[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5498 Introduced in House (IH)]
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5498
To permit landowners to assert otherwise available State law defenses
against real property claims by Indian tribes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 18, 2000
Mr. Ewing introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To permit landowners to assert otherwise available State law defenses
against real property claims by Indian tribes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. DEFENSES TO INDIAN CLAIMS.
Except as provided in section 2, in any action or claim by or on
behalf of an Indian tribe to enforce a real property right, or
otherwise asserting a claim of Indian title or right regarding real
property, the defendant may assert any affirmative defense that would
be available under State law to a defendant opposing an analogous
action or claim that does not involve an Indian tribe.
SEC. 2. EXCEPTION FOR GOVERNMENTAL DEFENDANTS.
Section 1 shall not apply to any action or claim against a
governmental entity with respect to land that is located within
sovereign Indian country.
SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), this Act
shall be construed and applied without regard to the interpretive
judicial canon that remaining ambiguities should be resolved in favor
of the Indians when standard tools of statutory construction leave no
indication as to the meaning of an Indian treaty or statute.
(b) Exception.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to judicial
interpretation of an Indian treaty with respect to a determination of
whether land was reserved or set aside by the Federal Government for
the use of an Indian tribe as Indian land.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act:
(1) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' means any
tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, or community that is
recognized by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to section
102 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994
(25 U.S.C. 479a).
(2) Sovereign indian country.--The term ``sovereign Indian
country'' means land--
(A) that is rightfully owned by, or is held in
trust by the Federal Government for, an Indian tribe;
(B) that was reserved or set aside for the use of
the Indian tribe as Indian land by the Federal
Government, and is either--
(i) outside the exterior geographical
limits of any State; or
(ii) within the exterior geographical
limits of a State that subsequently either--
(I) acknowledged Indian title to
the land involved when the land was
made a part of the State, if that State
is one of the original 13 States to
form the United States; or
(II) provided, either in the Act
providing for the State's admission to
the United States or in the State's
first constitution, that all lands held
by Indians within the State shall
remain under the jurisdiction and
control of the United States, in
accordance with article I, section 8,
clause 17 of the Constitution of the
United States, if that State were
admitted to the United States after
1790; and
(C) for which the Indian title has not been
extinguished or the jurisdictional reservation revoked.
SEC. 5. ATTORNEYS FEES.
(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), in any
action or proceeding that is subject to this Act, the court shall allow
the prevailing party a reasonable attorney's fee with respect to a
claim presented by the opposing party that was frivolous, unreasonable,
or without foundation, or that the opposing party continued to litigate
after it clearly became so. A claim shall be deemed--
(1) legally frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation
only if it rests upon a legal theory that was clearly
unavailable under existing case law; and
(2) factually frivolous, unreasonable, or without
foundation only if its proponent knew or should have known of
those facts that would require judgment for the opposing party
as a matter of law.
(b) Exception.--No attorney's fee shall be assessed under
subsection (a) against an Indian tribe seeking to enforce a right to an
interest in land if the court determines that the land involved is
located within sovereign Indian country.
SEC. 6. TIMING OF APPLICATION.
This Act shall apply to any action, claim, or right described in
section 1 that is pending, filed, or continuing on or after the date of
enactment of this Act, other than a final money damages judgment to
which no person has a right to raise a challenge by any available
procedure.
<all>