# 119-s-3859: A bill to amend the Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina Land Claims Settlement Act of 1993 with respect to future membership in the Catawba Indian Nation.

119-s-3859, A bill to amend the Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina Land Claims Settlement Act of 1993 with respect to future membership in the Catawba Indian Nation., is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Graham, Lindsey [R-SC] (R-SC); status in_committee (as of 2026-09-25).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3859
- As of: 2026-09-25
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-3859
- Congress: 119
- Title: A bill to amend the Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina Land Claims Settlement Act of 1993 with respect to future membership in the Catawba Indian Nation.
- Status: in_committee
- Introduced: 2026-02-12
- Sponsor: Sen. Graham, Lindsey [R-SC] (R-SC)
- Cosponsors: 2
- Policy area: Native Americans
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-25

## Summary

**Removes a lineage and political-relationship limit on Catawba tribal membership.** This bill would amend Section 7(d) of the Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina Land Claims Settlement Act of 1993 by striking the sentence that requires an individual to be a lineal descendant on the final base membership roll and to have continued political relations with the Tribe to be enrolled. Deleting that sentence would change who may be enrolled in the Catawba Indian Nation going forward while leaving the rest of Section 7(d) unchanged.

## Cosponsors (2)

- Sen. Scott, Tim [R-SC] (R-SC), 2026-02-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC] (R-NC), 2026-03-18T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Easier Catawba tribal membership access: benefit, high. This bill would change the 1993 Catawba Land Claims Settlement Act. It would remove the rule that a person must be a lineal descendant of someone on the final base membership roll to be enrolled. It would also remove the rule that an enrollee must have continued to maintain political relations with…

## Related bills

- 119-s-1541: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-s-4744: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act
- 119-s-292: Educational Choice for Children Act of 2025
- 119-s-401: Fair Access to Banking Act
- 119-s-587: Death Tax Repeal Act of 2025
- 119-s-186: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-s-3859 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/3859)

## Related
- [119-s-1541: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1541)
- [119-s-4744: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4744)
- [119-s-292: Educational Choice for Children Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-292)
- [119-s-401: Fair Access to Banking Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-401)
- [119-s-587: Death Tax Repeal Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-587)
- [119-s-186: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-186)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3859 (as of 2026-09-25).