Alaska Native corporations say they weren't given a chance to address an amendment that limits their participation in federal government contracting.

Congress passed the amendment as part of a spending bill. It bars the Department of Defense from awarding contracts of more than $20 million to Alaska Native corporations without a written justification that is approved by a higher ranking official.

"This (amendment) came through at the 11th hour," Clyde Gooden, a vice president at NANA Development Corp., the business arm of NANA Regional Corp., told The Anchorage Daily News.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) was responsible for the amendment. She has said Alaska Native corporations have grown too large for government contracting programs that were meant to benefit small businesses.

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Native corporations brace for new federal contract rules (The Anchorage Daily News 6/23)