[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 107 (Friday, June 29, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8742-S8744]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. Stevens):
  S. 1746. A bill to provide for the recognition of certain Native 
communities and the settlement of certain claims under the Alaska 
Native Claims Settlement Act, and for other purposes; to the Committee 
on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, at the very beginning of the Alaska 
Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 there are a series of findings and 
declarations of congressional policy which explain the underpinnings of 
this landmark legislation.
  The first clause reads, ``There is an immediate need for a fair and 
just settlement of all claims by Natives and Native groups of Alaska, 
based on aboriginal land claims.'' The second clause states, ``The 
settlement should be accomplished rapidly, with certainty, in 
conformity with the real economic and social needs of Natives.''
  Mr. President, 34, going on 35, years have passed since the Alaska 
Native Claims Settlement Act became law and still the Native peoples of 
five communities in Southeast Alaska--Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, 
Tenakee and Wrangell--the five ``landless communities'' are still 
waiting for their fair and just settlement.
  The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act awarded approximately $1 
billion and 44 million acres of land to Alaska Natives and provided for 
the establishment of Native Corporations to receive and manage such 
funds and lands. The beneficiaries of the settlement were issued stock 
in one of 13 regional Alaska Native corporations. Most beneficiaries 
also had the option to enroll and receive stock in a village, group or 
urban corporation.
  For reasons that still defy explanation the Native peoples of the 
``landless communities,'' were not permitted by the Alaska Native 
Claims Settlement Act to form village or urban corporations. These 
communities were excluded from this benefit even though they did not 
differ significantly from other communities in Southeast Alaska that 
were permitted to form village or urban corporations under the Alaska 
Native Claims Settlement Act. This finding was confirmed in a February 
1994 report submitted by the Secretary of the Interior at the direction 
of the Congress. That study was conducted by the Institute of Social 
and Economic Research at the University of Alaska.
  The Native people of Southeast Alaska have recognized the injustice 
of this oversight for more than 34 years. An independent study issued 
more than 12 years ago confirms that the grievance of the landless 
communities is legitimate. Legislation has been introduced in the past 
sessions of Congress to remedy this injustice. Hearings have been held 
and reports written. Yet legislation to right the wrong has inevitably 
stalled out. This December marks the 35th anniversary of Congress' 
promise to the Native peoples of Alaska, the promise of a rapid and 
certain settlement. And still the landless communities of southeast 
Alaska are landless.
  I am convinced that this cause is just, it is right, and it is about 
time that the Native peoples of the five landless communities receive 
what has been denied them for going on 35 years.
  The legislation that I am introducing today would enable the Native 
peoples of the five ``landless communities'' to organize five ``urban 
corporations,'' one for each unrecognized community. These newly formed 
corporations would be offered and could accept the surface estate to 
approximately 23,000 acres of land. Sealaska Corporation, the regional 
Alaska Native Corporation for southeast Alaska would receive title to 
the subsurface estate to the designated lands. The urban corporations 
would each receive a lump sum payment to be used as start-up funds for 
the newly established corporation. The Secretary of the Interior would 
determine other appropriate compensation to redress the inequities 
faced by the unrecognized communities.
  It is long past time that we return to the Native peoples of 
southeast Alaska a small slice of the aboriginal lands that were once 
theirs alone. It is time that we open our minds and open our hearts to 
correcting this injustice which has gone on far too long and finally 
give the Native peoples of southeast Alaska the rapid and certain 
settlement for which they have been waiting.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1746

       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 ``Unrecognized Southeast 
     Alaska Native Communities Recognition and Compensation Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:

[[Page S8743]]

