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S 643 119th Congress Senate Native Americans

A bill to amend the Grand Ronde Reservation Act to address the hunting, fishing, trapping, and animal gathering rights of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community, and for other purposes.

Introduced: February 20, 2025 Introduced by: Merkley, Jeff Democratic · Oregon See on congress.gov
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Feb 20, 2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
Feb 20, 2025
Introduced in Senate
 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

This bill provides a process by which the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and Oregon may negotiate to amend or replace the existing agreement defining the tribe's hunting, fishing, trapping, and animal gathering rights.

The current agreement, which was made effective by a January 12, 1987, consent decree by the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, serves as the exclusive and final determination of the tribe's hunting, fishing, trapping, and gathering rights. This bill instead allows a December 2, 1986, agreement between the United States, Oregon, and the tribe (known as the Grand Ronde Hunting and Fishing Agreement) to define the tribe's rights until and unless it is amended or replaced upon mutual agreement of the tribe and Oregon.

The bill allows the tribe and Oregon to return to the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon to request the modification or termination of the January 12, 1987, consent decree.

The bill prohibits a new or amended agreement from (1) affecting the other rights of the tribe or any other Indian tribe, (2) limiting Oregon from entering into separate agreements with other tribes to address the authority to take species within the geographic scope of the agreement, or (3) being used in a civil or criminal action to modify any treaty or other right of a tribe.

What's happening now February 20, 2025

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1