Members of Congress

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Posted: April 16, 2020

The U.S. Capitol. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

A bipartisan group of members of the U.S. House of Representatives is calling on the Trump administration to prevent Alaska Native corporations from receiving a share of the $8 billion coronavirus relief fund (CRF) intended for tribal governments.

“Any attempt to divert funds provided under the CRF away from the governing bodies of federally recognized tribal nations, which include Alaska Native Villages, would clearly be contrary to congressional intent. Therefore, we echo the opposition expressed by many of these federally recognized tribes to the inclusion of Alaska Native Corporations as eligible entities under the CRF.”

The letter [PDF] was sent to Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin and Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt. The two Cabinet members are accountable for the distribution of the fund, with Treasury being in charge of putting the money into the bank accounts of eligible entities.

The letter was signed by Reps. Betty McCollum (D-Minnesota), Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma), Deb Haaland (D-New Mexico), Ken Calvert (R-California), Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), Derek Kilmer (D-Washington), Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona), Tom O’Halleran (D-Arizona), David P . Joyce (R-Ohio), Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Arizona), Norma J. Torres (D-California) and Sharice L. Davids (D-Kansas).