Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 110 Part 5.djvu/227

 PUBLIC LAW 104-270—OCT. 9, 1996 110 STAT. 3301 Public Law 104-270 104th Congress An Act To provide for a study of the recommendations of the Joint Federal-State Commission Oct. 9, 1996 on Pohcies and Programs Affecting Alaska Natives. [H.R. 3973) Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF 42 USC 2991a POLICY. note. The Congress finds and declares the following: (1) The Joint Federal-State Commission on Policies and Programs Affecting Alaska Natives (hereafter in this Act referred to as the "Alaska Natives Commission") was established by Public Law 101-379 (42 U.S.C. 2991a note) following the publication in 1989 of the "Report on the Status of Alaska Natives: A Call for Action" by the Alaska Federation of Natives and after extensive congression£d hearings which focused on the need for the first comprehensive assessment of the social, cultural, and economic condition of Alaska's 86,000 Natives since the enactment of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, Public Law 92-203. (2) The 14-member Alaska Natives Commission held 15 regional hearings throughout Alaska between July 1992 and October 1993, and 2 statewide hearings in Anchorage coinciding with the Conventions of 1992 and 1993 of the Alaska Federation of Natives. In May 1994, the Alaska Natives Commission issued its 3 volume, 440 page report. As required by Public Law 101-379, the report was formally conveyed to the Congress, the President of the United States, and the Governor of Alaska. (3) The Alaska Natives Commission found that many Alaska Native individuals, families, and communities were experiencing a social, cultural, and economic crisis marked by rampant unemployment, lack of economic opportunity, alcohol abuse, depression, and morbidity and mortality rates that have been described by health care professionals as "staggering". (4) The Alaska Natives Commission found that due to the high rate of unemployment and lack of economic opportunities for Alaska Natives, government programs for the poor have become the foundation of many village economies. Displacing traditional Alaska Native social safety nets, these well-meaning programs have undermined the healthy interdependence and self-sufficiency of Native tribes and families and have put Native tribes and families at risk of becoming permanent dependencies of Government.

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