[House Hearing, 115 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED
AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR 2018
_______________________________________________________________________
HEARINGS
BEFORE A
SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
___________________________________
SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES
KEN CALVERT, California, Chairman
MICHAEL K. SIMPSON, Idaho BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota
TOM COLE, Oklahoma CHELLIE PINGREE, Maine
DAVID P. JOYCE, Ohio DEREK KILMER, Washington
CHRIS STEWART, Utah MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio
MARK E. AMODEI, Nevada
EVAN H. JENKINS, West Virginia
NOTE: Under committee rules, Mr. Frelinghuysen, as chairman of the full committee, and Mrs. Lowey,
as ranking minority member of the full committee, are authorized to sit as members of all subcommittees.
Dave LesStrang, Darren Benjamin, Jason Gray,
Betsy Bina, Jaclyn Kilroy, and Kristin Richmond
Subcommittee Staff
___________________________________
PART 7
Testimony of Interested Individuals and Organizations
Page
Members' Day Hearing, February 28, 2017 ......................... 1
American Indian / Alaska Native Public Witnesses,
May 16, 2017..................................................... 133
American Indian / Alaska Native Public
Witnesses,
May 17, 2017....................................................... 451
Written Testimony From Individuals and
Organizations...................................................... 703
______________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations
________________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
26-690 WASHINGTON : 2017
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
----------
RODNEY P. FRELINGHUYSEN, New Jersey, Chairman
HAROLD ROGERS, Kentucky \1\ NITA M. LOWEY, New York
ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio
KAY GRANGER, Texas PETER J. VISCLOSKY, Indiana
MICHAEL K. SIMPSON, Idaho JOSE E. SERRANO, New York
JOHN ABNEY CULBERSON, Texas ROSA L. DeLAURO, Connecticut
JOHN R. CARTER, Texas DAVID E. PRICE, North Carolina
KEN CALVERT, California LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD, California
TOM COLE, Oklahoma SANFORD D. BISHOP, Jr., Georgia
MARIO DIAZ-BALART, Florida BARBARA LEE, California
CHARLES W. DENT, Pennsylvania BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota
TOM GRAVES, Georgia TIM RYAN, Ohio
KEVIN YODER, Kansas C. A. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER, Maryland
STEVE WOMACK, Arkansas DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Florida
JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska HENRY CUELLAR, Texas
THOMAS J. ROONEY, Florida CHELLIE PINGREE, Maine
CHARLES J. FLEISCHMANN, Tennessee MIKE QUIGLEY, Illinois
JAIME HERRERA BEUTLER, Washington DEREK KILMER, Washington
DAVID P. JOYCE, Ohio MATT CARTWRIGHT, Pennsylvania
DAVID G. VALADAO, California GRACE MENG, New York
ANDY HARRIS, Maryland MARK POCAN, Wisconsin
MARTHA ROBY, Alabama KATHERINE M. CLARK, Massachusetts
MARK E. AMODEI, Nevada PETE AGUILAR, California
CHRIS STEWART, Utah
DAVID YOUNG, Iowa
EVAN H. JENKINS, West Virginia
STEVEN M. PALAZZO, Mississippi
DAN NEWHOUSE, Washington
JOHN R. MOOLENAAR, Michigan
SCOTT TAYLOR, Virginia
----------
\1\}Chairman Emeritus
Nancy Fox, Clerk and Staff Director
(ii)
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES
APPROPRIATIONS FOR 2018
---------- --
Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
MEMBERS' DAY
Mr. Calvert. The committee will come to order. Good
afternoon and welcome to the Interior and Environment Member
Day hearing. This afternoon, the subcommittee will hear from a
cross-section of members, both Republican and Democrat, about a
variety of issues addressed by this subcommittee.
The chair will call two members to the table each time.
Each witness will be provided with 5 minutes to present their
testimony. We will be using a timer to track the progress of
each witness. When the button turns yellow, the witness will
have 1 minute remaining to conclude his or her remarks.
Witnesses who speak less than 5 minutes will score big brownie
points with the chairman. [Laughter.]
Mr. Calvert. Members of the subcommittee will have an
opportunity to ask questions of the witness, but in the
interest of time, the chair requests that we keep things moving
so that we can stay on schedule. We have a big speech we want
to hear tonight, so we want to keep things moving here.
Before we get under way, I am happy to yield to my friend,
Ms. Kaptur, for any remarks she may wish to make.
Ms. Kaptur. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is just great to be
on this subcommittee, to have you as chair----
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Ms. Kaptur [continuing]. And to receive our members. I just
find this to be one of the most fascinating parts of the job.
We get to know one another's districts better, and hopefully
all that results in better legislation and an America that
continues to make progress.
So, welcome, and thank you, Mr. Chairman. I look forward to
this hearing.
Mr. Calvert. Great. Thank you, Marcy. The first witness on
the dais today is our friend, Bill Posey, from Florida, the
District 8. Bill, you are recognized.
Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
WITNESS
HON. BILL POSEY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF FLORIDA
Mr. Posey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Madam Ranking Member
for the opportunity to provide testimony before you today.
Mr. Calvert. Okay.
Mr. Posey. As you know, last year a reauthorization of the
National Estuary Program, hereinafter referred to as NEP, was
passed unanimously through Congress, demonstrating the strong
bipartisan support for this important initiative. The NEP was
first established in 1987, and since its founding has proved to
be a model for non-regulatory environmental management programs
that provide tangible benefits to the communities they served.
There are currently 28 estuaries of national significance
that participate in this program. The health of America's
estuaries, like the Indian River Lagoon, one of the most
diverse in the world, spanning across five counties in Florida
in my district and adjacent to the congressional district, is
directly related to the health and vitality of our communities
and national economy. In fact, these coastal ecosystems and
their communities that surround them support more than 69
million U.S. jobs, and contribute to an estimated $7.9 trillion
to the GDP annually.
The genius of the NEP is that it empowers local communities
to take responsibility for managing their estuaries, and brings
together a diverse group of experts and concerned citizens to
address threats to these delicate ecosystems. The program
correctly recognizes that the people whose livelihoods are
directly connected to protecting and restoring the health of
the estuaries are in the best position to use taxpayer money
responsibly and achieve demonstrable results.
In last year's reauthorization, we improved upon this model
by ensuring that the EPA spent no more than 5 percent of
appropriated funds on administrative costs at the Agency. The
reauthorization also directs the EPA to use the savings from
this reduction in Federal bureaucracy to create a new
competitive grant program that will provide necessary resources
to estuaries with urgent needs.
The money in the Competitive Grant Program will be reserved
for projects addressing threats, like harmful algae bloom,
invasive species, and pervasive seagrass habitat loss, problems
that get exponentially worse and more expensive to fix the
longer they remain untreated. For that reason, I cannot stress
enough the importance of having the Competitive Grant Program
put in place in a timely manner. The newly reauthorized program
and its uniquely transparent funding allocation formula will
ensure that local NEP programs get the support Congress intends
and prevent further expansion of what we do not intend.
In addition to fully funding the National Estuary Program,
I encourage the committee to ensure EPA officials reduce costs
in compliance with the reauthorization statute, and begin
administrating the Competitive Grant Program as quickly as
possible.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. I
will be happy to answer any questions.
Mr. Calvert. Well, thank you. Thank you, Bill. I certainly
support estuaries. We have a few in the West Coast, and so it
is something that is very important, and I am sure that we will
be taking a very close look at that program as we go along.
Thank you for your testimony.
Mr. Posey. Thank you very much for your comments.
Mr. Calvert. All right. Next, our good friend from the
State of Utah, Jason Chaffetz, and welcome, Jason. We look
forward to listening to you.
[The statement of the Hon. Bill Posey follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
WITNESS
HON. JASON CHAFFETZ, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
UTAH
Mr. Chaffetz. Thank you. Thank you for having me, Chairman,
and to the ranking member and to each of the members here. It
is an important opportunity, and I appreciate you hearing us
out.
I have three quick topics I would like to address. One is
the Indian school bus routes. Last year, dirt school bus routes
proved impassable on multiple occasions, causing Navajo
students to miss 11 school days. In Utah, San Juan County is
roughly the size of New Jersey. It has one stoplight. A portion
of the Navajo Nation is in this county, but this is a problem
throughout the four corners area.
San Juan County receives about $85,000 per year from the
BIA to maintain roughly 258 miles of school bus routes. That
number has stayed consistent over a 30-year period. Since 2005,
San Juan County has spent $11 million of their general fund
monies to maintain these roads on the Navajo Nation.
The imbalance is quite severe. Navajo Nation children,
their dropout rates are some of the highest in the Nation, and
yet they are missing more than an average of one school day per
month just because they simply cannot get to school because of
how poor these roads are.
And I--with some indulgence, I have some pictures here. It
may be tough to see on the television, but that is what they're
dealing with on almost a monthly basis. It depends on when it
is raining when the snow is melting. And we have got a host of
other pictures.
Not only do these kids get trapped there, sometimes
spending the day and into the night, but the parents know that
if it is rainy, they do not even bother to put them on the bus
because they may get stuck there, and there have been horrific
situations. It has been going on for years. We need some help
solving it.
You cannot necessarily just go and pave all those roads
either. That would not necessarily be a prudent use of funds,
but there are things you can do with gravel and other types of
things to make them passable.
The second issue I wanted to bring up is the Bears Ears
National Monument. On December 28th, 2016, less than 30 days
before President Obama left office, he created the Bears Ears
National Monument covering 1.35 million acres. This is bigger
than Delaware, Rhode Island, and Washington, D.C. combined.
We have five national parks in the State of Utah. You could
take all five of the national parks and combine them, and they
would still fit in this Bears Ears National Monument. The
delegation, all six of us, wrote a letter to President Obama in
April asking for a meeting. He refused to meet with us on this
issue. Ultimately we got less than 1 hours' notice that he was
creating this national monument.
Every single elected official at every level of government
representing this area, other than the President, is opposed to
this monument. Rebecca Benally, a Democrat from the Navajo
Nation on the county commission in San Juan County, is opposed
to this. The whole county commission is opposed to it. The
state legislature is opposed to it. Both the Utah House and
Senate passed a resolution in opposition to it. The entire
congressional delegation is opposed to it. The governor is
opposed to it, and yet it still happened.
And so, we are asking that the committee seriously consider
making sure that no funding for the Bears Ears Monument move
forward.
And finally, Mr. Chairman, nearly 1,900 counties across 49
States face the expiration of a critical financial offset for
tax exempt Federal lands under their jurisdiction. Still
recovering from the recent economic downturn, these counties
depend very, very heavily on PILT payments, the payment in lieu
of taxes, to keep their communities afloat. PILT dollars allow
local governments provide critical health, education, culture,
and emergency services, particularly in my congressional
district where we have two national parks and lots of BLM land.
More than 90 percent of San Juan County is owned by State and
Federal government. Yet the county has to perform all the
emergency services and provide education funding with only 10
percent of their county land being taxable. And--so, we have
some of the highest property tax rates in the entire State or
in some of the most rural areas because there is so much
Federal land.
And so, we ask that the PILT program be fully funded. The
issue has come up, and Mr. Calvert, in particular, the chairman
here has been very helpful on this. But we do need your help in
making sure that these funds are there. These funds primarily
go to education, and then they go on to emergency services.
Those are the primary use of these funds and we need them.
And with that I yield back. Thank you for your time.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, Jason. And, by the way, I I've been
on those roads. Tom and I were on those roads just recently,
about a year ago, and we were still having kidney problems
because of the Washburn effect of the--that was in the summer
months. God knows what they are like in the winter time. So, we
appreciate your coming by and look forward to working with you.
Ms. Chaffetz. Appreciate it. Thanks for the opportunity.
Mr. Calvert. Thanks. Appreciate it. Okay.
Next on our agenda, we have Bruce Westerman and Brian
Higgins would please come up. Okay, we will have Bruce first
here. Okay. Bruce Westerman from the great State of Arkansas,
and would love to hear from you.
[The statement of the Hon. Jason Chaffetz follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
WITNESS
HON. BRUCE WESTERMAN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
ARKANSAS
Mr. Westerman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I appreciate
this opportunity to testify before you today. I am here to
address the urgent need for greater funding for our forest
management programs, and on the ground scientific research.
I have said this a lot, but there are no negatives to a
healthy forest system, and healthy forests, they provide clean
air, clean water. They sequester carbon at greater rates,
promote recreational opportunities, and increase biodiversity.
They also produce a steady supply to our Nation's forest
products industry, which employs 2.8 million people nationwide,
along with an annual payroll of $87 billion, and that accounts
for 5.7 percent of total U.S. manufacturing.
Unfortunately, the Forest Service has moved away from its
original mission of managing our National Forest System in a
scientifically sound manner for multiple purpose uses, and that
includes a dramatic decrease in timber harvesting. Last year
the Forest Service sold a mere 3 billion board feet of timber,
that is about a quarter of the amount that was sold 30 years
ago.
The result of this shift in focus is clear. Drought and
overcrowding leave the forests susceptible to insect and
disease infestation, and make them more vulnerable to
catastrophic wildfires. These fires destroy wildlife habitat,
radically alter ecosystems, decrease carbon storage, and force
taxpayers to pay hundreds of millions of dollars annually in
increased fire suppression costs.
Therefore, it is time for the Forest Service to return to
its core mission and place a greater emphasis on multiple use
in scientific management, which includes more timber
harvesting, mechanical thinning, and prescribed burns. Our
current management system is not working for the forest,
wildlife, the recreation community, or the taxpayer. It is time
for a new approach, and the subcommittee can play a key role in
this new approach.
The Forest Service must work hand in glove with scientists
and industry to promote forest health through more timber
harvesting, prescribed burns, and other sound management
techniques. I urge the subcommittee to include robust funding
for the forest products line item under the National Forest
System. This will help the Forest Service to refocus on its
core mission and improve landscape health.
In addition to promoting better forest management and
timber harvesting, I ask the subcommittee to fully fund the
Forest Inventory Analysis Program. The FIA is designed to
complete analysis of sample forest landscapes around the United
States every 5 years. This is the data that is used to
determine how much timber we have, and where it is being used,
and the age of it.
However, the Forest Service often finds itself on a 6- or
7-year rotation, leading to delayed analysis of our landscapes.
This can force States to increase their matching contributions
in order to have sound, timely scientific analysis for
statewide forest management plans.
FIA takes proactive, positive steps in the area of better
forest management. FIA leads to scientific forest management
practices that increase carbon storage and reduce the threat of
wildfire. Additional funding to FIA will also give the wood
products and timber industry certainty in making business
decisions, and assist in making ecologically sound forest
management choices that benefit the environment and industry
simultaneously.
Additionally, I request robust funding for the Forest
Products Laboratory. The Forest Products Laboratory conducts
scientific research into wood products, forest biomass, the use
of wood in tall buildings, and threats to various species, such
as White-Nose syndrome, which is decimating northern long-ear
bat populations nationwide. This research is integral not only
to science and conservation, but also for promoting millions of
rural jobs, where an individual can find good paying work,
oftentimes without the need for a 4-year college degree.
Once again, I would like to thank you, Chairman, and the
members of the Committee for the invitation to speak today. And
I ask you to ensure a strong, robust funding for forest
products line item under the National Forest System that
promotes scientific research on our Nation's forests through
the Forest Inventory Analysis Program, and the promotion of new
and improved wood products supporting a sound forest products
industry through the Forest Products Laboratory.
And I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, Bruce, for your testimony. We
appreciate that. We are very supportive of that industry.
Ms. Kaptur. Mr. Chairman?
Mr. Calvert. Yes, Ms. Kaptur.
Ms. Kaptur. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to ask,
I know Mr. Westerman's deep interest in forestry. And I just
wanted to ask him if you could give us a 1-minute summary of
what you think is happening to, for example, our eastern
forests with the increasing deer population, and what is
happening to our saplings. Could you kind of give us just your
bird's eye view of what is happening across the country with
forests?
Mr. Westerman. The 1-minute version of what is happening
across the country? You are asking a forester who likes to talk
in detail about this. But, yes, the issue you are talking
about, Ms. Kaptur, is what we call regeneration or growing new
trees. And in our eastern forests, you can have problems if you
have too many deer eating the young saplings that come up from
the acreage. You could have a hard time getting regeneration.
But the goal of forestry is to grow new trees, and that
requires different management schemes, whether you are in the
northeast, the southeast, the inner mountain area, out on the
coastal area, or in Alaska. But our forest managers need to be
able to apply the science to manage and to keep these forests
healthy, whether it is hardwoods in the east or conifers in the
west.
I hope that is close to explaining it and----
Ms. Kaptur [continuing]. Are our forests healthy?
Mr. Westerman. Our private forests are very healthy because
they have been managed. Our national forests sadly are not
healthy, and the effect we see are the increasing wildfires. If
you look at the graph of wildfires and expenditures on
wildfires, they have gone up exponentially.
So, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and if
we will manage these forests and spend some money to do that
properly, then we will save a lot of money on the back end.
Plus, we will have a better environment and healthier forests.
Ms. Kaptur. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Westerman. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you very much for your
testimony.
Next, Mr. Brian Higgins from the great State of New York.
[The statement of the Hon. Bruce Westerman follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
WITNESS
HON. BRIAN HIGGINS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW
YORK
Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate it very
much.
I just wanted to urge the subcommittee to consider the
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. I live in Buffalo. I
represent Buffalo. And prior to the Clean Water/Clean Air Act
of 1972, the chemical, steel, and grain industry essentially
dumped their toxic poison into places like the Great Lakes and
the Buffalo River
Because of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative over the
last 10 years, we have removed 67,000 semi-truckloads of toxic
waste from the bottom of the Buffalo River. In 1970 the
Environmental Protection Agency declared the Buffalo River was
biologically dead and ecologically destroyed.
With this funding from the Great Lakes Restoration
Initiative for that cleanup, EPA officials are now saying that
the Buffalo River will be swimmable in the next 12 months, and
the fish that are caught there are safe for human consumption
in the next 5 years. It is a dramatic turnaround, but it has
also resulted in unleashing the resources and creativity to the
private sector, which have invested a lot of money for the
restoration of habitat along the river, and also residential
commercial-mixed use development in those corridors. So, it has
really created a new economy in Buffalo, and it is a very, very
important program. So, we appreciate very much the continuation
of that.
I used to be a teacher of history and economics at Buffalo
State College, and I taught the history of Buffalo and western
New York. A hundred years ago, Buffalo was the 8th largest
economy in the entire Nation, among the strongest in the entire
world. All the great landscape and building architects, they--
none of them were from Buffalo. They came to Buffalo--Henry
Hobson Richardson, Louis Sullivan, Louise Bethune, the first
female architect.
Consequently, we have these beautiful buildings, but
because of economic decline over the last 20 years, Buffalo
took a major hit, and a lot of those buildings are empty.
Because of the Historic Tax Credit Program, developers
undertook the redevelopment of those buildings for commercial-
mixed use, and residential development.
Now we are seeing Buffalo go through a major economic
renaissance. For example, the fastest-growing neighborhood in
all of western New York is downtown Buffalo. And it is
primarily young people that are filling in these old historic
buildings that have been converted to apartments, condominiums,
and the like. But it is fundamentally changing the economy of
Buffalo and western New York.
So, my only message to the committee would be that without
this tax credit, developers would not have the wherewithal or
the confidence to undertake these important restorations. So,
we are really losing nothing because by giving these developers
a tax credit, we are not giving up any money, you know,
overtly, but we are giving them the incentive, the financial
incentive, to fill in that all important gap financing.
And then finally, the National Endowment for the Arts and
National Endowment for the Humanities. It is less than one-
tenth of 1 percent of the Federal budget. I know it is symbolic
for a lot of people, but it does do a lot of good things in a
lot of great communities, like my community in Buffalo and
western New York. So, I would just ask the committee
respectfully to look at those areas and give them your every
consideration and support.
Thank you so much.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you, Brian. Just one comment
on the Great Lakes. There are lot of members on this committee
that represent Great Lakes, so I suspect we will continue to do
that.
Mr. Higgins. Great.
Ms. Kaptur. Two. Oh, three. Excuse me.
Mr. Calvert. Three. That is right. Thank you. Thank you,
Brian.
Voice. Very powerful bipartisan goal. [Laughter.]
Mr. Calvert. Incentive here, yeah. Okay.
Francis, Mr. Rooney, representing the great State of
Florida and the great Everglades. You are recognized.
[The statement of the Hon. Brian Higgins follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
WITNESS
HON. FRANCIS ROONEY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
FLORIDA
Mr. Rooney. Thank you, Chairman Calvert, and members of the
subcommittee for allowing me to speak today.
The Everglades and Lake Okeechobee watershed includes 16
counties and 164 cities, and has a $2 trillion economic impact
on the State of Florida. They support 55 percent, that is $1.3
trillion, of the real estate value throughout the State. For
every dollar invested in the Everglades/Lake Okeechobee
watershed restorations, $4 of economic benefit will be
produced.
Due to a century of human development, the greater
Everglades ecosystem is now less than half of its original
size. The other half is what is now Fort Lauderdale and Miami.
Lake Okeechobee fills up 6 times as fast as it can drain, which
results in massive discharges into adjacent rivers and coastal
areas.
These discharges are untreated and we have had many years
of good dairy farms and other contributing factors that result
in high phosphorus and nitrogen levels in the water, it is not
just urban development. Additionally, the impact of the
freshwater and salt water balance is another factor in the
effort to control discharges.
The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, or CERP,
seeks to restore the balance in these ecosystems and reduce the
harmful discharges into both the Caloosahatchee to the west and
the Saint Lucie to the East, and sending cleaner water down
into Florida Bay. The CERP was created by Congress and the
State of Florida in 2000, nearly 17 years ago. It includes 68
projects which are designed to store, treat, and move water
southward into the marshes of the Everglades, and then into
Florida Bay, to store and treat water entering Lake Okeechobee
from the north, and to balance the flows of fresh and salt
water to control salinity.
The CERP was set up to share costs between the State and
the Federal government 50/50, and so far, the State has
contributed $2.2 billion, and the Federal government has
contributed $1.26 billion. As of December 2016, the State has
contributed a little over 63 percent of the total cost so far.
While the bulk of the Everglades restoration funding goes
to the Army Corps of Engineers for the construction and
maintenance of projects, Department of Interior plays a
significant role. The Department of Interior provides support
for restoration programs and the CERP. It has important
jurisdiction throughout the national parks, with the Fish and
Wildlife Service, the National Park Service which oversees Big
Cypress and the Everglades National Park, the U.S. Geological
Survey, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs which is responsible
for the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida.
Through these agencies, the Department of Interior supports
updates to the CERP's programmatic regulations, creation of the
guidance documents for how the projects will be built,
operated, and evaluated, and in establishing goals to track the
restoration progress, and provide regular status reports to
Congress. This all dovetails with the Corps mission which
relies on funding for Interior CERP projects.
While it is not possible to directly support these programs
through the appropriations process, I hope that the Interior,
Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee would consider
supporting appropriate levels of funding to the Department of
Interior, especially for the Park Service, Fish and Wildlife,
Geological Survey, and the BIA, so they continue to do their
part to work with the Corps to move the Everglades restoration
forward.
There is a chart in the testimony that shows that while the
Interior Department funding for the CERP has been fairly steady
at around $8 million a year, the non-CERP funding has varied
widely from as little as $53 million to a high of $91 million,
and last year was $56 million. I am asking the Energy and Water
Appropriations Subcommittee for more money, and we are asking
your subcommittee for more money, to try to move forward the
remaining $7 billion of authorized projects that are already
underway.
With your help we are going to keep the ball moving down
the field. Thank you very much, Chairman Calvert.
Mr. Calvert. Well, thank you, and I believe that I am going
to be heading down in that direction soon, I hope.
Mr. Rooney. I think with your time, we are ready to go. We
are looking forward to hosting you in southwest Florida.
Mr. Calvert. We are trying to work that out. Look forward
to getting down there. I want to go after snakes down there,
too----
[Laughter.]
Mr. Calvert [continuing]. Causing great damage. Any other
questions?
Ms. Kaptur. I am just overwhelmed, by the challenges of the
Everglades. From living there, do you think we are making
progress? We are slow on the uptake here, but what is your
sense, Congressman?
Mr. Rooney. We are. I am a practical guy. I am from the
business world. Every project helps some. Every rock thrown in
the pond fills it up just a little bit more. Some of the people
down there say, ``if we do not get $20 billion, just forget the
whole thing.'' That is irrational.
Every part we can complete of these projects will help move
the ball forward. Some of them deal with the fresh water and
salt water issue; C-43 and C-44. Some of them deal with water
going south, which is these flow equalization basins which is
the next big funding project, that moves the water down into
the Everglades.
The marshes will clean the water if we get the right amount
going slow enough at the right depth that they can do their
job. Then we will have clean water in the Everglades, and we
will have enough fresh water to fight back the incursion of the
saltwater that is killing the mangroves. If we lose the
mangroves in Florida Bay, we really do have a serious problem,
that is just like South Louisiana's problem.
