[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 125 (Tuesday, October 10, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H9614-H9616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 4345) to amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to
clarify the process of allotments to Alaskan Natives who are veterans,
and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 4345
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
TITLE I--TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS TO ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT
SEC. 101. ALASKA NATIVE VETERANS.
Section 41 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43
U.S.C. 1629g) is amended as follows:
(1) Subsection (a)(3)(I)(4) is amended by striking ``and
Reindeer'' and inserting ``or''.
(2) Subsection (a)(4)(B) is amended by striking ``; and''
and inserting ``; or''.
(3) Subsection (b)(1)(B)(i) is amended by striking ``June
2, 1971'' and inserting ``December 31, 1971''.
(4) Subsection (b)(2) is amended by striking the matter
preceding subparagraph (A) and inserting the following:
``(2) The personal representative or special administrator,
appointed in an Alaska State
[[Page H9615]]
court proceeding of the estate of a decedent who was eligible
under subsection (b)(1)(A) may, for the benefit of the heirs,
select an allotment if the decedent was a veteran who served
in South East Asia at any time during the period beginning
August 5, 1964, and ending December 31, 1971, and during that
period the decedent--''.
SEC. 102. LEVIES ON SETTLEMENT TRUST INTERESTS.
Section 39(c) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
(43 U.S.C. 1629e(c)) is amended by adding at the end the
following new paragraph:
``(8) A beneficiary's interest in a settlement trust and
the distributions thereon shall be subject to creditor action
(including without limitation, levy attachment, pledge, lien,
judgment execution, assignment, and the insolvency and
bankruptcy laws) only to the extent that Settlement Common
Stock and the distributions thereon are subject to such
creditor action under section 7(h) of this Act.''.
TITLE II--NATIONAL LEADERSHIP SYMPOSIUM FOR AMERICAN INDIAN, ALASKAN
NATIVE, AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN YOUTH
SEC. 201. ADMINISTRATION OF NATIONAL LEADERSHIP SYMPOSIUM FOR
AMERICAN INDIAN, ALASKAN NATIVE, AND NATIVE
HAWAIIAN YOUTH.
(a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to
the Secretary of Education for the Washington Workshops
Foundation $2,200,000 for administration of a national
leadership symposium for American Indian, Alaskan Native, and
Native Hawaiian youth on the traditions and values of
American democracy.
(b) Content of Symposium.--The symposium administered under
subsection (a) shall--
(1) be comprised of youth seminar programs which study the
workings and practices of American national government in
Washington, DC, to be held in conjunction with the opening of
the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian; and
(2) envision the participation and enhancement of American
Indian, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian youth in the
American political process by interfacing in the first-hand
operations of the United States Government.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Utah (Mr. Hansen) and the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr.
Faleomavaega) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen).
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4345 amends the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
to clarify the process of allotments to Alaskan Natives who are
veterans and makes a number of technical changes to the Alaskan Native
Claims Settlement Act.
Title I of the bill outlines the qualifying dates and requirements of
the Alaskan Native Vietnam veterans and their executors to apply for
their native allotments under the Native Allotment Act.
Title II of the bill would allow American Indian or Alaska Native and
Native Hawaii students to participate in a week-long national symposium
on American democracy when the Smithsonian National Museum of the
American Indians opens in 2002.
I urge an aye vote on this important bill for Alaska.
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following letter for the
Record:
U. S. Department of the Interior,
Office of the Secretary,
Washington, DC, October 10, 2000.
Re: H.R. 4345 and amendments to P.L. 105-276.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources, House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: On June 14, I testified before your
Committee concerning H.R. 4345, the Alaska Native Claims
Technical Amendments Act of 2000. During the hearing, I
promised to work with Alaska Native groups in an effort to
address their concerns raised at the hearing, particularly
over section 3 of the bill regarding Alaska Native veteran
allotments.
As you know, the Department reviewed H.R. 4345 as
introduced and expressed its strong disagreement with most of
that bill. We indicated in our official statement submitted
to you at the hearing that if Sections 2, 3, 4, and 5 of that
bill were passed, we would recommend a veto to the President.
