[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 104 (Tuesday, July 22, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1467-E1468]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO MARVIN J. SONOSKY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 22, 1997

  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
a man who spent his life and career working on behalf of Indian tribes 
and people to ensure that the United States lived up to its trust 
responsibility to them, Marvin Sonosky, of Alexandria, VA. On July 16, 
Mr. Sonosky died of heart failure. He was 88 years old. I join the many 
friends of Mr. Sonosky in mourning the loss of one of Indian country's 
greatest advocates. I would like to convey my personal sympathies to 
his wife, Shirley Freimuth Sonosky, his three daughters, Judith 
Kreisberg, Joann Hirsch, and Karen Hecker, and to his seven 
grandchildren and to his one great grandchild.
  Mr. Sonosky was born in Duluth, MN. He graduated from college and law 
school at the University of Minnesota. After four years of private 
practice in Duluth, Mr. Sonosky came to Washington in 1937 and joined 
the Lands Division of the Department of Justice, where he served for 17 
years. He was named a special assistant to the Attorney General and 
frequently argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1951, Mr. Sonosky 
returned to private practice, first in association with two Washington 
law firms and later as a sole practitioner. In 1976, he founded the law 
firm of Sonosky, Chambers & Sachse, where he practiced until his death. 
Through the last week of his life, he remained active in the trial 
practice of the firm.
  Mr. Sonosky was a unique individual in this city, in that he was one 
of the best advocates in his field, yet he never sought the accolades 
or tributes that so many seek to obtain. Instead, his tribute came from 
knowing that every day that he worked he had the potential of improving 
perhaps just one Indian person's life. I would like to share with my 
colleagues some of the many legislative initiatives involving Indian 
tribes that were the brainchild of Mr. Sonosky. These are but one 
measure of the impact that Mr. Sonosky had in improving the lives and 
opportunities of Indian tribal governments and their people, and which 
has done much to ensure that the United States stands behind its trust 
obligation to them.
  Following devastating losses of Indian reservation land, and its 
resulting poverty, Mr. Sonosky worked with Congress to secure the 
enactment of Federal statutes that returned over 1 million acres of 
undisposed of surplus lands within those reservations to the tribes--
the resources from which have been vital to the economies of many 
Indian communities. Mr. Sonosky also brought to the attention of 
Congress the need for legislation authorizing Indian tribes to recover 
just compensation for lands taken by the United States, so that the 
damages awarded would not be unfairly diminished by the value of food 
and rations that the United States had otherwise promised in exchange 
for the lands acquired. And when government officials unlawfully offset 
welfare claims against trust funds of individual Indians, Mr. Sonosky 
successfully challenged that practice in Federal court, after which he 
worked with Congress to ensure that all individual Indians who had been 
harmed by the practice were properly reimbursed.

[[Page E1468]]

  While much of Mr. Sonosky's work with Congress focused on righting 
past wrongs, an equal part of his work has resulted in legislation that 
will protect Indian rights for generations to come. Through his 
efforts, Federal law that had previously allowed States to assume 
jurisdiction over certain matters on Indian reservations were amended 
to expressly require tribal consent prior to application of State 
jurisdiction. And most significantly, when limitations contained in the 
statutes governing Federal court jurisdiction effectively barred Indian 
tribes from invoking that forum to vindicate federally protected 
rights, Mr. Sonosky successfully pushed for legislation that today 
vests the Federal courts with jurisdiction to adjudicate any claim 
brought by an Indian tribe.
  The honor of the Nation with regard to our obligations to Indian 
people has been well served by Mr. Sonosky. We will miss him dearly.

                          ____________________