Mr. Calvert. Okay. Great. Well, thank you very much. We
appreciate your testimony.
We are going to recess for votes and then come back
immediately after the votes.
[Recess.]
Mr. Calvert. I call the hearing on the Interior,
Environment meeting in order. Thank you for coming. We
appreciate it.
First, I would like to recognize Ms. Radewagen. You are
recognized for 5 minutes. Thank you for coming.
[The statement of the Hon. Francis Rooney follows:]
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Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
WITNESS
HON. AUMUA AMATA COLEMAN RADEWAGEN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM
AMERICAN SAMOA
Ms. Radewagen. Thank you, Chairman Calvert, Ranking Member
McCollum. I appreciate you allowing me to testify before the
subcommittee today.
As the committee knows, the world has changed much since
1974. That is the furthest back we could find records on the
program account to assist American Samoa government operations,
the Insular Affairs American Samoa Government Operations
Account. Since then, the local population has grown, the
infrastructure has become dated and in disrepair, and outside
influences, particularly China, have begun to make inroads into
the region with the development of a port in neighboring,
independent Samoa, and future plans for a naval base in the
same area.
At the same time, recent Federal measures have severely
threatened the main economic driver on the island, which is the
local tuna fishing industry. From the Federal mandate to
increase the minimum wage on the island, irresponsibly putting
American Samoa on the same economic playing field as the United
States, to closing off of large swaths of the ocean which our
people have fished for over a millennium, to the
disproportionate regulations imposed on U.S. fishing vessels
that are not imposed upon foreign vessels in the same waters.
It is a wonder that only one of the canneries has decided to
close its doors so far.
As it stands, the amount awarded in the first year of
record--1974--for this account was $13 million. It is now 42
years later, and that amount has increased to only $22 million
annually.
To give you an idea of just how thin this funding is
currently being stretched, ASG operations funded under this
program are strictly limited to basic Department of Education
operations, LBJ Tropical Medical Center Operations, American
Samoa Community College operations, and high court operations.
The hospital, which is the only one in the territory, is in
such disrepair due to lack of funding that the VA will not
allow our veterans on island to receive care there, and instead
must fly them to Hawaii and foot the bill for their boarding
while there for medical treatment due to the limited number of
flights to and from American Samoa each week.
If adjusted for inflation, the current amount would be $64
million annually. The good that this increase would do cannot
be overstated, and would be utilized to improve the conditions
at the only hospital on the island, as well as other needed
improvements to those entities I just listed.
I respectfully request that the committee increase the
requested funding level of $22 million to $64 million, an
increase of $42 million to address the many funding shortfalls
currently affecting American Samoa government operations. While
I understand that this is a dramatic 1-year increase, it would
simply rectify the long overdue adjustment for inflation, and
allow for much-needed maintenance and upgrades to existing
facilities.
Also, to give you an idea of just how disproportionate the
funding is, not only between American Samoa and the States, but
other territories as well, just last week the Department of the
Interior sent an adjustment to the U.S. Virgin Islands in the
amount of $18.2 million for their rum excise taxes for Fiscal
Year 2016, bringing their total excise tax revenues to $231.5
for the year.
It is of note that the U.S. Virgin Islands' population is
only double that of American Samoa, yet their excise tax
benefits are currently 10 and a half times that of my home
district. As a fallback, Guam has Section 30 funds, and with
the military buildup, money will increase substantially.
Now, I point this out not to do any disservice to the
funding level of the other territories as I know they need all
they receive, but to simply point out just how underfunded
American Samoa has been. Please know that I am happy to answer
any questions you may have, and look forward to working with
you both to ensure that the good people of America Samoa are
afforded the same opportunities and resources as their
counterparts.
I want to thank you again for your time and consideration
of my request. While not a very large amount in the grand
scheme of things, this increase would do so much good for the
people of American Samoa.
Fa'afetai tele lava. I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, Ms. Radewagen. I have been to
American Samoa. It is a beautiful place, and I understand some
of the challenges that you are having there, so we will take
your testimony very seriously and see what we can do within the
confines of our budget.
Ms. Radewagen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. No other questions?
[No response.]
Mr. Calvert. Mr. Thompson, you are recognized for 5
minutes.
[The statement of the Hon. Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen
follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
WITNESS
HON. GLENN THOMPSON, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
PENNSYLVANIA
Mr. Thompson. Chairman Calvert, Ranking Member McCollum,
thank you for holding this session today.
As a member of the Natural Resources Committee and as vice
chair of the Agriculture Committee, I appreciate the
opportunity to provide testimony on funding and policy
decisions made in this important subcommittee. And I am going
to do something somebody--someone from rural Pennsylvania would
probably not often do. Last week I had the privilege of
traveling with Mrs. Radewagen and Chairman Bishop to American
Samoa, and saw firsthand absolutely every one of the points
that she addressed today in her testimony. And just offer my
support obviously as well to her.
By way of background, my district, which is many miles from
that island, thousands of miles, in Central Pennsylvania makes
up 24 percent of the land mass of Pennsylvania, and it is among
the most rural districts east of the Mississippi River.
Agriculture, oil, and gas production, manufacturing, mining,
and timbering are among our top economic drivers throughout the
region.
The region is also home to the world's first commercial oil
well, Drake's Well, in Titusville, Pennsylvania, and
consequently, the birth of the petroleum industry in 1859.
Because of this storied history, the Oil Regional National
Heritage Area, as recognized by the National Park Service, was
established in 2004.
With this in mind, I would like to first express my great
support for heritage areas. It is important that we continue to
recognize the history of these areas, such as the oil region,
that directly helped to shape our Nation as well as build our
communities.
It is also in this region of northwestern Pennsylvania that
the Commonwealth's only national forest is located. Four of my
counties--Warren, Forest, Elk, and McKean--make up the
Allegheny National Forest, where we long have had energy
production, high-value timbering, and recreation that is second
to none.
As this subcommittee knows well, wildfires have skyrocketed
in the past 2 decades, burning up 6.7 million acres per year on
the average since the year 2000. In addition to the significant
challenges of firefighting itself and those associated costs,
national forests around the Nation continue to have great
difficulty performing essential activities due to budget cuts
as a result of fire transfers.
Accordingly, in the Allegheny like most every national
forest, we routinely lose funding, staff, and resources each
year during the wildfire season. This directly diminishes the
local Forest Service's ability to manage the ANF, allow for
needed timbering, and pursue many other projects. Like many
national forests in the West, the lack of timbering in the ANF
directly undermines our local economy as well as my four
counties that lose out on funding for essential services.
Now, we can do much more harvesting in the Allegheny
National Forest, but that will not happen without the necessary
funding or direction from Congress. And, quite frankly, when it
comes to timber in our national forest, we literally can print
money because that high-value timber generates revenue if we
are able to do that.
In order to support management activities, and especially
timbering national forests, I request robust funding for the
National Forest System. I also urge full funding for the forest
products and timber sales, capital improvement and maintenance,
and forest roads.
Further, I request that the committee include report
language calling for the Forest Service to specifically meet
each forest plan's harvesting levels. Forests are living and
breathing ecosystems that need to be managed, and providing
necessary funding for such management activities, including
timbering, prescribed burns, and thinnings, is essential for
force health and in order to prevent wildfires.
Regarding other management activities, the Forest Service
is doing important work on invasive species, diseases, and
forest health, and I have seen this firsthand at the Warren
Research Lab located in my district. This work is fundamental
in helping to not only deal with existing forest health
programs, but also to get in front of the emergency ones before
they exacerbate and become greater threats. With this in mind,
I request much-needed funding for Forest Service research
activities, specifically for forests and rangeland research, as
well as for the State and private forests.
Similarly, we must provide necessary resources for the Fish
and Wildlife Service's State and tribal wildlife grants for the
purpose of insect, disease, and invasive plant research. This
program directly supports grants to the States for species
conservation in order to help prevent listings under the
Endangered Species Act. And finally, I would like to register
my great support for the Payments in Lieu of Taxes Program, as
well as Secure Rural Schools. Though currently expired, Secure
Rural Schools has been a critical lifeline for National Forest
counties in providing essential services because of the greatly
reduced timbering in the national forest since the early 1990s.
With that, I want to thank you for the opportunity to
provide testimony to the committee, and I look forward to
working with you as the appropriations process continues to
move forward in the Fiscal Year 2018. Thank you so much.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, Mr. Thompson, for your testimony,
and we will take all this into account. Any questions?
[No response.]
Mr. Calvert. Seeing none, next, Ms. Sewell from the great
State of Alabama. And Mr. LaMalfa, you may come over her and
take a seat also. Good afternoon.
[The statement of the Hon. Glenn ``GT'' Thompson follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
WITNESS
HON. TERRI SEWELL, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
ALABAMA
Ms. Sewell. Good afternoon.
Mr. Calvert. You are recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. Sewell. Thank you, Chairman and Ranking Member for
giving me the opportunity to testify today.
First, I want to thank the subcommittee for working with me
in the past and for your demonstrated commitment to historic
preservation. As you begin to consider the FY 2018 Interior
Appropriations bill, I ask that you continue to strongly
support historic preservation funds and the National Park
Service Construction Account.
Specifically, I am requesting an increase from $78.4
million to $87.4 million in the Historic Preservation Fund,
including $25 million for the Civil Rights Competitive Grants
to preserve, document, and interpret the sites and stories of
the Civil Rights Movement and the African-American experience.
I am also requesting that, once again, we provide $3
million to be included for competitive grants for historically
black colleges to document sites and stories associated with
the Civil Rights Movement. Furthermore, I am requesting that
the National Park Service Construction Account be funded to
$252 million from $215 in last year's budget. These dollars
fund construction projects, equipment replacement, management
planning, and special projects.
Under the Construction Fund, I am asking that $4.3 million
support the Civil Rights Initiative by completing high priority
facility projects at National Park Service sites related to the
Civil Rights Movement and the African-American experience.
My district is the 7th Congressional District of Alabama,
known often as the Civil Rights District. It includes
Birmingham, Selma, and Montgomery. Many historic events took
place there from the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church,
to the Children's March, to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, to
Bloody Sunday in Selma. Some of you may have even taken the
trip with John Lewis through my district. These stories are of
national and international significance, and we are fortunate
that the National Park Service is preserving and interpreting
these stories.
In my district, we have the Selma to Montgomery National
Historic Trail, as well as the new Birmingham National Historic
Monument. I am so excited that the Park Service has a strong
presence in my district, and I know firsthand how seriously
they take their mission as the Nation's storytellers.
The National Park Service not only preserves the sites and
stories of our great American history, but they also provide
very important economic revitalization and jobs to those
communities. In my hometown of Selma, the Selma Interpretive
Center brings tourism dollars to a rural Black Belt community.
In Birmingham, the Civil Rights National Historic Monument is
playing a critical role in the downtown revitalization of that
city.
In fact, for every dollar invested in the national parks,
$10 is generated in national economic activity for those
communities. I can testify that this is truly the case.
National Parks support more than a quarter million private
sector jobs according to the National Trust for Historic
Preservation. Moreover, the American people overwhelmingly
support the National Park Service and their missions. According
to the National Parks Conservation Association, 95 percent of
voters support the National Park Service, and more than 80
percent have visited a national park in their lifetime.
However, the National Park Service has faced deep budgetary
restraints in recent years. Their deferred maintenance project
list continues to grow, and they have been limited in their
ability to protect new sites that would more fully tell
America's story. That is why I am asking that the National Park
Service Construction Account be increased to $252 million in
order to complete pending projects and expand the National Park
Service presence in more communities across America.
Also, Congress must ensure that the Historic Preservation
Fund is strengthened. The foot soldiers of the Civil Rights
Movement are aging, and we must document their stories before
they are lost. And who better to document those stories than
the students from historically black colleges?
These students are the beneficiaries of Civil Rights
Movement, and they have the opportunity to not only preserve
history, but to be inspired by the brave Americans that risked
their lives in the pursuit of social justice and equality. I am
requesting that $3 million is included for competitive grants
to historically black colleges to document the sites and
stories associated with the Civil Rights Movement.
The funding that I am requesting is an investment, an
investment not only in historic preservation, but also an
investment in the economic redevelopment of many of the
communities across America. We all have history in our
districts, and it is important to preserve it.
Thank you for listening to my testimony, and I hope that
you will strongly consider my request. I look forward to
working with you as we preserve our natural resources, the
National Park Service, and historic preservation for all
Americans to come.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back the balance of my
time.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Condi Rice is from your district.
Ms. Sewell. Birmingham, absolutely.
Mr. Calvert. That is right. Well, thank you for your
testimony.
Ms. Sewell. Well, I thank you, and this committee has been
very gracious to work with my office in the past, and I hope
that you will work with us on historic preservation once again.
Thanks.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Next, Mr. LaMalfa from the greatest State in the Union,
California.
Mr. Simpson. I thought he was from Idaho for a second.
[Laughter.]
Voice. Are you going to take that?
Mr. Simpson. No, I said I thought he was from Idaho for a
minute when he said that. [Laughter.]
[The statement of the Hon. Terri A. Sewell follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
WITNESS
HON. DOUG LAMALFA, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
CALIFORNIA
Mr. LaMalfa. I appreciate the time, Mr. Chairman, and
committee members, Ranking Member. Thank you.
Thank you for allowing me to testify today on the long
issue of forestry-related problems, which I have so much in my
district and which we share so much in common. I am asking the
community to act this year on really three key areas: biomass
and encouragement of the usage of that for creating energy;
streamlining the post-fire restoration issues we face so much,
especially in Northern California. Other States I understand
have a little easier go of it post-fire. And also, addressing
the vicious cycle of diverting force management funding to fire
suppression. As we have seen, what used to be one-third for
suppression for the Forest Service has now gone to two-thirds
with one-third left to do other work.
We have at catastrophic risk over 82 million acres in this
country. Since 2001, forests in California have burned by
wildfires at an average rate of about 320 acres per year. We
have bark beetle infestations and other disease problems that
have impacted a total of 4 million acres, or nearly 25 percent,
of national forests.
With so much land already negatively impacted by wildfires,
streamlining the post-fire salvage process should be a key
priority. That timber still has value within a short window of
time, which can go towards the cost of helping reforest an area
which needs to be done. Erosion is a problem. Erosion getting
in our waterways, our lakes, is a giant concern across the
board from so many points on the spectrum.
Post-fire restoration costs can reach $2,000 an acre,
ensuring that rapid salvage efforts that preserve this
timberland can offset those costs by generating revenue, and
the damage that can come from an erosive habitat. To help speed
post-fire restoration efforts, the committee should include
report language directing the Forest Service to utilize
existing categorical exclusions to the greatest extent
possible, streamlining the process, particularly when
considering this post-fire salvage and restoration effort.
We know bark beetles have the ability to kill a whole tree
in a matter of just a few weeks. The period in which trees may
be processed from useful timbers, as I mentioned, can be just a
few short months. If dead trees preferably were not processed
in that period, they still may be used as fuel for biomass
energy production. Biomass plants can be an effective and
efficient way to help rid the forest of salvage and hazardous
fuel, generating electricity, and creating local jobs in an
economy that has been very damaged in recent decades in the
rural part of forested America.
Yet the remote locations of many impacted forests can
create cost challenges to getting this biomass to a plant. To
help address the buildup of dead trees caused by drought and
disease, the subcommittee should prepare report language
directing the Forest Service to prioritize the use of $15
billion in biomass support funds that exist for projects to
expedite the removal of dead trees from areas designated as
high fire hazard areas.
I also believe, as do many of my western colleagues--that
the subcommittee should consider including language similar to
that of my colleague, Mr. Simpson, his H.R. 167 from the
previous session, that would make large forest fires eligible
for Federal disaster funding in the way that hurricanes,
earthquakes, and other large disasters are already.
The Stafford Act set guidelines for engaging in post-
disaster emergency activities that fails to recognize fires as
major disasters eligible for Federal assistance, exempt from
the NEPA process. Such changes would provide the Forest Service
with the means to engage in restoration and reforestation work
immediately, leading to an increase in overall forest health
and resiliency.
A common theme contributing to the decline of forest health
is frivolous lawsuits filed by extremist groups intended solely
to delay projects until they no longer become feasible, which
is made possible by a loophole that allows payment of
drastically higher attorney fees for ESA lawsuits than for
other suits against the Federal government. This helped delay
in my own district a fire from 2015 that took a year and a half
to be sorted out instead of salvaging within six months, a tiny
area of that forest.
Representative Huizenga sponsored a measure addressing this
issue on these lawsuits, and it was passed by the Committee on
Natural Resources. He and Rep. Flores and I sponsored an
amendment on the issue last session. To end these lawsuits and
to end the practice of some groups using this as a business
plan, as a money maker, the subcommittee should include
language aligning attorney fees and ESA lawsuits to the $120
dollar per hour cap applied to all other suits against the
Federal government.
So, Mr. Chairman with these investments and these reforms
we can begin to engage in a much more effective forest
management plan that favors a more practical approach, will
improve forest health, protect rural communities, protect our
air, protect firefighters, and generate revenue for the Federal
and local governments with jobs for those people that have been
so devastated by the economy being taken away.
With that, I thank you for your time today.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, Mr. LaMalfa, for your testimony.
I'm sure Mr. Simpson shares your hope that we can get the
wildfire bill passed in this Congress. Every member of the
committee, both Republican and Democrat, are signed on to Mr.
Simpson's bill, and we are hopeful we have a better shot this
year than we did last year. With that, thank you very much.
Mr. LaMalfa. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Next, Mr. Morgan Griffith from Virginia.
[The statement of the Hon. Doug LaMalfa follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
WITNESS
HON. MORGAN GRIFFITH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
VIRGINIA
Mr. Griffith. Yeah. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
Let me talk about my district first, and then I will talk
more globally. First, I heard Mr. Thompson say something about
PILT. It was affirmative. And even though you usually hear that
coming from western States, mine, too, is a district that
receives PILT, having one of my counties being 50 percent owned
by National Forest, and another that is about 39 percent. So,
it is--it is--for some of the eastern districts in the
mountains, it is important as well.
Let us talk about the mountains in my district where we
have historically produced coal. We have had some problems. Mr.
Chairman has been very helpful over the last couple of years.
The Power-Plus Program is a great program. As you will recall,
you helped me--we tried to finagle a way to help the
Commonwealth of Virginia because we are in the second tranche.
The first tranche is West Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.
They have gotten the lion's share of the money. Do not have any
problem with them getting a big chunk.
But I border West Virginia and Kentucky. The people who
mine coal in Kentucky and West Virginia sometimes live in my
district, and the people who mine coal in my district sometimes
live in West Virginia and Kentucky. We are all the same culture
in that end of the district, and we need some help. So, you
have helped me in the past, and I appreciate that. If we can
somehow not necessarily think of the second tranche ought to be
equal, but substantial, that would be a big help to the people
in my district because I have got counties that do not have any
land that they can convert to a new----
As people say, they want to--they want coal to convert or
to change those jobs into something else. When you do not have
anything but a two-lane road, and you have only got two flat
pieces of land in one of my counties where they then condemned
one flat piece of land to get the high school out of the flood
way, where the cafeteria used to flood about every third year,
it makes it tough.
One of the things we can do is the Power-Plus where we can
then reclaim that abandoned mine land and convert it to--some
economic use as well, which would be of great benefit to the
people. So, I ask for your help on that.
Now, going global, EPA. And I think this is one, you know,
you take off the regular thought processes. I think that we
need to move some of the workforce out of Washington, D.C., but
that does not mean taking to folks that are in Washington, D.C.
who have been writing regulations and move them to some other
part of the country to write regulations.
I think we saw with Flint, Michigan that what you have got
to do is we need more people out there like the EPA worker who
blew the whistle and say, hey, something is going on here,
offered with his own money to do the testing. And in that case
we had a rogue EPA person. I am not blaming the whole EPA for
that, but a rogue person who said, hey, hey, cover that up, and
that person then immediately retired when it all came public.
But it was a constituent of mine from Virginia Tech who
came forward and said we are going to go out there. We are
going to take our resources in Virginia and spend them on
Flint, Michigan. And it was that professor at Virginia Tech who
actually uncovered the whole lead problem.
I think we need more people in the field working on
projects where we have clean water to make sure we do not have
lead coming in. That is the EPA's core purpose. When they do
their core purpose, they are very good at it. When they start
trying to put industries out of business, that is not their
field. They do not always understand what they are doing. They
have even told us in the past--well, the Court has since said
they got--the Supreme Court has since said you got a different
measure. They said it not our--it is not our job to figure out
how many jobs are going to be lost or how much it costs. We do
a rough estimate, but it's not really our job. They should do
that.
But I know of places in my district they could use some
clean water that do not have it. I know people that need sewage
treatment help. And instead of trying to punish folks, if we
can move some of those people that are currently in Washington
doing desk jobs into the field, and have them looking at trying
to help us in the poorer regions of the country figure out how
we are going to get clean water from point A to Point B, and
how are we going to deal with sewage treatment in areas that
are poor.
It is interesting, we do not always qualify--watch my time
here. We do not always qualify in some areas in my district
because the people who have made good money in the coal
industry build nice big houses, and they have those septic
systems that take care of their problem. Their next door
neighbors do not have that advantage, the folks who are not
quite as well off financially. But they do not--unlike most
parts of the country they do not live a long way away from each
other.
So, in the census block, we do not measure up as poor
enough to get help on things like sewage treatment because you
got the rich folks living just a stone's throw away from the
not so rich folks, the people who cannot afford it, and it
skews all the numbers for the census block.
So, I don't know how you help with that, but one of my
thoughts is I do not know how you change the formula. I do not
have a magic bullet on that. But if somehow we could figure out
a way that we get more people who their job is to help us
figure out in the field how we are going to deal with getting
clean water to the back hollows and how we are going to deal
with sewage treatment where we do not have a sewage treatment
plan.
And literally, I know of a spot in my district where it is
rolling down the side of a hill, and they have taken measures
to put bolts and all kinds of things in the rain runoff section
of the road so that they can hope by the time it gets to the
bottom of the mountain it is not nearly as dirty as it was when
it left their toilet.
With that, I yield.
Mr. Calvert. Well, and I appreciate your testimony. I know
there has been discussion about using ZIP Codes instead of
using economic zones, and I think that is something that these
agencies with today's technology should consider.
Mr. Griffith. And if you could help me on Power-Plus, I
really would appreciate it, but you have in the past.
Mr. Calvert. We're very aware of the program and how much
help it has been in Appalachia Country. Thank you so much for
your testimony.
Mr. Griffith. Appreciate you all's time.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Next, okay, Sheila Jackson, and Mr.
Cleaver. I think, Mr. Cleaver, you were here first?
Ms. Jackson Lee. I am on the list for being----
Mr. Calvert. All right, fine. No problem.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Yeah, if Mr. Cleaver does not mind. I am
in a markup.
Mr. Calvert. Okay.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Mr. Cleaver, I will be very brief.
Mr. Calvert. All right.
Ms. Jackson Lee. As brief as I can be.
Mr. Calvert. You are recognized for 5 minutes.
[The statement of the Hon. H. Morgan Griffith follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
WITNESS
HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
TEXAS
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you to the chairman and ranking
member, to the courtesies of Mr. Cleaver. Let me thank you to
the members of this committee.
As we reflect on the backdrop of a potential $54 billion
dollar ramp up to military spending and the prospective cuts in
discretionary spending, let me be counted as an advocate for
the work that this committee does and for the important funding
that you oversee, and speak to it as quickly as possible.
Let me support initially the overall work that you do, but
particularly the Safe Drinking Water, Clean Air, and Land
Environmental Justice. That is a critical part in helping
communities maintain safe and effective water infrastructure. I
happen to be from an urban city, but we are constantly dealing
with the question of water and water development in the City of
Houston.
I also want to add my support for the $15 million dollars
for land and water conservation for the Outdoor Recreation
Legacy Partnership that complements the traditional formula of
State conservation grants and, in particular, the priority
given to projects that engage and empower underserved
communities and youth, and provide opportunities for employment
and job training.
I also want to add--and I have a whole list of which I ask
unanimous consent that my whole statement be submitted into the
record.
Mr. Calvert. Without objection.
Ms. Jackson Lee [continuing]. And speak to specific issues.
I also want to acknowledge our support for $87 billion
dollars for the--excuse me--$87 for the Historic Preservation
Fund. It provides funding for the core historic preservation
programs, support for the National Endowment for the Arts,
funding for the NEA and its extremely important programs, and
particularly Blue Star museums, Operation Homecoming, and
others.
I add my support, among others, for the HBCU Historic
Preservation Program. The National Trust for Historic
Preservation has designated the HBCUs among the Nation's most
endangered sites, and this was done in 1998. And we have tried
to continue to fund those historic sites, and I would ask that
those dollars be continued, along with the monies for the
historic preservation of Japanese-American confinements sites.