       (1) In 1971, Congress enacted the Alaska Native Claims 
     Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (referred to in this 
     section as the ``Act'') to recognize and settle the 
     aboriginal claims of Alaska Natives to the lands Alaska 
     Natives had used for traditional purposes.
       (2) The Act awarded approximately $1,000,000,000 and 
     44,000,000 acres of land to Alaska Natives and provided for 
     the establishment of Native Corporations to receive and 
     manage such funds and lands.
       (3) Pursuant to the Act, Alaska Natives have been enrolled 
     in one of 13 Regional Corporations.
       (4) Most Alaska Natives reside in communities that are 
     eligible under the Act to form a Village or Urban Corporation 
     within the geographical area of a Regional Corporation.
       (5) Village or Urban Corporations established under the Act 
     received cash and surface rights to the settlement land 
     described in paragraph (2) and the corresponding Regional 
     Corporation received cash and land which includes the 
     subsurface rights to the land of the Village or Urban 
     Corporation.
       (6) The southeastern Alaska communities of Haines, 
     Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell are not listed 
     under the Act as communities eligible to form Village or 
     Urban Corporations, even though the population of such 
     villages comprises greater than 20 percent of the 
     shareholders of the Regional Corporation for Southeast Alaska 
     and display historic, cultural, and traditional qualities of 
     Alaska Natives.
       (7) The communities described in paragraph (6) have sought 
     full eligibility for lands and benefits under the Act for 
     more than three decades.
       (8) In 1993, Congress directed the Secretary of the 
     Interior to prepare a report examining the reasons why the 
     communities listed in paragraph (6) had been denied 
     eligibility to form Village or Urban Corporations and receive 
     land and benefits pursuant to the Act.
       (9) The report described in paragraph (8), published in 
     February, 1994, indicates that--
       (A) the communities listed in paragraph (6) do not differ 
     significantly from the southeast Alaska communities that were 
     permitted to form Village or Urban Corporations under the 
     Act;
       (B) such communities are similar to other communities that 
     are eligible to form Village or Urban Corporations under the 
     Act and receive lands and benefits under the Act--
       (i) in actual number and percentage of Native Alaskan 
     population; and
       (ii) with respect to the historic use and occupation of 
     land;
       (C) each such community was involved in advocating the 
     settlement of the aboriginal claims of the community; and
       (D) some of the communities appeared on early versions of 
     lists of Native Villages prepared before the date of the 
     enactment of the Act, but were not included as Native 
     Villages in the Act.
       (10) The omissions described in paragraph (9) are not 
     clearly explained in any provision of the Act or the 
     legislative history of the Act.
       (11) On the basis of the findings described in paragraphs 
     (1) through (10), Alaska Natives who were enrolled in the 
     five unlisted communities and their heirs have been 
     inadvertently and wrongly denied the cultural and financial 
     benefits of enrollment in Village or Urban Corporations 
     established pursuant to the Act.
       (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to redress the 
     omission of the communities described in subsection (a)(6) 
     from eligibility by authorizing the Native people enrolled in 
     the communities--
       (1) to form Urban Corporations for the communities of 
     Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell under 
     the Act; and
       (2) to receive certain settlement lands and other 
     compensation pursuant to the Act.

     SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF ADDITIONAL NATIVE CORPORATIONS.

       Section 16 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 
     U.S.C. 1615) is amended by adding at the end thereof the 
     following new subsection:
       ``(e)(1) The Native residents of each of the Native 
     Villages of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and 
     Wrangell, Alaska, may organize as Urban Corporations.
       ``(2) Nothing in this subsection shall affect any 
     entitlement to land of any Native Corporation previously 
     established pursuant to this Act or any other provision of 
     law.''.

     SEC. 4. SHAREHOLDER ELIGIBILITY.

       Section 8 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 
     U.S.C. 1607) is amended by adding at the end thereof the 
     following new subsection:
       ``(d)(1) The Secretary of the Interior shall enroll to each 
     of the Urban Corporations for Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, 
     Tenakee, or Wrangell those individual Natives who enrolled 
     under this Act to the Native Villages of Haines, Ketchikan, 
     Petersburg, Tenakee, or Wrangell, respectively.
       ``(2) Those Natives who are enrolled to an Urban 
     Corporation for Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, or 
     Wrangell pursuant to paragraph (1) and who were enrolled as 
     shareholders of the Regional Corporation for Southeast Alaska 
     on or before March 30, 1973, shall receive 100 shares of 
     Settlement Common Stock in such Urban Corporation.
       ``(3) A Native who has received shares of stock in the 
     Regional Corporation for Southeast Alaska through inheritance 
     from a decedent Native who originally enrolled to the Native 
     Villages of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, or 
     Wrangell, which decedent Native was not a shareholder in a 
     Village or Urban Corporation, shall receive the identical 
     number of shares of Settlement Common Stock in the Urban 
     Corporation for Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, or 
     Wrangell as the number of shares inherited by that Native 
     from the decedent Native who would have been eligible to be 
     enrolled to such Urban Corporation.
       ``(4) Nothing in this subsection shall affect entitlement 
     to land of any Regional Corporation pursuant to section 12(b) 
     or section 14(h)(8).''.

     SEC. 5. DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS.

       Section 7 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 
     U.S.C. 1606) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (j), by adding at the end thereof the 
     following new sentence: ``Native members of the Native 
     Villages of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and 
     Wrangell who become shareholders in an Urban Corporation for 
     such a community shall continue to be eligible to receive 
     distributions under this subsection as at-large shareholders 
     of the Regional Corporation for Southeast Alaska.''; and
       (2) by adding at the end thereof the following new 
     subsection:
       ``(s) No provision of or amendment made by the Unrecognized 
     Southeast Alaska Native Communities Recognition and 
     Compensation Act shall affect the ratio for determination of 
     revenue distribution among Native Corporations under this 
     section and the `1982 Section 7(i) Settlement Agreement' 
     among the Regional Corporations or among Village Corporations 
     under subsection (j).''.

