House Report 107-632 - CHEROKEE, CHOCTAW, AND CHICKASAW NATIONS CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT

[House Report 107-632]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

107th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 107-632
======================================================================

CHEROKEE, CHOCTAW, AND CHICKASAW NATIONS CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT
_______

September 4, 2002.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

_______

Mr. Hansen, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following

R E P O R T

[To accompany H.R. 3534]

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 3534) to provide for the settlement of certain land
claims of Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations to the
Arkansas Riverbed in Oklahoma, having considered the same,
report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that
the bill as amended do pass.

The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw
Nations Claims Settlement Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds the following:
(1) It is the policy of the United States to promote tribal
self-determination and economic self-sufficiency and to
encourage the resolution of disputes over historical claims
through mutually agreed-to settlements between Indian Nations
and the United States.
(2) There are pending before the United States Court of
Federal Claims certain lawsuits against the United States
brought by the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations seeking
monetary damages for the alleged use and mismanagement of
tribal resources along the Arkansas River in eastern Oklahoma.
(3) The Cherokee Nation, a federally recognized Indian tribe
with its present tribal headquarters near Tahlequah, Oklahoma,
having adopted its most recent constitution on June 26, 1976,
and having entered into various treaties with the United
States, including but not limited to the Treaty at Hopewell,
executed on November 28, 1785 (7 Stat. 18), and the Treaty at
Washington, D.C., executed on July 19, 1866 (14 Stat. 799), has
maintained a continuous government-to-government relationship
with the United States since the earliest years of the Union.
(4) The Choctaw Nation, a federally recognized Indian tribe
with its present tribal headquarters in Durant, Oklahoma,
having adopted its most recent constitution on July 9, 1983,
and having entered into various treaties with the United States
of America, including but not limited to the Treaty at
Hopewell, executed on January 3, 1786 (7 Stat. 21), and the
Treaty at Washington, D.C., executed on April 28, 1866 (7 Stat.
21), has maintained a continuous government-to-government
relationship with the United States since the earliest years of
the Union.
(5) The Chickasaw Nation, a federally recognized Indian tribe
with its present tribal headquarters in Ada, Oklahoma, having
adopted its most recent constitution on August 27, 1983, and
having entered into various treaties with the United States of
America, including but not limited to the Treaty at Hopewell,
executed on January 10, 1786 (7 Stat. 24), and the Treaty at
Washington, D.C., executed on April 28, 1866 (7 Stat. 21), has
maintained a continuous government-to-government relationship
with the United States since the earliest years of the Union.
(6) In the first half of the 19th century, the Cherokee,
Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations were forcibly removed from their
homelands in the southeastern United States to lands west of
the Mississippi in the Indian Territory which that were ceded
to them by the United States. From the ``Three Forks'' area
near present day Muskogee, Oklahoma, downstream to the point of
confluence with the Canadian River, the Arkansas River flowed
entirely within the territory of the Cherokee Nation. From that
point of confluence downstream to the Arkansas territorial
line, the Arkansas River formed the boundary between the
Cherokee Nation on the left side of the thread of the river and
the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations on the right.
(7) Pursuant to the Act of April 30, 1906 (34 Stat. 137),
title to the bed and banks of the Arkansas River passed to the
United States in trust for the respective Indian Nations in
accordance with their respective interests therein.
(8) For more than 60 years after Oklahoma statehood, the
Bureau of Indian Affairs incorrectly assumed that Oklahoma
owned the Riverbed from the Arkansas State line to Three Forks,
and therefore took no action to protect the Indian Nations'
Riverbed resources such as oil, gas, sand, and gravel and
Drybed Lands suitable for grazing and agriculture.
(9) The United States Government constructed powerheads and
other improvements in the channel of the Arkansas River on
tribal lands, using sand and gravel belonging to the three
Indian Nations. Due to the Bureau's inaction, individuals with
property near the Arkansas River began to occupy the three
Indian Nations' Drybed Lands--lands that were under water at
the time of statehood but that are now dry due to changes in
the course of the river.
(10) In 1966, the three Indian Nations sued the State of
Oklahoma to recover their lands. In 1970, the Supreme Court of
the United States decided in the case of Choctaw Nation vs.
Oklahoma (396 U.S. 620 (1970)), that the Indian Nations
retained title to their respective portions of the Riverbed
along the navigable reach of the river.
(11) In 1989, the Indian Nations filed lawsuits against the
United States in the United States Court of Federal Claims
(Case Nos. 218-89L and 630-89L), seeking damages for the United
States use and mismanagement of tribal trust resources along
the Arkansas River. Those actions are still pending.
(12) In 1997, the United States filed quiet title litigation
against individuals occupying some of the Indian Nations'
Drybed Lands. That action, filed in the United States District
Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, was dismissed
without prejudice on technical grounds.
(13) From time to time over the years following the Indian
Nations' Court of Federal Claims litigation, the Indian
Nations, the Department of Justice, the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, and the Indian Nations have engaged in settlement
negotiations.
(14) Nearly 7,750 acres of the Indian Nations' Drybed Lands
have been occupied by a large number of adjacent landowners in
Oklahoma. Without Federal legislation, further litigation
against thousands of such landowners would be likely and any
final resolution of pending disputes through a process of
litigation would take many years and entail great expense to
the United States, the Indian Nations, and the individuals and
entities occupying the Drybed Lands and would seriously impair
long-term economic planning and development for all parties.
(15) The Councils of the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw
Nations have each enacted tribal legislation which would,
contingent upon the passage of this Act and in exchange for the
monies appropriated hereunder--
(A) settle and forever release their respective
claims against the United States asserted by them in
United States Court of Federal Claims Case Nos. 218-89L
and 630-89L; and
(B) forever disclaim any and all right, title, and
interest in and to the Disclaimed Drybed Lands, as set
forth in those enactments of the respective councils of
the Indian Nations.
(16) The resolutions adopted by the respective Councils of
the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations each provide that,
contingent upon the passage of the settlement legislation, each
Indian Nation agrees to dismiss, release, and forever discharge
its claims asserted against the United States in the United
States Court of Federal Claims, Case No. 218-89L, and to
disclaim any right, title, or interest of the Indian Nation in
the Disclaimed Drybed Lands, in exchange for the funds
appropriated and allocated to the Indian Nation under the
provisions of the settlement legislation, which funds the
Indian Nation agrees to accept in full satisfaction and
settlement of all claims against the United States for its use
of and damage to the bed of the Arkansas River arising out of
the construction of the McClellan-Kerr Navigation Way and for
the damages sought in the aforementioned claims asserted in the
United States Court of Federal Claims, and as full and fair
compensation for disclaiming its right, title, and interest in
the Disclaimed Drybed Lands.
(17) In those resolutions, each Indian Nation expressly
reserved all of its beneficial interest and title to all other
Riverbed lands, including minerals, as determined by the
Supreme Court in Choctaw Nation v. Oklahoma, 397 U.S. 620
(1970), and further reserved any and all right, title, or
interest that each Nation may have in and to the water flowing
in the Arkansas River and its tributaries.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

