The Senate Indian Affairs Committee held a hearing on Wednesday on a bill to address the management of the Utah Navajo Trust Fund.

In 1933, Congress created a trust for members of the Navajo Nation who live in San Juan County, Utah. The law requires the state to manage 37.5 percent of the royalties from oil and gas production on Navajo land.

S.1690, which was introduced on September 21, relieves the state of its role.The Utah Dineh Corporation would handle duties as trustee of the fund.

Navajos in Utah largely support the bill. But the Navajo government in Window Rock, Arizona, opposes it and wants to manage the trust.

"This bill will give control of $30 million in trust funds to a corporation with no experience and no outside capital," Navajo Nation Vice President Ben Shelly, who is serving as president of the tribe, told the committee. "Frankly, senator, this bill is a recipe for disaster."

Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) introduced the bill. He said Utahs in Navajo don't trust the Navajo government to manage the fund.

Get the Story:
Bennett wants private corporation to run Indian trust fund (The Salt Lake Tribune 12/10)

Committee Hearing:
LEGISLATIVE HEARING on S. 1690, to amend the Act of March 1, 1933, to transfer certain authority and resources to the Utah Dineh Corporation, and for other purposes (December 9, 2009)

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