80TH CONGRESS 2d Session } HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES { REPORT No. 1681 PROVIDING FOR DISPOSITION AND USE OF TRIBAL FUNDS OF THE NAVAJO TRIBE OF INDIANS APRIL 7, 1948.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. WELCH, from the Committee on Public Lands, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 4642] The Committee on Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 4642) to provide for disposition and use of tribal funds of the Navajo Tribe of Indians, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. The purpose of this bill is to authorize the expenditure of funds now on deposit, or hereafter to be deposited, to the credit of the Navajo Tribe of Indians in the Treasury of the United States for such purposes as may be designated by the tribal council and approved by the Secretary of the Interior. The Navajo Tribe has accumulated over $1,000,000 in the Treasury of the United States, the use of which is denied them without previous specific appropriation by Congress. The right to use portions of this fund from time to time should enable the tribe to gain some experience in the management of their own affairs and will be a step forward toward their eventual self-sufficiency. The committee feels that the time has come when the tribe may be authorized to exercise some judgment, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, in the use of these funds. This bill is designed to give them that opportunity and is identical with the act of June 7, 1944 (58 Stat. 271), giving like authority to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe of Indians. The report of the Department of the Interior recommending the enactment of this legislation, dated March 9, 1948, is attached hereto and made a part of this report. The Committee on Public Lands is unanimous in its recommendation for enactment of this legislation. Hon. RICHARD J. WELCH, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman, Committee on Public Lands, House of Representatives. MY DEAR MR. WELCH: Reference is made to your request for a report on H. R. 4642, a bill to provide for disposition and use of tribal funds of the Navajo Tribe of Indians. For the reasons hereinafter stated, I recommend the enactment of H. R. 4642. The purpose of this bill is to authorize the expenditure of funds now on deposit or hereafter to be deposited to the credit of the Navajo Tribe of Indians in the United States Treasury for such purposes as may be designated by the tribal council and approved by the Secretary of the Interior. While the Navajo Tribe is not organized under the act of June 18, 1934 (the Indian Reorganization Act), there is a functioning tribal council of 74 members, elected by ballot by the voters of each of the 18 administrative districts of the reservation. Elections are governed by written regulations which the tribe adopted and the Secretary of the Interior approved on July 26, 1938. To an increasing extent over the past 10 years, the Navajos have been participating in the affairs of their reservation. This is revealed by the interest they show in their tribal government and in the quality of the decisions rendered by that tribal government. Recently, as a means of speeding up the development of reservation resources, the council created an industrial committee to act between sessions of the council. Because of the large number of members and the expense of holding council sessions, meetings of the council are held to a minimum, a fact which heretofore has frequently delayed action on matters of interest to the tribe. Legislation of the type represented by H. R. 4642 is the next logical step in the process of bringing the tribe into greater responsibility for its own future. Various proposed programs are before the tribe, or will soon come before it, which will be aimed at development of resources and increasing employment opportunities. In at least some instances, the tribe will want to finance and manage its own enterprises, as properly it should. If it must await on an appropriation of funds from its Treasury account each time it proposes an enterprise, discouragement and loss of opportunity may easily result. The Navajo Tribe has on deposit in the United States Treasury a total of $1,024,101.78, made up of two accounts: "Proceeds of labor," $1,004,496.89; and "Interest on proceeds of labor," $19,604.89. During the fiscal year 1947 an amount of $322,929 was deposited in the main account from the sale of oil and gas products, helium gas, and from some minerals, and $15,902 was credited as interest. From this, it can be appreciated that the tribe, with better control over its money and with able management, has the means of contributing rather considerably to its own future welfare. The Bureau of the Budget has advised me that there is no objection to the submission of this report to your committee. Sincerely yours, OSCAR L. CHAPMAN, Under Secretary of the Interior. О 80TH CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session { REPORT No. 1682 PROVIDING FOR THE UTILIZATION AS NATIONAL CEMETERIES OF SURPLUS ARMY DEPARTMENT OWNED MILITARY REAL PROPERTY AT FORT DEVENS, MASS., FORT LOGAN, COLO., AND FORT LEWIS, WASH. APRIL 7, 1948.