Statement on Signing the San Carlos Mineral Strip Act of 1990

I am today signing H.R. 4593, the "San Carlos Mineral Strip Act of 1990."

H.R. 4593 is intended to resolve the status of an area of the San Carlos Apache Mineral Strip that has long been administered by the United States Forest Service as part of the Coronado National Forest in Arizona. The bill would resolve the issue by transferring to the Secretary of the Interior the administration of the surface rights in the land at issue. Title to the land is to be held by the Secretary in trust for the San Carlos Apache Indian Tribe.

While I support the change in land status that would be effected by H.R. 4593, I am concerned that the bill does not contain an express description of the lands it will affect. I am signing this bill with the understanding that these lands consist of, and are limited to, approximately 10,650 acres of the Mineral Strip that the Forest Service has been administering as part of the Coronado National Forest, as recognized in the congressional committee reports on this legislation. Finally, it is my understanding that H.R. 4593 is not intended to affect any other existing boundary between federally managed lands and the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation.

George Bush

The White House,

October 22, 1990.