Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 2868 - Gay Head Wampanoag Indians Claims Settlement

(Senate)
(Reps. Studds (D), Donnelly (D), Markey (D), Mavroules (D), and Moakley (D) Massachusetts)

The Administration opposes enactment of H.R. 2868 because:

— the bill would require a Federal contribution of $1.5 million to-settle a claim which the Administration considers invalid, and that is against non-Federal interests, not the Federal Government. The State contribution to this settlement alone is in excess of what the beneficiaries would receive in a U.S. Claims Court proceeding, even if the Gay Head claim were wholly against the U.S. and were fully upheld; and

— the bill has been amended to include the provisions of H.R. 4174, the Indian Self-Determination Act, a bill which is also objectionable because it would:

• legislatively lock into place, to the detriment of both the Federal Government and Indian tribes, a system for setting indirect cost rates for tribal contracts that has proven in practice to be seriously flawed; and

  — establish a rebuttable presumption that tribal contractors should be exempted from Federal procurement laws and regulations and "other regulations" (e.g. health and safety standards, reporting requirements, equal, employment opportunity standards etc.), and limit the basis on which the Secretary can refuse exemption.