[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 152 (Tuesday, October 29, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7632-S7633]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. MURKOWSKI:
  S. 1605. A bill for the relief of Michael G. Faber; to the Committee 
on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce unique 
legislation to remedy a clear mistake by the Federal Government that 
affects only a single person, an Army veteran, formerly from Alaska, 
now living in Idaho, who for the past nearly 40 years has been trying 
to get the Federal Government to remedy an inequity that has affected 
him, but also has impacts on his family.
  While Congress is struggling to find solutions for the economic and 
health care problems of all 311 million Americans and a means to fund 
the Federal Government, I hope we also can find the time to right a 
wrong for a single man and his family.
  The issue briefly is that Michael Faber, a Tsimshian Indian whose 
family has long roots in Southeast Alaska, initially had been granted 
membership/stock in 1973 in the Sealaska Native Regional Corp., the 
corporation made up of Southeast Alaska Natives formed as a result of 
the aboriginal land claims settlement between the Federal Government 
and Alaska Natives accomplished through passage of the Alaska Native 
Claims Settlement Act, ANCSA, of 1971. Because of a clerical error by 
the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the early 1970s Mr. Faber was shifted 
without cause or his permission to the out-of-state 13th Regional 
Corporation in late 1976. For decades Mr. Faber has been trying to win 
reinstatement to the Sealaska Corp., a request the corporation has 
endorsed, but that the Federal Government, and now seemingly the 
Federal courts, have decided can't happen without Congress expressly 
authorizing his reenrollment.
  The legislation I offer today, which to my knowledge is supported by 
everyone possibly connected to this case, will do nothing but right an 
error by our government that never should have happened. It is a bill 
that affects a sole individual, which I know is something that has 
become unpopular on Capitol Hill in recent years. But Congress early in 
history provided an avenue for passage of legislation to provide relief 
for individuals who are the victims of an injustice. In fact, it was 
once relatively common for Congress to pass such legislation. There 
were hundreds of such bills approved between 1817 and 1971. Admittedly 
just one was approved last year, when Nigerian student, Sopuruchi 
``Victor'' Chukwueke, became the first person in two years to win a 
private relief bill so he could stay in the United States on an expired 
visa and gain a path to permanent residency so he could enter medical 
school in Ohio. Mr. Faber's case is even more worthy of approval 
because this bill simply remedies a mistake clearly caused by a Federal 
agency.
  This issue stems from the fact that during the original enrollment 
process following passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, 
Michael Faber enrolled in the Sealaska Corporation, the tenth of the 
thirteen corporations created by the Act, along with his father, Clyde 
Benjamin Faber, his brother Gary Dennis Faber and his sister Debra 
Marlene Faber. Michael Faber's enrollment was approved by the Bureau of 
Indian Affairs, and he received Sealaska share number 13-752-39665-01, 
and an initial 100 shares of stock in the Sealaska Corporation. The 
family lived in Metlakatla, Alaska prior to passage of the claims act, 
and by the time of implementation of the act had moved to Juneau, AK.
  In the mid-1960s Mr. Faber joined the U.S. Army and was stationed in 
Germany. At some point in 1976, while Mr. Faber was on duty with the 
Army, and consequently had an out-of-Alaska mailing address, someone in 
BIW apparently moved to shift his enrollment from the Sealaska Corp. to 
the then newly created 13th Corporation. That corporation was intended 
to serve the needs of Alaska Natives living outside of Alaska.
  Under the law, Mr. Faber was sent a ballot that he was required to 
sign to accept the shift in enrollment. However, he never received the 
ballot; it was returned to BIA--unopened and unsigned. Mr. Faber had 
been badly injured during his military service and, in early 1976, was 
in and out of rehabilitation hospitals and clinics at different 
locations. By late 1976, Mr. Faber spent 19 months in a military 
hospital in Texas recovering from severe burns. Unfortunately, someone 
at BIA went ahead, and without Mr. Faber's legal approval, 
administratively completed the enrollment shift. Mr. Faber eventually 
was placed on the military's Temporary Disability Retirement List, 
TDRL, and then was involved in years of post-service counseling. It 
wasn't until after his recovery that he fully realized he had been 
shifted from Sealaska to the 13th Corporation, and it was then that he 
began his effort to be reenrolled in the Sealaska Corp.
  The record indicates that during the 1990s BIA acknowledged it made 
an error in shifting Mr. Faber's enrollment without his written 
approval. Unfortunately, by then BIA believed it did not have the legal 
authority to reenroll Mr. Faber in the Sealaska Corporation shareholder 
rolls. Over the years, Mr. Faber won a resolution of support by the 
Sealaska Corporation's Board of Directors. The resolution welcomed his

[[Page S7633]]

reinstatement to that corporation. He filed in U.S. District Court in 
Idaho a request for a writ ordering BIA to change his enrollment back 
to membership in Sealaska. In late 2012, however, a Federal judge in 
Idaho encouraged all parties to dismiss the suit without prejudice. 
Accordingly, there is no avenue for this injustice to be rectified 
without congressional authorization of Mr. Faber's reenrollment in the 
Sealaska Corp.
  This case has been complicated by the fact that Mr. Faber moved back 
to the community of Metlakatla, Alaska in the mid-1990s to work as the 
Executive Director of the Metlakatla Housing Authority. The 
complication is that residents of Metlakatla, the main community on the 
Annette Island Indian Reservation, were allowed by ANCSA to maintain 
their reservation status--the only reservation in the state to be 
reauthorized by the claims settlement act. But in return, members of 
the Metlakatla Indian Community were required to denounce other ANCSA 
benefits. This legislation, to prevent any precedents and to clarify 
the factual record, not only requires Mr. Faber to surrender or 
abrogate any possible membership in the Metlakatla Indian Community 
before his enrollment in the Sealaska Corp. can take effect, but also 
in no way alters the Section 19(a) provisions of ANCSA involving 
Metlakatla reservation status.
  Mr. Faber has been waiting for nearly 40 years for someone to 
champion his quest to be restored to the Sealaska Corp., a legacy he 
wants largely for the benefit of his children. This legislation will 
allow Mr. Faber retroactive benefits only to 2011. In that year, 
Sealaska's board voted to welcome Mr. Faber back to its membership. It 
also voted to support the legislation. The bill sets no precedents for 
other Natives to seek changes in their ANCSA enrollments because of the 
unique and singular nature of the clerical error that was responsible 
for this change in enrollment status in the first place. This bill will 
simply treat Mr. Faber and his descendants humanely and formally 
recognize their legal and cultural status as Alaska Natives.
  I hope that Congress will see fit to pass this bill promptly--truly 
the right and just result.
                                 ______