A bill to declare certain Federal lands acquired for the benefit of Indians to be held in trust for the Tribes of such Indians.
Public Law 97-434 · H.R. 5916 · 97th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Jan 8, 1983 · Native Americans
Sponsor: Rep. Joseph Skeen (R-NM-2)
Cosponsors: None
Passage votes
- HouseUnanimous consent
- SenateVoice vote
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.
Declares that certain Federal lands acquired for the benefit of the Ramah Navajo Indians are held in trust for the Ramah Band of the Navajo Tribe.
Declares that certain Federal lands acquired for the benefit of the Choctaw Indians of Mississippi are held in trust for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
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. 11 actions.
- Jan 8, 1983Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 97-434.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Jan 3, 1983PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Dec 21, 1982FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Senate Indian Affairs Committee
- Sep 29, 1982FloorFloor · Passed House (Amended) by Unanimous Consent.
- CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Indian Affairs Committee
- Sep 16, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Natural Resources Committee
- Aug 10, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Natural Resources Committee
- Mar 22, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Natural Resources Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
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.