Section 6 was not unacceptable to us. As we discussed at the
hearing, and in the spirit of cooperation with your
Committee, I asked Marilyn Heiman, Special Assistant to the
Secretary for Alaska, to take the lead in meeting with Alaska
Native interests and discussing their concerns. Those
meetings have taken place. Following those meetings, and
further contact among the Committee, the Native groups, and
the Department, the Committee has proposed to us informally
for review a revised version of H.R. 4345. The provisions to
which we objected have been removed and a set of technical
changes to P.L. 105-276 have been added, including one change
which directly reflects Native interest in expanding
eligibility for allotment applications for heirs of deceased
veterans.
The revised draft of H.R. 4345 contains two titles: Title I
pertains to Alaska Native Veteran allotments, as well as
levies on settlement trust interests (formerly section 6 of
the original bill), and Title II contains wholly new
provisions authorizing $2,200,000 to the Washington Workshops
Foundation for administration of a national leadership
symposium for Native American and Eskimo youth.
The Department does not object to the revised bill.
Title I
We had mentioned earlier in testimony that there are
technical corrections which should be made to the language of
the Vietnam Veteran Allotment legislation passed in 1998 in
section 432 of P.L. 105-276, in order to correct three
technical gaps and problems with that section. The new bill
makes those corrections in section 101.
1. It amends Section 41(a)(3)(1)(4) concerning lands
selected or claimed and unavailable for conveyance, to delete
the words ``and Reindeer'' and insert the word ``or''. This
language clarifies the intent of the provision to make
unavailable for selection headquarters sites for various
activities including reindeer herding. There are a number of
different activities that can support a headquarters site
unrelated to reindeer herding which would be unavailable for
conveyance. The original wording was in error and could
result in a taking which must be avoided.
2. It amends section 41(a)(4)(B), concerning categories of
land available for selection, to delete after the semicolon
the word ``and'' and insert the word ``or''. The current
wording will cause difficulty in implementation. Three
categories of land are listed, but the use of the word
``and'' requires that an individual apply for land that meets
the criteria of all three categories. That is impossible
because land cannot be simultaneously reserved and
unreserved.
3. It amends section (41)(b)(1)(B)(i), pertaining to
``Eligible Person,'' to change the date ``June 2, 1971'' to
``December 31, 1971.'' The current wording causes veterans
who began their service after December 3, 1970 and before
June 2, 1971 to be ineligible, even though they may have
served more than six months between 1969 and 1971.
4. Section 101 of the bill also amends section 41(b)(2),
concerning eligible heirs of decedents, with two changes to
obtain greater facility in administration and to broaden the
eligibility of veterans' heirs who would benefit.
First, the bill contains critical language to make clear
that the personal representative of an estate will be
appointed by a judge of probates in a State Court of Alaska.
The State Court judges advise us that they can perform this
function quickly and at relatively low cost. This Department
does not have the personnel or the procedures to resolve
problems amongst heirs concerning who will be the personal
representative and which tracts of land will be chosen for
the allotment application. By letting the State probate
courts resolve the choice of personal representative, a task
which is performed every day, we can expedite the processing
of the allotment application by heirs without BLM being
flooded with separate applications by each heir claiming a
different location.
Second, for the group of veterans who died as a direct
result of the war, (killed in action, wounded in action and
subsequently died as a result of those wounds, or died while
a prisoner of war) the bill broadens the time for eligibility
of heirs of such deceased veterans to include those who died
from August 5, 1964 to December 31, 1971. All of these
veterans could be considered to have missed their opportunity
to file an allotment application by virtue of their military
service. We believe it is important to keep eligibility
limited to deaths caused by war, because otherwise there is
no basis for distinction between Native veterans who lost
their opportunity due to service and other Natives who served
or who are not veterans.
The Department can accept these changes. However, this is
the full extent of changes to P.L. 105-276 that we can
accept. We are opposed to further changes or expansion of the
law, which we believe fully and fairly addresses the problem
of lost opportunity due to military service for Alaska Native
veterans of the Vietnam war to apply for allotments. We have
just issued regulations to implement the original law.
Unfair, unacceptable restrictions regulations are not the
same as original Native allottees of Native applicants to
1971. Need hearing on their unfair regulations for Vietnam
Veterans. The above changes can be reasonably accommodated,
and the program should now move forward unimpeded by further
revisions to the program and the regulations.