And then I want to spend a little time on the Endangered
Species Conservation Fund. The CESCF provides vital funding to
regional habitat conservation through competitive grants, and I
believe the importance of protecting endangered species is an
important responsibility of your work, and I would encourage
and support that work.
I support the monies for the National Endowment for the
Humanities. NEH is the single most important source of Federal
support for the Humanities, and the investment, I call it
critical learning, in U.S. interests by focusing on a workforce
that should be enhanced with the knowledge that will make them
a global workforce, but also a culturally exposed workforce.
I want to conclude my remarks by speaking to the dollars
that I support for the National Heritage Partnership Program.
The 49 National Heritage areas across the country preserve and
revitalize cultural, historic, natural resources, delivering
recreational and educational opportunities to visitors,
residents, and entire regions. Through innovative public
private partnerships, National Heritage areas have effectively
leveraged Federal resources, attracting an average of $5.50 of
private funding. That is an important statement that when we
have these Heritage Areas, we draw the private sector private
involvement.
Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member, as I said, are 49 sites,
and there are none in the State of Texas. We hope to rectify
this in the not too distant future. Texas is the largest and
second most populous State in the Nation, and it has a unique
story in American history with its diverse geographic
landscape, natural resources, and population. From Galveston's
port, East Texas farms, and forestry, and the Buffalo Soldiers,
Texas has a rich multicultural heritage and history. And one of
those stories to be told is the trail from the point of the
Emancipation Proclamation delivered by Captain Granger in
Galveston all through Galveston and counties beyond, through
Emancipation Park in Houston, Texas, which was built by slaves.
So, as I said there are many sites to be honored and
respected, and the $9 billion dollars that has been set aside
for the National Heritage Partnership Programs I hope will be
strongly supported. I ask all of you as you proceed to look at
some of the issues that we have emphasized to be able to help
America's good health, and as it relates to its interior, its
environment, and its water continue to be successful.
Mr. Calvert. I thank the gentlelady for her testimony. Any
questions?
[No response.]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Mr.
Cleaver, I appreciate you coming in.
[The statement of the Hon. Sheila Jackson Lee follows:]
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Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
WITNESS
HON. EMANUEL CLEAVER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
MISSOURI
Mr. Cleaver. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me thank you and
the Ranking Member, Ms. McCollum, for this opportunity to speak
with you.
I want to especially thank both you, Ms. McCollum and Mr.
Simpson for graciously participating in the colloquy on the
floor with me last year when I came to express support for the
World War I Commission. I would like to request the committee's
support in providing funding in Fiscal Year 2017 and 2018 for
the United States World War I Centennial Commission to carry
out the duties and obligations that we in Congress gave them.
As you know, April 6 is the 100th anniversary of the United
States' entry into World War I. Over 4.7 million men and women
served our Nation in uniform, and over 116,000 Americans gave
their lives. The U.S. World War I Centennial Commission is
currently planning and implementing programs and events to
honor those who served.
All the nations that participated in World War I are trying
desperately to put on a worthy commemoration. Their governments
are sponsoring all of the events that will take place in
Europe, and, of course, there will be events taking place here
in Washington, in Kansas City and around the country. So, why
not get involved in the World War I Commission.
Judge Poe and I, for separate reasons ended up pushing for
a World War I memorial. There is no World War I memorial--
national World War I memorial in existence. At least there was
not. There is a D.C. memorial that has fallen in deep
disrepair. Money is being raised to build a memorial in
Pershing Park here.
The reason I became involved is that at the end of World
War I, the people of Kansas City--kids gave dimes, pennies, and
they built the most majestic World War I memorial anyplace.
When I was mayor of the city, I came up because it had fallen
into disrepair, offered it to the National Park Service. They
respectfully declined. I went back, and the taxpayers decided
to vote to put a museum in it and rebuild it. And this is it
today.
One hundred and three thousand people turned out to greet
the leaders of the Allied Forces from World War I here in
Kansas City, without microphones I might add, and including one
veteran of the war, Harry Truman. And so, they built it with
money from little kids, and this is it today.
I am just desperately asking for consideration that we help
fund this commemoration that is so significant to our national
history. There are no World War I veterans left. I do not think
we ought to allow this World War I Commemoration Centennial to
go by without remembering the many sacrifices made.
I think it will be an embarrassment if we fail to
commemorate World War I at the level that our European allies
are doing, and people from here including our President and
members of the House and Senate are going to be invited to
Europe. We want to have something significant in the United
States.
I appreciate your time. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. It is a very noble cause, and I
think it is worth doing. So, we will take a very close look at
it. Thank you very much for your testimony.
Mr. Gosar, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
[The statement of the Hon. Emanuel Cleaver follows:]
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Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
WITNESS
HON. PAUL GOSAR, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ARIZONA
Mr. Gosar. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to
testify before the subcommittee. I am Congressman Paul Gosar,
and I represent Arizona's 4th Congressional District. I am also
the chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, chairman of
the House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy
and Mineral Resources, and the vice chairman of the House
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on
the Interior.
Critical programs and oversight activities addressed by the
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill
fall under my purview, and I would like to take this
opportunity to discuss several of those today. The most
important program I would like to advocate for today is the
Payment in Lieu of Taxes, the PILT Program.
PILT was first signed into law in October of 1976, and was
created to compensate local governments for large quantities of
untaxable Federal lands within their jurisdiction. Local
property and sales typically fund county government, allowing
them to provide essential services, like law enforcement,
infrastructure, and educational needs.
The inability for counties to collect local taxes on
Federal lands are particularly burdensome, especially when
counties often provide critical services on these very lands.
PILT funding helps offset the losses of these critical
revenues, and allows for the continuation of essential
services.
In Fiscal Year 2015, the national average for PILT payments
was 72.4 cents per acre. This figure is nowhere near the amount
of revenue that would be generated if these lands were able to
undergo economic development and value-based taxation. This
disproportionately impacts rural areas where access to
government resources is already more difficult than in larger
cities. I am a strong supporter of PILT and call on this body
to provide full funding for PILT for the Fiscal Year 2017,
Fiscal Year 2018, and beyond.
The next program I would like to advocate for deals with
on-the-ground sage-grouse conservation. The Fiscal Year 2015
House Interior and Environmental appropriations bill provided
an increase of $12 million above the Fiscal Year 2016 level for
these purposes.
Sage-grouse conservation and management is an issue best
accomplished on the ground by States and local stakeholders.
While Arizona does not have to deal with the sage-grouse issues
directly, this is an important issue that impacts Western
Caucus members and communities throughout the West. The
subcommittee should continue to provide funding for local
conservation and management purposes.
The Subcommittee and the full Appropriations Committee
should also work with Western members to defund the de facto
sage-grouse listing implemented by the Department of Interior
through the Resources Management Plan--the RMP--and Land
Resources Management Plan, or the LRMP, amendments. These
misguided amendments were not warranted and sought to prevent
responsible mineral production and other activities across 11
States, 67 million acres of land administered by the BLM and
the Forest Service, and tens of millions of acres of Federal
and mineral estate.
The Fiscal Year 2017 Interior and Environmental
appropriations bill included numerous prohibitions and riders
that were important to Western communities, and I would like to
thank you for including those provisions.
I would like to ask the subcommittee to again retain the
following provisions that were passed by the House in last
Fiscal Year's bill: a rider prohibiting the Environmental
Protection Agency's attempt to expand the Clean Water Act
through unlawful guidance; a provision allowing for responsible
State management of the Mexican wolf population; a rider
blocking funds for the EPA to implement its Waters of the
United States or the WOTUS rule; a provision prohibiting funds
from the social cost of carbon; a rider prohibiting the EPA
from implementing new greenhouse gas regulations for new and
existing power plants and eliminating funds for the greenhouse
gas New Source performance standards; a prohibition on the EPA
from imposing duplicative financial insurance requirements; and
a prohibition for the regulation of the lead content of
ammunition and fishing tackle.
Unfortunately, the Obama Administration also churned out
numerous job killing regulations since last Fiscal Year's bill
was passed. We have been addressing many of those in the House
CRAs. However, many of these rules need to be addressed in the
Fiscal Year 2018 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
appropriations bill. These include, but are not limited to, the
BLM's Venting and Flaring Rule; BLM's Planning 2.0 Rule; the
Office of Natural Resources revenues revision of the Federal
Mineral Production Valuation Rule, and numerous others.
I appreciate the opportunity to testify before you. I would
like to thank all of the members of the subcommittee for your
important work, and hope this Fiscal Year's bill is as good as
the excellent legislation passed out last year. The Western
Caucus and the members of my subcommittee look forward to
coordinating with you and building on that effort.
Thank you again, and I appreciate all your time.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. I just want to point out, as you
know, PILT is fully funded----
Mr. Gosar. Yeah.
Mr. Calvert [continuing]. In the 2017 appropriation bill.
But long term, we need help from the authorizing committees to
fix this problem.
Mr. Gosar. Yeah, I agree with you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Calvert. So, any help you can do on that, that would be
very beneficial in the process.
Mr. Gosar. We will certainly do whatever we can.
Mr. Calvert. Great. Thank you. Appreciate it.
Mr. Gosar. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Any questions?
[No response.]
Mr. Calvert. Next, David Price from North Carolina and
Jimmy Panetta from the great State of California.
[The statement of the Hon. Paul A. Gosar follows:]
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Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
WITNESS
HON. DAVID PRICE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NORTH
CAROLINA
Mr. Calvert. We appreciate you both coming in today. David,
you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Price. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, ranking member,
and colleagues. Glad to see all of you. I appreciate the chance
to address the subcommittee regarding the importance of the
National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for
the Humanities.
I am co-chair of the Congressional Humanities Caucus in the
House, a responsibility I share with Representative Leonard
Lance. Additionally, I am a member of the Congressional Arts
Caucus. So, in these capacities I am happy to support the
missions of these two agencies.
The Humanities Caucus is bipartisan. We support the efforts
and contributions of the National Endowment, an Agency that has
a broad impact on districts across the Nation, both rural and
urban. Since its inception, NEH grants have leveraged more than
$4 billion in matching grants for the humanities. I mean,
expenditures in both of these endowments had that leveraging
feature. For example, in the last year alone, Federal NEH
museum grants leveraged $33 million into an additional $104
million. Pretty good return for the American taxpayer. Further,
every Federal dollar that state humanities councils give out in
grants leverages $5 at the state and local level.
So, the work of the Humanities' endowment goes far and runs
the gamut from very sophisticated projects of national
importance. For example, the digitization of key material, such
as the electronic publication of Alexander Hamilton's
Federalist Papers, makes the humanities more accessible to all
Americans, especially in rural areas. Two very local projects,
projects with very small grants that encourage local history
and local access to new culture and the heritage that flourish
in our States and communities.
There are projects like the virtual gallery of Buffalo
Bill's Wild West Show. So, it is not just the Founding Fathers,
but it is a range of approaches to history, all of which
promote understanding, excitement, and interest. It reaches
Americans in every walk of life. Grant allocations are small,
but they do target unique projects that expand research and
knowledge.
The NEH remains the most important source of Federal
funding for research, scholarship, history, literature, foreign
language, and other fields to provide us with a rich and
dynamic ethical, and cultural, and historical perspective.
I will be more brief with the NEA, but I think it is
equally important. It is a twin agency. It helps us glimpse
through the keyhole of history, discovering the social, and
economic, and political environments of the past.
The Arts Endowment's effectiveness is due in part to the
program's robust system of partnerships. I think we have all
experienced this with our local arts councils, our state arts
agency. We come into contact with this with the Congressional
Arts Competition, for example.
These programs have a cultural impact. They also have a
profound economic impact. The estimate I have seen, NEA helps
support 4 and a half million jobs, $698 billion in economic
activity. So, we need to protect and, if possible, enhance the
work of these agencies. I know there are reports that we might
do just the opposite, that there are some proposals from
outside groups, from think tanks, to eliminate funding
completely. I hope we can reject this misguided approach.
I know as a senior member of this committee that we have a
lot of difficult choices, but it seems to me this one should be
fairly clear cut. With the NEA and NEH, the facts are clear.
These are modest expenditures that generate millions of jobs,
hundreds of millions in direct economic activity, and broad
public benefit and support.
So, to quote Thomas Campbell, director of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, ``Eliminating the NEA would, in essence,
eliminate investment by the American government in the
curiosity and intelligence of its citizens.''
It is also important the way NEA and NEH grants signal
private investors. They serve a kind of validation function in
terms of standards that might justify investment, while at the
same time, cultivating diversity in the kinds of grants made.
So, instead of eliminating our government's modest support
for these endowments, we should hold steadfast in our
investment, and understand that this is just that, an
investment, where we are generating more than $4 billion in
private funds for the humanities, for example.
So, I thank you for the opportunity to testify on behalf of
these agencies. I urge you to look at the nationwide impact of
these endowments, and continue to provide support. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you for your testimony, David. As you
know, there has always been bipartisan support for these
programs. I suspect that will be in the future, too.
Mr. Panetta.
[The statement of the Hon. David Price follows:]
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Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
WITNESS
HON. JIMMY PANETTA, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
CALIFORNIA
Mr. Panetta. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate this
opportunity to be here to testify in front of you. Ms.
McCollum, Mr. Simpson, and staff thank you. I appreciate this
chance to talk to you about investing in programs that preserve
and protect something that I feel is important to all of us,
and that is that is our natural resources.
I represent the 20th Congressional District in California,
the Central Coast, which I believe is the most beautiful
district in the United States.
Mr. Simpson. You are only one off. [Laughter.]
Mr. Panetta. You will understand that sentiment after my
testimony, or at least have some empathy for why I would say
that.
I admit I am new to Congress, but I am learning a lot about
the process and protocol. One thing I do realize is how
important the Appropriations Committee's annual check on our
Nation's priorities is through the power of the purse. That is
why I am asking for the Appropriations Committee to focus on
providing funding for three areas: the Land and Water
Conservation Fund, the Bureau of Land Management, and the
Wildland Fire Management in the Forest Service.
The Land and Water Conservation Fund is the only Federal
program for the conservation and promotion of national parks,
forests, and Bureau of Land Management land. In my district on
the Central Coast of California, Federal grants have allowed
the purchase of a number of land in holdings, in areas such as
the Los Padres National Forest, the Ventana Wilderness Area,
the Pinnacles National Park, and the Ellicott Slough National
Wildlife Refuge. These land holdings are stunning pieces of
land, yet like anything, they need to be managed properly.
Continued Federal funding of those Federal and State
projects allows them to be managed effectively and efficiently.
That is why I submit to you that $475 million in discretionary
funding should be appropriated for the Land and Water
Conservation Fund.
When it comes to the Bureau of Land Management, there are
two areas I want to focus on: the Recreation Resources
Management Account and the National Landscape Conservation
System Account. The Recreation Resources Management account is
important because it provides for the upkeep of BLM land, but
requires the necessary funding. In order to maintain a safe and
engaging experience for the vast areas of BLM land, I recommend
appropriating $69.4 million this fiscal year.
In regards to the BLM National Landscape Conservation
System, in my congressional district we have two national
monuments: the California Coastal National Monument and the
Fort Ord National Monument. The California Coastal National
Monument spans 1,100 miles along the entire California coast
and includes the coastline of my district. It is focused on
protecting the intertidal areas of the coast. The BLM's
National Landscape Conservation System protects an estimated
200,000 breeding seabirds and thousands of marine mammals
within this national monument.
The Fort Ord National Monument is 15,000 acres of dedicated
open space. It was used as a military training ground for the
brave men and women that served our Nation from World War I to
the Gulf War. Now that land attracts not just veterans, but
scientists who are interested in the rich diversity of rare and
unique species of plants that can only be found in that area.
That area also attracts hikers, mountain bikers, and
birdwatchers. It is a prime example of California's outdoor
recreational opportunities, but also a revenue source.
In California, outdoor recreation supports over 700,000
jobs and $27 billion in wages and salaries. That is why I
support the continued investment of $80 million for Fiscal Year
2018 for the BLM National Landscape Conservation System. I
believe that this is an investment that will not only help
maintain the national monuments, but also the people who live,
work, and experience those areas.
Finally, I would ask to invest in our Nation's response to
natural disasters, especially wildfires. Last summer in 2016,
the Central Coast experienced the Soberanes fire near Big Sur.
As you probably know, that was the most expensive fire in our
nation's history. It took thousands of firefighters many months
to contain this expansive wildfire that consumed more than
130,000 acres and cost more than $200 million to fight. That
cost does not include the lost wages, the high cost of repairs,
and the loss of business revenue.
We are still feeling the impact of that fire today because
that same area is now being torn apart by massive flooding.
Without the vegetation to hold the soil in place, the ground
shifts and that is what causes mudslides, which not only
destroy our roads and properties, but it also traps and cuts
off hundreds of people in certain communities. Right now, Big
Sur is reeling because of all the landslide damage, including a
316-foot-long bridge that has been taken out and is in need of
replacement.
Therefore, I recommend that the Wildland Fire Management in
the Forest Service receive no less than $2.7 billion for both
fighting wildfires, but also for anti-fire protection, such as
the maintenance of fire breaks.
I realize my testimony contained evidence about parks,
national monuments, and open spaces in my district on the
Central Coast of California, but it is my home, and I am proud
of it. I grew up there, and due to my experiences it is why I
am here in front of you. But I also believe that is why it is
important to protect these areas for my daughters so they can
have these experiences, and go on to promote and talk about the
national treasures as I do.
I hope that you consider those investments, and that is why
I advocate and respectfully ask for the funding of programs
that are vital to the preservation and protection of our
natural resources for all of our children and our future.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, and you probably already are a
signatory to Mr. Simpson's bill on wildfire.
Mr. Simpson. If not, you can sign up really easily.
Mr. Calvert. Big Sur was a large fire, but we had the Rim
fire over by Yosemite. It cost us about $250 million dollars to
put that fire out. In California we have very expensive fires.
But I really do enjoy your district, especially Pebble
Beach. [Laughter.]
It is a nice place.
Thank you for your testimony.
Any questions?
Ms. McCollum. I think Mike and I like our districts, too.
Mr. Calvert. Yeah, we do.
Ms. Simpson. Pebble Beach is kind of special. [Laughter.]
Mr. Calvert. That is a national treasure, that is for sure.
Well, thank you for your testimony. Appreciate it.
Okay. Next, Alma Adams. How are you today?
Ms. Adams. I am doing well, thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Well, thank you for coming today, and you are
recognized for 5 minutes.
[The statement of the Hon. Jimmy Panetta follows:]
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Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
WITNESS
HON. ALMA ADAMS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NORTH
CAROLINA
Ms. Adams. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon, Chairman
Calvert and Ranking Member McCollum. Thank you for allowing me
the opportunity to testify about the arts and humanities in our
country.
As the representative of North Carolina's 12th
Congressional District, a member of the Art Caucus here, a
practicing professional artist and arts educator, and a curator
and college art professor for over 40 years, I am pleased to
join my colleagues in expressing my support for funding for the
National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the
Humanities, and for arts funding.
The arts and humanities are critical for adding value to
our shared culture. The arts are not just used to mark
celebrations, but to change our perceptions of society. The
arts connect us to the past and present, convey our unique
experiences, and are presented in many forms.
Museums function as tools to house and preserve our
collective history as a Nation and bind us together as one
community; visual artists reflect on our society and force us
to reconcile our past, and writers record history and expose
and challenge readers to different ideas presented in our
society; and musicians transcend social and cultural boundaries
to connect to the listener through the sound of their
instruments. Time and time again, we have made a conscious
decision to fund the arts, signaling that we intrinsically
value the arts as being crucial to our collective identity.
The National Endowment for the Arts has been and continues
to be necessary to the success of the arts in my home state of
North Carolina. As a representative of Charlotte, one of the
largest cities in the South, I understand how important the NEA
is to our unique and thriving art culture. In 2016, the NEA
invested $60,000 in grants in Charlotte for programs such as
the Children's Theater of Charlotte Inc.'s performance of the
``Journey to Oz'' and the McColl Center for Art and
Innovation's exhibition and residency featuring Latino and
Hispanic artists. NEA grants make these cultural events
possible. The nationally-recognized Charlotte Ballet also
depends on the NEA for grants, which has allowed this company
to create and perform its own unique ballets.
The arts not only provide entertainment, but they also
encourage us to think critically. Advocates and researchers
have shown that the arts have a positive impact on a young
person's development. Because of this understanding, the arts
and music were included in the Every Student Succeeds Act as a
part of a well-rounded education. The NEA is a critical
component to ensuring strong arts education in our schools.
Through direct grants, the NEA is able to support crucial pre-K
through 12th grade art education projects.
By establishing partnerships with our colleges and
universities, the NEA is able to engage with our institutions
of higher learning to provide necessary grants to preserve and
restore historic works of art. As a former college professor of
40 years, I had the privilege of working with the NEA to secure
a matching grant which allowed the college to preserve and
restore a historic painting by Aaron Douglas, the father of the
Harlem Renaissance, a 1931 treasure. In order to continue to
ensure that our students remain competitive in a global
economy, we must continue to fund the arts.
In addition to their cultural and educational impact, the
arts play an important role in helping our veterans transition
to civilian life and combat physical and mental illnesses.
Through the NEA and Military Healing Arts Partnership, the NEA
has worked with the Department of Defense to create an art
therapy program to treat service members with traumatic brain
injuries and associated psychological health issues at the
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. This program
places art therapy at the center of a multidisciplinary
treatment approach.
Through art therapy, our brave service members are able to
receive specialized treatments that enable them to heal both
their physical and mental wounds. Participants in this program
have found relief and have seen vast improvements in sleep,
communication, pain, and their ability to confront emotional
challenges. This program has also invested in critical research
on the impacts and benefits of this treatment.
The NEA's budget for Fiscal Year 2017 was $148 million,
just .004 percent of the federal budget. Through a relatively
small investment in the arts, we are able to yield large
returns. Not only are the arts culturally significant, but the
nonprofit arts and culture sector is an economic driver,
supporting about 4.13 million jobs and contributing to a gross
domestic product of 4.2 percent, or about $729 billion.
The arts are critical to our culture, education, and our
economy. In all respects it is the arts that make us human. For
this reason, I join my colleagues in requesting $155 million
for the National Endowment for the Arts in the Fiscal Year 2018
appropriations bill, and hope that you would consider this
request.
Thank you very much for allowing me to testify.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you very much for your testimony.
Ms. Adams. Thank you.
[The statement of the Hon. Alma S. Adams follows:]
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Mr. Calvert. Our next two witnesses are en route. They
should be here momentarily, so if we will just wait a moment.
Our ranking member is coming and Ms. Plaskett from the Virgin
Islands.
Yeah. Ms. Slaughter.
Mr. Simpson. I agree with all those people. You have a hell
of a tough job this year.
Ms. McCollum. Mr. Chair? PILT kept coming up over and over
and over again, as well as fire suppression, and then all the
other things that people were asking for. Some of them were EPA
water programs for clean water and sewer sanitation.
I hope that our colleagues will be supporting not only Mr.
Simpson's fire bill, but also supporting PILT go back where it
belongs in Ways and Means as mandatory spending. Because I am
very nervous that they are pointing out that the PILT payments
are not high enough. If it stays in our budget and people are
successful in making the PILT payments higher--the Bureau of
Indian Affairs work that we do, National Parks, Forestry, all
the other things that people listed in their comments along
with PILT payment will be short-changed.
It looks like from what I am reading in the press, we are
going to be short on change in this committee to begin with.
Mr. Calvert. Well, as you know, I agree with you. PILT
should be handled as a mandatory program, and hopefully the
authorizing committees will fix that for the 2018 budget. And
we certainly should pass Mr. Simpson's bill as soon as
possible, and hopefully we can work out an arrangement in the
Senate this year.
Mr. Simpson. I will tell you that was mentioned.
Mr. Calvert. Mr. Simpson, you are recognized.
Mr. Simpson. You are only that far away. They can hear me.
Something else that was mentioned. It is--if you go out and do
timber sales, reforestation is a mandatory thing. It is not on
a wildfire.
Ms. McCollum. Right.
Mr. Simpson. It is voluntary as funds are available. We
need to make it mandatory that they do reforestation after a
wildfire.
And that would mean that they could not take funds out of
that part.
Mr. Calvert. That is a good point. We need to speed up the
process of salvaging timber after these wildfires----
Mr. Simpson. Yeah.
Mr. Calvert [continuing]. And allowing people in to start
reforestations.
Mr. Simpson. I have got a meeting, but I agree with these
two people.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Ms. McCollum. Mr. Chair----
Mr. Calvert. Yes.
Ms. McCollum [continuing]. Mr. Trump is currently
announcing his executive order to start rolling back the Clean
Water rules of the United States. So, to the point that we have
all these riders in the bill, I think they can come out, and we
can debate these things on the floor.
Mr. Calvert. Anything that is already being done outside
the committee obviously I do not think need to be in the bill,
so I do not think----
Ms. McCollum. I could not agree with you more, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Calvert. Is it Plaskett?
