WASHINGTON -- A bill transferring 23 acres of federal lands to a health organization in Bethel is headed to the White House for the president's signature.
The U.S. House passed the bill, originally sponsored by Republican Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, by a voice vote late Wednesday.
The bill, ferried through the House by Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, and Murkowski in the upper chamber, is part of a long ongoing effort by Alaska lawmakers to turn federal lands back to the state and Alaska Natives.
It passed the Senate in June, and was co-sponsored by Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska.
The state's congressional delegation has introduced at least two dozen bills this year alone to chip into the federal government's 222 million acres within the 365 million-acre state of Alaska.
The bill that passed the House Wednesday and is headed for President Barack Obama's signature will convey 23 acres of unused federal property to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. in Bethel. YKHC is a nonprofit Alaska Native corporation that provides health care in Southwest Alaska. The group plans to expand its 30-year-old facility to add a 130,000-square-foot primary care space to the existing hospital.
Murkowski said the bill's passage recognizes "the need to improve access to health care in rural Alaska."
"This widely supported legislation will assist countless Alaska Natives in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region by allowing YKHC to significantly grow their operations and expand their facilities," Young said after the bill's passage.