104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3973

AN ACT

To provide for a study of the recommendations of

and Programs Affecting Alaska Natives.the Joint Federal-State Commission on Policies
104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3973

AN ACT

To provide for a study of the recommendations of the Joint

Federal-State Commission on Policies and Programs Affecting Alaska Natives.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARA2 TION OF POLICY.

3 The Congress finds and declares the following:

4 (1) The Joint Federal-State Commission on

5 Policies and Programs Affecting Alaska Natives

6 (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Alaska Na7 tives Commission’’) was established by Public Law

8 101–379 (42 U.S.C. 2991a note) following the publi9 cation in 1989 of the ‘‘Report on the Status of Alas10 ka Natives: A Call for Action’’ by the Alaska Fed11 eration of Natives and after extensive congressional

12 hearings which focused on the need for the first

13 comprehensive assessment of the social, cultural, and

14 economic condition of Alaska’s 86,000 Natives since

15 the enactment of the Alaska Native Claims Settle16 ment Act, Public Law 92–203.

17 (2) The 14 member Alaska Natives Commission

18 held 15 regional hearings throughout Alaska be19 tween July 1992 and October 1993, and 2 statewide

20 hearings in Anchorage coinciding with the Conven21 tions of 1992 and 1993 of the Alaska Federation of

22 Natives. In May 1994, the Alaska Natives Commis23 sion issued its 3 volume, 440 page report. As re24 quired by Public Law 101–379, the report was for25 mally conveyed to the Congress, the President of the

26 United States, and the Governor of Alaska.
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1 (3) The Alaska Natives Commission found that

2 many Alaska Native individuals, families, and com3 munities were experiencing a social, cultural, and

4 economic crisis marked by rampant unemployment,

5 lack of economic opportunity, alcohol abuse, depres6 sion, and morbidity and mortality rates that have

7 been described by health care professionals as ‘‘stag8 gering’’.

9 (4) The Alaska Natives Commission found that

10 due to the high rate of unemployment and lack of

11 economic opportunities for Alaska Natives, govern12 ment programs for the poor have become the foun13 dation of many village economies. Displacing tradi14 tional Alaska Native social safety nets, these well15 meaning programs have undermined the healthy

16 interdependence and self-sufficiency of Native tribes

17 and families and have put Native tribes and families

18 at risk of becoming permanent dependencies of Gov19 ernment.

20 (5) Despite these seemingly insurmountable

21 problems, the Alaska Natives Commission found

22 that Alaska Natives, building on the Alaska Native

23 Claims Settlement Act, had begun a unique process

24 of critical self-examination which, if supported by

25 the United States Congress through innovative legis-
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1 lation, and effective public administration at all lev2 els including traditional Native governance, could

3 provide the basis for an Alaska Native social, cul4 tural, economic, and spiritual renewal.

5 (6) The Alaska Natives Commission recognized

6 that the key to the future well-being of Alaska Na7 tives lay in—

8 (A) the systematic resumption of respon9 sibility by Alaska Natives for the well-being of

10 their members,

11 (B) the strengthening of their economies,

12 (C) the strengthening, operation, and con13 trol of their systems of governance, social serv14 ices, education, health care, and law enforce15 ment, and

16 (D) exercising rights they have from their

17 special relationship with the Federal Govern18 ment and as citizens of the United States and

19 Alaska.

20 (7) The Alaska Natives Commission recognized

21 that the following 3 basic principles must be re22 spected in addressing the myriad of problems facing

23 Alaska Natives:

24 (A) Self-reliance.

25 (B) Self-determination.
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1 (C) Integrity of Native cultures.

2 (8) There is a need to address the problems

3 confronting Alaska Natives. This should be done

4 rapidly, with certainty, and in conformity with the

5 real economic, social, and cultural needs of Alaska

6 Natives.

7 (9) Congress retains and has exercised its con8 stitutional authority over Native affairs in Alaska

9 subsequent to the Treaty of Cession and does so now

10 through this Act.

11 SEC. 2. ALASKA NATIVE IMPLEMENTATION STUDY.

12 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds and declares

13 that—

14 (1) the Alaska Natives Commission adopted

15 certain recommendations raising important policy

16 questions which are unresolved in Alaska and which

17 require further study and review before Congress

18 considers legislation to implement solutions to ad19 dress these recommendations; and

20 (2) the Alaska Federation of Natives is the rep21 resentative body of statewide Alaska Native interests

22 best suited to further investigate and report to Con23 gress with proposals to implement the recommenda24 tions of the Alaska Natives Commission.
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1 (b) GRANT.—The Secretary of Health and Human

2 Services shall make a grant to the Alaska Federation of

3 Natives to conduct the study and submit the report re4 quired by this section. Such grant may only be made if

5 the Alaska Federation of Natives agrees to abide by the

6 requirements of this section.

7 (c) STUDY.—Pursuant to subsection (b), the Alaska

8 Federation of Natives shall—

9 (1) examine the recommendations of the Alaska

10 Natives Commission;

11 (2) examine initiatives in the United States,

12 Canada, and elsewhere for successful ways that is13 sues similar to the issues addressed by the Alaska

14 Natives Commission have been addressed;

15 (3) conduct hearings within the Alaska Native

16 community on further ways in which the Commis17 sion’s recommendations might be implemented; and

18 (4) recommend enactment of specific provisions

19 of law and other actions the Congress should take

20 to implement such recommendations.

21 (d) CONSIDERATION OF LOCAL CONTROL.—In devel22 oping its recommendations pursuant to subsection (c)(4),

23 the Alaska Federation of Natives shall give specific atten24 tion to the ways in which the recommendations may be
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1 achieved at the local level with maximum local control of

2 the implementation of the recommendations.

3 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after the

4 date on which the grant is made under subsection (b), the

5 Alaska Federation of Natives shall submit a report on the

6 study conducted under this section, together with the rec7 ommendations developed pursuant to subsection (c)(4), to

8 the President and the Congress and to the Governor and

9 legislature of the State of Alaska. In addition, the Alaska

10 Federation of Natives shall make the report available to

11 Alaska Native villages and organizations and to the gen12 eral public.

13 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

14 authorized to be appropriated $350,000 for the grant

15 under subsection (b).

16 (g) ADDITIONAL STATE FUNDING.—The Congress

17 encourages the State of Alaska to provide the additional

18 funding necessary for the completion of the study under

19 this section.

Passed the House of Representatives September 26,

1996.

Attest:

Clerk.