Sec. 101. Congressional statement of findings
215 words·~1 min read·
/bill/113/hr/409/ih/section-101A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The Congress, after careful review of the Federal Government’s historical and special legal relationship with, and resulting responsibilities to, American Indian people, finds that— the relationship of Indian tribes to the United States is founded in part on the settled doctrine of the law of nations that when a stronger sovereign assumes authority over a weaker sovereign, the stronger one assumes a duty of protection for the weaker one, which does not surrender its right to self-government; the United States fiduciary responsibilities to Indians also constitutes a foundational basis for, not merely a function of, congressional legislation regarding Indians because it constitutes an inherent presupposition of our constitutional structure, which provides an inherent limit on the exercise and application of the Indian Commerce Clause and the Treaty Clause of the Constitution; the United States fiduciary responsibilities to Indians also are founded in part on specific commitments made through written treaties and agreements securing peace, in exchange for which Indians have surrendered claims to vast tracts of land, which provided legal consideration for permanent, ongoing performance of Federal trust duties; and the foregoing historic Federal-tribal relations and understandings have benefitted the people of the United States as a whole for centuries and established enduring and enforceable Federal obligations to which the national honor has been committed.