The purposes of this Act are as follows:
(1) To approve, ratify, and confirm an agreed-to resolution
of claims brought by the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw
Nations against the United States, and the agreed-to
disclaimers of the three Indian Nations to any right, title, or
interest in approximately 7,750 acres of Drybed Lands
contiguous to the channel of the Arkansas River as of the date
of the enactment of this Act in certain townships in eastern
Oklahoma.
(2) To reserve the three Indian Nations' beneficial interest
in the Riverbed except for the Disclaimed Drybed Lands.
(3) To authorize and direct the Secretary to implement the
terms of such settlement.
(4) To authorize the actions and appropriations necessary to
implement the provisions of this Act.
(5) To maintain the trust relationship between the United
States and each of the three Indian Nations.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions apply:
(1) Disclaimed drybed lands.--The term ``Disclaimed Drybed
Lands'' means all Drybed Lands along the Arkansas River that
are located in Township 10 North in Range 24 East, Townships 9
and 10 North in Range 25 East, Township 10 North in Range 26
East, and Townships 10 and 11 North in Range 27 east, in the
State of Oklahoma.
(2) Drybed lands.--The term ``Drybed Lands'' means those
Riverbed lands of the Indian Nations which lie above and
contiguous to the high water mark of the Arkansas River in the
State of Oklahoma as of the date of the enactment of this Act
but which have become part of the Riverbed by operation of
accretion and avulsion.
(3) Indian nation; indian nations.--The term ``Indian
Nation'' means the Cherokee Nation, Choctaw Nation, or
Chickasaw Nation, and the term ``Indian Nations'' means all
three tribes collectively.
(4) Riverbed.--The term ``Riverbed'' means the Drybed Lands
and the Wetbed Lands and includes all minerals therein.
(5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of
the Interior.
(6) Wetbed lands.--The term ``Wetbed Lands'' means those
Riverbed lands which lie below the high water mark of the
Arkansas River in the State of Oklahoma as of the date of the
enactment of this Act, exclusive of the Drybed Lands.