The former section 6 of the bill becomes section 102. This
section, unrelated to the other provisions of the bill,
amends section 39(c) of ANCSA (43 U.S.C. 1629e(c)) to add a
new paragraph on Levies on Settlement Trust Interests,
placing limits on such actions against interests of
shareholders. While we do not object to this section, we
raised with the proponents of the section a clerical error in
its original draft and the need for a further expansion of
the language for protected interests in settlement trusts.
The new paragraph corrects the erroneous cross
[[Page H9616]]
reference contained in the current language of the section
and adds the words ``levy, attachment,'' to make clearer the
types of creditor actions being limited.
title ii
Title II provides for a National Leadership Symposium for
American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian youth to
be comprised of youth seminar programs which study the
workings and practice of American national government in
Washington, D.C. We encourage the development of such a
program. However, the bill as written is not clear as to the
source of funds, the Federal agency designated to receive the
funds, the basis for the amount for the project or the choice
of organizations to lead it. Nor is it clear who, if anyone,
on behalf of the Federal government would provide any
financial oversight or program guidance for the program. We
recommend that these issues be clarified.
The Office of Management and Budget advises that there is
no objection to the presentation of this report from the
standpoint of the Administration's program.
Sincerely,
John Berry,
Assistant Secretary.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
(Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend
his remarks.)
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4345,
this proposed piece of legislation sponsored by the gentleman from
Alaska (Mr. Young), my good friend and the chairman of the House
Committee on Resources.
As introduced, H.R. 4345 contains a number of controversial
provisions which were objectionable to the administration originally.
However, I am pleased to say that the bill before us now has been
significantly amended and is no longer opposed by the Department of the
Interior.
Mr. Speaker, the most notable provision of this bill concerns the
Native Alaskan veterans who served in the Vietnam conflict. This
legislation is intended to benefit the families of Native Alaskans who
served in Southeast Asia between 1964 and 1971 and who died as a direct
result of their military service.
Under this bill, the descendants of these Native Alaskan veterans
would be allowed a new opportunity to file under the Allotment Act of
1906 for up to 160 acres of parcels of land which the family
traditionally used and occupied.
The Allotment Act of 1906 was repealed by the Alaska Native Claims
Act in 1917, which was intended to resolve the Native land claims
against the United States. That historic act conveyed over 40 million
acres of land and approximately $1 billion dollars in compensation to
be managed by over 200 Native Alaskan corporations, representing the
villages and regions of the State of Alaska.
It is fair to say, Mr. Speaker, that the minority on the Committee on
Resources on this side has not always shared the enthusiasm of our
chairman for reopening the land claims and making significant
amendments to the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. We tend to
give greater emphasis to the word ``settlement'' in that act.
However, Mr. Speaker, in this instance, the allotment act language
reflects a compromise struck after negotiations between the Department
of the Interior and the Alaskan Federation of Natives.
A rider on the fiscal year 1999 VA-HUD appropriations bill reopened
applications for Native veterans who served in the 3-year period prior
to the repeal of the allotment act in 1971. Since the Department of the
Interior has already opened that door, extending the same opportunity
to the families of Native veterans who were killed in action is a
matter of understandable equity. It is troublesome, however, that the
Department cannot tell us how many new applications would be generated
by this bill, nor can they give us any clear notion of the potential
impacts on public land in Alaska.
However, by allowing this bill to proceed, it is our intent that this
action is final and that there will be no further extensions of land
claims under an act that was passed by Congress at the turn of the
century and repealed 3 decades ago. It is my understanding that the
Department of the Interior shares this view as well.
In summary, Mr. Speaker, let me take what may be one of our last
opportunities in this Congress to give credit to the gentleman from
Alaska (Mr. Young), the chairman of our House Committee on Resources,
who has served as chairman of the committee for the past 6 years. The
chairman is a forceful advocate for his Alaska Native constituents, and
it is due to his commitment that this bill is before us today.
Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the gentleman from Alaska, chairman of
the committee, for his leadership and also his willingness to assist
with issues affecting our insular areas. And above all, Mr. Speaker,
this Member appreciates very much the genuine friendship of the
gentleman from Alaska (Chairman Young) with those of us who represent
the territories.
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, so I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 4345, as amended.
The question was taken.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground
that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum
is not present.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
____________________