[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 92 (Friday, July 15, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 15, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
   ALASKA NATIVE SUBSISTENCE WHALING EXPENSE CHARITABLE TAX DEDUCTION

                                 ______


                             HON. DON YOUNG

                               of alaska

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 14, 1994

  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce a measure that 
recognizes the need to provide critically needed tax relief to a few 
Alaskan Native whaling captains who otherwise may not be able to 
continue their centuries-old tradition of subsistence whaling. In 
brief, this bill expresse the support of the House of Representatives 
to provide a modest charitable deduction to those Native captains who 
organize and support traditional whaling hunt activities for their 
communities.
  The Inupiat and Siberian Yupik Eskimos living in the coastal villages 
of northern and western Alaska have been hunting the bowhead whale for 
thousands of years. The International Whaling Commission [IWC] has 
acknowledged that ``whaling, more than any other activity, 
fundamentally underlies the total lifeway of these communities.''
  Today, under the regulatory eye of the IWC and the U.S. Department of 
Commerce, these Natives continue a sharply restricted bowhead 
subsistence hunt out of 10 coastal villages. Local regulation of the 
hunt is vested in the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission [AEWC] under a 
cooperative agreement with the Department of Commerce, National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration.
  The entire Native whaling community participates in the hunt 
activities. However, Native tradition requires that the whaling 
captains are financially and otherwise responsible for the actual 
conduct of the hunt; meaning they must provide the boat, fuel, gear, 
weapons, ammunition, food, and special clothing for their crews and 
must store whale meat until used.
  Each of the approximately 35 bowhead whales landed by Native 
communities each year provides thousand of pounds of meat and 
``muktuk'' (blubber and skin). Native culture dictates that a whaling 
captain whose crew lands a whale is responsible for feeding the 
community in which the captain lives. Customarily, the whale is divided 
and shared by all of the people in the community free of charge.
  In recent years, Native whaling captains have been treating their 
whaling expenses as a deduction against their personal Federal income 
tax, because they donate the whale meat to their community and because 
their expenses have skyrocketed due to the increased costs in complying 
with Federal requirements in outfitting a whaling crew. The IRS has 
refused to allow these deductions, placing extreme financial burden on 
those who use personal funds to support their Native communities' 
traditional activities. Currently five whaling captains have appeals of 
these disallowances pending before the tax court or the IRS.
  The bill I am introducing today expresses the need to amend section 
170 of the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the investments made 
by this relatively small and fixed number of subsistence Native whaling 
captains are fully deductible as charitable contributions against their 
personal Federal income tax. Such an amendment should also 
retroactively resolve the disallowance and assessment cases now pending 
within the statute of limitations.
  The expenses incurred by these whaling captains are for the benefit 
of the entire Native community. These expenses are vital contributions 
whose only purposes are to provide food to the community and to 
perpetuate the aboriginal traditions of the Native subsistence whaling 
culture.
  Each Alaskan Native subsistence whaling captain invests an average of 
$2,500 to $5,000 in whaling equipment and expenses in a given year. A 
charitable deduction for these expenses would translate into a maximum 
revenue impact of approximately $230,000 a year.
  Such a charitable deduction is justified on a number of grounds. The 
donations of material and provisions for the purpose of carrying out 
subsistence whaling, in effect, are charitable contributions to the 
Inupiat and Siberian Yupic communities for the purpose of supporting an 
activity that is of considerable cultural, religious, and subsistence 
importance to those Native people. In expending the amounts claimed, a 
captain is donating those amounts to the community to carry out these 
functions.
  Similarly, the expenditures can be viewed as donations to the Inupiat 
Community of the North Slope [ICAS], to the AEWC and to the 
communities' participating churches. The ICAS is a federally recognized 
Indian Tribe under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (48 Stat. 
984). Under the Indian Tax Status Act, donations to such an Indian 
Tribe are tax deductible (28 U.S.C., 7871(a)(1)(A). The AEWC is a 
501(C)(3) organization. Both the ICAS and the AEWC are charged with the 
preservation of Native Alaskan whaling rights.
  It also is important to note the North Slope Borough of Alaska, on 
its own and through the AEWC, spends approximately $500,000 to $700,000 
annually on bowhead whale and other Arctic marine research and programs 
in support of the U.S. efforts at the International Whaling Commission. 
This is money that otherwise would come from the Federal budget to 
support the U.S. representation at the IWC.
  Given these facts and the internationally and federally protected 
status of the Native Alaskan subsistence whale hunt, I believe 
expenditures for the hunt should be treated as charitable donations 
under section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code. I ask my fellow Members 
to join with me in clarifying the Federal tax code to make this a 
reality for these Native whaling captains.
  I ask that a copy of the bill be printed at the close of these 
remarks.

                            H. Con. Res. --

       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That in recognition of the prohibitive financial 
     burden placed upon Alaska Native subsistence whaling captains 
     by international obligations ratified by the United States, 
     it is the sense of the Congress that the utmost consideration 
     should be given to clarify Federal tax law to allow a 
     reasonable Federal charitable tax deduction for the 
     reasonable and necessary expenses of such captains related to 
     their conduct of the centuries old subsistence whaling hunt 
     as a charitable contribution activity for the benefit of 
     their native community, donations to which are deductible 
     under section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

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