[House Report 108-502]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
108th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 108-502
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TO REAFFIRM THE INHERENT SOVEREIGN RIGHTS OF THE OSAGE TRIBE TO
DETERMINE ITS MEMBERSHIP AND FORM OF GOVERNMENT
_______
May 19, 2004.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Pombo, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 2912]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 2912) to reaffirm the inherent sovereign rights of the
Osage Tribe to determine its membership and form of government,
having considered the same, report favorably thereon without
amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 2912 is to reaffirm the inherent
sovereign rights of the Osage Tribe to determine its membership
and form of government.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
H.R. 2912 affirms the right of the Osage Tribe to form its
own membership rules and tribal government, provided that no
one's rights to any shares in the mineral estate of the tribe's
reservation are diminished.
The Osage Tribe is a federally recognized tribe with a
nearly 1.5 million-acre reservation in northeast Oklahoma. In
1906, Congress enacted the Osage Allotment Act (``1906 Act''),
which is unique among federal Indian laws in that it restricts
the Osage Tribe from defining its own membership rules, and
prescribes a particular form of government which the tribe
cannot change. All other federally recognized Indian tribes
generally have the sovereign right to make their own internal
membership rules and to form suitable tribal governments.
In brief, the 1906 Act--
Defined the legal membership of the tribe to
consist of all living Osage Indians who were on the
Secretary of the Interior's 1906 roll for the tribe,
plus their children born before July 1, 1907;
Allotted a certain amount of surface land in
the Osage Reservation to the tribal members;
Provided that the tribe retained all mineral
rights to the entire reservation in undivided
ownership; and
Provided for the distribution of royalties
from development of mineral resources to each of the
enrollees; such shares in the royalties are called
``headright shares.''
Federal court decisions have interpreted the 1906 Act to
mean that Congress took away the Osage Tribe's right to
determine its own membership rules. The only ones who may be
members of the Osage tribe and participate in the tribal
government are those who are the lineal descendants of the
original enrollees under the 1906 Act and have a headright
share of the mineral revenues from the reservation.
As a result, the 1906 Act excludes many thousands of Osage
persons from being members of the tribe because they do not
have headright shares. Ironically, in the eyes of the federal
government, such individuals (including full-blooded Osages)
are not ``Indians'' because one must be a member of a federally
recognized tribe to be an Indian. Those Osage people who are
precluded from being members of the tribe under the terms of
the 1906 Act are thus denied important services and benefits,
such as Native American academic scholarships, and more
importantly, a role in participating in the life and government
of the tribe. Without clarifying the 1906 Act, the Osage Tribe
is prevented from attaining the self-sufficiency and strength
of all other tribes who have the sovereign right and freedom to
form their own rules.
H.R. 2912 clarifies the 1906 Act and enables the Osage
Tribe to craft its own membership and tribal government rules
on the same footing as all other federally-recognized tribes.
The bill provides that no one's rights to shares in the mineral
estate are diminished through the Osage Tribe's new ability to
determine its own membership. Significantly, in a hearing on
this bill, a representative of an association of headright
owners testified in support of the legislation. The bill
additionally provides that the Secretary of the Interior shall
assist the tribe in holding appropriate elections and referenda
at the request of the tribe.
The full committee hearing on H.R. 2912 was held on the
Osage Reservation on March 15, 2004, where testimony was
received from the regional director of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, the tribal chief, a tribal councilman, a
representative of the Osage Shareholders Association, and two
young Osage Indians who are currently denied membership in the
tribe because of the 1906 Act. All testified in support of the
legislation.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 2912 was introduced on July 25, 2003, by Congressman
Frank Lucas (R-OK). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Resources. On March 15, 2004, the full Committee held a hearing
on the bill. On May 5, 2004, the Full Resources Committee met
to consider the bill. No amendments were offered and the bill
was ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives
by unanimous consent.
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. This bill does
not authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives does not
apply.
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, May 17, 2004.
Hon. Richard W. Pombo,
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. 2912, a bill to
reaffirm the inherent sovereign rights of the Osage Tribe to
determine its membership and form of government.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Lanette J.
Walker.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Robinson
(For Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Director).
Enclosure.
H.R. 2912--A bill to reaffirm the inherent sovereign rights of the
Osage Tribe to determine its membership and form of government
H.R. 2912 would enable the Osage Tribe to determine the
tribe's membership roll and government rules in the same manner
as other federally recognized tribes. In 1906, the Congress
enacted the Osage Allotment Act that defined membership in the
Osage Tribe. Under the act, Osage Indians may be legal members
of the tribe and participate in the tribal government only if
they are lineal descendants of the original enrollees under the
1906 act and own a share of the mineral revenues from the
reservation. CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 2912 would
have no effect on the federal budget because federal agencies
currently provide services to all Osage Indians and do not
restrict services to those considered to be members of the
tribe under the Osage Allotment Act. Enacting H.R. 2912 would
not affect revenues or direct spending.
S. 1423 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
Enacting this legislation would benefit the Osage Tribe.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Lanette J.
Walker. This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
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.