SEC. 5. SETTLEMENT AND CLAIMS; APPROPRIATIONS; ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.

(a) Extinguishment of Claims.--Upon payment of the funds appropriated
under this section, all claims for use of and damage to the Riverbed
arising out of the construction and maintenance of the McClellan-Kerr
Navigation Way and the claims asserted by the Cherokee, Choctaw, and
Chickasaw Nations in the United States Court of Federal Claims against
the United States shall be deemed extinguished.
(b) Release of Tribal Claims to Certain Drybed Lands.--
(1) In general.--Upon the deposit of all funds authorized for
appropriation under subsection (c) for an Indian Nation into
the appropriate trust fund account described in section 6, all
claims and all right, title, and interest that the Indian
Nations may have to the Disclaimed Drybed Lands, shall be
deemed extinguished. The Secretary shall execute an appropriate
document citing this Act, suitable for filing with the county
clerks, or such other county official as appropriate, of those
counties wherein the foregoing described lands are located,
disclaiming tribal interests in such Disclaimed Drybed Lands.
(2) Exception.--Notwithstanding any provision of this Act,
the Indian Nations do not relinquish any right, title, or
interest in any lands or minerals to which the United States
claims title which are contiguous to the Riverbed, and no
provision of this Act shall be construed to extinguish or
convey any water rights of the Indian Nations in the Arkansas
River or any other stream or the beneficial interests or title
of any of the Indian Nations in and to trust lands lying above
or below the high water mark of the Arkansas River as of the
date of the enactment of this Act, except for the Disclaimed
Drybed Lands.
(3) Land to be taken into trust.--To the extent that the
United States determines that it is able to effectively
maintain the McClellan-Kerr Navigation Way without retaining
title to lands above the high water mark of the Arkansas River
as of the date of the enactment of this Act, said lands, after
being declared surplus, shall be taken into trust for the
Indian Nation within whose boundary the land is located. All
Wetbed Lands, including minerals, from the Arkansas State line
upstream to the historic point of navigability near the
confluence of the Arkansas, Verdigris, and Grand Rivers, and
all Drybed Lands located outside the foregoing described
Townships, shall continue to be held by the United States in
trust for the beneficiary Indian Nation and shall be protected
in accordance with applicable law governing tribal trust lands.
(c) Authorization for Settlement Appropriations.--
(1) Settlement of claims.--There is authorized to be
appropriated the aggregate sum of $41,293,245. After payment
pursuant to section 7, the remaining funds appropriated under
this subsection shall be paid and allocated among the three
Indian Nations in accordance with subsection (d) and deposited
into the trust fund accounts established pursuant to section 6.
Such payment shall be in full satisfaction and settlement of
the Indian Nations' claims for the use of and damage to the
Arkansas Riverbed arising out of the construction and
maintenance of the McClellan-Kerr Navigation Way and asserted
against the United States in the United States Court of Federal
Claims, Case Nos. 218-89L and 630-89L, and in full satisfaction
of, and as compensation for, the three Indian Nations'
respective right, title, and interest in and to the Disclaimed
Drybed Lands.
(2) Rentals.--In addition to funds authorized to be
appropriated in paragraph (1), there is authorized for
appropriation and allocated in accordance with subsection (d)
$8,000,000, representing the present value of the fair market
rentals for the location and future operation in perpetuity of
the two hydropower generation and related facilities at the
Webbers Falls Lock and Dam and the Kerr Lock and Dam on the
Arkansas River.
(d) Allocation and Deposit of Funds.--After payment pursuant to
section 7, the remaining funds authorized for appropriation under
subsection (c) shall be allocated among the Indian Nations as follows:
(1) 50 percent to be deposited into the trust fund account
established under section 6 for the Cherokee Nation.
(2) 37.5 percent to be deposited into the trust fund account
established under section 6 for the Choctaw Nation.
(3) 12.5 percent to be deposited into the trust fund account
established under section 6 for the Chickasaw Nation.

