A bill to provide that members of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe may request the Secretary of the Interior to acquire certain lands, and to provide that the Tribe shall have a preference right to purchase certain lands held in trust by the United States for tribal members.
Public Law 95-398 · S. 3069 · 95th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Jimmy Carter (D) on Sep 30, 1978 · Native Americans
Sponsor: Sen. James Abourezk (D-SD)
Cosponsors (1): Sen. George McGovern
Passage votes
- HouseMethod not stated
- SenateMethod not stated
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Provides: (1) that individual members of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe may request the Secretary of the Interior to acquire certain lands for the Tribe or member thereof; and (2) that the tribe shall have a preference right to purchase certain lands held in trust by the United States for tribal members.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 12 actions.
- Sep 30, 1978Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public Law 95-398.
- Sep 20, 1978PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in Senate.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in House.
- Sep 18, 1978FloorFloor · Measure passed House, in lieu of H.R. 13096.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Natural Resources Committee
- Jul 25, 1978CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Natural Resources Committee
- Jul 21, 1978FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate, amended.
- Jul 13, 1978CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Indian Affairs Committee
- May 15, 1978CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Indian Affairs Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.