, the 
following hearing was used to develop or consider this measure: 
hearing by the Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs held 
on June 7, 2023.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis


Section 1. Siletz Reservation Act Amendment

    Section 1 amends the Siletz Reservation Act (P.L. 96-340) 
to include definitions; allow for amendments or successor 
agreements related to hunting, fishing, trapping, and animal 
gathering rights of the Siletz tribe, with the consent of the 
State of Oregon, preserves treaty rights for other tribes on 
the Columbia River, Willamette River, and Willamette Falls; 
requires the Oregon District Court to adjudicate actions 
related to the Consent Decree on the merits of the case; and 
includes a treaty rights savings clause, ensuring other tribal 
treaty rights are not affected by this legislation.

            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:




    H.R. 2839 would amend the Siletz Reservation Act, enacted 
in 1980, to permit the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians 
and the state of Oregon to alter or replace the agreement 
defining the tribe's right to use the land. Pursuant to that 
act, the tribe and the state entered into a consent decree that 
established limits on the hunting, fishing, and trapping rights 
of the tribe. Those limitations cannot be modified under 
current federal law.
    Using information from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, CBO 
expects that under the bill the agency would provide technical 
assistance to the tribe and the state to facilitate any 
revisions to the agreement. CBO estimates that the cost of 
those efforts would not be significant; any spending would be 
subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Julia Aman. The 
estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director 
of Budget Analysis.

                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                             Director, Congressional Budget Office.

    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 amend the Siletz Reservation Act 
to address the hunting, fishing, trapping, and animal gathering 
rights of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, and for 
other purposes.

                           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.

                 Unfunded Mandates Reform Act Statement

    According to the Congressional Budget Office, H.R. 2839, as 
ordered reported by the Committee on Natural Resources, 
contains no unfunded mandates as defined in the Unfunded 
Mandates Reform Act.

                           Existing Programs

    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.

                  Applicability to Legislative Branch

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.

                Preemption of State, Local or Tribal Law

    Any preemptive effect of this bill over state, local, or 
tribal law is intended to be consistent with the bill's 
purposes and text and the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the 
U.S. Constitution.

         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, new 
matter is printed in italics, and existing law in which no 
change is proposed is shown in roman):

    SECTION 4 OF PUBLIC LAW 96-340 (COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE ``SILETZ 
                           RESERVATION ACT'')


AN ACT to establish a reservation for the Confederated Tribes of Siletz 
                           Indians of Oregon.

  [Sec. 4.  The establishment of the Siletz Reservation or the 
addition of lands to the reservation in the future, shall not 
grant or restore to the tribe or any member of the tribe any 
new or additional hunting, fishing, or trapping right of any 
nature, including any indirect or procedural right or 
advantage, on such reservation beyond the rights which are 
declared and set forth in the final judgment and decree of the 
United States District Court for the District of Oregon, in the 
action entitled Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon 
against State of Oregon, entered on May 2, 1980. Those rights 
as declared and set forth in the May 2, 1980, final judgment 
and decree shall constitute the exclusive and final 
determination of all tribal rights to hunt, fish, or trap that 
the Siletz Tribe or its members possess.]

SEC. 4. HUNTING, FISHING, TRAPPING, AND ANIMAL GATHERING.

  (a) Definitions.--In this section:
          (1) Consent decree.--The term ``Consent Decree'' 
        means the final judgment and decree of the United 
        States District Court for the District of Oregon, in 
        the action entitled ``Confederated Tribes of Siletz 
        Indians of Oregon against State of Oregon'', entered on 
        May 2, 1980.
          (2) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian Tribe'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
        Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 
        5304).
          (3) Siletz agreement.--The term ``Siletz Agreement'' 
        means the agreement entitled ``Agreement Among the 
        State of Oregon, the United States of America and the 
        Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians of Oregon to 
        Permanently Define Tribal Hunting, Fishing, Trapping, 
        and Gathering Rights of the Siletz Tribe and its 
        Members'' and entered into by the United States on 
        April 22, 1980.
  (b) Hunting, Fishing, Trapping, and Animal Gathering 
Agreements.--
          (1) In general.--The Siletz Agreement shall remain in 
        effect until and unless replaced, amended, or otherwise 
        modified by 1 or more successor government-to-
        government agreements between the Confederated Tribes 
        of Siletz Indians and the State of Oregon relating to 
        the hunting, fishing, trapping, and animal gathering 
        rights of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians.
          (2) Amendments.--The Siletz Agreement or any 
        successor agreement entered into under paragraph (1) 
        may be amended from time to time by mutual consent of 
        the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and the State 
        of Oregon.
          (3) Contents of new agreement or amendments.--The 
        Siletz Agreement or any successor agreement entered 
        into under paragraph (1) shall not provide for 
        exclusive or primary Siletz take opportunity outside 
        the exterior boundaries of the 1855 Executive Order 
        Siletz Coast Reservation (as described in section 
        7(f)(1)(A) of the Siletz Tribe Indian Restoration Act 
        (Public Law 95-195; 91 Stat. 1418; 130 Stat. 1364)) 
        relative to any other federally recognized Indian 
        Tribe, and shall not provide for new or expanded take 
        of fishery resources in the Columbia River or in the 
        Willamette River from its mouth to the top of 
        Willamette Falls.
  (c) Judicial Review.--In any action brought in the United 
States District Court for the District of Oregon to rescind, 
overturn, modify, or provide relief under Federal law from the 
Consent Decree, the United States District Court for the 
District of Oregon shall review the application of the parties 
on the merits without regard to the defense of res judicata or 
collateral estoppel.
  (d) Effect.--Nothing in this section enlarges, confirms, 
adjudicates, affects, or modifies any treaty or other right of 
an Indian Tribe.

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