SEC. 6. TRIBAL TRUST FUNDS.

(a) Trust Fund Accounts and Uses of Trust Funds.--All funds
appropriated and paid pursuant to section 5 shall be deposited into
three separate tribal trust fund accounts to be established by the
Secretary for the benefit of each of the three Indian Nations. All
funds deposited into said accounts, and any income earned thereon,
shall be expended only in accordance with the provisions of this
section. No funds deposited into the trust fund accounts established in
section 6 shall be made available to the beneficiary Indian Nation
until that Nation files the appropriate stipulation of dismissal with
prejudice of all claims asserted in Case Nos. 218-89L or 630-89L, filed
in the United States Court of Federal Claims.
(b) Land Acquisition.--
(1) Trust land status pursuant to regulations.--The funds
appropriated and allocated to the Indian Nations pursuant to
section 5(c) and deposited into trust fund accounts pursuant to
section 6(a), together with any interest earned thereon, and
allocated pursuant to section 5(d) may be used for the
acquisition of land by the three Indian Nations for transfer to
the United States in trust for the beneficiary Indian Nation in
accordance with the Secretary's trust land acquisition
regulations at part 151 of title 25, Code of Federal
Regulations, as in effect on January 1, 2001.
(2) Required trust land status.--Any such trust land
acquisitions on behalf of the Cherokee Nation shall be
mandatory if the land proposed to be acquired is located within
Township 12 North, Range 21 East, in Sequoyah County, Township
11 North, Range 18 East, in McIntosh County, Townships 11 and
12 North, Range 19 East, or Township 12 North, Range 20 East,
in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, and not within the limits of any
incorporated municipality as of January 1, 2002, if--
(A) the land proposed to be acquired meets the
Department of the Interior's minimum environmental
standards and requirements for real estate acquisitions
set forth in 602 DM 2.6, as in effect on January 1,
2001; and
(B) the title to such land must meet applicable
Federal title standards as in effect on said date.
(3) Other expenditure of funds.--The Indian Nations may elect
to expend all or a portion of the funds deposited into its
trust account for any other purposes authorized under
subsection (c).
(c) Investment of Trust Funds; No Per Capita Payment.--
(1) No per capita payments.--No money received by the Indian
Nations hereunder may be used for any per capita payment.
(2) Investment by secretary.--Except as provided in this
section and section 7, the principal of such funds deposited
into the accounts established hereunder and any interest earned
thereon shall be invested by the Secretary in accordance with
current laws and regulations for the investing of tribal trust
funds.
(3) Use of principal funds.--The principal amounts of said
funds and any amounts earned thereon shall be made available to
the Indian Nation for which the account was established for
expenditure for purposes which may include construction or
repair of health care facilities, law enforcement, cultural or
other education activities, economic development, social
services, and land acquisition. Land acquisition using such
funds shall be subject to the provisions of subsections (b) and
(d).
(d) Disbursement of Funds.--The Secretary shall disburse the funds
from a trust account established under this section pursuant to a
budget adopted by the Council of the Indian Nation setting forth the
amount and an intended use of such funds.

