Jon L. Christensen: “Mr. Speaker, S. 1466 is intended to accelerate the transfer of millions of acres of Federal lands to Alaska natives, the…”

“Mr. Speaker, S. 1466 is intended to accelerate the transfer of millions of acres of Federal lands to Alaska natives, the State of Alaska, and to native corporations. Those individuals and entities are entitled to receive lands from the public domain under past acts of Congress. As described by the sponsor's floor statement when the bill was introduced in July 2003, the land conveyance program in Alaska is the largest and most complex of any in United States history. Yet notwithstanding the complexity of this subject matter, there is very little legislative history concerning S. 1466. The bill was not reported by the Senate Energy Committee. An amendment was adopted on the Senate floor on October 10, but there is no statement or debate to explain what changes were made. And the House Resources Committee has neither held hearings nor a markup on this legislation. Despite the curious absence of regular order, the majority has brought S. 1466 before the House today and intends to pass it along to the President without further scrutiny. S. 1466 is exclusively the product of the other body and apparently we have little choice but to hope that they got it right.”