Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.R. 2340 would ratify an agreement between the United States, the Bering Straits Native Corporation, and the State of Alaska. The underlying agreement provides for the conveyance of certain Federal lands to the Bering Straits Native Corporation and to the State of Alaska. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act was enacted in 1971. It was intended to resolve longstanding issues surrounding native land claims in Alaska. Under this act, Alaska Native regional corporations are entitled to a certain amount of public lands. The Bering Straits Native Corporation is one of those regional corporations entitled to certain lands. In addition, the Alaska Statehood Act grants the State of Alaska the opportunity to select a certain amount of public lands for the State's benefit. Normally, legislation is not required to implement these selections. In this case, however, both the State and the Native corporations selected some of the same lands. After years of negotiations, the parties, along with the United States, arrived at an agreement to resolve this conflict. I want to commend our colleague, Mr. Young of Alaska, for his hard work and dedication to this legislation, and I ask my colleagues to support its passage. I reserve the balance of my time.”