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. WELCH, from the Committee on Public Lands, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 4722] The Committee on Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 4722) to provide for the utilization as national cemeteries of surplus Army Department owned military real property at Fort Devens, Mass., Fort Logan, Colo., and Fort Lewis, Wash., having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill, as amended, do pass. The amendments are as follows: Page 1, line 8, strike out the word "existing". Page 1, line 8, strike out the statutory reference "(24 U. S. C. 281)". EXPLANATION OF THE BILL The purpose of this bill is to authorize the Secretary of the Army to utilize such federally owned land as is not needed for military purposes at Fort Logan, Colo., Fort Devens, Mass., and Fort Lewis, Wash., for the establishment of a national cemetery. Existing national cemeteries within the United States are, for the most part, small in size and are centered in the Southern and MidAtlantic States, due to the fact that most of them were established during and immediately following the Civil War. This means that many major areas and localities, by virtue of their distance from existing national cemeteries, are practically deprived of national cemeterial services. The situation is made acute by the fact that approximately 20,000 next of kin of World War II overseas dead have indicated to the Department of the Army a desire that the bodies be returned from overseas cemeteries and interred in national cemeteries in the United States. The Department of the Army considers it imperative that a limited number of additional cemeteries be established at this time, in order to provide service to the major areas in which there is the greatest need. Study of available facilities reveals that the Pacific Northwest, the Central Rocky Mountain, and the New England sections are the areas which present the most pressing immediate demand for the establishment of national cemeteries. No national cemeteries presently are located within these areas, a situation which necessitates the burial of many veterans in cemeteries located hundreds of miles from their homes. At hearings held before the Committee on Public Lands on this legislation, it was testified that the reservations at Fort Lewis, Wash., Fort Logan, Colo., and Fort Devens, Mass., include lands surplus to military needs which can be made available for cemetery purposes if statutory authority is granted for the transfer. H. R. 4722 provides such authority. The Department of the Army estimates that the maximum estimated cost of making available these three national cemeteries is only $1,200,000. A minor amendment has been made by the committee, at the suggestion of the Department of the Army. The Secretary's favorable report of February 26, 1948, is hereinbelow set forth and is made a part of this report. Enactment of this legislation is unanimously recommended by the Committee on Public Lands. Hon. RICHARD J. WELCH, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, Washington D. C., February 26, 1948. Chairman, Committee on Public Lands, House of Representatives. DEAR MR. WELCH: The Department of the Army has considered H. R. 4722, Eightieth Congress, a bill to provide for the utilization as national cemeteries of surplus Army Department owned military real property at Fort Devens, Mass.; Fort Logan, Colo.; and Fort Lewis, Wash. The purpose of the bill is to authorize the Secretary of the Army, when he determines there is a need therefor, to utilize such of the federally owned lands under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Army at Fort Devens, Mass., Fort Logan, Colo., and Fort Lewis, Wash., as are not needed for military purposes, for the establishment thereon of a national cemetery or cemeteries. The Department of the Army has been cognizant of the urgent need for national cemeterial services in several major areas of the country. Ďuring recent sessions of Congress, numerous proposals have been introduced in an effort to provide a more uniformly available national cemetery system. These measures either have been defeated or have been amended in such a manner as to provide little aid in solving the problem. In view of the failure of these measures designed to prescribe a suitable national cemeterial program and in order to provide national cemeterial facilities in the major areas which demonstrate the greatest need, the Department proposed legislation which would provide for the establishment of national cemeteries at the same locations as specified in H. R. 4722. These sites are located in areas which present the most pressing requirement for the establishment of national cemeteries. This proposed legislation has been introduced in Congress as H. R. 4890 and has been referred to the Committee on Public Lands. The Department strongly recommended the enactment of this bill; however, there would be no objection to the enactment of H. R. 4722, provided it is amended to conform with H. R. 4890. |