Ms. Plaskett. Plaskett, uh-huh.
Mr. Calvert. That is great. Welcome to the committee.
Ms. Plaskett. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. And when you are ready, you are recognized for
5 minutes.
---------- --
--------
Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
WITNESS
HON. STACEY PLASKETT, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE U.S. VIRGIN
ISLANDS
Ms. Plaskett. Thank you. Okay. Good afternoon. Thank you,
Chairman Calvert, Ranking Member McCollum for the opportunity
to testify on the Department of Interior, Environment, and
Related Agencies appropriations bill, which will reflect
Federal support for the United States' territories and
possessions over the next Fiscal Year. Importantly, this
legislation will serve as a statement of the commitment from
the Federal government to address some of our most pressing
local needs.
In the United States territories, there are nearly 4
million Americans, and we are too often left out of important
programs or underfunded compared to benefits available to
Americans living on the mainland United States. As a result, it
is more difficult for the islands to improve economic
conditions.
Data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis illustrates the
economic challenges facing the insular areas. The islands must
transition from 100 percent reliance on imported oil to a
clean, sustainable energy future and relief from power rates 3
times the national average.
The territories continue to suffer from high unemployment.
Last year, the unemployment rate in the Virgin Islands of the
United States exceeded 10 percent. The economic picture is
corroborated by data indicating lost population over the
previous decade.
By their mere geography, the territories are critically
vulnerable to natural forces unique to daily living in an
island environment--hurricanes, tropical storms, as well as
daily sea blasts, among others. As a result, we face a
formidable challenge in adapting and responding to the effects
on infrastructure, economic development, food security, and
natural resources.
The Office of Insular Affairs is responsible for generally
administering the Federal government's relationship with the
territories on behalf of the Secretary of Interior. Top
priorities for OIA, Office of Insular Affairs, have
traditionally included initiatives for economic and
infrastructure development. OIA assistance to territories
provides critical funding to support construction and
maintenance of infrastructure, such as medical centers,
schools, and wastewater systems.
Let me give you an example: our medical hospitals. We have
to have a hospital on each island because of the challenge of
people being able to go from one place or another. So, the
duplication of those services presents additional challenges on
our systems, including having generators servicing on each
island, and the lack of being able to get scale in a manner
that other States have been able to do. We cannot attach
ourselves to grids in the same way that the mainland United
States can. In addition, assistance for climate change adaption
planning also helps to address top concerns identified by
island leadership.
The less than adequate support is evident in our daily
life. OIA assistance to the territories has seen an overall
reduction in funding over the last 10 Fiscal Years. I would
like to stress that it has been over 20 years since the Virgin
Islands has had sufficient resources to build a new school. Our
schools are crumbling because of the sea blast, never mind the
hurricanes and others. Electrical circuiting, as well as
pooling of water through the concrete over time has left our
children in a deplorable state of condition in terms of their
schooling.
I would like to touch on the National Park Service budget
as well. National park sites on the U.S. Virgin Islands include
some of our country's most iconic tourist destinations. They
also provide critical protection for terrestrial habitat, as
well as opportunities for education and volunteerism in the
parks. Many of our young people, after having worked summers in
the parks, go on to work in maritime, marine biology,
architecture, and other fields that come from those
relationships. I have been pleased to see increases in Federal
support for the national parks in the Virgin Islands, and I
would also like to urge for that to continue.
In order to maintain and improve quality of life, create
economic opportunities, and promote effective governance in the
territories, I am here before you to strongly urge an increase
in the budget of the Office of Insular Affairs for its
activities in technical and maintenance assistance to the
territories, and for our capital improvement grants. Last year,
there had been great discussions with OIA about supporting our
farmers going back into agriculture after the closing of
Hovensa, the second largest oil refinery in the Western
Hemisphere that skyrocketed unemployment to 18 percent for a
period of time just on the island of St. Croix. OIA's technical
assistance is really instrumental and invaluable to the people.
While I fully understand that we need to look for ways to
reduce the deficit, abandoning our responsibility to provide
safe and reliable infrastructure in the territories and build
resilience to the impacts of climate change is not the way to
go. The last several cycles have placed impositions on the
territories which force them to compete for already inadequate
funds they receive. And increasing these accounts would go a
long way in resolving these issues.
Thank you for the opportunity to present my testimony.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you for your testimony. We appreciate
your coming out today.
Ms. Plaskett. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Ms. Plaskett. Take care.
Any questions? No?
No questions? Great, thanks.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Next, Ms. Slaughter from the great
State of New York. You are recognized.
[The statement of the Hon. Stacey E. Plaskett follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
WITNESS
HON. LOUISE SLAUGHTER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
NEW YORK
Ms. Slaughter. Yes, thank you very much.
I have been very anxious to get over here because, you
know, the NEA is very important to me, and I want to just talk
to you about it. I have got a statement here, but I think I
more or less would just really would like to discuss it with
you.
First, you know we put $148 million in for the arts
programs in the whole country, and from that we got about $9
billion back in the Treasury. It supports about 4 million jobs,
and a lot of good things. But I want to talk far beyond that.
What has been discovered lately is that in the program
between the military and the arts programs, they have
discovered that more than any medicine that they could use, any
counseling, anything else that they could do, by exposing
wounded veterans to arts programs, they are getting better.
They give up that shoe box full of medicine they carry around.
They rejoin their family and society. Medicine could not do
that for them. Years in a hospital could not do that for them.
But part of that $148 million was able to do that, and you know
it was well worth that.
It has been one of the most remarkable things. They have
discovered, for example, that PTSD responds better to yoga than
anything else. And because they found that out, they are also
using it on people with Alzheimer's and kids with autism with
some good results.
I saw Yo-Yo Ma, that magnificent cellist, in a concert one
night at the Kennedy Center. He had six young men who had been
in Iraq, and among those six, they only had two legs. Yo-Yo Ma
played his cello like nobody else on earth can, and they were
playing guitars and singing with such great enjoyment. I know
from my own life, and I am sure from yours, how you have been
moved by these kinds of stories.
But to cut this the NEA out, if it is not worth $148
million for us to help all those soldiers that we have wounded
in our name, to really get back into life, to be a part of
life, to feel good about it again, to be creative in the things
they are doing. And how does that work? Because art opens up
the left side of the brain. And then what they are able to do
is take out the trauma and look at it, and once they can take
it out, they can really begin to deal with it.
Now, I had not thought about this that much for soldiers,
but I knew what it did for children. I know we are used to
seeing 16-year-old kids who are involved in crime and
traumatized with those dead eyes just staring at us. We found
while they were incarcerated, if we could expose them to art
just simply to open up both sides of the brain, that we could
make great changes in their lives and they want to get out. It
is really things that they have not been talking about almost
all of their lives. There is something about working with your
hands, something about what you are seeing with your eyes and
your heart that makes it possible for you to do that.
What we get for art programs are smarter children. Kids who
graduate from high schools in the United States who had art the
four years they were in high school, SATs verbal go up 9
points. It is so cheap, the price. I mean, I wish we could give
3 times what we give because we would get 3 times the results.
We need to be doing so much more than we are doing, and
people are eager for it. When I first started trying to say all
this, it was considered property of the elite, and if they
wanted to go, great, but nobody else was going to be bothered
with that.
And then what we discovered, some work done at UC Davis was
the economic benefit of it. It has been--you know, in one year
about three or four years ago, a study was done in New York
City, and the Metropolitan Museum by itself got more money into
that museum in one year than the Yankees, the Mets, the Knicks,
and all the rest of the teams they have there for sports
combined. Imagine that.
Art is something they come back to. Art is something you
expose little children do. What is the first thing they do?
They draw little stick figures. But it is so important that we
do it for all of those reasons.
But in these museums and in these art galleries is our
history. Look at what you have on the walls in here. I mean,
art is the only thing that I know of that tells us who we were,
and who we are, and who we hope to be.
So, I beg of you, maybe the most important thing you may do
for civilization and society in this country is to put as much
money as you can in the humanities and in the arts because we
get a hundred-fold return on investment. I promise you that. I
can show you all the statistics and all the things about it.
But I will tell you, if you were to go to Walter Reed and see
those programs, how those veterans are doing, and see what
happens to them later in life.
I mean, they have had enough experience to know that is
lasting. And as a matter of fact, one of my staff members who
is with me here today just came back from Fort Knox. He was out
there last week for the Army. And he said a General had told
him that--a group apparently, that one of the most important
things to him were the creative writing programs that he had
had. But it all comes back to the brain. It is when you open up
both sides that you are really able to create a whole person.
Please, please do not let the NEA get killed. I feel like I
have been begging you forever. And if you do not, as John Lewis
said--he came up to campaign for me, and he said to everybody,
now, I really want you to vote for her, and if you do not, I
will come back and step on you nonviolently. [Laughter.]
Ms. Slaughter. I would hate to have to threaten you with
that, but----
Mr. Calvert. Thank you for your testimony. The arts and the
humanities touches every congressional district in the United
States.
Ms. Slaughter. Indeed, and it brings a lot of money into
them as well.
Mr. Calvert. I recognize that, both Republicans and
Democrats, a bipartisan program.
Ms. Slaughter. Always has been.
Mr. Calvert. There is a lot of support for that, and we
will certainly take that into consider as we move forward. I
know Ms. McCollum is a big supporter of the arts and
humanities, and we will be working together to try to resolve
these things.
Ms. Slaughter. We will do incalculable harm if we did not
keep that going, and we are better people than that. So, thank
all of you, and thank you for your hard work. I know it is not
easy, and this year is spectacularly hard. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. I appreciate everybody's testimony.
We are adjourned.
[The statement of the Hon. Louise Slaughter follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
TESTIMONY OF INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS
---------- --
--------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
PUBLIC WITNESSES--AMERICAN INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVES
Mr. Calvert. Good morning, and welcome to the public
witness hearing specifically for American Indian and Alaska
Native programs under the jurisdiction of the Interior and
Environment Appropriations Subcommittee.
I especially want to welcome the distinguished Tribal
elders and leaders testifying today and in the audience. Most
of you have traveled a long way to be here this week. I hope
you will seize the opportunity to meet with other Members of
Congress outside this subcommittee to remind them that honoring
the Nation's trust obligations is a responsibility shared by
all Members of Congress, regardless of our State or
congressional district.
I assure you that your voices are heard by this
subcommittee. For those new to this process, today's hearings
are just the start of a dialogue we have come to depend upon to
make smart choices in the budget and to earn the votes of our
colleagues. American Indian and Alaska Native programs will
continue to be a nonpartisan priority for this subcommittee,
just as they have been in recent years under the chairmanship
of Democrats and Republicans alike.
Before we begin, I have a little bit of housekeeping items
to share. Committee rules prohibit the use of outside cameras
and audio equipment during these hearings. The hearing can be
viewed in its entirety on the committee's website, and an
official hearing transcript will be available at gpo.gov.
I will call each panel of witnesses to the table, one panel
at a time. Each witness will have 5 minutes to present
testimony. Your full written testimony will be introduced into
the record. So please don't feel pressured to cover everything
in 5 minutes. Finishing in less than 5 minutes may earn you
some great brownie points, so think about that.
We will be using a timer to track the progress of each
witness. When the lights turn yellow, the witness will have 1
minute remaining to conclude his or her remarks. When the light
blinks red, I will have to ask the witness to stop.
We will hear from every witness on each panel before
members will be provided an opportunity to ask questions.
Because we have a full day ahead, I request that we try to keep
things moving in order to stay on schedule and respect each
other's time. I am sure many of you have planes to catch.
With that, I will thank you again for being here today. I
am happy to yield now to our distinguished ranking member,
Betty McCollum, for her opening remarks.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is a very, very
important listening hearing that we have. There are other
members flying in, but your full testimony will be given to
them. I will be briefing the Democratic Members, as Mr. Cole
and Mr. Calvert will be talking to--well, we all talk together.
We are very nonpartisan when it comes to Native American
affairs. So I welcome you all here.
Mr. Chair, thank you again for holding this very
informational hearing the next 2 days.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
So we are going to start with the National Indian Health
Board, Vinton Hawley, the chairman. You are recognized for 5
minutes.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
NATIONAL INDIAN HEALTH BOARD
WITNESS
VINTON HAWLEY, CHAIRMAN
Mr. Hawley. Thank you for your time.
Chairman Calvert, Ranking Member McCollum, and members of
the subcommittee, thank you for holding this important hearing
and allowing me the opportunity to be here today. My name is
Vinton Hawley. I am the chairman of the National Indian Health
Board, and I also serve as the chairman for the Pyramid Lake
Paiute Tribe in Nevada.
Today, I would like to offer recommendations on the fiscal
year 2018 budget for the Indian Health Service. As you are
aware, the health status of American Indians and Alaska Natives
continues to be among the worst in the country. Historical
trauma, poverty, lack of access to healthy foods, loss of
culture, and many other determinants of health all contribute
to the poor state of American Indian and Alaska Native health.
We live, on average, 4.5 years less than other Americans,
but in some States that is 20 years less. But none of these
challenges alone is as damaging as financially starving the
Indian health system. All these determinants of health and poor
health status could be dramatically improved with stronger
investments in the health, public health, and health delivery
systems in Indian Country.
In 2016, the IHS per capita expenditures for patient health
services were under $3,000, compared to almost $10,000 per
person for healthcare nationally. America needs to keep its
promises to American Indians and Alaska Natives and fully fund
the IHS.
Tribes are grateful for the recent increases to the IHS
appropriation over the last several years but note that the
increases have not allowed for expanded services but mainly
keep up with inflation and population growth.
NIHB supports the budget request of the National Budget
Formulation Workgroup, which is comprised of Tribal leaders,
technical experts from across Indian Country. For fiscal year
2018, Tribes recommend fully funding IHS at an estimated $30.8
billion, which includes amounts for personal health services,
wraparound community health services, facilities, and capital
investments.
We understand that getting $30 billion appropriated this
year may not be possible in the current budget environment, so
we recommend that Congress phase this in over 12 years. For
2018 then, we recommend $7.1 billion for IHS.
The Workgroup's fiscal year 2018 request has five top
priority areas: purchase/referred care, hospitals and clinics,
mental health, alcohol and substance abuse services, and dental
services. These are real lives at stake.
A father from Northern Cheyenne reported that his daughter
was born prematurely due to her mother's struggle with
methamphetamine. The child battled for its life and caused
trauma for the whole family and community. He said, ``Meth
abuse doesn't just affect one or two in our large extended
Tribal families. It affects everybody. The services available
on the reservation weren't helpful to my needs nor to my
family.''
This is just one example of why the money that Congress
provides means life and death for our people.
Congress should also encourage programs at IHS that are
culturally informed and locally driven. NIHB spoke with a young
woman from the Oglala Sioux Tribe who courageously shared her
story about multiple suicide attempts. She went into an
inpatient facility in Rapid City but did not feel she received
healing. It wasn't until she attended a Lakota cultural healing
camp that her life turned around. She said, ``It made me feel
powerful. I got to learn about my culture and it made me feel
closer to who I am.'' But the camp operates through donations
and community support. These are the types of programs we
should be encouraging with predictable, sustained funding.
Congress, please take the courageous and ethical step of
adequately funding healthcare for this country's first peoples.
While we understand that the jurisdiction of this committee is
annual appropriations, I must mention the concern Tribes have
about potential cuts to the Medicaid program.
Medicaid represents a substantial part of IHS third-party
revenues. Current proposed changes to the Medicaid program
outlined in the House-passed American Health Care Act will mean
less services for our people and increase pressure on the
severely underfunded IHS.
We encourage the committee to stand up against these
Medicaid cuts. IHS and Tribal facilities are seeing referral
dollars go much further thanks to Medicaid funding. These
drastic cuts to Medicaid will only result in more rationed care
and poor health outcomes for our people.
I would like to close with a quote from Jerilyn Church, CEO
of the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Health Board. Last year
she stated, ``We make up 2 percent of the entire population of
this country. We are the genocide survivors. It is not a big
ask to ask for this country to fund schools, health, our
judicial systems at a level that allows us to live functional,
healthy lives''.
In 2018, NIHB, on behalf of the 567 federally recognized
Tribes across the United States, calls upon Congress to fully
commit to funding our health services by enacting a robust
budget for IHS.
Thank you very much for your time.
[The statement of Vinton Hawley follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you for your testimony.
Next Yatibaey Evans.
Ms. Evans. Good morning. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Good morning.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
NATIONAL INDIAN EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
WITNESS
YATIBAEY EVANS, BOARD PRESIDENT
Ms. Evans. Hi, my name is Yatibaey Evans. Good morning,
Chairman Calvert and Ranking Member McCollum and members of the
subcommittee. Thank you for this opportunity to provide
testimony on behalf of the National Indian Education
Association.
NIEA is the only national organization advocating for
improved educational opportunities that enable Native students
to thrive in the classroom and beyond. We equip educators with
the knowledge and tools needed to support our Native students
in reaching their full potential. We also offer professional
development opportunities, policy and advocacy assistance, as
well as educational resources.
I currently serve as the president of the board of NIEA and
am honored to be the first Alaska Native president in the
history of the organization. I am happy to be with you today to
talk about the needs of more than 650,000 Native students
across the country.
Over the past year, the Every Student Succeeds Act has
begun to be implemented within our States, leading to changes
in how leaders in States across the country--from Oklahoma to
California to Alaska and Minnesota--think about how to best
educate our students.
NIEA has been leading the way, working with Tribes as well
as Chief State School Officers, to make sure that we seize the
opportunity that ESSA provides greater local leadership to
improve educational outcomes for all students, including
American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students.
The subcommittee's work on fiscal year 2017 appropriations
shows that you understand the importance of providing funding
to improve BIE schools. Thank you for holding firm and
including increases in several key areas.
Here are our fiscal year 2018 recommendations. Our written
testimony contains quite a few details, but I would like to
highlight some--four of them in particular: First, BIE school
construction. We are asking for $263.4 million. I ask for this
increase first and foremost to meet the needs of our Native
students. NIEA recognizes that there are administrative issues
with fully appropriating BIE's school construction list;
however, our students should not suffer and be expected to
learn in dilapidated buildings.
Far too many BIE schools are not in adequate physical
condition to put Native students, or any students, in schools
where students should be able to succeed. Numerous examples
have come to NIEA's attention over the last year. There are
schools without air-conditioning, broken windows, wiring that
is uncovered, ceilings and floor exposed. We simply must do
better. NIEA requests $130.3 million above the fiscal year 2017
amount to fully fund construction and repair.
Second, we would like to ask for $431 million for the
Indian equalization program. ISEP funds provide the core budget
amount for BIE elementary and secondary schools by covering
teacher salaries, aides, principals, and other personnel.
Unfortunately, ISEP funds have been reallocated to cover
the program funds in other areas of education. ISEP must have
adequate funding to ensure all program needs are fulfilled and
must not be reduced to provide funds for new initiatives that
have not been vetted by Tribes. NIEA recommends $30.78 million
above the fiscal year 2017 omnibus.
Third, I ask for $5 million for BIE immersion demonstration
grants. And I want to thank the chairman, ranking member, and
subcommittee for the $2 million in the fiscal year 2017 bill.
It is well documented that Native students are more likely to
thrive in environments that align with their culture.
The immersion program will support Native students to
strengthen their language, improve academic outcomes, and
become future leaders of their Tribes. We recommend that BIE
immersion demonstration grants be a line item moving forward
with a $5 million appropriation.
Fourth and finally, we ask that you continue the investment
and oversight for and of the Bureau of Indian Education so that
BIE schools that serve all Native students are able to attend
them well and served appropriately. The BIE's ongoing work to
reform and better serve Native students is critically important
to Tribes.
In conclusion, fiscal year 2018 funding has the potential
to translate bipartisan commitment to improving BIE's school
construction into action. By ensuring that all schools have the
facilities and resources necessary to provide a 21st century
education, Congress and the Nation can reverse the challenges
BIE faces and address the needs of our Native students. The
over 43,000 students who depend on BIE funding deserve nothing
less than full funding for the schools they need to realize
their dreams.
Thank you for this opportunity.
[The statement of Yatibaey Evans follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you for your testimony.
Next, Carrie Billy, president and CEO of the American
Indian Higher Education Consortium. You are recognized.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
AMERICAN INDIAN HIGHER EDUCATION CONSORTIUM
WITNESS
CARRIE L. BILLY, PRESIDENT AND CEO
Ms. Billy. [Speaking native language.] I am Carrie Billy,
the president and CEO of AIHEC, the American Indian Higher
Education Consortium.
And on behalf of the Nation's 37 Tribal Colleges, thank you
for your past support. Your investment is yielding a remarkable
and proven return. It is transforming families, communities,
and Tribal nations. It is helping us serve more than 160,000
American Indians, Alaska Natives, and others each year through
academic and community-based programs at more than 75 sites in
16 States.
Our requests today are fairly modest, and they are outlined
in our prepared statement, so I will just mention two. An
additional $10 million, for a total of $80.2 million, for
institutional operations and technical assistance under titles
I and II of the Tribal College Act.
That is all that is needed to provide funding at the fully
authorized level for 27 Tribal Colleges for the first time in
37 years. So $10 million, 27 Tribal Colleges, first time in 37
years. I can guarantee you that you will not get a better
return on your investment anywhere. Need proof? It is right
here in this independent report. I don't have time to talk
about it, but here it is.
Overall, operating funding for these 27 Tribal Colleges
hasn't increased for 4 years. In that time, 14 of the 27
colleges have seen dramatic enrollment growth. Three schools
are up 20 to 30 percent, two were up more than 40 percent, and
one has more than doubled its overall enrollment in just 1
year.
Plus, we have two new Tribal Colleges joining the funding
pool--College of Muscogee Nation in Oklahoma and Red Lake
Nation in Minnesota--adding hundreds more students to an
already stressed overall funding formula. So our first request
is $10 million additional for titles I and II. It is time and
it is a proven investment.
Second, thank you so much for working with us over the past
few years to ensure that IAIA, Navajo Tech, and United Tribes
receive their operating funding on an academic schedule. It has
had an enormous impact on their stability.
Now only two schools under the Department of the Interior
are not forward funded. They are fully owned and operated by
the BIE by the Federal Government. That is Haskell in Kansas
and SIPI in New Mexico.
Please help us, through report language and good old arm
twisting, encourage the administration to find the resources to
transition its own institutions to a funding that is based on
an academic year schedule.
How can we expect our schools and colleges to create
miracles, deliver world-class educational programs, and prepare
the next generation of scientists, teachers, and entrepreneurs
if they have inadequate operating funding and can't even
develop a realistic budget every year? The answer is simple: We
cannot.
If we want excellence, let's at least give our Tribal
Colleges the tools they need to strive for normal. We will take
it from there. From normal, commonplace, ordinary, we will
create miracles. We will create transformative change. I know
because I see it happening every day at Tribal Colleges.
Just last week, I attended the Sitting Bull College
commencement on the Standing Rock Reservation. There at Sitting
Bull College I saw the future of Indian Country: hardworking,
passionate, proud, and committed to change. Fifty-three
graduates ready to enter the workforce to join the Standing
Rock government or Tribal council, many of whom are already
graduates of Sitting Bull College or students, or enter the
private sector and help grow the local economy.
Last week, Wiyaka Chasing Hawk earned a vocational
certificate to operate heavy equipment. He gave the student
benediction at the ceremony in his Lakota language asking for
patience and strength for all the graduates.
Bridget Eagle, a long-time employee at the college, earned
her degree in business administration. She was especially proud
because her daughter also earned a degree last week.
Then there is ShanLee Taken Alive LeBeau and Tonya Wouner,
both cum laude graduates, ready to educate young Lakotas with
their bachelor's degrees in elementary education.
Harriet Blackhoop is all set to help address the water
challenges on Standing Rock with her certification to be a
water technician.
These individual students together will transform Indian
Country.
Over the course of these hearings, the committee will hear
of the many challenges we face as Native people. These
challenges are real and serious. But as you listen to the
stories, please remember the Tribal College students for whom
no challenge is insurmountable. Our students, with their
resilient ability to look back and hear our stories and songs
have our history and language with them, and they have the
tools and the confidence to shape a better world on our own
land.
Tribal Colleges gave them that transformative power.
Whether it is through an opportunity for a healthier life
through innovative public/private--or community-based research
projects, like our NIH-funded NARCH grant; a more prosperous
community through public/private partnerships like our advanced
manufacturing initiative; or revitalizing Native language in
cultures through Tribal College established K-8 immersion
schools right on the college campus, Tribal Colleges are there
building a stronger future.
Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, thank you so
much--and staff--for your work to sustain and strengthen the
best experiment and experience in Tribal self-determination
ever, and one of the best investments in the Federal
Government, Tribal higher education. Thank you.
[The statement of Carrie Billy follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Great. Thank you. Thank you for your
testimony.
