Sec. 2. Findings; purposes
373 words·~2 min read·
/bill/113/s/2923/is/section-2A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds that— it is the policy of the United States to promote tribal self-determination and economic self-sufficiency and to support the resolution of disputes over historical claims; the United States, pursuant to Federal law and in accordance with several Federal court decisions, has affirmed the rights of tribes, including the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe, to free and undisturbed use and occupancy of the aboriginal land of the tribes, including the right to compensation when those rights are violated; in June 2000, in the case entitled Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas v.
U.S. (Fed. Cl. Jun 19, 2000) (No. 3–83), the United States Court of Federal Claims ruled that— the United States violated the fiduciary obligations of the United States by knowingly failing to protect 2,850,000 acres of the aboriginal land of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe; that failure would have consituted a claim eligible to be heard by the Indian Claims Commission established by the first section of the Act of August 13, 1946 (commonly known as the Indian Claims Commission Act ) (60 Stat. 1049, chapter 959) (and terminated by section 23 of that Act (70 Stat. 624, chapter 679)); and as described in House Resolution 69 (98th Congress) (November 1, 1983), it was the sense of the House of Representatives that the Federal Government should pay full monetary compensation to the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe for the 2,850,028 acres of aboriginal land illegally occupied by non-Indian settlers after 1845; in October 2002, the United States Court of Federal Claims awarded $270,600,000 as the jointly stipulated amount of economic damages to be recovered by the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe from the United States; and this Act represents a good faith effort on the part of Congress to provide the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe with the compensation that the United States Court of Claims has determined is owed to the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe.
The purposes of this Act are— to recognize the loss by the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of the aboriginal land and the resulting loss of any economically productive use of the aboriginal land for decades; to restore an economic development opportunity to the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe on terms that are equal and fair; and to protect the Federal Government and taxpayers from liability arising out of or relating to claims on the aboriginal land.
Connectionstraces to 1
Traces to 1 document
1 reference not yet in our index
- 70 Stat. 624
Citation graph
cites case law
Cites 2Cited by 0 across 0 sources