[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 104 (Tuesday, July 22, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7877-S7878]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             MARVIN SONOSKY

 Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to a 
man who spent his life and career working on behalf of Indian tribal 
governments and ensuring that the United States fulfilled its trust 
responsibility to Indian people, Marvin Sonosky of Alexandria, VA. On 
July 16, Mr. Sonosky died of heart failure. He was 66 years old. I join 
his many friends in mourning the loss of one of Indian country's 
greatest advocates. I would like to convey my sympathy to his wife, 
Shirley Freimuth Sonosky, and his daughters Judith Kreisberg, Joann 
Hirsch, and Karen Hecker and his seven grandchildren and one great 
grandchild.
  Mr. Sonosky was born in Duluth, MN, and received his undergraduate 
and law degrees from the University of Minnesota. After 4 years of 
private practice, Mr. Sonosky came to Washington in 1937 and joined the 
Lands Division of the Department of Justice where he served for 17 
years. As a special assistant to the Attorney General he frequently 
argued before the U.S. Supreme Court.
  In 1951, Mr. Sonosky returned to private practice. In 1976, he formed 
the firm of Sonosky, Chambers & Sachse, where he practiced until his 
death. He remained active in the trial practice of the firm through the 
last week of his life.
  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. Instead his tribute came from knowing that 
every day that he worked he had the potential to improve perhaps just 
one Indian person's life.
  I would like to share with this body 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 he had in 
improving the lives and opportunities of Indian tribal governments and 
their people and ensured that the United States stands behinds its 
trust obligations 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 surplus lands within those reservations to the tribes--the 
resources from these lands have been vital to the economies of many of 
these Indian communities.
  Mr. Sonosky also brought to the attention of Congress the need to 
amend Federal law 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 promised in exchange for the lands 
it acquired. When Government officials unlawfully offset welfare claims 
against trust funds of individual Indians, Mr. Sonosky successfully 
challenged the practice in Federal court. He subsequently worked with 
Congress to ensure that all individual Indians who had been harmed by 
this practice were properly reimbursed.
  While much of Mr. Sonosky's congressional efforts focused on righting 
past wrongs, an equal part of his work resulted in legislation that 
will protect Indian rights for generations to come.

[[Page S7878]]

  Through his efforts Federal law that had previously allowed States to 
assume jurisdiction over certain matters on Indian reservations was 
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 developed and advocated for a Federal 
law that today vests 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 indeed been well served by Mr. Sonosky. We will miss him 
dearly.

                          ____________________