We have another Carrie, Carrie Whitlow, treasurer of the
Tribal Education Departments National Assembly. Welcome, and
you are recognized for 5 minutes.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
TRIBAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENTS NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
WITNESS
CARRIE F. WHITLOW, TREASURER
Ms. Whitlow. Good morning.
Chairman Calvert, Ranking Member McCollum, and members of
the subcommittee, my name is Carrie Whitlow, and I am an
enrolled Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribal member. I serve as the
executive director for the Department of Education Cheyenne-
Arapaho Tribes. I am also the treasurer of the Tribal Education
Departments National Assembly, TEDNA.
TEDNA is a national nonprofit membership organization for
the education departments/agencies, TEDs, of American Indian
and Alaska Native Tribes. Thank you for the opportunity to
speak today about funding for TEDs.
We appreciate this subcommittee's commitment to Indian
education for appropriating funds for the past 3 fiscal years
to support TEDs through the Department of the Interior's title
25, section 2020 grants, and for providing increased Federal
funding in fiscal year 2017.
This subcommittee clearly values the crucial role of TEDs
in providing support in coordinating education programs and
services to Native American students. To continue this vitally
important work, TEDNA respectfully requests $5 million to
support TEDs in the Department of the Interior, Environment,
and Related Agencies appropriations bill for fiscal year 2018.
Since the 1970s, Congress has stated a policy of supporting
local, Tribal control of many formally federally run programs
and services for Native Americans. Pursuant to this sound
Federal policy, in 1988, Congress authorized section 2020
funding for TEDs to coordinate and develop Tribal education
programs and services. However, it took more than 25 years for
funds to be appropriated.
There are currently 11 section 2020 TED grantees whose
vital work and initiatives under these grants are just getting
started. I would like to briefly highlight one example of the
important work the section 2020 grants fund from my more
extensive written testimony submitted.
The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in Minnesota TED serves
students attending eight State public schools as well as one
BIE-funded school. The Tribe is using its section 2020 grant to
develop a Tribal education code and a comprehensive education
plan that will be culturally specific to Leech Lake Band of
Ojibwe.
In this process, Leech Lake has actively sought the input
of the community, including students, parents, and caregivers
on the community's most important challenges and what is needed
to foster student success. Not surprisingly, many have voiced a
need to be culturally supported within their school. As one
student framed it, ``education not only in the sense of a
school setting but also our cultural ways and our language.''
The feedback from the local Tribal community has led to a
multi-pronged approach to policy and capacity building. This
includes gathering data on the fields postsecondary students
are graduating within, working with the Tribal workforce
development division to identify current and future workforce
needs, and coordinate with State agencies to ensure family
financial stability so that students, parents, and caregivers
can focus on education.
Activity funded by its section 2020 grant has strengthened
the Tribe's relationship with outside entities and was a
catalyst for Leech Lake's involvement in areas beyond its
grant. This capacity building is precisely what Congress
envisioned when it enacted section 2020 grants.
As my written testimony more fully explains, section 2020
grants enable TEDs to, one, support early education initiatives
and develop culturally relevant curriculum; two, increase
Tribal participation through providing coordination,
administrative support services, technical assistance to
schools, and education programs; and three, develop and enforce
Tribal educational codes, policies and standards applicable to
curriculum personnel, students, facilities, and support
programs.
These are core educational governance functions that are
most appropriately left to the local government closest to the
students being served: the Tribes. Section 2020 grants help
facilitate local Tribal control of education.
Thank you for the invitation to testify today. I ask that
my full written testimony be made part of the record, and I am
happy to answer any questions you may have.
[The statement of Carrie Whitlow follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you for your testimony, and all your
testimony.
Obviously, education is a high priority of this committee,
and I hear you on a new school construction. This entire
committee, we are very concerned about that, and we are trying
to figure out where to get the resources. Obviously, our demand
is a lot more than the $200 million you are asking for. It is
in the billions. And so we are going to hopefully come up with
a solution to this problem, but it is not for lack of trying.
Any other questions or comments?
Ms. McCollum.
Ms. McCollum. Just really briefly. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Hawley, there was a brief news clip when I was getting
ready to come in this morning talking about how
internationally, young adults--and they were using, I think,
10- to 18-year-olds--were living longer; in other words, they
were doing better.
Mr. Hawley. Right.
Ms. McCollum. Have we seen success with some of the
interventions, and do you have a list of interventions that are
working on suicide prevention? You gave one example, but if you
have more that you could give to the committee to make sure
that we are appropriately funding programs.
I am going to be really quick in what I am asking. It is
more for supplemental. Thanks for your appendix. It is great,
Ms. Evans.
But, Ms. Billy, do you have a copy of that to enter into
the record, what you were saying?
Ms. Evans. Yes.
Ms. McCollum. Do you know if you are able to come up with
the number of NIH grants that the Tribal institutions have been
using to supplement and enhance their program dollars? Because
some of the Federal grants that you also use have been zeroed
out, whether it is the arts or the humanities or the sciences.
If you have that information available, if you could share it
with the committee.
Ms. Billy. We can definitely do that. There is a great
program at NIH called the Native American Research Centers in
Health--something like that--that has just a little bit of
funding, but extremely helpful. So we can get you that list.
Mr. Calvert. By the way, we will introduce that report into
the record, and any other--report.
Ms. McCollum. Yeah. It is NEA and the humanities that have
been zeroed out, not NIH.
But Mr. Cole is fighting for every penny he can get. So any
arrows I can put in his quiver, I am ready to do, so thank you.
Ms. Billy. We will. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Speaking of arrows, Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. Well, it is always good. My friend stocks my
quiver pretty well every year.
So I just want to actually make a couple of comments just
to get them in on the record. Number one, thank all of you for
being here and thank you for your testimony. It is extremely
helpful to this committee.
And as my good friend from Minnesota suggested, there are
other pots of money out there that, it doesn't all come through
Interior. We have actually done pretty well in Labor-H the last
couple of years, and President Obama chose to pursue a number
of his youth initiatives through that particular thing.
And because we have got a much bigger jurisdiction, we have
got a bigger pot of money and we are able to do maybe a little
bit more. I think that is the big challenge this committee has,
is just to what our overall allocation is.
I mean, I don't know how we are ever--number one, I don't
know how we have done as much as we have in the last few years
in some ways, because all collectively, both education and
health, have been the top priorities on this subcommittee, and
honestly, have gotten more new money even in a shrinking budget
than anyplace else.
But unfortunately, the chairman does have to think about
how he runs the National Park System and the Bureau of Land
Management and a myriad of other things that are under our
jurisdiction with a fairly limited amount.
So there are two things I would like to suggest we figure
out, Mr. Chairman, how to pursue. One would be, on the health
programs, we are never going to catch up as long as this is all
discretionary spending. That is just a huge problem for us, and
I think it is really, from what I can determine, rooted in the
fact that the Indian Health Service predates Medicare and
Medicaid by many decades.
That is the way we used to do it. And so that was a system
functioning, and we saw the consequences of that, frankly,
during sequester, where because they were outside the mandatory
umbrella, they took cuts that no other health programs had to
take. And that really put extra burdens on Tribes.
So, one, we need to see if there is some way legislatively
that we can do something, and that takes care of a lot of our
issues with forward funding and a lot of other things.
The second one, honestly, I approach with some hesitation.
You and I have mentioned it occasionally. While I want to keep
the jurisdiction of this committee intact, on the other hand,
we just simply have more money at Labor-H, for instance, than
this committee does.
Indian Health Service--we have all the rest of Health for
Human Services except Indian Health Service. And the chairman
and I had the opportunity, we actually visited with Secretary
Price. You know, he has got a vast agency. I think this is sort
of new to him.
And when we took him the figures, which you mentioned, Mr.
Hawley, in your testimony, per capita Native American health
funding with everybody else, I think he was genuinely shocked.
He really did not know. And that is no disrespect to him. I
mean, there is not a Tribal presence to speak of in Georgia, so
it is not something he would particularly know about.
And he is certainly committed to work with us and try to
help us. But with the best will in the world, there is only so
much money in this budget. And, you know, we could probably
find an extra billion dollars in the Labor-H bill.
Mr. Calvert. We will move it over to your jurisdiction, as
long as they keep the money over here.
Mr. Cole. Yeah. Not all the--send the money with it, and I
will add money on top of it.
Mr. Calvert. I am just----
Mr. Cole. I just think there needs to be some way to look
at these things, because I think we are going to be,
perpetually, trying to catch up until we either get a larger
pot of money, particularly in the healthcare area, or we find
or--and maybe it is a combination--some way to transfer some of
these responsibilities into the mandatory program so that there
is a larger, again, pool of money.
I really worry, this year particularly, none of us know
what kind of allocations we are going to get. That is going to
be very difficult to continue the progress we have had, let
alone catch up on the very legitimate needs.
So let me just end with this: I invite any of you out
there, legislatively, if you have got some ideas about how to
proceed--I see Caitrin over there. She is never short of ideas
about how to proceed--and if we can work together. We need to
find some ways to just simply, honestly, get a bigger pot of
money for some of these programs.
Mr. Calvert. You are absolutely right, Chairman Cole. We
have talked about this, and to get healthcare over would be the
answer we would give to the nondiscretionary side of the
budget, which then we have to work together with your
jurisdiction.
Mr. Cole. Certainly. Yeah, if we can do some things. I am
just trying to figure out how to align this stuff in a way that
would put greater resources available that we could draw from
for these very legitimate needs.
I mean, when you cite your statistics of, life spans are
4.5 years less, and in some cases, I guess Montana, if I
remember correctly, 20 years less between White men and Native
American men, those are pretty stunning indictments of how we
have operated over many, many decades.
So it has to change, and I know we are trying. I know this
committee really in a very bipartisan way is trying. So I just
wanted to get those on the record, just those things to think
about, and to invite those of you that are testifying here
today, or those of you in the audience that hold significant
positions in Tribal governments and various national Tribal
advocacy groups, to kind of help us think through what kind of
framework we can approach it. Because I think we are stuck with
a $31 billion allocation or whatever. There is just no way to
rapidly make it out of poverty.
Mr. Calvert. If we are lucky.
Mr. Cole. If we are lucky. I am sorry. More than I meant to
say, but I will yield back and be more quiet the rest of the
day, but I wanted to get those things out.
Mr. Calvert. No, no. Always happy to hear from you.
Thanks to you and to this panel, and we appreciate your
attendance.
Mr. Calvert. Next, our second panel, if you will come on
up. National Council of Urban Indian Health, the Indian Health
Center of Santa Clara Valley, Riverside-San Bernardino County
Indian Health, and the California Rural Indian Health Board, so
some folks from back home. That is good.
Hi. How are you doing? Good to see you.
Welcome, and we appreciate you being here. And we will
start right away.
Ashley Tuomi. Is that close?
Ms. Tuomi. Close.
Mr. Calvert. Close, okay. That counts in government work.
Ms. Tuomi. Yep.
Mr. Calvert. National Council of Urban Indian Health. You
are recognized for 5 minutes.
---------- --
--------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF URBAN INDIAN HEALTH
WITNESS
ASHLEY TUOMI, NATIONAL PRESIDENT
Ms. Tuomi. Thank you.
My name is Ashley Tuomi. I am an enrolled member of the
Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde of Oregon, the CEO of
American Indian Health and Family Services of Southeast
Michigan, and the president of the National Council of Urban
Indian Health, or NCUIH.
On behalf of the 43 clinics and programs located in 22
States--one you will hear from in a few minutes, another one
later today--I am grateful for this opportunity to once again
testify before you guys today.
NCUIH represents culturally competent, quality healthcare
clinics in urban environments across the country. Currently,
over 70 percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives live in
these areas, often because of the Federal Government's
relocation policy or lack of economic opportunity.
Before I ask for additional funding for fiscal year 2018, I
must convey our profound appreciation for the funding increase
for urban Indian healthcare which was included in the fiscal
year 2017 bill, thanks to this subcommittee's strong
leadership. However, as you know, even with that increase, IHS
is still significantly underresourced and usually funded at
between 50 and 60 percent of need.
While healthcare spending per capita across the Nation was
more than $9,990 in 2016, IHS spending on healthcare per user
was just $2,834. As you know, Federal prison per capita
spending is higher than that of Indian Health Services.
Even with the much appreciated fiscal year 2017 increase,
IHS spends little more than 1 percent of its budget on the
provision of healthcare to urban Indians. In addition, IHS's
Office of Urban Indian Healthcare Programs acquired seven new
national institute for alcohol addiction programs over the past
year, bringing the number of programs and clinics from 36 to 43
with a minimum budget to work with.
Unlike IHS and Tribal facilities, urban Indian programs can
only draw from one line item for funding, the urban Indian line
item. Taking money from Tribes who are also underfunded is not
the answer, as Indian healthcare as a whole is in need of more
funding. Increasing the overall IHS funding and increasing the
urban line item is the solution.
Last year, I discussed the need for urban clinics to
receive 100 percent Federal Medical Assistance Percentage, or
FMAP. Urban Indian health programs were coming into existence
when the Social Security Act was amended in 1976 to include IHS
and Tribes. But that should not exclude urban programs,
considering they are providing the same services and care as
IHS and Tribes provide to Indians living on reservations.
The Federal Government's trust responsibility extends
beyond reservation borders, and failure to provide urban Indian
health programs with 100 percent FMAP harms clinics and
programs. Fulfilling this 100 percent FMAP would reaffirm trust
responsibility as well as encouraging States that may feel
compelled to restrict Medicaid eligibility. The cost to do
this, according to IHS, would be minimal at approximately $2.3
million per year.
One of the great programs that has helped tremendously is
the Special Diabetes Program for Indians. Grants made to help
this program have seen a reduction in diabetes cases, as well
as subsequent healthcare cost. This program expires on
September 30, and due to its success, we would like to see it
renewed.
SDPI supports over 330 diabetes education, treatment, and
prevention program in 35 States. The failure to reauthorize
this program would severely undermine the promising progress
UIHPs have made against diabetes.
American Indians and Alaska Natives are 1.6 times at higher
risk of diabetes than the general population. And over the past
11 years, this program has helped to reduce end-stage renal
disease by 43 percent. End-stage renal disease is a major
driver of healthcare cost, and this program will help to offset
costs not only in IHS but in Medicaid and Medicare as well.
IHS and Tribal providers, as well as other comparable
Federal health centers, are covered by Federal Tort Claim Act.
However, urban programs were left out and must purchase their
own malpractice insurance, which is costly.
Two large highly regarded UIHPs in Oklahoma, which are
represented by NCUIH, each pay $250,000 per year for
malpractice insurance. And while this may seem unrelated to
this subcommittee, it would allow programs and clinics to focus
their funding on helping patients and resources.
Finally, we would ask that a memorandum of understanding
between Indian Health Services and the Department of Veteran
Affairs be fully implemented. They have this agreement with
Tribes but not with urbans. Many American Indian and Alaska
Native vets prefer using urban health programs because of
accessibility and cultural reasons.
There are also times when the VAs experience high traffic,
and urban Indian programs can reduce this workload. After their
sacrifice for this country, it is our responsibility to make
sure that all of our vets are taken care of.
I appreciate the support that the subcommittee expressed
last year on the MOU when I testified, and I regret to report
that our efforts to work with the agencies involved have not
been successful, and that is why I am back again this year
asking for your help.
Thank you for your time today.
[The statement of Ashley Tuomi follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Next, Sonya Tetnowski, CEO of the Indian Health Center of
Santa Clara Valley.
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Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
INDIAN HEALTH CENTER OF SANTA CLARA VALLEY AND CALIFORNIA CONSORTIUM
FOR URBAN INDIAN HEALTH
WITNESS
SONYA TETNOWSKI, CEO
Ms. Tetnowski. Good morning, Chairman Calvert, Ranking
Member McCollum, and subcommittee members. My name is Sonya
Tetnowski. I am the chief executive officer for the Indian
Health Center of Santa Clara Valley, an Urban Indian Health
Program in San Jose, California. I am an enrolled member of the
Makah Tribe of Washington State. I would first like to thank
the subcommittee for holding Tribal witness hearing days.
In addition, IHC has received an IHS contract, which does
not allow for us to get as many resources as we need to run our
facility. As a 330 federally qualified health center, we are
certified by the AAAHC for ambulatory healthcare and by the
National Committee of Quality Assurance as a recognized patient
center medical home.
We provide medical, dental, mental health, traditional, and
community services to our over 22,000 clients throughout Santa
Clara County, where there are more than 26,000 American Indian
and Alaska Natives.
Of our clients, 89 percent are served by Medicaid, and 43
percent of our Medicaid clients are under the age of 18. Of all
the patients served by the IHC, 73 percent are under the
poverty line. Urban Indians are three times more likely to be
homeless than non-Indians.
And we do our best to adjust these social determinants of
health in our healthcare setting, but if 100 percent FMAP
eligibility was expanded to include Urban Indian Health
Programs, all IHC-eligible AI/ANs would be able to access the
Federal trust responsibility throughout the I/T/U system of
care, making I/T/U system of care whole.
Medicaid has given us the opportunity to serve our urban
AI/AN community, but our capacity and infrastructure are in
dire need of investment to accommodate this need. We have been
able to leverage our current resources to continue the work
with a measured return on investment.
Every change in funding, reduction, and program or change
in funding methodology has direct impact on patient care. I
would like to extend my appreciation for the UIHP assessment,
which increases understanding of our community's needs.
We seek the committee's consideration for followup measures
to this assessment, including funding formularies and clear
spending protocols to promote transparency and accountability,
measurable technical assistance so that the UIHPs can maximize
billing potential, leverage resources, and continue to manage
and monitor progress of our patients served.
Given the robust programs we have been able to develop as a
330, we could not continue to operate only on IHS funding. I
would like to voice my support for legislation like H.R. 292,
reintroduced by Congressman Young and Ruiz, which would exempt
programs serving AI/AN from sequestration. Decades of
unfulfilled Federal obligations have devastated Tribal
communities who continue to face persistent shortfalls and
overwhelming unmet need.
Federal support remains critical to ensuring the delivery
of essential healthcare services both on and off reservation
land. As this committee is aware, relocation played a
significant role in the health and well-being of the 723,000
American Indians and Alaska Natives in California, with a large
number of them being or descendants of those who were impacted
by the Indian Relocation Act of 1956.
The impacts of this are still far reaching, as San Jose was
an assigned relocation center, and just in the IHS facility
alone, we have identified 114 different Tribes served.
Urban Indians not only share the same health problems as
the general Indian population, their health problems are
exacerbated in terms of mental and physical hardship because of
the lack of family and traditional cultural environments. In
many cases, like mine, the Urban Indian Health Program is the
only American Indian program in the county. We have recognized
that for the urban Indian health youth that are at greater risk
of serious mental health, substance abuse problems, suicide,
increased gang activity, teen pregnancy, abuse, and neglect.
The IHC has worked diligently to address these ever-growing
needs, but we need steady support and continued funding to plan
for the seventh generation. We have developed a youth-guided,
family-driven approach to mental health and wellness.
We believe healthy individuals make up healthy communities,
but it is our responsibility to find ways to bring the support
to the community. Culturally competent care depends on us.
I would like to voice my support for Senator Cole's Indian
Health Care Improvement Act bill, H.R. 1369, which confirms the
Federal Government's duty to all AI/AN people making, permanent
the Urban Indian Health Program and recognizing AI/ANs can be
served where they reside.
We ask that while you consider appropriations for fiscal
year 2018, consider a $10 million increase for the I/T/U system
of care with a formulary that takes into account the entire AI/
AN population and steps to create network capacity and
infrastructure to meet the health needs wherever they are. As
long as you don't do this by divesting Tribal moneys but by
increasing the abilities of Tribes and Indian healthcare
providers to reach the AI/AN community where they are, rather
than forcing them into an already strained system, who also
does not have enough to serve the people they already have in
the system.
So your support will help make the Federal trust
responsibility whole and move us closer to a seamless I/T/U
system of care, where IHS-eligible AI/AN can access primary
care, behavioral health, and specialty care networks within the
four walls or beyond through 1115 and 1915(b) waivers. The U in
the I/T/U system of care needs your support to ensure that the
system remains strong and the investment in the system can
withstand any scrutiny.
As the chair of the California Consortium of Urban Indian
and Health Centers, representing 10 UIHOs in California
providing health services to 78,000 patients, we ask that you
increase the title V urban Indian line item so that it can
support the patients and continue the continuity of care we
have already established with our patients and reach those who
have not had the opportunity to receive those services yet.
Together we can stabilize the I/T/U system of care by
increasing the funding, increasing urban's opportunities
throughout legislation, and to help us--and to help you meet
the requirements of Public Law 94-437, title V, by providing
culturally competent care to every American Indian and Alaska
Native.
Thank you for your time today.
[The statement of Sonya Tetnowski follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.
Next, Mark Jensen, CEO of the Riverside-San Bernardino
Indian Health Service. Welcome.
---------- --
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Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
RIVERSIDE-SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY INDIAN HEALTH, INC.
WITNESS
MARK JENSEN, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Mr. Jensen. Thank you, and good morning, everyone.
I am Mark Jensen. I am the chief financial officer for
Riverside-San Bernardino County Indian Health. We are located
in southern California. I am substituting today for Teresa
Sanchez, our board president, who had a family emergency and
could not be here to testify.
We are thankful for the support of Congress and the funding
provided to improve the health status of our people. This is
why I was appointed by our consortium Tribes to bring to your
attention a tactic that has been recently used by the IHS to
stagnate growth in our budgets.
Mr. Calvert. Some water?
Mr. Jensen. Thank you. That would be great.
Starting in 2014 and continuing into 2015, 2016, and 2017,
the IHS has been redirecting new annual congressional moneys
from the recurring category to the nonrecurring category. The
IHS indicates it has been doing this to ensure that 100 percent
of contract support cost is funded.
But starting in 2016, contract support costs have their own
appropriation line. Yet this damaging practice continued on
needlessly into 2016, and now into 2017. The negative effect on
Indian health programs across the country is that our budgets
are not growing from year to year as they have been in previous
years. The result is flat budgets that do not keep pace with
inflation.
It is beginning to take a terrible toll. For our program,
budgets have only grown 2.3 percent over the past 4 years.
Meanwhile, the IHS national budget has been funded by Congress
at a much higher rate.
The bottom line is the new moneys are not trickling down to
where it is needed most, and that is the Tribal healthcare
programs. And IHS can now more easily manipulate these new
moneys by keeping it for themselves to fund their own special
projects.
These new moneys provided by Congress every year need to be
recurring moneys to help us keep up with the cost of inflation
and patient growth demands.
A second area of growing concern is purchase and referred
care funding, formerly known as contract health services. The
California Tribes are much different than Tribes in the other
49 States. The reason is that we don't have available to us
hospitals and specialty services, such as cardiologists and
neurologists.
Because of the lack of these expensive medical services,
the California Tribes have to go out into the community and
hire these hospital and specialty services, and it gets really
expensive.
We have asked the IHS to take these factors into their
calculation so as to make it more fair to the California
Tribes. The IHS has attempted a weak response to our strong
needs by placing a no-access-to-hospitals factor in tier 3 of
their tier 3 system. And according to their own tier system,
tiers 1 and 2 get funded every year. But in most years, there
is not enough purchase and referred care moneys to make it to
tier 3. The result is the California Tribes fall further behind
the rest of the Tribes in the country.
In conclusion, I am authorized by my consortium Tribes to
ask this committee to instruct IHS to do two things: First,
direct IHS to restore funding from the nonrecurring category to
the recurring category, starting with fiscal year 2014 and
moving perpetually forward. Recurring moneys grow the budgets,
and this is the method IHS has used historically to grow the
Tribal budgets. They need to get back to that method.
Second, direct IHS to move the no-access-to-hospitals
factor from tier 3 into tier 2, so as to ensure that California
Tribes get a fair increase every year. Two GAO reports have
also recommended similar changes to make the formula more
equitable.
I thank you for your time and consideration.
[The statement of Mark Jensen follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.
Next, Lisa Elgin, chairwoman of the California Rural Indian
Health Board. Welcome. You are recognized.
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Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
CALIFORNIA RURAL INDIAN HEALTH BOARD
WITNESS
LISA ELGIN, BOARD CHAIRWOMAN
Ms. Elgin. Good morning, chairman and committee members. My
name is Lisa Elgin, and I am the board chair for the California
Rural Indian Health Board, known as CRIHB. Thank you for giving
CRIHB the opportunity to testify about funding of the IHS.
As authorized by the Indian Self Determination, Education,
and Assistance Act, CRIHB is authorized to provide services to
Public Law 93-638 contracted Tribal health programs.
CRIHB was founded in 1969 to bring federally funded health
services back to Tribal communities in California. These
services were withdrawn as a result of Federal termination
practices that began in the 1950s. As a result of these
practices, many American Indians in rural areas had no access
to medical or dental services, and child mortality rates were
abysmal.
Since CRIHB was founded, California Tribes have built a
network of 32 Tribal health programs and has served more than
80,000 patients who are eligible for IHS services. While our
health has improved, our population is growing, and we still
face some of the worst health inequities of underserved
population in the U.S.
