Lumbee Recognition Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1368 To provide for the recognition of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 8, 2019 Mr. BURR introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs A BILL To provide for the recognition of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lumbee Recognition 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FEDERAL RECOGNITION. 6 The Act of June 7, 1956 (70 Stat. 254, chapter 375), 7 is amended— 8 (1) by striking section 2; 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 May 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1368.IS S1368 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1368 IS (2) in the first sentence of the first section, by 1 striking ‘‘That the Indians’’ and inserting the fol- 2 lowing: 3 ‘‘SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF LUMBEE INDIANS. 4 ‘‘The Indians’’; 5 (3) in the preamble— 6 (A) by inserting before the first undesig- 7 nated clause the following: 8 ‘‘SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 9 ‘‘Congress finds that—’’; 10 (B) by designating the undesignated 11 clauses as paragraphs (1) through (4), respec- 12 tively, and indenting appropriately; 13 (C) by striking ‘‘Whereas’’ each place it 14 appears; 15 (D) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon 16 at the end of each of paragraphs (1) and (2) 17 (as so designated); and 18 (E) in paragraph (4) (as so designated), by 19 striking ‘‘: Now, therefore,’’ and inserting a pe- 20 riod; 21 (4) by moving the enacting clause so as to ap- 22 pear before section 1 (as so designated); 23 (5) by striking the last sentence of section 3 (as 24 designated by paragraph (2)); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 May 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1368.IS S1368 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1368 IS (6) by inserting before section 3 (as designated 1 by paragraph (2)) the following: 2 ‘‘SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 3 ‘‘In this Act: 4 ‘‘(1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 5 the Secretary of the Interior. 6 ‘‘(2) TRIBE.—The term ‘Tribe’ means the 7 Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina or the Lumbee In- 8 dians of North Carolina.’’; and 9 (7) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘SEC. 4. FEDERAL RECOGNITION. 11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Federal recognition is extended 12 to the Tribe (as designated as petitioner number 65 by 13 the Office of Federal Acknowledgment). 14 ‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY OF LAWS.—All laws and regula- 15 tions of the United States of general application to Indi- 16 ans and Indian tribes shall apply to the Tribe and its 17 members. 18 ‘‘(c) PETITION FOR ACKNOWLEDGMENT.—Notwith- 19 standing section 3, any group of Indians in Robeson and 20 adjoining counties, North Carolina, whose members are 21 not enrolled in the Tribe (as determined under section 22 5(d)) may petition under part 83 of title 25 of the Code 23 of Federal Regulations for acknowledgment of tribal exist- 24 ence. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 May 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1368.IS S1368 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1368 IS ‘‘SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL SERVICES. 1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Tribe and its members shall 2 be eligible for all services and benefits provided by the 3 Federal Government to federally recognized Indian tribes. 4 ‘‘(b) SERVICE AREA.—For the purpose of the delivery 5 of Federal services and benefits described in subsection 6 (a), those members of the Tribe residing in Robeson, Cum- 7 berland, Hoke, and Scotland counties in North Carolina 8 shall be deemed to be residing on or near an Indian res- 9 ervation. 10 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATION OF NEEDS.—On verification 11 by the Secretary of a tribal roll under subsection (d), the 12 Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 13 ices shall— 14 ‘‘(1) develop, in consultation with the Tribe, a 15 determination of needs to provide the services for 16 which members of the Tribe are eligible; and 17 ‘‘(2) after the tribal roll is verified, each submit 18 to Congress a written statement of those needs. 19 ‘‘(d) TRIBAL ROLL.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purpose of the delivery 21 of Federal services and benefits described in sub- 22 section (a), the tribal roll in effect on the date of en- 23 actment of this section shall, subject to verification 24 by the Secretary, define the service population of the 25 Tribe. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 May 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1368.IS S1368 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1368 IS ‘‘(2) VERIFICATION LIMITATION AND DEAD- 1 LINE.—The verification by the Secretary under 2 paragraph (1) shall— 3 ‘‘(A) be limited to confirming compliance 4 with the membership criteria set out in the con- 5 stitution of the Tribe adopted on November 16, 6 2001; and 7 ‘‘(B) be completed not later than 2 years 8 after the date of enactment of this section. 9 ‘‘SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION TO TAKE LAND INTO TRUST. 10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may take into 11 trust for the benefit of the Tribe land of the Tribe. 12 ‘‘(b) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN LAND.—An applica- 13 tion to take into trust land located within Robeson Coun- 14 ty, North Carolina, under this section shall be treated by 15 the Secretary as an ‘on reservation’ trust acquisition 16 under part 151 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations 17 (or a successor regulation). 18 ‘‘(c) GAMING ACTIVITIES.—Land taken into trust 19 under this section shall be eligible, or considered to have 20 been taken into trust, for class II gaming or class III gam- 21 ing (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Gaming Regu- 22 latory Act (25 U.S.C. 2703)). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 May 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1368.IS S1368 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1368 IS ‘‘SEC. 7. JURISDICTION OF STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA. 1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—With respect to land located 2 within the State of North Carolina that is owned by, or 3 held in trust by the United States for the benefit of, the 4 Tribe, or any dependent Indian community of the Tribe, 5 the State of North Carolina shall exercise jurisdiction 6 over— 7 ‘‘(1) all criminal offenses that are committed; 8 and 9 ‘‘(2) all civil actions that arise. 10 ‘‘(b) TRANSFER OF JURISDICTION.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 12 the Secretary may accept on behalf of the United 13 States, after consulting with the Attorney General of 14 the United States, any transfer by the State of 15 North Carolina to the United States of any portion 16 of the jurisdiction of the State of North Carolina de- 17 scribed in subsection (a) pursuant to an agreement 18 between the Tribe and the State of North Carolina. 19 ‘‘(2) RESTRICTION.—A transfer of jurisdiction 20 described in paragraph (1) may not take effect until 21 2 years after the effective date of the agreement de- 22 scribed in that paragraph. 23 ‘‘(c) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section affects the ap- 24 plication of section 109 of the Indian Child Welfare Act 25 of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1919). 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 May 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1368.IS S1368 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1368 IS ‘‘SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 2 as are necessary to carry out this Act.’’. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 May 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1368.IS S1368 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS