Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana), the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, at a May 21, 2014, hearing. Photo from Flickr

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee has four hearings on its schedule for the month of July.

On July 9, the committee will hold a hearing on five bills. They are:

• S. 2442, the Northern Cheyenne Lands Act. The bill requires the Interior Department to place land, mineral rights and important sites into trust for the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Montana.
• S. 2465, the Albuquerque Indian School Land Transfer Act. The bill requires DOI to place land into trust for the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico.
• S.2479, the Moapa Band of Paiutes Land Conveyance Act. The bill The bill requires DOI to place land into trust for the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians in Nevada.
• S.2480, the Nevada Native Nations Land Act. The bill requires DOI to place land into trust for seven tribes
• S. 2503, a bill to implement a water rights settlement for the Hualapai Tribe of Arizona.

On July 16, the committee will hold an oversight hearing on the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations. A prior hearing on the issue was held on December 11, 2013.

The following week, on July 23, the committee holds an oversight hearing on the "next 25 years" of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The law marked its 25th anniversary last year.

Finally, on July 30, the committee will hold a hearing on natural disasters in Indian Country. Congress has enacted a law that allows tribes to request disaster declarations directly from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Committee Notices:
Legislative Hearing to receive testimony on the following bills (July 9, 2014)
Oversight Hearing on "Improving the Trust System: Continuing Oversight of the Department of the Interior's Land Buy-Back Program" (July 16, 2014)
Oversight Hearing on "Indian Gaming: The Next 25 Years" (July 23, 2014)
Oversight Hearing on "When Catastrophe Strikes: Responses to Natural Disasters in Indian Country" (July 30, 2014)