Here are our requests: First, we respectfully request that
the committee fully fund the IHS and ensure the California IHS
area receives equitable funding, regardless of overall funding
level received by IHS. It is evident from numerous GAO reports
and current funding levels that California does not receive
equitable funding, despite having more American Indian and
Alaska Natives and more federally recognized Tribes than any
other State.
During the last several years, bipartisan collaboration
between Congress and the administration has resulted in a
noticeable overall increase for the IHS budget since fiscal
year 2008.
Year after year, the Federal Government has failed by
drastically underfunding IHS far below the demonstrated level
need. The treaties entered into between the Tribes and
government establish a responsibility for the Federal
Government to provide healthcare to Tribes and American Indian
and Alaska Natives. The Federal Government has a legal, moral,
and trust responsibility to uphold its part of the treaties and
provide these services to serve our diverse population.
We request full funding of the IHS at $30.8 billion, phased
in over 12 years. This is the amount calculated by Tribal
leaders on the National Tribal Budget Formulation Workgroup of
IHS, representing all 12 IHS areas, to develop the national IHS
budget recommendations for fiscal 2018 budget year.
Second, we request the committee to do everything in its
power to have all government GAO recommendations related to IHS
services acted upon, particularly those recommendations
relating to ensuring equitable funding to underfunded areas
like California.
Third, we ask that the committee increase funding through
the IHS facilities M&I program to catch up with the amount of
facility space of the IHS facilities inventory, including
California IHS area. We respectfully request that the committee
fund the IHS facilities M&I funding in the amount of $105
million.
In California, this funding is critically important,
because despite many years of trying and more than 50
applications, no Tribal health clinic or hospital facility has
ever made it to the IHS facility construction priority list,
nor joint venture program. As a result, Tribes in California
have cobbled together funding and taken out loans in order to
build facilities for our growing population. This funding, if
increased, will go a long way to help maintain our facilities.
Fourth, we ask that the committee request a GAO report on
the IHS facilities construction priorities system, which have
been substantially revised since 1991.
Next, we ask your support for the SDPI program. This
authorization ends September 30, 2017, so swift congressional
action is needed for continuity in staffing, medical supplies,
prevention, and education services.
Next, we ask that you support the American Indian and
Alaska Native mental health substance abuse programs by fully
funding Methamphetamine Suicide Prevention Initiative and the
Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative. These programs are
currently funded through a competitive grant process that
creates barriers to care and requires Tribal programs to fight
against each other for critical funding.
We also thank you for your continued support of the
California Indian Youth Regional Treatment Programs. Your
support will assist the youth to strengthen communities.
We also ask that you require IHS to develop a new method to
purchase/referred funds to account for variations across IHS
areas. We have testified before on this, and we are still
asking for funding for actual need.
In conclusion, on behalf of California Rural Indian Health,
I ask that IHS appropriations be increased to fully fund its
services and programs over the next 12 years and that you hold
the IHS accountable for inequities in its funding distribution,
because it continues to impede our efforts to provide level of
care to our area.
Thank you.
[The statement of Lisa Elgin follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Thank
you all for your testimony.
Mr. Jensen, your testimony regarding nonrecurring to
recurring, we will look into that, find out what is going on.
And on this IHS construction, I know the infrastructure
throughout Indian Country throughout the United States is
woefully behind, and so just like Indian schools, we have a big
challenge ahead of us. And I am going to take up Mr. Cole on
his offer to work together to see if we can get some additional
dollars any way we can get it to take care of some of these
challenges. So I appreciate your testimony.
With that, Ms. McCollum.
Ms. McCollum. Mr. Chair, I concur with the remarks that you
made. And to add onto it, this programming and seamless
transition between veterans, Indian Health Services, and
getting services where and as needed is something that we
talked about when I was on the Veterans Affairs Committee and
that we have discussed here. I think we need to have the staff
figure out if we need to put report language in the VA bill as
well as in our bill to just get it done. A couple of us are on
DOD and watch them struggle with healthcare records between the
VA. So sometimes stronger medicine--to use maybe a bad phrase--
is needed to get things moving.
The diabetes funding has come up a couple of times, and I
am sure it will come up again. And if my memory serves me
correct, Mr. Cole, that is a combination of some different
funding. There is funding for the diabetes programs that goes
through Indian Health Service and there is funding in the CDC
and there is funding in the Affordable Care Act.
To your point earlier, it takes a pretty astute accountant,
both in Indian education and Indian health, as well in Indian
Tribal government accounts, to take all these different streams
of money and figure out how they make things whole.
But as we look forward, working to reauthorize and keep
this moving forward, an eight-point reduction in diabetes is
something to celebrate. I wanted to make sure I had the number
right, so I took a look at it--that is something that we need
to keep working towards. As cuts are made, we have to make sure
that as we are funding what we can here, there is not a cut
made some other place that throws everything out of balance.
So, Mr. Cole, I think we have got our homework cut out for
us on the Indian diabetes special project funding.
Mr. Calvert. Mr. Cole, you are recognized.
Mr. Cole. Very quickly, Mr. Chairman. I hope we do look at
some of these places. These urban Indian healthcare centers do
an amazing job, and that is where a lot of our population is.
Over the break, I actually went to the new facility in Oklahoma
City.--It was quite stunning. But they have done it by raising
the money themselves. I mean, basically had a capital campaign.
And we have got a much better facility. It is being more used.
But, again, we are not up to speed.
I wonder if we could urge--again, on these diabetes
programs--the appropriate committees of jurisdiction, which I
assume is Energy and Commerce, to do their job. I mean, they
need to reauthorize this program.
And I wonder if we could also urge again in our report
language this Indian health centers, urban health centers
having to pay malpractice insurance when nobody else does, in
the Federal system is unbelievable. That is a lot of money out
of pocket.
Your point was extremely well made. That is a function the
Federal Government ought to be paying themselves. Those
individual clinics shouldn't be having to do that, particularly
when, again, IHS facilities don't--nobody else does it. It is
just them. And that is something that we need to look at.
Mr. Calvert. Especially if they take the claims out of the
judgment account and not out of our budget.
Mr. Cole. Absolutely.
Mr. Calvert. Yeah.
Mr. Calvert. Well, thank you very much. I appreciate your
testimony.
We will move on to the next panel.
Thank you.
Next, the Cherokee Nation, the Muscogee Creek Nation, and
the Osage Minerals Council.
Mr. Cole. Osage.
Mr. Calvert. Osage.
That is why I have Tom here: to keep me straight.
I got Cherokee right.
Mr. Cole. Well, you are one.
Mr. Calvert. That is right. Everybody have a seat.
We thank you for coming out this morning. First, we will
recognize Bill John Baker, the Principal Chief of the Cherokee
Nation.
Welcome.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
CHEROKEE NATION
WITNESS
BILL JOHN BAKER, PRINCIPAL CHIEF
Mr. Baker. Chairman Calvert, Ranking Member McCollum, and
distinguished members of the subcommittee, Osiyo.
I am Bill John Baker, Principal Chief of the Cherokee
Nation, our country's largest Native American Tribe. I
appreciate the opportunity to testify before you this morning.
We are more than 350,000 Tribal citizens and have long been a
driving force in the economy of our State. We employ over
11,000 people and support 18,000 jobs. Our economic impact on
northeastern Oklahoma for 2016 alone exceeds over $2 billion.
We are a stabilizing force in our region.
Early this year, we broke ground on a $200 million,
470,000-square-foot health center, and in 2019, this facility
will be the largest health center in Indian Country. I want to
thank this subcommittee who had such a large role in making
this possible in opening up the joint venture for his.
The Cherokee Nation is making a difference for our citizens
and for Oklahoma, and this is why the proposed funding cuts in
the President's fiscal year 2018 budget concern me. The
blueprint calls for an 18-percent cut to the Department of
Health and Human Services. Such drastic cuts to his would have
a lasting impact on our healthcare system. Jobs would be lost.
Patient wait times would increase. We estimate that nearly
92,000 patients would go unseen, putting their health and lives
at risk.
The blueprint also calls for a 12-percent cut to the
Department of Interior. This cut to Interior would be unfair to
Cherokee students. At least 2000 would go unserved. The drama,
band, and robotics programs at our BIA school we operate would
be eliminated. It would lead to the closure of daycare centers,
reduced staff and hours at nutrition sites, and the number of
citizens that we serve.
As you work through the appropriations process, I urge you
to reject any cuts to his, BIA, BIE, and other Tribal accounts.
I applaud the subcommittee for highlighting BIE school
construction and repair in recent years.
Last year, I called for the establishment of a BIE program
equivalent to the his joint venture program. I repeat that
request today. Sequoyah High School requires immediate
assistance. Because of the great cost to replace these aging
facilities, it is unlikely we will receive BIE funding. We need
a solution. If given the opportunity to assume school
construction and repairs in exchange for fixed operating and
maintenance costs, we could alleviate some of the massive
backlog. We must embrace innovative solutions to school
construction.
I would also like to update you on an issue I raised 2
years ago. We continue to have a stalemate with the Interior
and the Interior Business Center over their shift in policy
regarding costs related to Tribal enrollment activities and
calculating our indirect cost rate. This issue has caused a
serious delay in determining our indirect cost rate for fiscal
year 2017. The House Appropriations Committee included language
on this matter in fiscal year 2016. The language directed the
Interior to report to the subcommittee on its justification for
this change and how it would apply to Tribal enrollment
activities.
Your directive has been ignored. Our discussions are moving
in the wrong direction. Verifying Tribal citizenship and
preventing fraud is crucial to eligibility for many of the
Federal programs we administer. For decades, these costs have
been allowed. We ask for your assistance to ensure that the
long-lasting policies which properly allowed such costs remain
in effect.
Finally, we continue to support full funding for his and
BIA contract support costs and thank the subcommittee to fully
fund contract support cost without jeopardizing program
funding. Failure to fund these costs impedes our ability to
meet the needs of Cherokees.
We respectfully urge the subcommittee to continue employing
a separate and indefinite appropriation. Thank you for granting
me this opportunity today.
[The statement of Bill John Baker follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, Chief. Thank you for your
testimony.
Next, James R. Floyd, Principal Chief, Muscogee Creek
Nation.
Sorry, Tom.
You are recognized for 5 minutes.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
MUSCOGEE CREEK NATION
WITNESS
JAMES R. FLOYD, PRINCIPAL CHIEF
Mr. Floyd. Thank you, Chairman Calvert.
Good morning, everyone. Congressman Cole, Congresswoman
McCollum, good to see you again.
Muscogee Creek Nation, I am James Floyd, Principal Chief,
speaking today on behalf of the more than 82,000 members of the
Muscogee Creek Nation, neighboring Tribe of the Cherokee
Nation, and I support many of the points that were brought out
in previous testimony.
I would like to begin my remarks this morning to, first of
all, talk about the need for regular order in the budget
process. As we go into fiscal year 2018, we need to make sure
that Congress does follow the regular order process in getting
the appropriation bills enacted. We have worked since 2015 with
continuing resolutions.
Mr. Calvert. It is time to make that change, sir.
Mr. Floyd. Along with that, I think it is time that we
again talk about mandatory funding versus just the
discretionary that we have endured since inception. I guess I
can put it that way. I know my whole entire career, more than
30-some-odd years, we have dealt with discretionary funds. So,
having been a senior executive within the Department of
Veterans Affairs, I guess I can say I enjoyed the 2-year
funding and the advanced funding and the mandatory funding in
terms of being an executive and managing healthcare systems for
the VA. That was very crucial in us making sure that we did not
have stops in service delivery to our veterans, and I think the
same thing should occur with our Indian people. We all know
about the treaty and trust obligations, and I think this would
fulfill that. And I would be glad to assist in any way possible
with doing so. But I think that it is imperative that this year
we address that.
I would also suggest that we increase funding to expand the
joint venture program. Chief Baker talked about that. We
presently have a joint venture program in Eufaula, Oklahoma,
one of the highest unemployment counties in the State of
Oklahoma, exceeding 10 percent. The difference that makes: We
have invested in this particular joint venture $30 million of
our funds; we are moving from a 5,000-square-foot clinic to a
70,000-square-foot clinic. That 5,000-square-foot clinic was
built in the late 1960s. Facilities within the Muscogee Creek
Nation include three State-licensed hospitals and six
outpatient clinics. The average age of our facilities is 40
years old. So they all need replacing. We have two right now
that need to be placed in the joint venture program. So I think
expanding that provides that we can continue to keep up with
adequate facilities for the safety of the staff, for the
provision of care, and improvement of quality to our patients.
Most recently, the Tribe itself invested $90 million of our
own money to rebuild a hospital in Okemah which was originally
built in 1948. We are just now going to be opening that in
October. So you can see that model of kind of desperation
funding of these facilities is just not the way to go. So I
think the expansion of the joint venture program would go a
long way toward systematically replacing aging facilities and
have quality facilities that we need, and so I strongly support
that.
So we request an increase in funding for hospitals and
clinics as we go into 2018--thank you, sir--and we understand--
we haven't clearly seen all the proposed reductions but expect
that to be 12 to 18 percent. And, you know, having endured
continuing resolutions for previous years, that in itself
brought cuts to the program. So we don't really want to see
proposed further cuts that would just continue to reduce the
services that we provide. And so we ask that you fully fund
hospitals and clinics, line items, so we can provide those
basic services that our patients need.
I would also like to speak about the Self-Governance
Program and talk about that, that we do two things: one, expand
that to other services and programs within the Department of
Health and Human Services. There are programs in the Health and
Human Services Department that go through States and are
offered to the Tribe in terms of grants. That really needs to
be looked at in terms of those being able to be compacted from
the Department of Health and Human Services directly to the
Tribes.
And, finally, I just wanted to talk about real estate trust
services and say that, you know, we need to continue to look at
that and continue to move forward with fee-to-trust processes,
sir.
Thank you, very much, for your time this morning.
[The statement of James R. Floyd follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.
Next, Cynthia Boone, council member of the Osage Minerals
Council.
---------- --
--------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
OSAGE MINERALS COUNCIL
WITNESS
CYNTHIA BOONE, COUNCIL MEMBER
Ms. Boone. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the
subcommittee. My name is Cynthia Boone. I am a member of the
Osage Minerals Council. The Osage Minerals Council has eight
members. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Our Osage Reservation is unique in all of Indian Country.
First, the Osage purchased our 1.5-million-acre reservation in
1883 for about a million dollars. Second, the Osage Minerals
Council, not the Osage Nation, is responsible for developing
and protecting the Osage Minerals Estate. The Osage Minerals
Council was given this opportunity under a 1906 act of Congress
and the Osage Nation Constitution.
Development of oil on our reservation goes all the way back
to the 1890s, more than a hundred years ago and before the
allotment of our reservation in 1906. As you know, under
allotment, Congress divided up Indian lands and provided small
parcels to individual members of the Tribe. In our case,
Congress allotted the surface lands but not the minerals.
Congress reserved our entire Minerals Estate for the benefit of
all members on the Tribal rolls at that time.
Congress called our members on the rolls at that time
headright owners. Each headright owner had one share of
royalties from the production of oil and gas in the Osage
Minerals Estate. Today, many of those headright interests are
fractionated.
The Osage Minerals Estate has been producing oil since
1896, making it one of the oldest fields in the United States.
Our Minerals Estate fields still contains proven reserves. In
2015, it was estimated that headright owners would receive
about $13.6 billion in royalties from 2012 to 2017. That is
about a billion dollars a year. Despite our success, the Osage
Minerals Council faces many of the same challenges as other
energy-producing Tribes. We also face some challenges that are
unique to the Osage.
First, like other Tribes, energy production on our lands is
limited by a lack of staff, expertise, and resources in the
Bureau of Indian Affairs agency offices. Without the BIA staff
or expertise to keep up with the energy industry, we are not
able to fully develop our resources to benefit the Osage
headright owners. For example, we estimate that the BIA
averages more than a year just to approve a single workover
permit. A workover permit only approves maintenance for an
existing oil and gas well. You can imagine the delays for
permitting a brandnew well. The BIA needs far more than the $5
million or so budgeted in the past to manage our oil and gas
development across Indian Country. BIA needs 10 times that
amount. When you compare the BIA's budget to the $187 million
budget that the BLN budget has for oil and gas development on
Federal lands, it is no wonder that the Government
Accountability Office recently determined that the BIA
management hinders Indian energy development and needs sweeping
exchanges.
Second, unlike other Tribes, the 1906 Allotment Act creates
special requirements for leasing on our land. For example,
leasing on the Osage Minerals Estate is specifically excluded
from the Indian Mineral Leasing Act. Instead, the Interior
follows Osage-specific regulations, and the BIA is the only
agency involved in approving our oil and gas permits in our
Minerals Estate.
The BIA does not get any help from BLM or the Office of
Natural Resources Revenue like other Indian reservations. The
Osage Minerals Council also has unique management
responsibilities, but our funding is limited as well. We
currently manage the estate with an annual drawdown from
royalties that should be distributed to the Osage headright
owners. This is an unfair burden on our headright owners, and
there is not enough funding for effective management of the
estate.
Meanwhile, every year since 1921, the State of Oklahoma has
collected a 5-percent gross production tax from our royalties.
In many years, the tax generated is in excess of $5 million for
the State but provides no benefits to the Osage Nation. With
this impact from State taxes and many responsibilities for
managing the Osage Minerals Estate, we respectfully request
that the subcommittee provide direct funding to the Osage
Minerals Council to help us hire the staff we need to manage
the estate and promote drilling and production.
As highlighted in our written testimony, we need about $2
million in funding to employ experienced staff, create a
digital database to monitor well production and environmental
hazards, and about $5 million in funding is needed to plug
abandoned wells. Just as an example, BIA found roughly 1,400
wells for plugging. Each of these wells cost between $10,000 to
over $100,000 to properly plug and abandon. These are old, open
wells, and they are a hazard to all.
Even worse, the BIA has not complied with environmental
review requirements for years. This subjects the United States
and the Osage Minerals Council and Osage leases to never-ending
litigation and kills development of new wells.
We need to turn this situation around. Oil and gas
production at Osage Minerals Estate supports thousands of jobs
and provides badly needed economic development.
We respectfully request that you increase the BIA's
national energy budget, and we request $4 million in direct
funding for the Osage Minerals Council so that we can bring
management of the Osage Minerals Estate into the 21st century.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I am
available to answer any questions.
[The statement of Cynthia Boone follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. I
appreciate that.
Chief Baker, your testimony, obviously, you struck a chord
when you talked about the 2018 budget. You are not the only one
that is worried about it. I think that you will find a choir to
sing to around here. But we are all anxious to see what the
budget looks like when it comes around on May 22. So we will
see what happens.
But we will need all of your help, I suspect, when that
occurs. And, certainly, we will take a look at this issue with
indirect cost rate and find out why our directive was ignored.
That is not a good thing. I will certainly follow up on that.
And as far as the mandatory spending side, we were talking
about that earlier today, Chief Floyd. And so Chairman Cole and
I will be working on that together with his committee, and I
hope we can come to some kind of solution to that problem.
And energy production in the United States is important. We
will certainly look at that. And we have challenges, not just
in Indian Country, but throughout the United States, as far as
getting these permits done in an orderly fashion.
Ms. Boone. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. With that, Ms. McCollum, you are recognized.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Once again, I think you
summarized some of the issues really well.
Ms. Boone, one of the challenges that we were hearing back
several years ago when we were doing public witnesses is that
people were being hired out of the Bureau to work in the
private sector because they could make so much more money. That
was creating this ever cycling spindown in staff shortage. I
know things have changed a little bit in the market, but it
sounds like the staffing levels haven't improved. So I know we
will take a close look at that.
And then, gentlemen, both of your testimony reflects some
of the earlier testimony on Tribal colleges and students
attending Tribal colleges. There is a huge gap in what those
students have, whether it is for tuition dollars, boarding
dollars, and that. It is really making the cost of college a
real struggle.
I have had the opportunity to speak to students working on
their advanced education after finishing high school not only
from Minnesota, but from around the country. And this country
cannot afford to leave anybody behind who wants to enter the
workforce and be part of the future of this country. So I want
to understand some of this funding gap better because they get
hit in a couple of different ways beyond what other college
students do. And quite often these young adults are young
parents too, trying to balance work life and home life.
I am picking this up more as a theme this year in all the
testimony. So I thank you both for bringing that forward.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. Thank you very much.
I want to begin by pointing out that Chief Baker was much
too diplomatic to point out that this hospital he is building
has become the largest American built, surpassing the Chickasaw
hospital. So I have to say this is a great program. And our
Tribes have really, really used these, I think, exceptionally
well. And, frankly, it is a great boon to all of Indian Country
because this is our money going into building these facilities
we are operating, basically. But it takes a burden off the
Federal Government and puts it on the Tribe. And that, frankly,
then frees up other money to go to Tribes that are not as
fortunate, quite frankly, in terms of being able to afford the
cost of facilities. So it is a big win for the Federal taxpayer
for sure and for Indian Country. And it is a program we ought
to continue to fund.
But these Tribes are to really be commended because they
are taking an enormous responsibility upon themselves and using
their own resources in ways that, again, help those that are a
lot less fortunate.
I, too, want to just echo my concerns about the budget cut
proposals but also suggest that we look at our own budget
committee because that is where those decisions are going to
ultimately be made. I mean, the President's proposal is just
that: It is a proposal. And I sit on that committee. And the
tendency will be--the President wants to do some things that I
agree with very much. I mean, we have not adequately funded
defense. He wants to increase that. I think that is a necessary
thing to do. And if you want to offset the cost, I understand
that. But you need to look over the entire budget, not just
focus on the nondefense discretionary. And I am afraid that is
what we will do.
And if we basically adopt the administration proposals on
defense without raising--and my friend here will know exactly
what this is--the 302(a), which is the total discretionary
spending line, then these cuts will come. And they won't come
in exactly the manner forecast, but if all of a sudden my
friend the chairman's allocation falls dramatically, he is
going to have to do the best they can. So it is what Congress
does on the budget, honestly, more than what the President
proposes that is really the key. And we are having those
debates and discussions.
I don't think that that budget will be out until June. So I
think making the points in May, when the President's budget
comes out, are important. Now, again, to be fair, particularly
in the area of Indian health, the chairman and I both visited
with Secretary Price about this is not one of the areas that
ought to be suffering these kinds of cuts. And the
administration, in its own budget, said this would be a
priority item, Indian healthcare service. He didn't tell us
exactly what that meant. And I suppose we will have a fuller
disclosure.
But those are things that, I mean, an already underfunded
system just can't afford. There is no way we can have cuts of
that magnitude without seeing dramatic impact in Indian Country
and health outcomes as well.
So I appreciate all of you highlighting that. And this
mineral issue, as Ms. Boone knows, is particularly not only in
Osage Country. It is difficult for Utes. It is difficult for
the Three Affiliated Tribes. But this unique relationship that
they have with the BIA really does hamper the funding issues
even beyond what we see, you know, in the other areas because
the BLM just has a lot larger budget. And we ought to look to
see if there is some way--and it would probably require a
legislative action--to at least make those resources available
in Osage Country as well.
I mean, this is one of those leftover type situations--we
have so many--of which, in Indian Country, that are due to very
unique historical circumstances. It has been a very mixed
blessing for the Osage, to say the least, as my friend would
know. But it is something that ought to be able to be solved.
They ought to have access to a larger pool of money. And I
don't know why the BLM shouldn't be--their resources, at
least--available for some of these kind of issues because it
really--as Ms. Boone pointed out, these are old fields, and we
are making it so hard to drill. These don't produce a lot of
oil. Most of these are stripper wells, under 10 barrels, a lot
of them under 5, and some of them one and 2, literally. So,
when it is taking a year to get a permit to rework a well that
is only producing----
Mr. Calvert. Why doesn't the BIA just contract that out to
the BLM since they are more apt----
Mr. Cole. That is something we ought to explore.
Mr. Calvert. They are more apt to do that. It would
probably be more logical for them to----
Mr. Cole. But there needs to be some way. Again, the Osage
situation is very unique in Indian Country. But there has got
to be a better way to administer this thing than what we are
doing now.
Mr. Calvert. Sure.
Mr. Cole. Anyway, I yield back. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
And thank you all for your testimony. We appreciate you
being here today.
Next up is Valorie Walters, Executive Officer and Trustee
of the Chickasaw Nation--I got that one right----
Mr. Cole. You got that one right.
Mr. Calvert [continuing]. And Oklahoma Humanities Council.
Jennifer L. Johnson, Ph.D. Student, University of Oklahoma,
Spoken Creek Documentation Project.
Good morning. Thanks for coming.
Without any further ado, I am going to recognize Valorie
Walters with the Chickasaw Nation.
Welcome.
