[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 1] [Senate] [Page 510] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]TRIBUTE TO BARRY W. JACKSON Mr. BEGICH. Mr. President, on the occasion of his 80th birthday, January 27, I recognize the life achievements of a resident of Fairbanks, AK, Mr. Barry W. Jackson. As a young man, Mr. Jackson served in the Marine Corps during the Korean war and later retired as major. While still working on his law degree from Stanford University in 1957, he travelled to Alaska and obtained a clerkship with Territorial Judge Vernon Forbes. After being admitted to the Alaska bar in 1959, he was hired as the city attorney for Fairbanks and later opened his own practice, concentrating on estate planning, personal injury, bankruptcy, family and real estate law. Mr. Jackson also used his legal talents in the Alaska State Legislature. He served in the State house of representatives in the Fourth and Sixth State legislatures from 1965 to 1966 and 1968 to 1970 respectively, where he was a colleague of my late father, then State Senator Nick Begich. He served on the prestigious House Finance Committee and later in a leadership position as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Mr. Jackson also served the Alaska Democratic Party as a convention chair and later, was chair of the Interior Democrats. Last October, I was privileged to attend a banquet in Fairbanks where the Interior Democrats honored Mr. Jackson for his many contributions to Alaska. Perhaps his most significant career accomplishment was his work with Alaska tribes. Much of his legal career has been spent on Alaska Native social and justice causes. In 1967, he was legal counsel to the State-sponsored Alaska Land Claims Task Force. Among task force's finding was a recommendation that legislation be introduced in Congress that would convey land to Native villages, pay a monetary settlement, form corporations organized by villages and regions and form a statewide corporation. Subsequently, a bill was introduced in 1968 by Alaska Senator Ernest Gruening and Mr. Jackson testified before congressional committee hearings throughout the year. In the time leading to the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, ANCSA, in 1971, funding for attorneys grew short. Recognizing the monumental importance of the matter, Mr. Jackson took upon himself to work pro bono at great personal hardship to himself and his family. This deed typifies Barry's degree of dedication to a worthy cause. Many have judged the ideas in the 1968 bill to be the foundation for ANCSA. In the book ``Take My Land, Take My Life'' published in 2001, Mr. Jackson was credited as being the first person who considered the concept of corporations for Alaska Native tribes. Mr. Jackson is a tireless worker who still engages in his part-time private law practice. I wish Mr. Jackson a happy birthday, thank him for his military and legislative service and applaud him as one of the quiet, selfless contributors to the settlement of Alaska Native land claims. ____________________