Rep. Young promises to take action on land-into-trust fix

Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), vowed to move forward with a fix to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar after Democrats tried to include the provision in his Indian energy bill.

As chairman of the House Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs, Young has held hearings on the Carcieri fix. He said he will work with Republican leaders to bring a bill to the House floor.

"I'm not holding this legislation up," Young said at a markup before the House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday.

Democrats on the committee saw it differently. Rep. Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa) offered an amendment on behalf of Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-Hawaii) that would have included an energy-specific Carcieri fix in H.R. 1548, Young's Native American Energy Act.

"The majority has yet to take this legislation and has not committed to doing anything about this," Faleomavaega said.

Faleomavaega, however, agreed to withdraw the amendment after hearing about Young's commitment to the Carcieri fix. The committee approved H.R.1548 at the markup.

Committee Notice:
Markup on H.R. 412, H.R. 657, H.R. 697, H.R. 740, H.R. 841, H.R. 931, H.R. 1126, H.R. 1411, H.R. 1497, H.R. 1548, H.R. 1825, H.R. 1964, H.R. 2166, and H.R. 2231 (June 12, 2013)

Related Stories:
House Natural Resources Committee markup on Indian bills (6/10)
Rep. Young won't support Alaska tribes for land-into-trust fix (03/20)

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