---------- --
--------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
CHICKASAW NATION AND OKLAHOMA HUMANITIES COUNCIL
WITNESS
VALORIE WALTERS, EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND TRUSTEE
Ms. Walters. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the
subcommittee. Thank you all so much for allowing me to testify
today. I am here to talk with you about the Oklahoma Humanities
Council and also how they help tell the Native story as well as
those across the U.S.
The programs within the humanities cover all areas, from
history, philosophy, literature, and ethics. And the programs
themselves include everything from museum exhibits to
literature sessions to films. In these stories or in these
programs, we are able to share the importance of the Native
American history all across the United States, which, as we all
know, is very important to all of us as Americans.
Our audience for the Oklahoma Humanities includes everyone.
We truly believe that the Humanities Council or that the
humanities is something for everyone--of all ages, all races,
all income levels. It is really for everyone.
I want to talk to you a little bit about some of the
programs that happen in Oklahoma. We have supported Symposium
on the American Indian, which is a week-long symposium at the
Northeastern State University where Tribal members and
humanities scholars share their knowledge of American Indian
contributions in art, literature, and sustaining traditional
culture. Along with that, we have also helped in ``An
Everlasting Fire: The Seminoles of Oklahoma,'' where we
actually helped support them in redesigning their gallery
through artwork, photos, audio, and video recordings.
Throughout the State, we actually help with, also,
festivals that take place. One is the soft language department
of the Sac and Fox Nation where we supported them as they put
on an Algonquin cultural and language festival and brought
together Tribes and different organizations to help celebrate
their history and culture.
We have helped with the Cherokee National Historical
Society's Heritage Center Outreach Educational Program. And
this is a cross-cultural teaching where they expanded over 14
counties and actually reached 15,000 people in sharing their
history, their culture, their arts, everything for the Cherokee
people.
Ms. Walters. We worked with the Metro Caddo Cultural Club
in Norman, Oklahoma, where they have received several grants in
participating their Caddo culture, celebrating that through
traditional dances and demonstrations of foodways. Now, this
also actually leads into a bigger discussion about diabetes and
the impact that has on Native Americans.
In Oklahoma, we have also worked for different films or
producing different films. We work with curriculum to profile
Native Oklahoma women.
We have worked with the National Cowboy & Western Heritage
Center to help fund a wonderful exhibit: ``Power and Prestige:
Headdresses of the American Plains.''
So, in 2015, when the NEH offered State humanities funding
for programs about veterans, Oklahoma partnered with OETA and
some Tribes to produce a film called ``Native Oklahoma: Vietnam
Veterans.'' And it was a 30-minute documentary that was shared
with all Oklahomans.
We also, as part of the Chickasaw Nation, have partnered
with the Oklahoma Humanities to bring about some funding to
help with our literature program called ``Let's Talk About
It,'' which is a free and open program to folks all across
Oklahoma in various public libraries.
In other States, whenever we talk about sharing the Native
stories, we are talking about various States across the U.S.:
Alabama, Colorado, South Dakota, Texas focus on Native American
traditions in their States. Colorado's institutes on the
Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribe were planned with the Tribe's input
and include Tribal presenters.
Texas supported the Caddo Traditions Teachers' Workshops
and a 2-day program allowing teachers the opportunity to meet
with Tribal members and scholars.
We do all kinds of programs within the humanities. We do
films. We do programs for reading, some of the documentary
films. We have done a Native Hawaiian where it featured a 60-
minute documentary called ``Hawaiian Masterpieces: Ka Hana
Kapa,'' showcasing the art and techniques of master
practitioners used by ancient Hawaiians.
Indiana actually produced a film focused on the Fall Creek
massacre and its aftermath.
Rhode Island's Council for the Humanities funded two
documentaries, one that explored New England Native identity
from the point of view of language preservation and loss, and
another one on King Philip's War and its effect on the Native
people.
Now, as I talked about films, we also do festivals, which
include film festivals as well. The festivals funded--the Idaho
Humanities Council funded a Native American film series
featuring five monthly documentary films by Native Americans.
The South Dakota Festival of Books annually features a history
and tribal writing track with American Indian humanities
scholars and authors. Significant Tribal voices have included
people like Sherman Alexie to help tell the stories.
We support exhibits to help tell the Native American story.
Throughout, we have councils in Indiana, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Texas, and South Carolina, who have all funded
exhibits that help tell the Native American stories.
The Michigan Humanities Council partnered with local groups
to bring an interpretive highway exhibit described as a last
Potawatomi homestead.
In New Jersey, funding from the New Jersey Council for the
Humanities enabled the reinstallation of the Newark Museum's
Native American collection in a new location.
Some of our other programs that help tell the Native
American story include festivals, history days, curriculum,
always that we help.
So, in conclusion, I just want to say, first of all, thank
you for your time. We do certainly appreciate everything that
you all do, and we truly believe that the humanities help tell
the Native story. And we thank you for all of that.
[The statement of Valorie Walters follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.
Next, Jennifer Johnson, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA--SPOKEN CREEK DOCUMENTATION PROJECT
WITNESS
JENNIFER L. JOHNSON, PH.D. STUDENT
Ms. Johnson. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member McCollum, and
members of the subcommittee, Estonko.
My name is Jennifer Johnson, and I am a citizen of The
Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, and a Ph.D. student in the College
of Education at the University of Oklahoma. I am here today to
testify in support of the National Endowment for the
Humanities.
I grew up in a rural community of Konawa, Oklahoma. My
community is nestled within the Tribal boundaries of the
Seminole Nation, a Tribe with approximately 18,000 citizens
located in the south-central portion of the State. Although my
community is small, it is rich in heritage.
Within my family, my grandmother was a monolingual speaker
of the Maskoke language. She didn't speak English at all. My
aunts and uncles were required to attend boarding schools in
which they acquired the English language. The generation that
precedes me is bilingual in Maskoke and in English. It is my
generation that is not, and it is a loss that I feel deeply
today.
When my generation was born, we were spoken to in English.
Our parents didn't want us to struggle in school as they had. I
can still remember my aunt telling me about how she was forced
to stand with her nose in the middle of a circle in the wall
because she had been caught speaking Maskoke in school. School
language policy directly affected my family's use of the
Maskoke language. And when my grandmother passed away, I began
to hear the language less and less.
My testimony today is to highlight the impact of the NEH-
supported Spoken Creek Documentation Project, which is an
endangered Muskogean language originally spoken in the
Southeastern United States. It is now spoken by the Seminole
and the Muscogee Creek Nations in Oklahoma and the Seminole
Tribe of Florida.
The project is part of the Documenting Endangered Languages
Program, which is a partnership between the NEH and the
National Science Foundation to develop an advanced knowledge
concerning indigenous languages and human languages. The
project builds on existing collaboration between the College of
William and Mary and the Seminole Nation to provide the first
documentation of Spoken Creek, or Maskoke as we call it.
The goal is to produce 24 hours of audiovisual recordings,
transcriptions, and translations into English, and train
students in language documentation methods. We have been
fortunate to include a round table of military veterans as
participants in the interviews. These veterans served in
Bosnia, Korea, Vietnam, and World War II. The stories and life
lessons that they have shared through our language is
invaluable to the repository of knowledge of American history.
We were reminded of the importance of the Maskoke language
in service to the United States when, in November of 2013, our
esteemed elder, the late Mr. Edmond Andrew Harjo, was presented
with the Congressional Gold Medal for his service as a code
talker in World War II. The Maskoke language was one of a few
indigenous languages utilized as military code that could not
be broken.
Within the Seminole Nation, I estimate there are
approximately 200 first-language fluent speakers remaining.
Unlike other world languages, such as Spanish, Italian, and
French, the Maskoke language is only spoken in the United
States. There is nowhere else in the world that you can travel
to hear it spoken in its natural state. According to
information from the 2010 national census, there are only 169
indigenous languages still spoken, and of that number, only 5.4
percent were spoken across all ages. However, it should be
noted that those census figures do not give us a clear picture
of what degree of fluency those languages are spoken.
With the commencement of the next census in the next 3
years, I expect the number of indigenous languages spoken will
decrease significantly as the number of first-language speakers
have passed on. So the work that we are doing today is
important as our languages within the United States are unique
to the heritage of our country. Yet their very existence is
fragile. I know that, within my lifetime, I will bear witness
to seeing the last of our first-language speakers go, and this
project has provided such vital assistance in not only
documenting the Maskoke language, but also providing us with
such a concise understanding of American history.
The information I presented is dire, but I can testify to
the positive correlations that this NEH-supported project has
had within my State. I have seen second-language learners who
are committed to the revitalization of Maskoke. These learners
include a young teacher who goes to work each day teaching
classes of Oklahoma high school students the Maskoke language
in a local public school. These students then achieve their
world language requirement by studying our language. School
curriculum has been developed to include the project videos,
and it is through these experiences that I have found hope for
our language.
This project is one of the many that have been funded by
support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Through
its Documenting Endangered Languages program, the endowment has
been a leader in providing support to endangered languages
around the world, especially indigenous languages and cultures
that are unique to this country. Since 2004, NEH has provided
nearly $40 million in funding to these efforts. To ensure that
programs and projects such as these, vital to the heritage of
the United States, I ask you to provide $155 million for the
National Endowment for the Humanities for fiscal year 2018.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today.
Mvto.
[The statement of Jennifer L. Johnson follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
And thank you both for your testimony.
You will find that we all support the National Endowment
for the Humanities. As a matter of fact, we were able to plus-
up that budget slightly this year, both the National Endowment
for the Arts and National Endowment for Humanities with all of
our support, and hopefully we are able to maintain that support
and that funding level. We will see as this budget year
continues. But we are going to need your assistance in that.
I think it is important to point out what this means to
Native programs throughout the United States. The humanities is
extremely important, as this history may slip us by a little
bit. We need to make sure we maintain that. So I share your
concern about that, especially Native languages. Most of the
Native languages, for instance, in California, are gone. So
very few of them are left.
Ms. McCollum.
Ms. McCollum. Well, thank you. I think this just goes to
show how impactful the humanities and the arts are to each and
every one of us, but in particular at preserving something that
is special to each and every one of us and very special to the
different Tribal Nations in Indian Country. The chairman from
Red Lake is going to come up shortly. We had a very powerful,
impactful display at the Minnesota Historical Society on the
Sioux uprising. And watching, as a history teacher, as a person
from Minnesota, as a person who works on Tribal issues--I live
a couple blocks away, so I stop in there quite often. Watching
immigrants from the Hmong community and from the Somali
community as well as people who are traveling on vacation,
going through and learning of the courage of some of the Tribal
people who took in settlers who thought their lives were
threatened as well as settlers who took in Native American
children from the surrounding community whose parents entrusted
them with their care was a story that I had never heard of the
Sioux uprising.
So it is very, very important that we share our history
because that is how we learn about each other and learn not to
make mistakes.
Thank you. You have so many issues in Indian Country, but
thank you for coming and reminding us all how important it is
to share our stories.
Thank you.
Ms. Walters. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. I just want to make a couple of points. You know,
if you are from Oklahoma, we have more endangered languages,
literally, than anyplace else in the world. And that is
actually a Federal Government statement.
But our Tribes have really done some remarkable things. And
I want to first point out that if you guys haven't had a chance
to see it--and I actually talked to Governor Anoatubby about
this--the Choctaws have this amazing program where they have
gathered their first--these are all first-language speakers.
And they linked up the public school districts with
telecommunication thing. And they literally bring classes into
the public schools, over a hundred different schools in their
territory. And you can come in--and I have watched these things
in action--with lively students, you know, learning the
language. And it meets their language requirement, as you
suggested. And I think even the University of Paris has picked
this up. I have never seen a center quite like it. A lot of us
struggle with different ways to do it. But that way you
concentrate people that really are excellent instructors in one
site. But you connect them to a territory where there is a
broader interest in the language, and a lot of people, you
know, in danger of losing their language that finally have an
opportunity, in a public school setting, to recapture that.
And I would be remiss not to thank my friend who works with
my Tribe. Our Tribe really has done some remarkable things. I
don't know very many other Tribes that run their own press. We
literally print histories of our Tribe and significant figures
in it.
And, someday, when we are done competing in film festivals,
I will get you guys a copy of the film of my Great Aunt Te Ata,
which has, Graham Greene in it, you know, from ``Dances with
Wolves.'' It is unbelievable. And you would love her. I mean,
she was your kind of person, Betty.
And we have done that with the first woman aviator, Pearl
Scott, who was a very famous figure. So it is amazing how much
this history is being recaptured by Tribes when they have the
means. You know, again, and that is why the National Endowment
of the Humanities is such an enormously important agency
because not every Tribe has the means. And so just focusing,
you know, this attention on this really has helped us uncover a
lot of parts of history that I think the average Americans have
forgotten or, frankly, in some cases, have, honestly, been
actively suppressed. But they ought to be remembered.
And I commend both of you coming here. Most of the people
who come and testify, appropriately, come and testify here
about the BIA or the, you know, Indian Health Service. But for
each of you to be here testifying for something that literally
is beyond just Indian Country--obviously, every American
benefits from--just says a lot about both of you and,
obviously, the Tribes that you represent.
Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Thank you both. Have a good day.
Next we will recognize our next panel: Darryl Seki,
Chairman of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, and Kevin
Dupuis of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Indians.
Welcome. Thank you for attending.
And, Mr. Seki, you are recognized for----
Mr. Seki. Seki.
Mr. Calvert. Seki. Okay. Excuse me. Seki. For 5 minutes.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
RED LAKE BAND OF CHIPPEWA INDIANS
WITNESS
DARRELL SEKI, CHAIRMAN
Mr. Seki. [speaking native language.]
Good morning, Chairman Calvert, Ranking Member McCollum,
Tom Cole, and all of the good friends of Indian Country on this
subcommittee.
[speaking native language.] Chairman, thank you for
listening today. My name is Darrell Seki, and I am chairman of
the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians. Red Lake has over 12,000
enrolled members, half of whom live on 840,000-acre reservation
in northern Minnesota. Our Tribe, alongside the Federal
Government, is responsible for providing public safety, health
services, creating employment and economic development
opportunities, and using our natural resources in ways that
benefit future generations.
Our remote reservation suffers 50 percent unemployment and
lack of basic infrastructure. Our reservation's safety net is
stretched beyond its breaking point. Year after year of
sequestration cuts has made it worse and worse. Sequestration
has been a nightmare for Tribes like Red Lake who have limited
opportunities for economic development because of our remote
location, are unable to raise revenue through taxation, lack
access to capital available to other government entities, and
are forced to rely on fickle Federal funding to provide
essential government services.
For years, I served as Tribal Treasurer at Red Lake, and I
know full well our need for Federal funding and how painful it
is to cut programs. From fiscal year 2013 to 2017,
sequestration and rescissions cut Red Lake BIA's annual funding
levels by more than $900,000 each year, forcing Red Lake's
already underfunded programs to take a big hit.
To cover our shortfalls in public safety funding, Red Lake
used Tribal Self-Governance Act authority to shift money from
other critical BIA programs, cut back on staff, reduced hours
for law enforcement and other public safety services. This left
our public safety programs understaffed, underequipped, way
below the BIA's own safety standards. Red Lake cannot afford to
lose any more BIA funding.
Sequestration additionally cut $750,000 each year from his
funding medical services at Red Lake. This has cost the Tribe
several medical positions, made patients wait even longer for
treatment, delayed patient followup care, reduced medical
transportation, diminished supply stocks, and delayed
replacement of outdated equipment.
In my written testimony, I have listed similar cuts to
EPA's General Assistance Program, or GAP, and many other
Federal programs that Red Lake relies on to support our Tribal
members. As you begin to shape the fiscal year 2018
appropriations bill, Red Lake requests that you consider the
following:
First, the legal and moral trust responsibility requires
Congress to appropriate funds at the level needed to meet basic
needs of Tribal communities like Red Lake. Red Lake and the
United States are parties to several treaties by which Red Lake
conveyed millions of acres of land to the United States in
exchange for Red Lake's basic needs being met in perpetuity.
Yet, by every measure, our needs are not being met. We have too
few job opportunities, inadequate infrastructure, shrinking
public safety, healthcare services. We are fighting against
violence, drug abuse, mental health dysfunction.
Second, the U.S. Congress should uphold treaty obligations
regardless of political disputes over Federal budget cuts and
deficits. This means you should protect Indian Country.
Budgets from the White House propose 12 percent cut to the
2018 Interior budget. It means you should add funds back to
restore BIA, his and base Tribal government funding to make up
for the cuts in reservations' programs caused by years of
across-the-board sequestration.
Third, we ask that you increase funding for programs that
are brining Red Lake success. BIA's Tiwahe and recidivism
reduction initiatives are two initiatives that Red Lake has put
to maximum use. Because of these programs, we have opened the
juvenile treatment facility, a Tribal health and wellness
program, providing a vital service to our youth for a variety
of issues, including mental health, substance abuse, domestic
abuse, and petty crime.
Before 2 years ago, I was here to testify about suicides.
But we are proud to report, in the last 16 months, for the
first time in years, we have had zero youth suicides--zero.
This outcome is the direct result of our hard work with the
funding you provided for the Tiwahe and recidivism reduction
initiative programs.
[Speaking native language.] Thank you, again, to members of
this subcommittee for your steadfast dedication and working for
and with Indian Country.
Again [speaking native language] to you all for listening.
[The statement of Darrell Seki follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.
Next, Kevin--is it Dupuis?
Mr. Dupuis. Yeah. Dupuis.
Mr. Calvert. Chairman of the Fond du Lac Band----
Mr. Dupuis. Fond du Lac.
Mr. Calvert. Fond du Lac.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
FOND DU LAC BAND OF LAKE SUPERIOR CHIPPEWA INDIANS
WITNESS
KEVIN R. DUPUIS, SR., CHAIRMAN
Mr. Dupuis. [speaking native language.]
First of all, I would like to thank everybody for allowing
us to come here and speak our mind. I am not used to reading
off a piece of paper. Within our culture and our traditions, it
is always talk from the heart and soul. You can't put the same
things on paper. So I will try the best that I can. And I am
really nervous about sitting in front of a clock that is
telling me I can talk and when to stop.
Good morning. I am Kevin Dupuis. I serve as the Chairman of
Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. I want to thank
this committee for inviting me to testify today and the good
work you have done over the years, especially this year, to
make sure that the needs of Indian Country are being addressed.
We have a small reservation in northeast Minnesota. We have
4,200 Tribal members. We provide government services, including
healthcare, education, public safety, to 7,300 Indian people in
our region. We use Tribal funds and partner with other
governments and private entities to do much of this work. But
these are not enough to address the needs. Federal funding is
essential.
We are battling a long history of poverty and related
problems that arise from poverty. We are making progress. We
see improvements in student achievement and health of our
people. But progress is very slow. We have yet to close the
large gap between the Indian people and Minnesota population
overall. We still suffer from higher rights of poverty,
unemployment, diabetes, and heart disease than the statewide
population. Much more work still needs to be done.
Education, including preschool and afterschool programs,
opens the door for our children to move past the poverty and
achieve. But without sufficient Federal funds, we cannot hire
and retain qualified teachers without sufficient Federal funds.
We cannot maintain school buses or the school building itself.
The school also helps protect our children from crime. We
are on the front lines of fighting a drug epidemic. Our small
rural community is seeing an influx of heroin, opioids, and
meth that are poisoning our people. Our school provides
programs and safe haven for children.
Over the years, our police department has assisted the
school by assisting--assigning an officer to prevent juvenile
crime. At the same time, our police must also respond to and
investigate the growing numbers of incidents, many of which are
drug-related. The funding that the Federal Government provides
to Tribes to help cover the costs of law enforcement salaries
and equipment is key to this work.
The drug epidemic has also increased demands on our
clinics. We have worked very hard to build and run clinics that
can provide a broad range of care. We have programs to help
combat substance abuse, but because of the drug epidemic, more
is needed.
Our healthcare provides programs that are funded only 33
percent of the level of need. Our clinics work hard to fill the
funding gap by third-party billings so that we are repaid by
insurance companies or Medicare for the healthcare we provide.
In fact, third-party billing through Medicaid are very
important sources of funding for our clinics. If the law
changed and the Medicaid dollars were cut or simply block-grant
to the State, our clinics would suffer substantial losses. We
would only be able to maintain the current level of care by
very significant increases in his funding.
Finally, the healthcare and welfare of our people are
directly tied to our natural resources. This was true at the
time of our treaties with the United States, and it remains
true today. To ensure that we can sustain ourselves and our
families, the United States and our treaties promised that we
retain the right to hunt, fish, and gather natural resources,
both within and outside of our reservation.
Our members rely on these treaty rights to put food on the
table. This is especially important for many of our people who
are unemployed or live at, near, or below poverty. Natural
foods, like wild rice, fish, game, and berries, also improve
diet and health. The use of these natural foods are an
important part of nutrition programs taught in our clinics and
schools. These natural resources are also essential to our way
of life and our culture.
Given the importance of these resources, we actively work
to protect them from harm. We cannot eat fish that have high
levels of mercury. Our wild rice will not grow in waters that
have high sulfate levels. Far too many waters in Minnesota are
impaired. Federal funds provided through the Interior and EPA
for natural resources management and environmental protection
are essential for us to restore waters, prevent pollution, and
improve wildlife habitat. Unfortunately, funding has not kept
pace with the need.
The Federal investment in the environment also improves the
economy. The funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
is a good example. By cleaning Lake Superior, we improve
commercial fisheries, enhance tourism of the hunting and
angling industry, a business that generates $73 million each
year. This creates jobs in a region that desperately needs
them.
We are very worried about the deep cuts that the President
is proposing for the Federal budget. We are concerned that the
new administration has not yet had time to learn what these
important programs do or how effective and vital they are in
Indian Country. We are very grateful for the work you did to
preserve the increased funding for these programs in 2017, and
we urge the same be done for 2018.
Thank you.
One quick note: As a former Secretary Treasurer of Fond du
Lac, I have come to several hearings to testify. And we have to
come here to ask for things that should have been promised to
us--are promised to us.
I believe that there should be a large campaign to go over
the program or the formula for funding under the base of the
unmet need because we know that the formula is wrong, and we
are not receiving that funding.
And, most importantly, when we come here, it is not about
listening. We want you to hear us. There is a difference. We
want to be heard.
Miigwech.
I am happy to answer any questions.
[The statement of Kevin R. Dupuis, Sr., follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.
Obviously, there is some discussion about the upcoming
budget, that comes in June or late May. And I used to serve on
the Budget Committee with Chairman Cole, and he still is doing
a great job representing us all in the Budget Committee. But at
some point, I hope we can come to what we call around here a
budget agreement because that is what we need to do, between
the Senate and the House and the President, where we can get
unshackled from the sequestration and move on to a more logical
budget process, which I am sure Chairman Cole agrees with. We
just have to get everybody to agree to do that.
But that has--a lot of the problems that we are having
around here; it is not just in Indian Country but throughout
the Federal Government.
Unemployment, as I know, is a big issue throughout Indian
Country, especially in your area. Fifty percent unemployment is
huge. Obviously, that leads to a lot of other problems in that
part of the world. So it is something that we are concerned
about.
And Great Lakes cleanup, trust me, there is a gentlelady
right over here to my left that continually makes sure that we
have the money that is necessary for Great Lakes cleanup. And
we have been doing that, and we intend to continue to do that.
So we will keep that in mind.
Ms. McCollum.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
Thank you, gentlemen, for being here.
I appreciate the fact that you both brought up the
environment, and the Federal role in working with Tribal
governments, Tribal DNRs, as well as the work that the Tribal
governments do with the State DNR. Bringing up the issue of
sulfates, which is something that I have been watching the best
that I can. There was very poor consultation with all the
Tribes when the State was looking at changing the sulfate
standard levels and the way it would affect the wild rice. It
was like, ``Well, we think it will be okay.'' But if you lose
your wild rice, you not only lose one of your first foods, but
for many of the Tribal Nations, it is also economic income; it
is employment.
I hope that the consultation will be good with the new
Trump administration, but I think it is something we have to be
vigilant about to make sure that it happens.
A timeout on mining leases is happening with the Forestry
Service and with the Department of Interior right now, with the
proposed copper sulfide mine up in the area. See, our water
flows north. Sometimes people look at these mines, and they go,
``Well, that is not a problem because the water is going to
drain that way, and there is nothing happening.'' Well, where
we are in the Laurentian Divide in this part of the State that
these gentlemen are talking about, the water actually flows
north. It flows up into their watershed, up into their water
district. So we hope that this timeout is used to really study
its effects.
I almost called you Mr. Chairman, Mr. Seki. I don't want to
be too informal here.
The new Tribal College at Red Lake was mentioned in some
earlier testimony, and how there was funding needed for that.
If you could perhaps elaborate a little more to the committee
on that. There are two colleges that are being set up, and we
need to make sure the full commitment for the funding is there
for those colleges. I know Fond du Lac also has a very strong
interest in making sure that funds are there for the tribal
colleges. That is part of how we work on entrepreneurship, and
for reducing unemployment, and that is to make sure that Native
American students have appropriate colleges.