SEC. 7. ATTORNEY FEES.

(a) Payment.--At the time the funds are paid to the Indian Nations,
from funds authorized to be appropriated pursuant to section 5(c), the
Secretary shall pay to the Indian Nations' attorneys those fees
provided for in the individual tribal attorney fee contracts as
approved by the respective Indian Nations.
(b) Limitations.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), the total fees
payable to attorneys under such contracts with an Indian Nation shall
not exceed 10 percent of that Indian Nation's allocation of funds
appropriated under section 5(c).

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 3534, as ordered reported, is to
provide for the settlement of certain land claims of the
Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations to the Arkansas
Riverbed in Oklahoma.

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

H.R. 3534 is a comprehensive legislative settlement of all
claims asserted by the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations
for the use and mismanagement of tribal resources along the
Arkansas River. The legislation extinguishes all of the
Nations' claims to the so-called Disclaimed Drybed Lands and
authorizes a total $49,293,245 in appropriated claim settlement
funds to be allocated in specified trust fund accounts among
the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations. Of the settlement
amount, 50 percent would be held for the Cherokee Nation, 37.5
percent for the Choctaw Nation, and 12.5 percent for the
Chickasaw Nation.
For more than 60 years following Oklahoma's statehood, the
Bureau of Indian Affairs erroneously assumed that the State
retained ownership of the Arkansas Riverbed from the Arkansas
State line to Three Forks. The Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw
Nations asserted that their Treaties superseded the Equal
Footing Doctrine regarding navigable rivers and that ownership
of the Arkansas Riverbed should remain with the tribes.
Due to the Bureau's inaction, the federal government
constructed power heads and made other improvements in the
channel of the riverbed on tribal land, using sand and gravel
belonging to the three Nations. In addition, individuals with
property near the river began to occupy the Drybed Lands lands
that were under water at the time of Oklahoma Statehood but
that are now dry. In 1966, the three Indian Nations sued the
State of Oklahoma to recover their lands and in 1970, the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled that ownership of the riverbed remained
with the tribes. The decision gave the northern half of the
riverbed to the Cherokee Nation from the Arkansas line west to
the confluence with the Canadian River and the southern half of
the riverbed jointly to the Choctaws and Chickasaws.
In 1989, the three Indian Nations filed lawsuits against
the United States seeking damages for the use and mismanagement
of tribal trust resources along the Arkansas River. To date,
negotiations on the settlement of the three Nations' claim
against the United States have continued without resolve. The
Councils of the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations have
enacted tribal legislation releasing their respective claims
against the United States and extinguishing any and all right,
title, and interest in the Drybed Lands. H.R. 3534 codifies the
three Nations' settlement.

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 3534 was introduced on December 19, 2001, by
Congressman Brad Carson (D-OK), and was subsequently referred
to the Committee on Resources. On April 17, 2002, the Committee
held a hearing on the bill, and on June 26, 2002, the Committee
met to mark up the legislation. Congressman Carson offered an
amendment in the nature of a substitute to make certain
technical and clarifying revisions. The legislation, as
amended, was ordered favorably reported to the House of
Representatives by unanimous consent.

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF BILL AS ORDERED REPORTED

Section 1. Short title

This section sets out the short title of the bill, the
``Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations Claims Settlement
Act.''

Section 2. Findings

This section sets forth the findings prompting the need for
the legislation.

Section 3. Purposes

This section sets forth the purpose of the bill: to approve
the settlement (described above); to reserve the three Nations'
beneficial interest in the riverbed except for the ``disclaimed
drybed lands;'' to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to
implement the settlement; to authorize the appropriations
necessary to implement the bill; and to preserve the trust
relationship between the U.S. and each of the three Nations.

