00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 27                                                                     
01 Urging the United States Congress to pass legislation amending the Alaska Native                                        
02 Vietnam Veterans Allotment Act to allow deserving veterans to obtain allotments of                                      
03 vacant land within the State of Alaska; and to reopen and legislatively approve                                         
04 allotments in the Tongass National Forest.                                                                              
05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
06       WHEREAS, since 1906, Alaska Natives have had the right to obtain allotments of                                  
07 land under the Alaska Native Allotment Act that was repealed in 1971 by the Alaska Native                               
08 Claims Settlement Act, but with a saving clause for pending applications; and                                           
09       WHEREAS, before the 1971 repeal of the Alaska Native Allotment Act, few                                         
10 allotment applications had been filed or approved because most rural Alaska Natives did not                             
11 learn of the opportunity for an allotment until 1970 when the federal government initiated an                           
12 effort to inform and assist potential allotment applicants; and                                                         
13       WHEREAS many Alaska Native Vietnam era veterans did not have the opportunity                                    
14 to apply for allotments before the Alaska Native Allotment Act was repealed because they                                
15 were serving in the military before, during, and after the period when the government                                   

01 informed Alaska Natives about the opportunity for allotments; and                                                       
02       WHEREAS the United States Congress enacted 43 U.S.C. 1629g, commonly referred                                   
03 to as the Alaska Native Vietnam Veterans Allotment Act, in 1998 to allow certain veterans a                             
04 chance to apply for allotments, but the numerous restrictions in this Act, restrictions that were                       
05 not in the Alaska Native Allotment Act, have unfairly disqualified the majority of the                                  
06 applications filed and discouraged many from applying; and                                                              
07       WHEREAS amendments to the Alaska Native Vietnam Veterans Allotment Act that                                     
08 provide a fair opportunity for Alaska Native Vietnam veterans to obtain allotments were                                 
09 previously introduced in the United States Congress to remove many of the obstacles                                     
10 preventing Alaska Native Vietnam veterans from obtaining an allotment; and                                              
11       WHEREAS basic justice will also be served by the Congress's enacting legislation                                
12 that will allow approximately 300 allotment cases closed under the federal court decision in                            
13 Shields v. United States, 698 F.2d 987 (9 Cir., 1983), to be reopened and approved; and                                 
14       WHEREAS, given that land in Southeast Alaska was withdrawn for the Tongass                                      
15 National Forest by 1909 and that allotment applications are required to "use" land claimed for                          
16 an allotment before that land was withdrawn has resulted in a unfair distribution of allotments                         
17 statewide, with few in Southeast Alaska; and                                                                            
18       WHEREAS the federal court, in Shields v. United States, decided that the "use"                                  
19 requirement meant the applicant's personal use of the land before it was withdrawn, not use by                          
20 the applicant's ancestors; and                                                                                          
21       WHEREAS the Congress did not define the word "use" in the Alaska Native                                         
22 Allotment Act but could do so now by legislation that defines use to include ancestral use,                             
23 which would be applicable to those allotments in Southeast Alaska closed under the decision                             
24 in Shields v. United States;                                                                                            
25       BE IT RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that the United States Congress                                  
26 is urged to pass legislation that amends the Alaska Native Vietnam Veterans Allotment Act to                            
27 allow a fair opportunity for Alaska Native Vietnam veterans to obtain allotments; and be it                             
28       FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States Congress is urged to enact legislation                                  
29 that would reopen and legislatively approve allotments in the Tongass National Forest that                              
30 were closed under the decision in Shields v. United States.                                                             
31       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President                              

01 of the United States; the Honorable Richard B. Cheney, Vice-President of the United States                              
02 and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Gale Norton, United States Secretary of the                             
03 Interior; the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the                            
04 Honorable Bill Frist, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Ted Stevens and the                             
05 Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.                                              
06 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and all other members of the                              
07 109th United States Congress.