Bill Bennett: “Strike Section 129 of Senate bill 2237 and add the following in the nature of a substitute: Section 129. (a) In the…”

“Strike Section 129 of Senate bill 2237 and add the following in the nature of a substitute: Section 129. (a) In the event any tribe returns appropriations made available by this Act to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for distribution to other tribes, this action shall not diminish the Federal Government's trust responsibility to that tribe, or the government-to-government relationship between the United States and that tribe, or that tribe's ability to access future appropriations. (b) The Bureau of Indian Affairs shall develop alternative methods to fund TPA base programs in future years. The alternatives shall consider tribal revenues and relative needs of tribes and tribal members. No later than April 1, 1999, the BIA shall submit a report to Congress containing its recommendations and other alternatives. The report shall also identify the methods proposed to be used by BIA to acquire data that is not currently available to BIA and any data gathering mechanisms that may be necessary to encourage tribal compliance. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the purposes of developing recommendations, the Bureau of Indian Affairs is hereby authorized access to tribal revenue-related data held by any Federal agency, excluding information held by the Internal Revenue Service.”