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Testimony from RADM Michael D. Weahkee, M.B.A., MHSA on S. 3099, the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium Land Transfer Act of 2019 before Senate Committee on Indian Affairs

on
S. 3099, the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium Land Transfer Act of 2019
before
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
Wednesday, June 24, 2020 - 20:45

Chairman Hoeven, Vice-Chairman Udall, and Members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. I am RADM Michael D. Weahkee, Director of the Indian Health Service (IHS). Thank you for the opportunity to provide a statement of the record on S. 3099, the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium Land Transfer Act of 2019, a bill to provide for the conveyance of certain property to the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC), aka the Consortium, located in Sitka, Alaska.

The IHS mission is to raise the physical, mental, social, and spiritual health of American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIAN) to the highest level. This mission is partnership with the AIAN communities we serve. As an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the IHS provides comprehensive health service delivery to approximately 2.6 million AIAN across 37 states and through a network of over 605 Federal and tribal health facilities including hospitals, clinics and school health centers. In addition, the IHS contracts with 41 Urban Indian Organizations that deliver health care services to AIAN urban populations.

S. 3099 would provide conveyance by warranty deed of certain property to the SEARHC, a tribal organization that has provided IHS-funded health care services since 1976 under the authority of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA).  The federal property described in S. 3099 would be used in connection with existing health programs in Sitka, Alaska operated by the SEARHC aka the Consortium. Under S. 3099, the Consortium would not provide the Federal Government any consideration for the property and the Federal Government would not be able to impose any obligation, term, or condition on the Consortium with regard to the property. In addition, the Federal Government would not retain any reversionary interest in the property. It also would require completing the conveyance no later than two years from the date of enactment of the bill.

S. 3099 would free the Consortium of any liability that it otherwise would have assumed for any environmental contamination that may have occurred on or before the date of the transfer, including the period prior to the date of the transfer during which the Consortium has been using, occupying and/or managing the property. S.3099 also specifies HHS would also not be liable for any contamination for the same period of time, thus making it unclear who would be liable.

We have seen several bills of this sort move through Congress in recent years mandating transfer by warranty deed rather than by quitclaim deed, including S. 825, the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium Land Transfer Act of 2017. As with previous bills, HHS is concerned about the details of S. 3099. Specifically, HHS does not prefer to make ISDEAA transfers by warranty deed as such deeds create the potential for liability if a competing property interest is subsequently discovered. In addition, barring retention of a reversionary interest (as is the standard practice with transfers of property for ISDEAA purposes) deprives HHS of a means to ensure that the property will continue to be used for health services in furtherance of the purposes of this bill.

With respect to environmental liability, S. 3099 would protect HHS from liability for contamination that may have occurred subsequent to the time when administration of the facility was turned over to the Consortium, though the result of immunizing both the Consortium and the HHS from liability for contamination occurring during that period may be that anyone injured from such contamination would be without a remedy.

With these concerns in mind, HHS supports the purposes of the bill to convey the property to the Consortium in order to facilitate providing improved health services to Alaska Natives. We would like to work with the committee on technical changes to address the issues raised above. We remain firmly committed to improving quality, safety, and access to health care for AIAN. We appreciate all your efforts in helping us provide the best possible health care services to the people we serve.

Content created by Assistant Secretary for Legislation (ASL)
Content last reviewed on October 22, 2020