Section 4. Definitions

This section sets forth the definitions for the bill.

Section 5. Settlement and claims; Appropriations; Allocation of funds

Subsection (a) states that the three Nations' claims
against the United States will be extinguished upon payment of
the funds authorized to be appropriated under the bill.
Subsection (b) states that on deposit of the appropriated
funds into the trust accounts pursuant to section 6 of the
bill, the three Nations' interests in the Disclaimed Drybed
Lands shall be deemed extinguished. The Secretary of the
Interior is authorized to file the appropriate documents with
the county clerks for the counties where the Disclaimed Drybed
Lands are located. The other Riverbed resources are expressly
reserved, as are any water rights the three Nations may have.
Other federal lands above the highwater mark, to the extent
unnecessary for maintaining the navigation way and upon being
declared surplus, are to be taken into trust for the Nations.
Subsection (c) authorizes for appropriation the aggregate
sum of $41,293,245 for allocation among the three Nations in
accordance with subsection (d)--50 percent to the Cherokee
Nation, 37.5 percent to the Choctaw Nation, and 12.5 percent to
the Chickasaw Nation--after making the payment authorized by
section 7 (attorneys fees according to their contracts, not to
exceed ten percent of the settlement), as full settlement and
satisfaction for claims pending against the U.S. and for their
disclaimed interests in the Disclaimed Drybed Lands. This
subsection further authorizes an appropriation of $8 million as
fair present value of past and future use of tribal lands for
the two hydropower facilities on the river.
Subsection (d) sets out the percentages for allocating
settlement funds among the three Nations.

Section 6. Tribal Trust Funds

Subsection (a) states that all appropriated funds will be
deposited into separate tribal trust fund accounts for the
benefit of the three Indian Nations, that the funds may only be
expended in accordance with the provisions this section, and
that none of the funds will be made available to a Nation until
it has executed and filed a stipulation of dismissal in the
Court of Federal Claims cases.
Subsection (b) states that the appropriated funds deposited
into in the Tribal trust accounts and any interest earned
thereon may be used for land acquisitions pursuant to the
Secretary's regulations, except that trust acquisitions on
behalf of the Cherokees are mandatory if the land proposed to
be acquired is located in certain sections in Sequoyah,
McIntosh, or Muskogee Counties, provided that the land is not
located within the boundaries of any municipality and it meets
the Secretary's minimum environmental and title standards.
Subsection (c) prohibits use of the settlement funds for
per capita payments, and requires the Secretary to invest the
funds in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. It
also allows the funds to be used for construction or repair of
health care facilities, law enforcement, cultural or other
education activities, economic development, social services,
and land acquisition, provided that the acquisition of land
complies with to the requirements of subsections (b) and (d).
Subsection (d) requires disbursement of the funds from a
trust account established under section 6 pursuant to budgets
adopted by the council of the Nation setting forth the amount
and intended use of the funds.

Section 7. Attorney fees

This section authorizes the Secretary to pay the Nations'
attorneys those sums owed them under their respective
contracts, but imposes a cap of ten percent of the Nation's
allocation of funds appropriated under section 5(c).

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 Resources' oversight findings and recommendations
are reflected in the body of this report.

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B)
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2)
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this
bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures.
3. 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 provide for the settlement of
certain land claims of the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw
Nations to the Arkansas Riverbed in Oklahoma.
4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office:

U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, August 28, 2002.
Hon. James V. Hansen,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 3534, the
Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations Claims Settlement Act.
If you wish further details of this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Lanette J.
Walker (for federal costs), Marjorie Miller (for the state,
local, and tribal impact), and Cecil McPherson (for the
private-sector impact).
Sincerely,
Barry B. Anderson
(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
Enclosure.

