[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 713 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 713

  To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a charitable 
 deduction for certain expenses incurred in support of Native Alaskan 
                          subsistence whaling.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 25, 1999

 Mr. Murkowski (for himself and Mr. Stevens) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a charitable 
 deduction for certain expenses incurred in support of Native Alaskan 
                          subsistence whaling.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Native Alaskan Subsistence Whaling 
Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION DEDUCTION FOR CERTAIN EXPENSES INCURRED 
              IN SUPPORT OF NATIVE ALASKAN SUBSISTENCE WHALING.

    (a) In General.--Section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
(relating to charitable, etc., contributions and gifts) is amended by 
redesignating subsection (m) as subsection (n) and by inserting after 
subsection (l) the following new subsection:
    ``(m) Expenses Paid by Certain Whaling Captains in Support of 
Native Alaskan Subsistence Whaling.--
            ``(1) In general.--In the case of an individual who is 
        recognized by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission as a whaling 
        captain charged with the responsibility of maintaining and 
        carrying out sanctioned whaling activities and who engages in 
        such activities during the taxable year, the amount described 
        in paragraph (2) (to the extent such amount does not exceed 
        $7,500 for the taxable year) shall be treated for purposes of 
        this section as a charitable contribution.
            ``(2) Amount described.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The amount described in this 
                paragraph is the aggregate of the reasonable and 
                necessary whaling expenses paid by the taxpayer during 
                the taxable year in carrying out sanctioned whaling 
                activities.
                    ``(B) Whaling expenses.--For purposes of 
                subparagraph (A), the term `whaling expenses' includes 
                expenses for--
                            ``(i) the acquisition and maintenance of 
                        whaling boats, weapons, and gear used in 
                        sanctioned whaling activities,
                            ``(ii) the supplying of food for the crew 
                        and other provisions for carrying out such 
                        activities, and
                            ``(iii) storage and distribution of the 
                        catch from such activities.
            ``(3) Sanctioned whaling activities.--For purposes of this 
        subsection, the term `sanctioned whaling activities' means 
        subsistence bowhead whale hunting activities conducted pursuant 
        to the management plan of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling 
        Commission.''
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1998.
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