[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 12, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E161-E162]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 AMENDMENT TO THE ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT TO PROVIDE LAND 
                RIGHTS FOR THE 13TH REGIONAL CORPORATION

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. DON YOUNG

                               of alaska

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 12, 2008

  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Madam Speaker, there have been many items of 
unfinished business which flowed from the Alaska Native Claims 
Settlement Act, ANCSA, which was originally enacted on December 18, 
1971. A number of these issues have been resolved over the years. Few 
of those unfinished items, however, stand out in my mind as much as the 
need to provide land selection rights to the members of the 13th 
Regional Corporation, which was formed by ANSCA primarily to represent 
Alaska Natives residing outside of Alaska at that time. Today, with the 
13th Regional Corporation Land Entitlement Act, I address that 
objective. I am pleased to be joined in this sponsorship by my friend 
and colleague from Washington State, Congressman Norm Dicks. For me, 
both of us, this completes a significant goal of the original Act. Let 
me give you the background of this issue and the story of the 13th 
Region.
  In 1971, after years of debate, Congress enacted the Alaska Native 
Claims Settlement Act of 1971, 43 U.S.C. Sec. 1601 et seq., ``the 
Settlement Act'', extinguishing claims by Native Alaskans based on 
aboriginal land rights. The Act divided the State into 12 geographical 
Regions which were to be composed as far as practicable of Natives 
having a common heritage and sharing common interests. In addition, 
non-resident Natives were given the option either to enroll in one of 
the 12 Regional Corporations established for each region or to elect, 
by majority vote, to form a separate 13th Regional Corporation to 
represent the interests of non-resident Alaskan Natives.
  Provision for the 13th was focused upon serving the interests of non-
resident Alaska Natives while affording them their fair share of the 
settlement. Some non-resident Natives had been dislocated during and 
after World War II, others left their homes to serve in the Armed 
Forces, many left to attend high schools and colleges in other States, 
and still others, for economic reasons, migrated south in the hope of 
attaining employment. Information about the Settlement Act and its 
implications for non-resident Natives was difficult to obtain, spotty 
and inconsistent in character, and generally insufficient to enable 
individual non-resident Natives to make reasoned decisions. In this 
situation, a majority of non-resident Alaska Natives felt that their 
interests could best be protected by forming the non-resident 13th to 
better control and direct their own affairs. Ultimately approximately 
4,500 Alaska Natives chose to enroll in the new 13th. Wherever they 
resided then, or now, however, they were and are Alaska Natives, and we 
honor them.
  In opting to join the 13th, however, these non-resident Natives were 
deprived of the ability to fully participate in the settlement of their 
claims as that settlement was generally provided by the Act. Let me be 
specific. Monetary payments under the Settlement Act were made through 
the Alaska Native Fund, and distributed among all 13 Regional 
Corporations on a per capita basis, but land was distributed only among 
the 12 resident Regional Corporations and the Village Corporations 
within those regions. No additional money, however, was provided to the 
13th to compensate for the absence of land. The Settlement Act also 
provided that the 12 Regional Corporations would share among themselves 
some of the revenues from all natural resource development occurring on 
the lands conveyed to them. The 13th did not receive this right.
  In sum, Alaska Natives enrolled in the 13th did not receive any land, 
and did not receive additional money in lieu of land, and did not get 
any right to participate in distributions from the pool of natural 
resource revenue funds in which the other Regional Corporations shared. 
The 13th, being comprised of non-resident Alaska Natives, was thus 
denied full participation in the settlement provided by the Settlement 
Act. While some will claim that this was their choice, it seems clear 
that it was an inadequately informed choice, and resulted in depriving 
over 4,500 members of the 13th of two of the three major benefits of 
this Act. This bill seeks to resolve at least the absence of an 
entitlement to land.
  Over the years, the effect of this inequity in the Act has been to 
substantially disadvantage the shareholders of the 13th as they tried 
to build an economically successful corporation and to deny them the 
benefits of land ownership in Alaska. As an example, the 13th received 
its pro rata share of the monetary payments under the Act but was 
obligated to distribute 50 percent of those proceeds immediately to 
shareholders as they were received over a number of years. The 
remaining 50 percent provide the only capitalization for the small 
corporation with many scattered shareholders. Without a land base or 
resources to develop, the 13th did not have the economic base, nor the 
crucial development alternatives afforded other Regional Corporations. 
The corporation did not receive revenues from the development of 
resources, such as timber harvest which was accomplished in several 
regions, or a share of Sec. 7(i) revenues, including petroleum 
revenues, which were a source of income for the 12 Regional 
Corporations. The 13th has survived but with some difficulty, and it is 
time to provide a fairer share of the settlement to them for their 
future.
  To correct the inequity caused by the Settlement Act's failure to 
equally compensate non-resident Natives for the extinguishment of their 
aboriginal land claims, the 13th Regional Corporation Land Entitlement 
Act will place the shareholders of the 13th on a better footing with 
shareholders of the other Alaska Native Regional Corporations, at least 
as far as land is concerned.
  The proposal authorizes the 13th to select land from the excess lands 
previously withdrawn by the Secretary of the Department of the Interior 
on behalf of other Regional Corporations. The proposed legislation 
gives absolute priority to land selections by the State of Alaska and 
other Native Corporations, regional and village, and prohibits the 
selection of lands from within conservation system units, as defined in 
the Alaska National Interests Lands Conservation Act. The 13th may not 
select from the National Petroleum Reserve, the Tongass or Chugach 
National Forests and other sensitive areas. In other words, the 13th is 
at the very end of the line for its land selections. This is 
nonetheless far more equitable for the 13th than the present situation.
  In proposing this legislation, the shareholders of the 13th are 
seeking equity by being placed on a stronger and more equal footing 
with respect to the Native shareholders of the other 12 Native Regional 
Corporations. This is supported by the Alaska Native community. This 
proposal has been endorsed by the Alaska Federation of Natives and by 
the Association of Regional Corporation Presidents, and it has been 
thoroughly considered by the Alaska delegation.
  My first term in Congress was the one immediately following the 
enactment of ANSCA in late 1971. I can tell you that neither the Act 
nor its implementation focused much attention on the 13th. They were 
not fully represented, so members of the Washington State delegation 
like the late Congressman Lloyd Meeds and Senator Henry Jackson took 
their side but were not able to accomplish land rights for the 13th, or 
a monetary settlement in its stead. Congressman Meeds believed 
throughout his life that this was a matter that required resolution.

