A bill to authorize the exchange of lands between an Alaska Native Village Corporation and the Department of the Interior, and for other purposes.
Public Law 108-129 · S. 924 · 108th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by George W. Bush (R) on Nov 17, 2003 · Public Lands and Natural Resources
Sponsor: Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Cosponsors: None
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
(Sec. 2) Directs the Secretary of the Interior to accept from the Newtok Native Corporation a conveyance, by limited warranty deed, of certain Alaskan lands previously conveyed to Newtok if such Corporation expresses an intent to enter into a land exchange with the United States within 180 days of enactment of this Act. Directs the Secretary to also accept a relinquishment of irrevocable prioritized selections from Newtok for those validly selected lands not yet conveyed to Newtok.
Requires the Secretary, in exchange for the lands from Newtok, to convey to Newtok the surface and subsurface estate of specified Federal lands. States that such conveyance shall be by interim conveyance.
(Sec. 3) Declares that land conveyed to Newtok under this Act shall be deemed to have been conveyed under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), except that specified provisions of ANCSA concerning patents and lands in the National Wildlife Refuge System shall not apply to such lands. States that, consistent with the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, such lands shall not be considered part of the Yukon National Wildlife Refuge.
Includes the Newtok lands conveyed to the United States in the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, except that residents of the village of Newtok, Alaska, shall retain access rights guaranteed under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act for subsistence fishing, hunting, and gathering.
Entitles the Calista Corporation to an equivalent acreage of in-lieu subsurface entitlement for the relinquished Newtok selections to the extent that Calista subsurface rights are affected by this Act. Directs that such entitlement shall come from subsurface lands already selected by Calista, but which have not yet been conveyed. Permits Calista to make an additional in lieu selection from lands within the region but outside any conservation system unit if such action is necessary to equalize the acreage.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Energy and Natural Resources Committee · Senate · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Public Lands, Forests, and Mining Subcommittee
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Related bills
The record lists no related bills.
Data notes
Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 24 actions.
- Nov 17, 2003Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 108-129.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Nov 6, 2003FloorFloor · Presented to President.
- Nov 4, 2003FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.
- FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on S. 924.
- FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Renzi moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
- CalendarCalendar · Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 202.
- CommitteeCommittee · Reported by the Committee on Resources. H. Rept. 108-345.
- Oct 29, 2003CommitteeCommittee · Ordered to be Reported by Unanimous Consent.
- CommitteeCommittee · Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
- Jul 24, 2003CommitteeCommittee · Executive Comment Requested from Interior.
- Jul 18, 2003FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
- FloorFloor · Received in the House.
- CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the House Committee on Resources.
- Jul 17, 2003FloorFloor · Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- Jul 11, 2003CalendarCalendar · Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 205.
- CommitteeCommittee · Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Domenici with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 108-97.
- Jun 25, 2003CommitteeCommittee · Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
- Jun 4, 2003CommitteeCommittee · Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 108-68.
- CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Public Lands, Forests, and Mining Subcommittee of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
- Apr 11, 2003CommitteeCommittee · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in Senate
Data notes
Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.
Amendments
No amendments to this bill are on record.
Data notes
Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.
Official record
The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.