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“RELIEF OF GLOBAL EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, KERR-McGEE CORPORATION, AND KERR-McGEE CHEMICAL, LLC” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S10263-S10265 on Aug. 4, 1999.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
RELIEF OF GLOBAL EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, KERR-McGEE
CORPORATION, AND KERR-McGEE CHEMICAL, LLC
Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I ask the Chair lay before the Senate a message from the House of Representatives on the bill (S. 606) of the relief of Global Exploration and Development Corporation, Kerr-McGee Corporation, and Kerr-McGee Chemical, LLC (successor to Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation), and for other purposes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message from the House of Representatives.
Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 606) entitled
``An Act for the relief of Global Exploration and Development Corporation, Kerr-McGee Corporation, and Kerr-McGee Chemical, LLC (successor to Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation), and for other purposes'', do pass with the following amendment:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert: SECTION 1. SATISFACTION OF CLAIMS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES.
(a) Payment of Claims.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall pay, out of money not otherwise appropriated--
(1) to the Global Exploration and Development Corporation, a Florida corporation incorporated in Delaware, $9,500,000;
(2) to Kerr-McGee Corporation, an Oklahoma corporation incorporated in Delaware, $10,000,000; and
(3) to Kerr-McGee Chemical, LLC, a limited liability company organized under the laws of Delaware, $0.
(b) Condition of Payment.--
(1) Global exploration and development corporation.--The payment authorized by subsection (a)(1) is in settlement and compromise of all claims of Global Exploration and Development Corporation, as described in the recommendations of the United States Court of Federal Claims set forth in 36 Fed. Cl. 776.
(2) Kerr-mcgee corporation and kerr-mcgee chemical, llc.--The payment authorized by subsections (a)(2) and (a)(3) are in settlement and compromise of all claims of Kerr-McGee Corporation and Kerr-McGee Chemical, LLC, as described in the recommendations of the United States Court of Federal Claims set forth in 36 Fed. Cl. 776.
(c) Limitation on Fees.--Not more than 15 percent of the sums authorized to be paid by subsection (a) shall be paid to or received by any agent or attorney for services rendered in connection with the recovery of such sums. Any person violating this subsection shall be fined not more than
$1,000.
SEC. 2. CRIMINAL PROHIBITION ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN
INFORMATION RELATING TO EXPLOSIVES, DESTRUCTIVE
DEVICES, AND WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.
(a) Unlawful Conduct.--Section 842 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(p) Distribution of Information Relating to Explosives, Destructive Devices, and Weapons of Mass Destruction.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
``(A) the term `destructive device' has the same meaning as in section 921(a)(4);
``(B) the term `explosive' has the same meaning as in section 844(j); and
``(C) the term `weapon of mass destruction' has the same meaning as in section 2332a(c)(2).
``(2) Prohibition.--It shall be unlawful for any person--
``(A) to teach or demonstrate the making or use of an explosive, a destructive device, or a weapon of mass destruction, or to distribute by any means information pertaining to, in whole or in part, the manufacture or use of an explosive, destructive device, or weapon of mass destruction, with the intent that the teaching, demonstration, or information be used for, or in furtherance of, an activity that constitutes a Federal crime of violence; or
``(B) to teach or demonstrate to any person the making or use of an explosive, a destructive device, or a weapon of mass destruction, or to distribute to any person, by any means, information pertaining to, in whole or in part, the manufacture or use of an explosive, destructive device, or weapon of mass destruction, knowing that such person intends to use the teaching, demonstration, or information for, or in furtherance of, an activity that constitutes a Federal crime of violence.''.
(b) Penalties.--Section 844 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by striking ``person who violates any of subsections'' and inserting the following: ``person who--
``(1) violates any of subsections'';
(B) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) violates subsection (p)(2) of section 842, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.''; and
(2) in subsection (j), by inserting ``and section 842(p)'' after ``this section''.
SEC. 3. SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS OF MENOMINEE INDIAN TRIBE OF
WISCONSIN.
