To provide for the conveyance of certain property from the United States to the Maniilaq Association located in Kotzebue, Alaska.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 443) to provide for the conveyance of certain property from the United States to the Maniilaq Association located in Kotzebue, Alaska, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 443 is sponsored by our colleague from Alaska (Mr. Young). The legislation directs the Indian Health Service to transfer three parcels of Federal land in Alaska to the Maniilaq Association. The association is a nonprofit entity that runs Federal Indian health services for Native people in northwest Alaska. The parcels of land subject to this legislation, which total about 15

acres, are currently the site of the existing Native health facility and of proposed long-term care facilities and employee housing.

The subject lands have already been conveyed by the Secretary to the association through a quit claim deed. The Federal Indian health laws, however, under these laws, transferring a land through the use of a quit claim deed could present some obstacles for the future use of the land by the association. H.R. 443 addresses this problem by directing the Secretary to convey the property through the use of a warranty deed. This method provides clean title to the land. The administration testified in support of the land transfer, and we have heard no other objection to this bill.

The bill was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce. The chairman of that committee, Mr. Upton, has kindly forgone action on the bill in the interest of expediting its consideration on the House floor. I thank him for his cooperation and at this point would like to include in the Record an exchange of letters between our committees regarding this bill.

House of Representatives, Committee on Energy and

Commerce,

Washington, DC, December 7, 2011.

Hon. Doc Hastings,

Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Hastings: I am writing concerning H.R. 443,

to provide for the conveyance of certain property from the

United States to the Maniilaq Association located in

Kotzebue, Alaska, which was ordered reported out of your

Committee on October 5, 2011. I wanted to notify you that the

Committee on Energy and Commerce will forgo action on H.R.

443 so that it may proceed expeditiously to the House floor

for consideration.

This is being done with the understanding that the

Committee on Energy and Commerce is not waiving any of its

jurisdiction, and the Committee will not in any way be

prejudiced with respect to the appointment of conferees or

its jurisdictional prerogatives on this or similar

legislation.

I would appreciate your response to this letter, confirming

this understanding with respect to H.R. 443, and would ask

that a copy of our exchange of letters on this matter be

included in the Congressional Record during consideration of

the bill on the House floor.

Sincerely,

Fred Upton,

Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield such time as he may consume to the author of this legislation, the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young).

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 443) to provide for the conveyance of certain property from the United States to the Maniilaq Association located in Kotzebue, Alaska.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.

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

My bill, H.R. 443, directs the Indian Health Service to transfer 15 acres of Federal land in Alaska to the Maniilaq Association by warranty deed. The IHS has already conveyed these lands to the association by quitclaim deed; however, under Federal Indian health laws, transferring land by quitclaim deed could present some obstacles to the future use of the land by the association. The association is a nonprofit entity that runs Federal Indian health services for Native people in northwest Alaska. The land subject to this legislation is currently the site of a Native health facility and of proposed long-term care facilities and employee housing.

The administration testified in support of the land transfer, and we have heard no other objections to this bill which passed the House over a year ago by a 407-4 vote. The Senate amendment before us today makes four small technical changes to the bill, including changing verb tenses, clarifying the timing of the conveyance, and clarifying a definition. None are controversial and, some might say, even necessary.

I, again, thank Chairman Upton of the Energy and Commerce Committee for allowing H.R. 443, a bill that we share jurisdiction over, to be considered on the floor today.

I urge the House to adopt the Senate amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I have no other requests for time. I urge the passage of the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I would like to announce that the Committee on Indian Affairs will meet during the session of the Senate on June 28, 2012, in room SD-628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, at 2:15 p.m., to conduct a business meeting to consider the following:

H.R. 443, To provide for the conveyance of certain property

from the United States to the Maniilaq Association located in

Kotzebue, Alaska; H.R. 1560, To amend the Ysleta del Sur

Pueblo and Alabama and Coushatta Indian Tribes of Texas

Restoration Act to allow the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Tribe to

determine blood quantum requirement for membership in that

tribe; H.R. 1272, To provide for the use and distribution of

the funds awarded to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, et al, by

the United States Court of Federal Claims in Docket Numbers

19 and 188, and for other purposes; S. 134, A bill to

authorize the Mescalero Apache Tribe to lease adjudicated

water rights; S. 1065, A bill to settle land claims within

the Fort Hall Reservation; S. 2389, A bill to deem the

submission of certain claims to an Indian Health Service

contracting officer as timely; and S. 3193, A bill to make

technical corrections to the legal description of certain

land to be held in trust for the Barona Band of Mission

Indians, and for other purposes.

Those wishing additional information may contact the Indian Affairs Committee at (202) 224-2251.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

(Mr. SABLAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 443.

This bill would provide the Maniilaq Association with clear title to land previously conveyed to it by the United States. Elimination of this restriction would enable the association to obtain loans for improvements to the property without Federal involvement.

I urge my colleagues to support the passage of this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, December 15, 2011, I was unable to vote due to an important family event.

Had I been present, I would have voted:

On rollcall No. 933--``yes''--Approval of the Journal.

On rollcall No. 934--``yes''--H.R. 886--U.S. Marshals Service 225th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act.

On rollcall No. 935--``yes''--H.R. 2719, Rattlesnake Mountain Public Access Act.

On rollcall No. 936--``yes''--H.R. 443, To Provide for the conveyance of certain property from the U.S. to the Maniilaq Association in Kotzebue, AK.