H.R. 3534--Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations Claims Settlement
Act

Summary: H.R. 3534 would ratify a settlement of the
Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations' claims to certain
lands along the Arkansas River. Under the bill, the tribes
would extinguish their claims upon payment by the federal
government of $49 million to compensate them for the
mismanagement of tribal resources along the Arkansas River. CBO
estimates that implementing the bill would cost $49 million in
fiscal year 2003, assuming appropriation of the authorized
amount. H.R. 3534 would not affect direct spending or receipts;
therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply.
H.R. 3534 contains an intergovernmental mandate as defined
in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA), but this mandate
would impose no net costs on state, local, or tribal
governments. The mandate would fall on the Cherokee, Choctaw,
and Chickasaw Indian Tribes.
H.R. 3534 contains a private-sector mandate, as defined in
UMRA, on the attorneys representing the Cherokee, Choctaw, and
Chickasaw Nations in the settlement matter described in the
bill. CBO estimates that the direct cost of the mandate would
be well below the annual threshold established by UMRA ($115
million in 2002, adjusted annually for inflation).
Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated
budgetary impact of H.R. 3534 is shown in the following table.
This estimate assumes that the bill will be enacted near the
end of fiscal year 2002 and amounts authorized will be
appropriated in fiscal year 2003. The costs of this legislation
fall within budget function 450 (community and regional
development).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
Authorization level \1\....................................... 49 0 0 0 0
Estimated outlays............................................. 49 0 0 0 0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ This amount could be partly or fully offset by a reduction in future payments from the Judgment Fund if the
tribes prevail in a pending case against the government, however, CBO cannot estimate the likelihood or
magnitude of such an offset.

Basis of estimate: H.R. 3534 would authorize the Department
of the Interior (DOI) to make payments to the tribes' attorneys
and to three new tribal trust funds to compensate the Cherokee,
Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations' for the mismanagement of tribal
resources along the Arkansas River. The bill would authorize
the appropriation of $49 million for such payments. Of this
total, $41 million would be used to settle the tribes' claims,
and $8 million would be a rental payment for the use of tribal
land where two federal hydropower facilities are located.
The trust funds would become the tribes' property after
each tribe files for dismissal of all relevant claims filed in
the United States Court of Federal Claims. Therefore, assuming
that the $49 million authorized by the bill is appropriated in
2003 and that the tribes file for dismissal in 2003, outlays of
that amount would be recorded in that year.
The amounts deposited into the trust funds could be used by
the tribes to pay for the acquisition of additional land or for
certain other purposes. The bill would authorize DOI to take
land acquired by the tribes into trust. CBO estimates that any
administrative costs to the federal government resulting from
taking those lands into trust would not be significant.
Pay-as-you-go considerations: None.
Estimated impact on state, local, and tribal governments:
H.R. 3534 contains an intergovernmental mandate as defined in
UMRA because it would extinguish outstanding legal claims of
the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations. The bill
provides, however, that these claims would be extinguished only
after funds are appropriated to compensate the tribes, so they
would incur no net costs as a result of this mandate.
Estimated impact on the private sector: H.R. 3534 contains
a private-sector mandate as defined by UMRA. The bill would
limit the fees payable to the attorneys under contract with the
Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chicawaw Nations. Section 7 would limit
attorneys' fees to 10 percent of the funds allocated by the
government to each of the Indian Nations. Such a limitation on
attorney fees would be a private-sector mandate as defined by
UMRA. The total amount of the settlement is less than $50
million. Thus, the direct cost of the mandate, measured as a
loss in net income for the attorneys, would be well below the
annual threshold established by UMRA ($115 million in 2002,
adjusted annually for inflation). According to government
sources, however, attorney fees would likely not exceed 10
percent of the settlement. Thus, the mandate may have no cost
to the private sector.
Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Lanette J. Walker;
impact on state, local and tribal governments: Marjorie Miller;
impact on the private sector: Cecil McPherson.
Estimate approved by: Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates as defined by
Public Law 104-4.

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 in existing
law.