Letter from Secretary of the Interior Julius Krug to President Harry S. Truman, with Attachment

7 OF THE INTERIOR DEPA 6-AA THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR 8-17-46 WASHINGTON 25 AUG - 1 1946 My dear Mr. President: I should like to call your attention to some salient facts about the Indian Claims Commission bill (H.R. 4497) which will shortly be presented for your approval. # 1. Substance. The bill emancipates our Indian citizens from an out- worn and discriminatory statute which, since 1863, has barred them from general access to the Court of Claims. For the future they will be per- mitted to sue on the same basis as their fellow citizens of other races to vindicate contract and property rights. In order to clear up the accumu- lation of past claims, the bill sets up an adjudicatory commission, con- sisting of three Presidential appointees, whose decisions will be subject to review by the Court of Claims. The bill outlaws all existing claims not submitted within 5 years and allows another 5 years for completion of the Commission's job. 2. Status. The bill is generally viewed in the western States as perhaps the most important of the measures sponsored by this Department during the present Congress. It is certainly the most important Indian legislation enacted in more than a decade. It is a fulfillment of specific platform pledges of both parties and carries out recommendations made by the Indian Affairs Committees of both Houses, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Justice and all non-Government agencies that have studied the problem during the past 15 years or more. The terms of the bill were worked out after months of hearings and with the cooperation of all depart- ments and agencies concerned. In the Indian Affairs Committees of the House and Senate, in the Rules Committee of the House and on the floor of both Houses of Congress the votes in favor of its consideration and passage were all unanimous. 3. Expense. This measure, apart from the modest expenses of a 3-man commission, estimated at not more than $200,000 per year, cannot affect the national budget before 1952-3. Since it will be practically impossible to pass finally upon any claim until the final date for filing, in 1951, decisions and appropriations made thereafter can hardly become effective until the fiscal year 1952-3. I am satisfied that this measure will not entail any major increase in our Indian appropriations for 1952 and subse- quent years. We are now appropriating approximately $30,000,000 a year for Indian administration. The House Committee on Indian Affairs, after ex- haustive studies, has estimated that by settling pending controversies with x296 RECORDS SERVICE GOVERNMENT