PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Committee on Indian Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 117-138.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · May 27, 2021
Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes of the Fort Belknap Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act of 2021
This bill modifies and ratifies a specified water rights settlement agreement entered into by the United States, Montana, and the Fort Belknap Indian Community (i.e., the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana).
The bill requires the community's water rights to be held in trust for the benefit of the community and its allottees. The community must enact a tribal water code to regulate its water rights.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Among other activities, the Department of the Interior must
negotiate with Montana for the transfer of specified parcels of state land located on and off the reservation,
hold transferred land in trust for the benefit of the community,
allocate 20,000 acre-feet per year of stored water from Lake Elwell,
establish a settlement trust fund, and
enter into a cost-share agreement with Montana to contribute to the design and construction of the Peoples Creek Dam and Reservoir to support mitigation activities.
The bill requires the Bureau of Reclamation to modify the operating procedures of the Milk River Project to ensure that the Fresno Reservoir is operated in accordance with the agreement.
The bill also outlines certain waivers, releases, and retention of claims under the settlement agreement.
People & committees
Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT] · D–MT
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Committee on Indian Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 117-138.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Jun 20, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.1911 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.1911 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.1911 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.1911 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.