Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Petition Act

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Petition Act - Requires the prompt review by the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, of the long-standing petition by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe for Federal recognition.

Expresses the sense of the Congress that the prompt review of the petition for Federal recognition will not unnecessarily delay the review of pending fully documented petitions for Federal recognition as an Indian tribe awaiting active consideration as of the date of the enactment of this Act.

[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4933 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4933

 To require the prompt review by the Secretary of the Interior of the 
   long-standing petition by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe for Federal 
                  recognition, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 22, 2004

   Mr. Delahunt (for himself, Mr. Markey, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Frank of 
Massachusetts, Mr. Lynch, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Meehan, Mr. Olver, and Mr. 
    Neal of Massachusetts) introduced the following bill; which was 
                 referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the prompt review by the Secretary of the Interior of the 
   long-standing petition by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe for Federal 
                  recognition, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Mashpee Wampanoag 
Tribal Petition Act''.
    (b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe is an American Indian tribe 
        as recognized by the State of Massachusetts with a main land 
        base consisting of 55 tribally owned acres in the town of 
        Mashpee, Massachusetts, which is located near the southwestern 
        end of Cape Cod.
            (2) On November 9, 1620, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe 
        greeted 102 pilgrims from Plymouth, England, at what became 
        known as ``Plymouth Rock''.
            (3) After teaching the Pilgrims to survive and flourish in 
        their new land, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe hosted the first 
        Thanksgiving in 1621.
            (4) In 1685, King James II of England allotted 16,500 acres 
        to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. In 1835, an additional 
        allotment of approximately 10,000 acres was granted to 
        individual Mashpee Wampanoags by an act of the General Court of 
        Massachusetts.
            (5) In 1976, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe submitted a 
        petition for Federal recognition to the Secretary of the 
        Interior.
            (6) In 1996, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe was placed on the 
        Bureau of Indian Affairs' ``ready, waiting for active 
        consideration'' list.
            (7) In December 2001, a United States district court ruled 
        that the Bureau of Indian Affairs unduly delayed the Mashpee 
        Wampanoag Tribe's Federal recognition petition and ordered the 
        Bureau to reach an initial decision on recognition within six 
        months.
            (8) Notwithstanding the order of the district court, the 
        Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe still awaits a decision on Federal 
        recognition 28 years after petitioning the Secretary of the 
        Interior and 384 years after welcoming the Pilgrims at Plymouth 
        Rock.

SEC. 2. PROMPT CONSIDERATION OF MASHPEE WAMPANOAG TRIBE PETITION 
              REQUESTING FEDERAL RECOGNITION AS AN INDIAN TRIBE.

    (a) Time Period for Proposed Finding.--Not later than four months 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary of 
the Interior for Indian Affairs shall publish a proposed finding with 
respect to the petition for Federal recognition as an Indian tribe by 
the Secretary of the Interior consistent with part 83 of title 25, Code 
of Federal Regulations, submitted by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in 
1976.
    (b) Time Period for Final Determination.--Not later than one year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary of 
the Interior for Indian Affairs shall publish a final determination 
with respect to the petition for Federal recognition described in 
subsection (a).
    (c) Number of Members not a Factor.--The number of persons listed 
on the membership roll contained in the petition for Federal 
recognition described in subsection (a) shall not be taken into account 
in considering the petition, except that the Assistant Secretary of the 
Interior for Indian Affairs may review the eligibility of individual 
members or groups listed in the petition in accordance with the 
provisions of part 83 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations.
    (d) Effect of Failure to Comply.--If the Assistant Secretary of the 
Interior for Indian Affairs fails to publish the proposed finding 
required by subsection (a) or the final determination required by 
subsection (b) by the end of the time period required for the proposed 
finding or final determination by such subsections, the Mashpee 
Wampanoag Tribe may--
            (1) treat such failure as final agency action refusing to 
        recognize the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe as an Indian tribe; and
            (2) seek in United States district court a determination of 
        whether the petitioner should be recognized as an Indian tribe 
        in accordance with the criteria specified in section 83.7 of 
        title 25, Code of Federal Regulations.
    (e) Review of Adverse Decision.--If the final determination 
required by subsection (b) refuses to recognize the Mashpee Wampanoag 
Tribe as an Indian tribe, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe may seek, during 
the one-year period beginning on the date on which the final 
determination is published, a review of the determination in a United 
States district court notwithstanding the availability of other 
administrative remedies.

SEC. 3. NO DELAY FOR PETITIONS AWAITING ACTIVE CONSIDERATION.

    It is the sense of the Congress that the prompt review of the 
petition for Federal recognition described in section 2(a) will not 
unnecessarily delay the review of pending fully documented petitions 
for Federal recognition as an Indian tribe awaiting active 
consideration as of the date of the enactment of this Act.
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