Message to the Senate Returning S. 1464 Without Approval

To the Senate of the United States:

I am returning without my approval S. 1464 "To direct the Secretary of the Interior to acquire certain lands for the benefits of the Mille Lacs Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Indians."

S. 1464 would require the Secretary of the Interior to acquire approximately 105 acres of land, in Mille Lacs County, Minnesota from a commercial land developer and subsequently hold such land in trust for the Mille Lacs Band. Under the terms mandated by S. 1464, the cost to the Federal government of acquiring this land could not be less than $670,000, and could be $910,000 or more.

I am disapproving S. 1464 because the Secretary of the Interior already possesses the authority to purchase an amount of land he determines appropriate for the benefit of the Mille Lacs Band, and because he and the tribe agree that the bill would require purchase of the land at a price the Secretary has heretofore determined excessive.

In order to obtain a swift resolution of the issues which prompted Congressional action on S. 1464, I am, however, instructing the Secretary of the Interior to conduct as expeditiously as possible a new appraisal of the 25 acres of land in question and to make a fair and reasonable offer based on that appraisal for purchase of those 25 acres.

JIMMY CARTER

The White House,

October 11, 1980.