Navajo and Hopi Settlement Amendments Act
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs.
Navajo and Hopi Settlement Amendments Act - Declares it to be: (1) the policy of the United States to oppose the forced relocation of Native Americans from their homeland; and (2) the purpose of this Act to stop the forced relocation of the Navajo and Hopi Indians and to reduce the expense of the Navajo and Hopi Settlement Act. Amends such Act to eliminate all provisions relating to the appointment of a Federal Mediator and tribal negotiating teams to agree on land settlement. Eliminates other provisions relating to: allotments in severalty to Paiute Indians now located on certain lands; a Navajo-Hopi Relocation Commission report on relocation; authorization of relocation; relocation housing payment of rental value by one tribe to another for post- partition use of lands; nonmandatory relocation of Federal employees; claims for damages to land; and the reduction of grazing livestock. Changes certain guidelines for the District Court for the District of Arizona in its final adjudication of the Navajo-Hopi land settlement case, Healing v. Jones. Directs the District Court to partition any lands in which the Navajo and Hopi tribes or Navajo or Hopi individuals have a joint or undivided interest to the tribe of which the customary user of such land is a member. Requires that the United States compensate the Navajo Tribe for certain lands partitioned to the Hopi Tribe. Designates certain Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) offices to exercise jurisdiction over partitioned lands. Stipulates that tribal ordinances shall apply to land partitioned to such tribe. Vacates any judgment, order, or decree issued by the District Court upon referral and recommendations from the former negotiating teams and Mediator. Allows individuals or families relocated under such Act to return to the land they formerly occupied. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to provide all necessary assistance for such return.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on June 26, 1979. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on June 26, 1979: Referred to House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
HAROLD RUNNELS (D-NM) introduced it on June 26, 1979. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on June 26, 1979, 17291 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17291 days ago, on June 26, 1979.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers