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Senate Committee on Indian Affairs opens meeting to consider four tribal land, water and law-enforcement bills
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Summary
The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs opened a business meeting to consider four bills: S.2695 on tribal law enforcement benefits, S.3857 to place Hamul Indian Village fee land into trust, S.4442 to amend a 2010 Crow water-rights settlement for water and energy projects, and S.4505 to resolve Rio Chama water claims for Okay Owenge Pueblo.
The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs opened a business meeting and said it will consider four bills affecting tribal law enforcement, land-into-trust status, and water-rights settlements.
An unidentified member of the committee read the list of measures and described their purposes. The first measure, S.2695, introduced by Senators Catwell and Mullen, "would improve recruitment and retention of tribal law enforcement officers by making them eligible for certain benefits enjoyed by federal law enforcement such as pensions, retirement, injury, and death benefits," the member said.
The second measure, S.3857 (Hamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act), introduced by Senators Padilla and Butler, would place fee land owned by the Hamul Indian Village into trust, the committee was told. The reading said that change is intended to provide housing, essential community services, and access to the tribe's cultural landmarks.
S.4442, introduced by Senators Tester and Danes, was described as an amendment to a 2010 Crow tribe water-rights settlement to allow the Crow Tribe to complete clean water and energy development projects included in that settlement and to deliver piped water to community members on the reservation.
The fourth bill, S.4505, introduced by Senators Heinrich and Luhan, was described as a measure to resolve Okay Owenge Pueblo water-rights claims in the Rio Chama stream system in New Mexico. The committee was told the bill "ratifies and authorizes funding for the water settlement agreement between the tribe, the state of New Mexico, the city of Espanola, and 5 acequia associations."
The committee record provided here ends as the chair turned the meeting to the vice chair for an opening statement; no votes, amendments, or further debate are recorded in the provided transcript.
Next steps: the transcript does not record committee debate, mark-up, or a vote on any of the four bills. Any future committee action — hearings, amendments, or a recorded vote — is not shown in this excerpt.
