An Act to provide, under or by amendment of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, for the late enrollment of certain Natives, the establishment of an escrow account for the proceeds of certain lands, the treatment of certain payments and grants, and the consolidation of existing regional corporations, and for other purposes.
Public Law 94-204 · S. 1469 · 94th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Gerald Ford (R) on Jan 2, 1976 · Native Americans
Sponsor: Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK)
Cosponsors (2): Sen. Scoop Jackson, Sen. Mike Gravel
Passage votes
- HouseMethod not stated
- SenateMethod not stated
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.
(Senate agreed to House amendment with an amendment)
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to enroll those Alaska Natives otherwise qualified under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, but who missed the March 30, 1973, deadline.
Authorizes the Secretary to allow Natives enrolled to villages or groups not recognized as village corporations to enroll in a sanctioned Village Corporation or to remain enrolled on an at-large basis in the Regional Corporation of the region in which the village or group is located.
Grants authority to the Secretary to deposit receipts derived from contracts, leases, permits, rights-of-way, or easements pertaining to land or resources of land in an escrow account until such time as disposition is made of the land. Authorizes the paying of interest on the funds held in the escrow account at the prevailing interest rate on short-term obligations.
Exempts Native corporations organized under the Act from the provisions of Federal securities laws during the time that the stock of those corporations is subject to prohibitions on sale or disposition.
Authorizes mergers or consolidations among Native corporations within the same region. Requires that the plan of merger provide that the right to explore, develop, or remove minerals from the subsurface estate in the lands within the boundaries of any Native village are to be subject to the consent of the Village Corporation.
Extends the life of the Joint Federal-State Land Use Planning Commission for three years from December 31, 1976, to June 30, 1979.
Authorizes the southeast region (Sealaska, Inc.) to select its acreage entitlement from lands which were withdrawn in the National Forest for selection by the village corporation, but which were not so selected.
Excludes until 1992 the stock of any Native corporation, including the right to receive dividends therefrom, from the gross estate of a decedent under the Internal Revenue Code.
Directs the Secretary to pay, by grant, $250,000 to each of the Native corporations of the cities of Juneau, Sitka, Kodiak, and Kenai, and $100,000 to each of the village corporations of Artic Village, Elim, Gambell, Savoonga, Tetlin, and Venetie.
Directs the Secretary to convey to Koniag, Inc., the Native Regional Corporation for the Kodiak Region, approximately 186,000 acres of subsurface estate in the area which was withdrawn for that purpose.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
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.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 15 actions.
- Jan 2, 1976Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public law 94-204.
- Dec 22, 1975PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in Senate.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in House.
- Dec 19, 1975Resolving differencesResolving differences · House agreed to Senate amendments.
- Dec 18, 1975Resolving differencesResolving differences · Senate agreed to House amendment with an amendment.
- Dec 16, 1975FloorFloor · Measure passed House, amended, in lieu of H.R. 6644.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Natural Resources Committee
- Sep 3, 1975CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Natural Resources Committee
- Aug 1, 1975FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate, amended.
- FloorFloor · Measure called up by unanimous consent in Senate.
- CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
- Apr 17, 1975CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.