,i  #aacth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #digi  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,june #bf1 #bjad ,mr4
 ,thornberry 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,flores1
 ,mr4 ,marchant1 ,mr4 ,burgess1 and ,mr4
 ,neugebauer7 introduced the following  
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,natural ,resources  ,a   
,,bill  ,to provide legal certainty to  
property owners along the ,red ,river in
 ,texas1 and for other purposes4  #a4   
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,red ,river ,private ,property      
,protection ,act4  #b4 ,findings        
,congress finds as follows3  7#a7 ,in   
#aibc1 the ,supreme ,court found the    
border between ,texas and ,oklahoma to  
be3 the water-washed and relatively     
permanent elevation or acclivity at the 
outer line of the river bed which       
separates the bed from the adjacent     
upland1 whether valley or hill1 and     
serves to confine the waters within the 
bed and to preserve the course of the   
river1 and that the boundary intended is

 on and along the bank at the average or
 mean level attained by the waters in   
the periods when they reach and wash the
 bank without overflowing it4 ,when we  
speak of the bed1 we include all of the 
area which is kept practically bare of  
vegetation by the wash of the waters of 
the river from year to year in their    
onward course1 although parts of it are 
left dry for months at a time1 and we   
exclude the lateral valleys1 which have 
the characteristics of relatively fast  
land and usually are covered by upland  
grasses and vegetation1 although        
temporarily overflowed in exceptional   
instances when the river is at flood44  
7#b7 ,this would become known as the    
gradient boundary4  7#c7 ,this decision 
makes clear that1 absent water that is  
physically touching the bank1 the high  
bluff or ancient bank along the southern
 edge of the ,red ,river is not the     
boundary between ,texas and ,oklahoma4  
7#d7 ,in #bjjj1 ,public ,law #ajf-bhh   
ratified the ,red ,river ,boundary      

,compact agreed to and signed into      
,state law by ,texas and ,oklahoma that 
sets the boundary between the ,states to
 be the vegetation line on the south    
bank of the ,red ,river1 except for the 
,texoma area where the boundary is      
established pursuant to procedures      
provided for in the ,compact4  7#e7     
,therefore1 the ,bureau of ,land        
,management should have no claim to land
 that is either south of the gradient   
boundary established by the ,supreme    
,court or south of the vegetation line  
on the southern bank of the ,red ,river 
pursuant to ,public ,law #ajf-bhh       
whereby landowners have proof of their  
right1 title1 and interest to the land  
and have been paying property taxes     
accordingly4  #c4 ,issuance of quit     
claim deeds  7a7 ,in ,general ,the      
,secretary shall relinquish and shall   
transfer by quit claim deed all right1  
title1 and interest of the ,united      
,states in and to ,red ,river lands to  
any claimant who demonstrates to the    

satisfaction of the ,secretary that     
official county or ,state records       
indicate that the claimant holds all    
right1 title1 and interest to those     
lands4  7b7 ,public ,notification ,the  
,secretary shall publish in the ,federal
 ,register and on official and          
appropriate ,web sites the process to   
receive written and_/or electronic      
submissions of the documents required   
under subsection 7a74 ,the ,secretary   
shall treat all proper notifications    
received from the claimant as fulfilling
 the satisfaction requirements under    
subsection 7a74  7c7 ,standard of       
,approval ,the ,secretary shall accept  
all official county and ,state records  
as filed in the county on the date of   
submission proving right1 title1 and    
interest4  7d7 ,time ,period for        
,approval or ,disapproval of ,request   
,the ,secretary shall approve or        
disapprove a request for a quit claim   
deed under subsection 7a7 not later than
 #abj days after the date on which the  

written request is received by the      
,secretary4 ,if the ,secretary fails to 
approve or disapprove such a request by 
the end of such #abj-;day period1 the   
request shall be deemed to be approved4 
#d4 ,resource ,management ,plan ,the    
,secretary shall ensure that no parcels 
of ,red ,river lands are treated as     
,federal land for the purpose of any    
resource management plan until the      
,secretary has ensured that such parcels
 are not subject to transfer under      
section #c4  #e4 ,definitions ,for the  
purposes of this ,act--  7#a7 the term  
,red ,river lands means lands along the 
approximately #eci-mile stretch of the  
,red ,river between the ,states of      
,texas and ,oklahoma2 and  7#b7 the term
 ,secretary means the ,secretary of the 
,interior1 acting through the ,director 
of ,bureau of ,land ,management4