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The Administration opposes H.R. 976, which would amend the distribution plan
for judgment funds for the lineal descendants of the Sisseton and Wahpeton
Tribes of Sioux Indians in the Dakotas and Montana.
H.R. 976 would make lineal descendants eligible to receive only the principal
amount of the judgment funds (approximately $1.47 million) originally set aside
for distribution to them in 1972. Under H.R. 976, the substantial interest
from these judgment funds (approximately $14 million) would not be distributed
to the lineal descendants but, instead, would go to three tribal governing
bodies. These tribal entities have already received their share of the
original judgment funds. This bill would unfairly and inappropriately
reallocate the interest on judgment funds 25 years after Congress set forth the
funds distribution scheme in the Mississippi Sioux Tribes Distribution of
Judgment Fund Act of 1972.
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