Washington : Government Printing Office
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| Public Law 88-168 | Indians. Revolving fund, establishment. |
| Sec. 3 | Report to congressional committees. |
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there is hereby authorized to be appropriated the sum of $900,000 for the establishment of a revolving fund from which the Secretary of the Interior may make loans to Indian tribes and bands and to other identifiable groups of American Indians residing within the territorial limits of the United States for use by them in obtaining expert assistance, other than the assistance of counsel, for the preparation and trial of claims pending before the Indian Claims Commission.
No loan shall be made under this Act to a tribe, band, or group if it has funds available on deposit in the Federal Treasury or elsewhere in an amount adequate to obtain the expert assistance it needs or if, in the opinion of the Secretary, the fees to be paid the experts are unreasonable in light of the services to be performed by them.
Every loan made under this Act shall be reported to the Committees on Interior and Insular Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives within fifteen days of the time it is made.
Any loan made under this Act shall bear interest and shall, together with such interest, be repayable out of the proceeds of any judgment recovered by the tribe, band, or group on its claim against the United States. If no judgment is recovered or if the amount of the judgment recovered is inadequate to repay the loan and interest thereon, the unpaid amount may be declared nonrepayable by the Secretary.
Repayments of loans made under this Act and of interest thereon shall be credited to the revolving fund established under the first section of this Act.
No liability shall attach to the United States because of a failure to make a loan in the amount requested.
After the date of the approval of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall approve no contract which makes the compensation payable to a witness before the Indian Claims Commission contingent upon the recovery of a judgment against the United States.
Approved, November 4, 1963.