     SEC. 6. COMPENSATION.

       The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et 
     seq.) is amended by adding at the end thereof the following 
     new section:


 ``URBAN CORPORATIONS FOR HAINES, KETCHIKAN, PETERSBURG, TENAKEE, AND 
                                WRANGELL

       ``Sec. 43.  (a) Upon incorporation of the Urban 
     Corporations for Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and 
     Wrangell, the Secretary, in consultation and coordination 
     with the Secretary of Commerce, and in consultation with 
     representatives of each such Urban Corporation and the 
     Regional Corporation for Southeast Alaska, shall offer as 
     compensation, pursuant to this Act, one township of land 
     (23,040 acres) to each of the Urban Corporations for Haines, 
     Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell, and other 
     appropriate compensation, including the following:
       ``(1) Local areas of historical, cultural, traditional, and 
     economic importance to Alaska Natives from the Villages of 
     Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, or Wrangell. In 
     selecting the lands to be withdrawn and conveyed pursuant to 
     this section, the Secretary shall give preference to lands 
     with commercial purposes and may include subsistence and 
     cultural sites, aquaculture sites, hydroelectric sites, 
     tidelands, surplus Federal property and eco-tourism sites. 
     The lands selected pursuant to this section shall be 
     contiguous and reasonably compact tracts wherever possible. 
     The lands selected pursuant to this section shall be subject 
     to all valid existing rights and all other provisions of 
     section 14(g), including any lease, contract, permit, right-
     of-way, or easement (including a lease issued under section 
     6(g) of the Alaska Statehood Act).
       ``(2) $650,000 for capital expenses associated with 
     corporate organization and development, including--
       ``(A) the identification of forest and land parcels for 
     selection and withdrawal;
       ``(B) making conveyance requests, receiving title, 
     preparing resource inventories, land and resource use, and 
     development planning;
       ``(C) land and property valuations;
       ``(D) corporation incorporation and start-up;
       ``(E) advising and enrolling shareholders;
       ``(F) issuing stock; and
       ``(G) seed capital for resource development.
       ``(3) Such additional forms of compensation as the 
     Secretary deems appropriate, including grants and loan 
     guarantees to be used for planning, development and other 
     purposes for which Native Corporations are organized under 
     the Act, and any additional financial compensation, which 
     shall be allocated among the five Urban Corporations on a pro 
     rata basis based on the number of shareholders in each Urban 
     Corporation.
       ``(b) The Urban Corporations for Haines, Ketchikan, 
     Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell, shall have one year from 
     the date of the offer of compensation from the Secretary to 
     each such Urban Corporation provided for in this section 
     within which to accept or reject the offer. In order to 
     accept or reject the offer, each such Urban Corporation shall 
     provide to the Secretary a properly executed and certified 
     corporate resolution that states that the offer proposed by 
     the Secretary was voted on, and either approved or rejected, 
     by a majority of the shareholders of the Urban Corporation. 
     In the event that the offer is rejected, the Secretary, in 
     consultation with representatives of the Urban Corporation 
     that rejected the offer and the Regional Corporation for 
     Southeast Alaska, shall revise the offer and the Urban 
     Corporation shall have an additional six months within which 
     to accept or reject the revised offer.
       ``(c) Not later than 180 days after receipt of a corporate 
     resolution approving an offer of the Secretary as required in 
     subsection (b), the Secretary shall withdraw the lands and 
     convey to the Urban Corporation title to the surface estate 
     of the lands and convey to the Regional Corporation for 
     Southeast Alaska title to the subsurface estate as 
     appropriate for such lands.

[[Page S8744]]

       ``(d) The Secretary shall, without consideration of 
     compensation, convey to the Urban Corporations of Haines, 
     Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell, by quitclaim 
     deed or patent, all right, title, and interest of the United 
     States in all roads, trails, log transfer facilities, leases, 
     and appurtenances on or related to the land conveyed to the 
     corporations pursuant to subsection (c).
       ``(e)(1) The Urban Corporations of Haines, Ketchikan, 
     Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell may establish a settlement 
     trust in accordance with the provisions of section 39 for the 
     purposes of promoting the health, education, and welfare of 
     the trust beneficiaries and preserving the Native heritage 
     and culture of the communities of Haines, Ketchikan, 
     Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell, respectively.
       ``(2) The proceeds and income from the principal of a trust 
     established under paragraph (1) shall first be applied to the 
     support of those enrollees and their descendants who are 
     elders or minor children and then to the support of all other 
     enrollees.''.

     SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as shall 
     be necessary to carry out this Act and the amendments made by 
     this Act.
                                 ______