(a) Payment.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall pay to the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, out of any funds in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated,
$32,052,547 for damages sustained by the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin by reason of--
(1) the enactment and implementation of the Act entitled
``An Act to provide for a per capita distribution of Menominee tribal funds and authorize the withdrawal of the Menominee Tribe from Federal jurisdiction'', approved June 17, 1954 (68 Stat. 250 et seq., chapter 303); and
(2) the mismanagement by the United States of assets of the Menominee Indian Tribe held in trust by the United States before April 30, 1961, the effective date of termination of Federal supervision of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin.
(b) Effect of Payment.--Payment of the amount referred to in subsection (a) shall be in full satisfaction of any claims that the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin may have against the United States with respect to the damages referred to in that subsection.
(c) Requirements for Payment.--The payment to the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin under subsection (a) shall--
(1) have the status of a judgment of the United States Court of Federal Claims for the purposes of the Indian Tribal Judgment Funds Use or Distribution Act (25 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.); and
(2) be made in accordance with the requirements of that Act on the condition that, of the amounts remaining after payment of attorney fees and litigation expenses--
(A) at least 30 percent shall be distributed on a per capita basis; and
(B) the balance shall be set aside and programmed to serve tribal needs, including funding for--
(i) educational, economic development, and health care programs; and
(ii) such other programs as the circumstances of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin may justify.
(d) Limitation on Fees.--Not more than 15 percent of the sums authorized to be paid by subsection (a) shall be paid to or received by any agent or attorney for services rendered in connection with the recovery of such sums. Any person violating this subsection shall be fined not more than
$1,000.
Mr. COCHRAN. I ask unanimous consent the Senate concur in the amendment of the House.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I am pleased that the Senate today approved legislation that gives a Congressional ``stamp of approval'' to a settlement that the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin has long awaited. In my opinion, in the opinion of the U.S. Court of Claims that approved this settlement last year, and in the opinion of Wisconsin leaders like Governor Tommy Thompson and former Congressman Melvin Laird, this is a settlement that is long overdue.
As part of S. 606, the Menominee Tribal Fairness Act is the final step in a ``Legislative Reference'' that settles a 45-year-old case between the Tribe and the Federal Government once and for all. In the 1950s, the Bureau of Indian Affairs mismanaged the Tribe's assets such as their forests and mills, leaving them ill-prepared to be self-
sufficient. However, in the 1960s, Congress terminated the Tribe's federal trust status, and the Tribe plunged into years of service impoverishment and community turmoil.
Then in the 1970s, the Government recognized its mistake in these actions and restored the Menominee Tribe's federal trust status. Clearly, though, the decades of damage could threaten the Tribe for generations to come, so the Tribe went to court seeking compensation for the devastation it had endured.
After winning at trial court, this case was dismissed on technical grounds at the appellate court in 1984. The Tribe then came to Congress for help, and we passed a ``Legislative Reference'' asking the Courts to decide the merits of this case and determine what, if any, compensation was due. Before this case again headed to trial, the Department of Justice settled with the Tribe, agreeing to a sum of
$32,052,547. The U.S. Court of Claims endorsed this settlement last summer. Now, as the final step in this process, Congress has approved the payment of this settlement--and from the Treasury Department's already existing ``judgment fund,'' not through a new appropriation--to finally resolve this case after 45 years.
This decades-old case is a perfect example of how the ``Legislative Reference'' procedure should be used: the court examines claims against the United States based on negligence or fault, or based on less than fair and honorable dealings, regardless of ``technical'' defenses that the United States may otherwise assert, especially the statute of limitations.
In other words, this procedure is to be used for precisely the types of circumstances surrounding the Menominee Tribe. The tribe and its members suffered grievous economic loss through legislative termination of its rights and from BIA mismanagement of its resources. Indeed, the Federal governments' actions brought the Menominee Tribe to the brink of economic, social, and cultural disaster. Although the Tribe was restored to Federal recognition and tribal status by action of the Congress, the Tribe and its members have yet to be compensated for the damages they suffered. But thanks to the Senate's actions today, that will change.
I thank my colleagues for supporting this vitally important
``Legislative Reference'' that will bring closure, once and for all, to a settlement that is long overdue. I especially want to thank our House sponsor, Mark Green, as well as Congressman Sensenbrenner, Congressman McCollum, and Senator Nickles, for all their hard work.
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