[[Page E162]]

  What the 13th will receive under the new bill is, with one major 
exception, the same per capita land right that all other regional 
corporations received, no more and no less. The number of acres is 
arrived at by taking the total number of acres conveyed to the other 
Regional Corporations pursuant to Section 12(c) of ANSCA, 15,769,600 
acres, and after subtracting Sealaska's shareholders, Sealaska received 
a separate entitlement, and the shareholders of the 13th, which 
received no land, dividing this 15,769,600 acres by 60,026, the number 
of original Native shareholders enrolled to the other 11 Native 
Regional Corporations. On a per capita basis, the shareholders of the 
other 11 Regional Corporations received approximately 262.7 acres per 
original shareholder. This per capita number multiplied by the 4,426 
original shareholders of the 13th results in the 1,162,710 acres.
  The bill gives absolute priority to land selections of other Native 
Corporations and the State of Alaska. Additionally, the bill prohibits 
the 13th from making selections within conservation system units, the 
Tongass and Chugach National Forests, the National Petroleum Reserve-
Alaska, and other potentially sensitive public lands.
  All other interests, from the State to other Native corporations and 
the conservation community, were able to make their land selections or 
designate large areas for protection and special management. All of 
these groups won congressional approval, and were able to secure their 
preferences, when the land eligible for selection was prime and high on 
the list of priorities. The 13th comes behind all other priorities, 
including State and Native selections, national conservation lands, and 
others. The intent is that the land of the 13th will be selected in a 
cooperative process with other land owners and can be complementary to 
those selections, by other regions or villages, the State or other 
public purposes. I believe this is not only fair but good policy as 
Alaska moves forward. It is simply time to resolve this long-standing 
inequity, and to provide the 13th Native Region with the right to a 
limited land base just as all other Native regions. I urge my 
colleagues to join with me in achieving this goal this year.

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