Alaska Native Village Municipal Lands Restoration Act of 2025

Floor Speech

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Ms. ANSARI. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of Representative Begich's H.R. 43, the Alaska Native Village Municipal Lands Restoration Act of 2025.

Under current law, when an Alaska Native Village Corporation receives land pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, then the Village Corporation must convey certain lands to its municipal government. If none exists, then the law requires them to convey the land to the State of Alaska to be held in trust for when a municipality is established in the future.

The problem is that in many remote Alaska Native communities, it is unlikely that a municipal government will ever be formed, which means the land being held in trust won't ever be used for its intended purpose.

In fact, since the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971, 101 Village Corporations have had lands held in trust by the State but only 8 of those villages have incorporated into a municipality, and none have done so since 1995.

This bill would remove the requirement that Alaska Native Village Corporations convey land in trust to the State of Alaska for the hypothetical establishment of Municipal Corporations, and it would allow the Village Corporations to have the State of Alaska reconvey such lands back to them.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, which will allow communities themselves to make decisions about how best to utilize their own lands.

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Ms. ANSARI. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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