Sen. Sullivan applauds advancement of five-year extension of Alaska Native Vietnam Veterans Allotment Program

Senator Dan Sullivan applauded the advancement of legislation to extend the Alaska Native Vietnam Veterans Allotment Program for an additional five years.

The program, established by a Sullivan-authored provision that became law in 2019, enabled several thousand Alaska Native veterans to apply for their congressionally-promised Native land allotments—an opportunity many originally missed due to their military service during the Vietnam War era. That program was set to expire in December of 2025.

On November 19, the legislation passed out of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee. It was introduced earlier this year by Senators Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski, makes eligible for conveyance lands identified in 2020 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFS) as eligible for selection, and require USFS to identify additional lands for selection and conveyance to eligible veterans.

“Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans were on track to attain the land allotments that they are entitled to, but the Biden-Harris administration halted that progress with endless delays and legal hurdles,” said Senator Sullivan. “Time is running out. For years, Secretary Haaland at the Department of the Interior has bowed to the demands of Lower 48 eco-colonialists, betrayed these courageous veterans who sacrificed greatly on behalf of our country, and violated commitments she made to me during her confirmation process. To date, fewer than 40 out of more than 2,000 eligible veterans have received their allotment. This legislation would extend this important program for another five years. I want to thank Senator Murkowski for strongly advocating for this bill through her position as a member of the ENR Committee, and Chairman Joe Manchin (of West Virginia) for his work on its passage. I look forward to seeing this legislation signed into law and successfully implemented under President Trump’s new administration to fix this historic injustice and honor our Vietnam veterans’ heroic service.”