USU.

148
The Reconstruction of Federal Recognition of Tribal Sovereignty and Jurisdiction Act
Senator Kaden McArthur, Montana

This bill recognizes the formal political existence of the Native American Indian Tribes
residing within the boundaries of the United States prior to Federal recognition, and the failures
of the Office of Federal Acknowledgement to efficiently provide legal Federal recognition for
Native Tribes in an appropriate timely manner. The United States continues to acknowledge that,
because they are sovereigns, Tribes still govern their own members and remaining territory.
This bill will further allocate Federal resources to expedite all current and future
applications to the Office of Federal Acknowledgement within the US Department Of The
Interior. This bill further diverts 2% of the annual budget of the US Department Of The Interior
for 10 years to operate the Office of Federal Acknowledgement and to assist in filing paperwork
and bureaucratic oversight to legally recognize all Native American Indian Tribes seeking
political recognition.
This bill will also provide compensation for the loss of time seeking sovereignty to those
Native American Indian Tribes who have been petitioning and filing paperwork to the Office of
Federal Acknowledgement and not received recognition within 2 years of applying. This
compensation will be in amount of $1,000,000 for each year a Tribe has not had their Federal
status determined, only to be owed if the Tribe is determined to receive Federal recognition by
the Office of Federal Acknowledgement. This compensation will come from the budget of the
US Department of the Interior.
 Dear Colleague Letter

The aim of this bill is to recognize those Native American tribes who have a distinct
cultural and organizational group, which have been seeking federal recognition for years and not
received any definite answer from the federal government. The Office of Federal
Acknowledgement has received 85 petitions, denied 34 petitions, and granted 18 petitions since
its founding in 1978. This means that 33 tribes have never received an answer from the Office of
Federal Acknowledgement. Some of these tribes have been waiting decades for a response from
the federal government. This problem effects native people across the United States who deserve
a response to their petitions for recognition. The United States has recognized the inherent
governmental authority of tribes, also known as tribal sovereignty. Currently the actions taken by
the United States are not adequately addressing the rights of the Native Americans, and the
measures being taken to respect their tribal sovereignty are inadequate. Some tribes have not
even received a granted petition by the Office of Federal Acknowledgement despite
recommendation by the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
By appropriating part of the budget of the Department of the Interior, which is
responsible for Indian Affairs, the federal government can reduce the backlog of unfinished
petitions for federal tribal recognition. Within a several years nearly all these applications will be
completed and the need for further appropriation of the budget will be unnecessary because all
new applications will be exhausted. The United States Government ought to provide
compensation for the loss of time and lack of recognition to those tribes who have been waiting
an unjust amount of time for federal recognition. These tribes have been marginalized by the
United States government for over a century and the lack of consideration on the acceptance of
their recognition is a gross injustice, one that deserves compensation equal to the legal
consideration they have consistently been deprived.