Tribal Law and Order Act | Native American Public Safety, Health and Water | Indian Arts and Crafts Act | Indian Water Rights Settlements
The courts and Congress have long acknowledged a trust relationship between the federal government and Indian tribes. With that in mind, I have worked hard to fulfill that legal obligation by promoting economic growth and opportunity for Native Americans; improving the administration of justice in Indian country; strengthening the government-to-government relationships that exist between the federal government and the tribes; and protecting the rich Indian culture that is such a treasure to Arizona and the nation. These efforts also have positive economic and public safety effects on Arizona’s non-Indian communities, many of which are located near tribal reservations.
Many Indian reservations suffer from high rates of violent crime, the result of a broken and underfunded justice system. To try to help remedy the problem, Senators Byron Dorgan, John McCain and I sponsored legislation, now law, to provide critical new support and law enforcement tools to be used in Indian communities. The Tribal Law and Order Act, which became law in 2010:
- Allows tribes to increase sentencing authority for up to three years when they provide added protections for defendants;
- Provides for the deputization of tribal police officers, so they can enforce federal laws against all offenders on Indian lands;
- Provides tribal police with greater access to criminal history databases, including that of the National Crime Information Center;
- Requires Indian Health Service facilities to implement consistent sexual assault protocols, and requires federal officials to provide documents and testimony gained in the course of their federal duties to aid in prosecutions before tribal courts;
- Reauthorizes and improves programs designed to strengthen tribal court systems, tribal police departments, and tribal corrections programs; and
- Updates laws to address high rates of alcohol and substance abuse, and establishes programs to improve opportunities for at-risk youth on Indian lands.
Recognizing that tremendous needs exist in Indian country, I authored a measure with Senator John Thune in July 2008 that authorized: (1) $750 million for law enforcement in Indian country; (2) $250 million for Indian health care, including contract health services, Indian health facilities, and domestic and community sanitation facilities; and (3) $1 billion for water supply projects that are part of Indian water settlements approved by Congress. Congress adopted the measure as an amendment to a foreign aid bill, known as PEPFAR, which later became law on July 30, 2008. The $2 billion in funding for Indian country is money that would otherwise have been sent abroad as foreign aid.
In 1990, while serving in the House of Representatives, then-Congressman Ben Nighthorse Campbell and I sponsored the Indian Arts and Crafts Act to prohibit misrepresentation in the marketing of Indian arts and crafts within the United States. It is a truth-in-advertising law that provides criminal and civil penalties for marketing products as “Indian-made” when such products are not, in fact, made by Indians, as defined by the Act. The law is intended to protect consumers, as well as Indian artisans, craftspeople, and tribes.
Misrepresentation of such products as Indian-style jewelry, pottery, baskets, woven rugs, kachina dolls, and clothing, to name a few, can result in civil penalties or criminal penalties of up to a $250,000 fine or a five-year prison term, or both. If a business violates the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, it can face civil penalties or be prosecuted and fined up to $1 million. The Indian Arts and Crafts Board at the U.S. Department of the Interior has primary enforcement authority.
Senator McCain and I introduced legislation in 2009 to further strengthen the investigative and enforcement authorities of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act. The legislation, which became law in July 2010, expands the investigative authority under the original act by allowing other federal law enforcement entities besides the FBI, such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Division of Law Enforcement, to investigate cases of misrepresentation and work with Department of Justice attorneys to prosecute cases.
I’ve helped secure the enactment of a number of historic Indian water settlements in Arizona, each providing much needed certainty to the state’s Indian and non-Indian water users as they plan for future economic development.
White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Act
In 2009, Senator McCain and I introduced legislation to ratify a settlement of the White Mountain Apache Tribe’s water claims, quantify the amount of water the tribe may legally use, and authorize funding for the construction of the Miner Flat Project, a vital drinking water project on the tribe’s reservation. That measure passed the House and Senate in November 2010 and was signed into law the following month.
As part of the settlement, the tribe waives its water-related claims against the United States and a number of non-federal parties in Arizona. And, more importantly, it establishes a clean, reliable source of drinking water for members of the White Mountain Apache Tribe.
The settlement act followed enactment of the White Mountain Apache Tribe Rural Water System Loan Authorization Act in 2009, legislation I introduced to expedite the initial planning and design phases of the Miner Flat Project and thus reduce the ultimate cost of construction and the settlement legislation.
Arizona Water Settlements Act
The enactment of the Arizona Water Settlements Act, which I sponsored and which became law in December 2004, capped 15 years of hard work by dozens of parties in Arizona that worked together to amicably resolve a long list of disputes concerning their water rights. It became fully enforceable and effective in 2007, and settles the water-rights claims of the Gila River Indian Community and the Tohono O’odham Nation.
The law provides significant funding to enable both of these tribes to build water infrastructure to meet the needs of their reservations. In fact, all tribes in Arizona that can utilize Central Arizona Project water will benefit from the new law, since it creates a fund to pay the yearly operation and maintenance costs for the water delivered to tribes through 2045. The law also sets aside more than $250 million to settle Arizona tribal water-rights claims in the future.
The Act enables Indian tribes to use water rights that thus far have existed only on paper. In addition, it brings long-sought certainty to cities and communities as they plan their own growth and development. The law also resolves a long-standing dispute between the state of Arizona and the federal government over nearly $2 billion in repayments for construction of the Central Arizona Project. Consequently, all of the people of Arizona will benefit from the legislation.
The settlement marks a milestone in Arizona’s history and could ultimately prove as important to the state’s future as the authorization of the Central Arizona Project itself.
The settlement is now being implemented, and the tribes are already receiving many of the benefits that were contemplated. In fiscal year 2010, for example, $1.328 million in federal funding is being used for the design and environmental compliance associated with the construction and rehabilitation of a water delivery project that will benefit the San Carlos Irrigation and Drainage District and the Gila River Indian Community.
Fort McDowell Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Revision Act
I sponsored legislation with Senator McCain in 2006 that forgave a federal long-term, no-interest loan made to the Ft. McDowell Yavapai Nation. In return, the U.S. government was relieved of the obligation to conduct environmental mitigation on the Nation’s reservation, as otherwise required by the Fort McDowell Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act of 1990.
The settlement revision act, which was signed into law in November 2006, brings to a close the final stages of implementation of the tribe’s important water settlement. It also shows how the federal government and Native American tribes can work together to reach a solution that benefits both parties.
Zuni Indian Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act
Legislation I introduced to settle the Zuni Tribe’s claims to water on its religious lands in northeastern Arizona became law in June of 2003. The settlement honors the Zunis’ religious beliefs, resolves the tribe’s long-standing claims, and protects rural communities’ access to water. By resolving this decades-long dispute, the law saves all parties – including the tribe and the state of Arizona – the expense of a protracted legal battle.
The law settles competing water-rights claims by small, non-Indian communities and the Zuni Indian Tribe with respect to “the Zuni Heaven Reservation” created by Congress in 1984. Since the late 19th century, communities upstream from the Reservation had fully appropriated all the water available, leading to conflicting claims.
To avoid litigation, all of the parties involved – including the federal government and the state of Arizona – sought a legislative settlement that provided the Zuni Tribe with the financial resources to acquire water rights in the Little Colorado River basin and restore the riparian environment that existed previously on the Zuni Reservation. In return, the Zuni agreed to waive future claims to water rights, accept current water uses by non-Indians, and recognize many future water uses by local water users and communities.
A total of $26.5 million is being used to settle claims, implement the agreement, and restore Zuni Reservation land. The bulk of that money – $19.25 million – comes from the federal government.