Could you talk about what your concerns are? If the funding
isn't there, what happens with the big investment that was
made?
Mr. Seki. Well, our Red Lake Tribal College is going well
so far. But, recently, we reported on the accredited status to
get accredited. And it is getting some dollars; however, it
needs more dollars for operation. And our students are
increasing. And it is a good college, and it is going to be
great once we get all the paperwork in place, what we need to
be full accredited.
And we you all to give us hope and help to create
opportunity for our Tribal members to go to college, but not
just Red Lake. There are others that come from different areas
that come to that school, if that helped any.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
And the suicide prevention programs are working, but you
just can't shut funding for those off with a switch and hope
that they can continue. So thank you for speaking so----
Mr. Seki. These programs, Tiwahe and Recidivism, these are
great for our youth. It helps them. And Mr. Calvert talked
about unemployment. That creates our membership going into
drugs. Drugs is not part of Indian Country, but it happens.
That goes to suicides, overdoses, bullying. This should not be.
Continued broken promises, promises from the Federal
Government, creates these shortfalls for our Tribal membership.
There are treaties in place, and there are contracts they
should abide by. These treaties were set by your ancestors and
our chiefs, and they are still there, and they will never go
away, and you guys have to remember that. Treaties are very
important to Indian Country.
So consider that. Consider both of our testimonies. And I
want to say chi-miigwech, thank you, for allowing me to come
over and speak again. And I did here a couple years ago, and,
whenever invited, I will be back. Miigwech.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. Well, a couple things. I just want to thank both
gentlemen for coming. It is extremely helpful for this
committee to get firsthand testimony.
And, two--and I am sure you do this--as a matter of fact, I
know you do this, but I hope you are talking to other Members
as well, because, unfortunately, many of our colleagues don't
represent parts of the country that have strong Tribal presence
and traditions. And so they really need to hear this, and they
need to understand the importance of these agreements and
treaties and the rights of Tribes.
Sadly, you know, our history tells us treaties aren't kept
very often, frankly. The history of my people would be a lot
different. I would probably be a Mississippi Congressman
instead of an Oklahoma Congressman if people kept treaties, or
I wouldn't be a Congressman at all because we wouldn't be a
State if people kept treaties. That was never supposed to
happen in Oklahoma, but it did because people routinely
violated treaties. So you are right to be here reminding us of
the obligation because it has certainly been forgotten plenty
of times in the past.
But please do, on these budget items. And I just want to
end up where Mr. Calvert was on that. There will be some
proposals out, but, in the end, Congress sets what the budget
is going to be, not the White House. And it is extremely
important that Members hear not to blindly follow, you know,
what comes out of the White House but to remember there is a
whole set of obligations here that need to be adequately
funded.
And this committee has shown what it will do with the
dollars it has, but if its allocations get cut, then it is
going to have to make a series of tough decisions. So, again,
we are used to doing tough decisions; that is what you get paid
to do. But you have to have enough money to cover the
obligations that both of you spoke so eloquently about.
So, with that, I yield back.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
And thank you both for your testimony. We appreciate it.
Mr. Seki. I would like to comment on Mr. Cole. I am going
to be doing six, seven visits while I am here, today and
tomorrow.
Mr. Calvert. Good. Great.
Appreciate that.
Mr. Seki. Miigwech.
Mr. Cole. That is what I thought. I have a pretty good idea
of what your schedule is going to be like. I almost feel sorry
for you.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, and we appreciate your testimony.
Next, we are going to have Robert Miguel, chairman of the
Ak-Chin Indian Community; Ron ``Tehassi'' Hill, Business
Committee member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin; Aurene
Martin, board member of the National Indian Child Welfare
Association; and Lloyd B. Miller, counsel, National Tribal
Contract Support Cost Coalition.
Hi, you all. It seems like we see you guys every year, so
we all know you. We appreciate you coming.
Mr. Miguel, chairman of the Ak-Chin Indian Community,
welcome.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
AK-CHIN INDIAN COMMUNITY
WITNESS
ROBERT MIGUEL, CHAIRMAN
Mr. Miguel. Good afternoon, Chairman Calvert, Ranking
Member McCollum, and members of the subcommittee. I am Robert
Miguel, and I am currently the elected chairman of the Ak-Chin
Indian Community. We are a small tribe of 1,067 rogue members,
about 80 percent of whom live on the reservation 30 miles south
of downtown Phoenix, Arizona.
Our ancestors were farmers, and we are still farmers today.
In fact, the name ``Ak-Chin'' is an O'odham word that refers to
a type of farming practice by our ancestors. While the farming
methods have changed, we still run a 16,000-acre farm that
provides jobs for our people, income for the Tribe, and food
for people around the world.
As we preserve our heritage and respect our history, we are
also inundated by growth and its associated challenges. The
population of our neighboring community, the city of Maricopa,
has grown from 1,040 people in the 2000 census to over 50,000
today.
It has been staggering growth, and we have self-funded many
projects to help both the Tribe and surrounding communities
adapt, including the central plant, wastewater treatment plant,
surface-water treatment plant, roads and infrastructure
projects, and, most recently, our multipurpose justice complex.
The justice complex is truly a state-of-the-art, 50,000-square-
foot facility. It houses the community's police department,
public defender's office, prosecutor's office, detention and
probation center, and courts, all under one roof.
As I testified last year, we built this $18 million
facility ourselves because the backlog in the BIA justice
construction budget is so long that our grandchildren probably
wouldn't even live to see it completed.
From the beginning of the design phase, our community has
worked hand-in-hand with the BIA to ensure the facility was
being built in full compliance with all agency and health
safety requirements. Compliance with these codes is the only
requirement in the BIA regulations or handbook necessary to be
eligible for BIA operations and maintenance, or O&M, funding.
The facility was certified to be in compliance with all BIA
codes when it opened in June 2014. However, when we reached out
to people at the BIA who had been advising us on how to meet
all requirements necessary to receive O&M funding, we were met
with silence and then told to talk to another BIA office. This
runaround has been going on for almost 3 years now, and we
still have not received 1 cent of O&M funding, not even what we
were receiving for the old facility that was replaced.
As we continue to press for O&M funding, we learned that
the BIA was denying all PL-638 requests for new funding. Beyond
the inherent unfairness in the notion that Tribes can only be
eligible for funding if they are currently receiving it, this
practice presents some serious long-term policy challenges we
hope this subcommittee will work to address.
We are certainly not alone in our need to replace aging
infrastructure, and many other Tribes are going to have to
start self-funding projects in the future. This will apply far
beyond justice-related projects but also to schools, roads,
sewage plants, hospitals, and other infrastructure projects.
If such Tribes are going to be denied O&M funding owed by
right, as we have been, not only is the BIA penalizing Tribes
for taking on this substantial expense and responsibility, but
it would also be a disincentive to follow BIA health and safety
codes in the construction process.
We hope this subcommittee will help us push the BIA to
embrace and encourage Tribal innovation and self-reliance.
Instead, we are currently being penalized for exercising our
sovereignty and taking on the cost of a project that should
otherwise be a Federal trust responsibility.
Our experience is not unique here. Until Congress forces
some changes on the BIA, Tribes will continued to be treated
unevenly and be penalized for taking on BIA responsibilities
and building new projects.
Thank you for holding this hearing to directly listen to
the most pressing needs of Tribes across the country. My
community has high hopes that this committee will continue its
good work to address the challenges Tribes face and help shape
the BIA into an agency that is more flexible and responsive to
the ever-changing needs and capabilities of Tribal Governments.
If I can, subcommittee, we have some photos here of our
judicial facility. That is the current facility now. That was
the old one. So--exactly.
And then I believe we also have photos of the inside. The
old facility--that is the older facility there. And the second
one is the new facility today.
And, again, we funded this all by ourselves because we had
to.
So, again, I thank you, Chairman Calvert, Ranking Member
McCollum, and members of the subcommittee, for listening to us
today.
[The statement of Robert Miguel follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you very much for your testimony.
Beautiful new facility.
Next, Ron ``Tehassi'' Hill, Business Committee member of
the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
ONEIDA NATION OF WISCONSIN
WITNESS
RON ``TEHASSI'' HILL, COUNCILMAN AND BUSINESS COMMITTEE MEMBER
Mr. Hill. [Speaking native language.]
Chairman Calvert, Ranking Member McCollum, Mr. Cole, thank
you for this opportunity to appear before you today. It is an
honor to be here on behalf of the more than 17,000 members of
our community.
I am here to make three requests: number one, incorporate
self-governance into a greater number of Tribal programs; two,
restore funding to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative; and,
three, to protect the EPA's Tribal General Assistance Program.
I will begin with our most broad request, Tribal self-
governance. Tribal control and distribution and the
administration of Federal funding must be expanded.
At Oneida, we have assumed the responsibility for our
healthcare, education, and most BIA programs. This means that
the Tribal Government, not the BIA, administers our grants. The
result has been unambiguously positive. Environmental, health,
and education indicators have all gone up while administrative
costs have gone down. Just as important, our Tribal Government
capacity has also improved. Our staff now have the knowledge,
skills, and experience to take on new, more complex governance
operations, and they do so on a regular basis.
Congress needs to learn from our experience and expand the
scope of programs that are eligible for self-governance. For
instance, the Department of Health and Human Services allows
Indian Health Service functions to be contracted out to Tribes,
but the same department prohibits Tribal Governments from
running TANF or Medicaid programs.
Similarly, USDA, Department of Homeland Security,
Department of Justice, EPA programs should all allow Tribes to
receive direct funding rather than have their grants pass
through States.
Self-governance is a good policy and is a good practice. It
ensures that scarce Federal dollars are used to build capacity
rather than bureaucracy, and it also makes good on the United
States' sacred obligation to respect Tribal sovereignty and
allow Tribal Governments to manage their own affairs.
Our second request has to do with the EPA Great Lakes
Restoration Initiative. Oneida Nation's creation story teaches
us that everything is connected and it must be balanced for the
environment to thrive. It is this ethos that has led us to
become long-term partners with the Environmental Protection
Agency on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
Oneida Nation has been awarded nearly $4.5 million for
watershed improvement projects. In short, this initiative has
been the single most successful Federal program designed to
restore our lands.
Given this enormous success of the program at Oneida and
across the Midwest, it is also deeply concerning that the
President proposes to virtually eliminate funding for this
initiative in fiscal year 2018. This could be a catastrophic
mistake. It would hurt our fishing, tourism, and agriculture
industries, and it would put into jeopardy hundreds of millions
of dollars of investment from State and local governments as
well as the private sector.
Oneida Nation of Wisconsin strongly urges the committee to
reject the proposed cuts to the program and restore it to the
fiscal year 2017 funding levels.
Lastly, I urge you to protect the EPA Tribal General
Assistance Program. This program helps Tribal communities build
technical capacity to manage our own environmental programs and
ensure that we have a voice on national policy decisions that
affect our land, air, and water.
At Oneida, this funding allows us to expand our
environmental staff. We have used the funds to hire an area
environmental manager and cover parts of the cost of a wetland
program manager as well. This not only protects the health of
our members and improves the environment, it also supports
Oneida sovereignty.
Perhaps even more important, the GAP grant helps offset the
cost of interacting with the EPA and other Federal agencies on
environmental policy issues. As a member of the Regional Tribal
Operating Committee, I witness how important this funding is
firsthand. At least three times a year, my colleagues on the
RTOC and I meet with EPA to identify how policies may impact
Tribal Governments and Tribal lands in our region.
In fiscal year 2017, Congress appropriated $65.5 million
for GAP. I ask that the committee maintain this level of
investment next year. Significant cuts below the current
funding levels will directly and negatively impact the
environmental health of Tribes across the Nation.
In conclusion, there are dozens of other programs that are
vitally important to Oneida Nation in the interior
appropriations bill, but in the interest of time I will
conclude my remarks here. Thank you again for this opportunity,
and I look forward to working with you to ensure that Indian
Country can continue to thrive in fiscal year 2018 and beyond.
[Speaking native language.]
[The statement of Ron ``Tehassi'' Hill follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Aurene Martin, National Indian Child Welfare Association,
welcome.
Ms. Martin. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. You are recognized.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
NATIONAL INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ASSOCIATION
WITNESS
AURENE MARTIN, BOARD MEMBER
Ms. Martin. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Congresswoman
McCollum, and Congressman Cole. As you know, I am Aurene
Martin, and I am a member of the Bad River Band of Lake
Superior Chippewa. And I am here today on behalf of the
National Indian Child Welfare Association, or NICWA.
As you know, NICWA is a national organization representing
American Indian and Alaska Native families which specializes in
public policy related to Native children and families. Our
mission is twofold: First, it is to address the issues of child
abuse and neglect through training, research, and policy
development; our other focus is to support compliance with the
Indian Child Welfare Act.
I am here today to talk to you mainly about Bureau of
Indian Affairs programs serving Native children and families.
So one thing we all know, and it is well-known, is that
Native children are placed in foster care at a much higher rate
than the general population--in some States, 10 times higher
than their representation in the general population. In a State
where you might have 1 percent Natives, 10 percent of the
foster care population is Native children.
But Tribal Governments seem to have some of the most
limited funding of all governments for dealing with these
issues. And we know and studies have shown that Tribes are
actually the best entity at providing services to prevent
foster care and, once kids go into foster care, for finding
them the services and the placements that they need. So it is
for these reasons that we provide our recommendations.
Our first recommendation is to fund Indian Child Protection
and Family Violence Prevention Act programs at the fully funded
rate of $40 million.
And I have come here a few years now, and we always talk
about this, but these two programs are really our highest
priority because they are unique. They are the only programs in
Federal law that authorize direct funding to Tribes for
domestic violence prevention and for treatment for child abuse
victims.
And the law creating these programs--actually, it was
originally passed in 1990. It really had two purposes. One was
to increase the identification and prevention of child abuse
and neglect and domestic violence on the reservation. And the
other was to provide funding to treat and prevent child abuse
and domestic violence.
So, on the one side, the act actually provided for
mandatory reporting requirements for people who interact with
children--teachers, police officers--which weren't there
before. The other thing that it did was to create these
programs.
The act has been actually very successful in identifying
child abuse and reducing those numbers, and it has enjoyed
tremendous support from Congress. Last year was actually--
protections were expanded to cover foster care parents and
background checks for foster care parents.
But the treatment side of it has never been funded, and so
we are asking that for both programs, the family violence
prevention and the abuse treatment for children, be funded at
$40 million.
Our second request is that ICWA title 2 funding for on-
reservation child welfare services be increased from $20
million to $30 million.
So, when the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed in 1978,
the idea behind authorizing these programs was to provide base
funding for Tribes to be able to provide basic social services
for their families. And I think it has been extremely
successful in that.
But these child welfare programs work with some of the most
at-risk and needy members of our society, but the funding level
is such that almost every tribe gets the funding but they only
get about $30,000. And with that $30,000, they are expected to
provide child protective services, family reunification and
rehabilitation, case management, foster care recruitment and
retention, and adoption services.
In most instances, that doesn't even fund a person full-
time. So we are asking to increase that amount from $20 million
to $30 million. And, you know, if you just do the basic math,
that could possibly fund one person at least full-time for a
year.
Our final recommendation is that title 2 funding for off-
reservation services be funded. It was previously funded, but
that ended in the mid-1990s.
The thing is that off-reservation populations have
increased since ICWA was passed in 1978 from 37 percent of
Indians at that time were living off-reservation and now it is
over 67 percent.
These programs actually provide a bridge for folks living
off the reservation with their communities, and it can help
provide programs and placements that, you know, State workers
might not otherwise find.
So those are our requests. We feel it is imperative for
Tribes and off-reservation child welfare programs to receive
increased base funding because of our increase in our number of
people and the people that are moving off-reservation.
So this concludes my remarks. Thanks for having me today.
[The statement of Aurene Martin follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, and thank you for your testimony.
Next, Lloyd Miller, National Tribal Contract Support Cost
Coalition, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
NATIONAL TRIBAL CONTRACT SUPPORT COST COALITION
WITNESS
LLOYD B. MILLER, COUNSEL
Mr. Miller. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member
McCollum, Congressman Cole. Thank you for inviting me again to
talk about the contract support cost issue.
This issue 5 years ago was nearing a disaster. There was a
collision between the efforts of this committee and the
dictates of Supreme Court decisions in the Ramah and Arctic
Slope and Cherokee cases. But over the course of 5 years, this
committee did heroic work, truly heroic work, and fashioned a
unique solution which protects program funding, fully funds
contract support costs, and eliminates the problems that really
bedeviled the committee and the courts years ago.
So I truly salute the committee. And you will hear in my
testimony today remarks more in the nature of oversight than
changes that are needed in law or appropriations.
Three things I would like to touch upon: First, the
agency's policies have now been finalized. It has taken them 4
years since the Supreme Court decision, but at the end of 2016
and the last administration they completed their two policies,
the Indian Health Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs
policies, on contract support costs.
I also want to talk a little bit about the domestic
violence, substance abuse, and related programs and the
contract support cost obligation associated with those
programs.
And then, thirdly, we would just like to talk about the
appropriations structure itself and the estimating problems
that have come up.
So first, the policies. These are the two policies--I
didn't want to burden members of the committee with copies, but
I will provide the chairman with a copy. You will see----
Mr. Calvert. They will be submitted for the record.
[The information follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Miller. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The BIA document is about 5 pages; the Indian Health
Service document is about 20 pages. That tells you everything,
perhaps, you need to know about what worked and what didn't
work.
To be fair, the policies are good. Nothing is perfect. The
policies are good, but the Indian Health Service policy is too
complex, too unworkable, and the agency is poorly staffed to
deal with the complexities that are reflected in that policy.
This committee has been excellent in urging the agencies to
continually simplify the contract calculation process. I think
your directives again would encourage the Indian Health Service
to chop that 20-page document down to 10 pages and make it a
little bit more workable.
At the same time, the agency ought to be directed to direct
some real resources into this area. They now have one person in
headquarters due to the reassignment of the second person to a
different position--one person left in headquarters who is also
serving as an acting director of one of the divisions within
the agency. This is not good when you have 350 Tribal contracts
around the United States, many of them representing multiple
Tribes, such as the California Inter-Tribals you heard today.
This is not proper staffing for this important account. And
I know that the committee wants to be sure that there is
absolute accountability on these funds, and that can only
happen if the agency is properly staffed. So I would
respectfully request that the committee consider directing the
agency to staff up this account from within the existing
budget.
Secondly, I wanted to talk a little bit about the domestic
violence, suicide prevention, and related funds. The committee,
in response to calls from Tribes, eliminated a notwithstanding
clause. The notwithstanding clause, which had appeared in the
appropriations act a few years back, had been used by the
agency to discontinue calculating contract support costs on
those funds.
Now, contract support cost consume about 25 percent of nose
funds. So, if those programs have to cut 25 percent to manage
the contract support burden on those programs, there is that
much less funding. And as it is, the funding is quite low. It
is a very modest funding.
There was a $4 million increase, domestic violence, a
modest increase necessary to require those programs to absorb
their overhead, unlike any other BIA program or his program, is
really not reasonable, doesn't serve the purpose of the
program, and it isn't what the agency itself did.
The agency, on its own, in 2012, after the Supreme Court
decision incidentally, discontinued the practice of calculating
contract support costs on those funds and discontinued the
practice of paying those funds to the Tribes through their
existing self-governance contracts, required them to do grants
and incur additional burdens in the way of grant reporting.
All of that can be undone. I think it will be undone now
that the notwithstanding clause has been removed. And all I
would ask for is that the committee monitor the agency's
behavior and, as the grants expire and need to be renewed, that
instead the funds go into the self-governance compacts and the
638 contracts and contract support cost gets calculated on top
of it. Frankly, it is not a very large number in the large
scheme of things, certainly not in comparison to the two
appropriations.
And the third thing is the appropriation structure. And on
this, I think we are all a little disappointed that the Indian
Health Service--if I may have a few extra seconds, Mr.
Chairman?
Mr. Calvert. Go ahead.
Mr. Miller [continuing]. The Indian Health Service missed
the mark in 2017. They predicted that the contract support cost
requirement would be in the neighborhood of $800 million. Our
own experts have calculated that it will be far lower than
that, perhaps close to $700 million.
I think I have detected one of the problems, and it may be
that the two were not speaking the same language. The Indian
Health Service calculates what the total contract support cost
requirement is nationally. But part of that requirement is not
in the contract support cost account. It is actually covered by
agency dollars, to the tune of about $50 million. That could
account, alone, for a $50 million error.
And that is my fear, that perhaps there was just a
miscommunication. I am confident this is not going to happen
going forward. The agency has acknowledged this error. And I
think it may provide some grease in the mechanisms as you go
into 2018 and worry about a severe restriction in your
allocation.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member McCollum.
[The statement of Lloyd B. Miller follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony, and we appreciate your coming
out today.
Mr. Miguel, I have been by your reservation outside of
Phoenix. It is not too far from where I am, out in southern
California. I know you have a substantial farming operation out
there. Do you own the land around Maricopa?
Mr. Miguel. No, we don't. Actually, they were our original
lands. We were 40,000-plus acres when we were first
established. Six months after we were established, the
President Taft, at that time----
Mr. Calvert. Put that mic near you.
Mr. Miguel. If you think about it, the city of Maricopa is
our original lands. When were first established back in 1960 by
President Taft, we were a 40,000-acre tribe. But 6 months after
we were designated the 40,000, it was rescinded, and we were
reduced to 20,000 acres.
Mr. Calvert. Another one of those treaty violations that
Mr. Cole----
Mr. Miguel. Unfortunately.
Mr. Calvert [continuing]. Talked about. But you have been
very successful with the 22,000 acres that you have remaining.
And I recognize we have commitments to you, and we will
certainly take a look at that as we move this process along.
We have been talking about the Great Lakes all day today,
Mr. Hill, so we are on it. And I know you have done a great job
of self-government at the Oneida Tribe. And we believe in self-
governance around here, so we know you have the--Indian Country
has the competence to run their own affairs. We should allow
them to do so.
And, Aurene, you are right, we need to--you know, child
abuse and neglect is unfortunate. You have to separate the
children from that. And that is a big problem throughout Indian
Country. We see a lot of that. We have an institute where a lot
of these children are separated from their parents if they are
exposed to that kind of treatment. Unfortunately, as you know,
unless you deal with that, it tends to be generational. So it
is a huge problem, and we need to deal with that.
And, Mr. Miller, you come out every year, and we appreciate
your oversight and what you do and letting us know what we need
to do with oversight.
So there are a lot of challenges out there. We talked about
substance abuse. This opioid epidemic is terrible. The former
chairman of the full committee has been a big advocate of what
we can do to fix this, but there are over 1,000 deaths a day
around America with opioids.
And I forget this other drug that was an elephant
tranquilizer. Anyway, just a small gram of it can lead to
instant death.
And it is just a horrific situation, so we need to get a
hold of that. And, unfortunately, Indian Country is not immune
from that scourge.
Ms. McCollum.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I am very proud of the Great Lakes Nations who have been up
here testifying--but it just goes to show the obligation for
maintaining clean water, drinking water, water for habitat, not
only in the Great Lakes but throughout the United States.
The work that the EPA does with Tribes, if the EPA's budget
is cut too much so that work can't happen, it is going to
affect quality of life and a lot of programming and, quite
frankly, a lot of jobs, good jobs that Tribal Governments have
stood up with their own departments of natural resources.
But it is an inter-dependent organization. They cannot do
it without the Federal EPA being there; Fish and Wildlife, as
well. I know that many of the Tribes in some parts of the
country are also looking to set up more robust relationships
with the National Park Service, with monument interpretation
and other things, moving forward.
So I thank you for sharing that.
In the urban settings, Ms. Martin, where we are working on
home placement or appropriate Tribal placement for children,
there is a missed opportunity because of the way the dollars
flow?
Ms. Martin. Yes, that is true. ICWA authorized this funding
stream for off-reservation programs, and it was funded until
1996, I want to say. And what those programs would do is they
would provide a connection for State workers who were looking
for placements or trying to find out information about a family
or even to provide services. And then when that stopped being
funded, that is just a gap.
And the problem is that we have a huge increase in our
urban populations now over time, where it has basically
flipped. We used to have, you know, a minority of our members
would live off-reservation, but now it is up to 67 percent
during the last census.
So we know that people are falling through the cracks on
the urban setting if those Tribes that are on-reservation don't
have outreach programs. And there are some Tribes that do, like
Oneida, but not every tribe is able to do that.
Ms. McCollum. Okay. Well, I am going to talk to the folks
at Little Earth and learn a little more about that, and I am
sure you have somebody I can talk to.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. Just quickly, I want to thank all of you for
coming. Some of you are regulars here. As a matter of fact, all
of you are regulars here. But that is so helpful to this
committee and to staff, just over time, those relationships and
that information.
Mr. Hill, I want to go back to a point you made, and
really, Ms. Martin, you sort of reinforced it, but it is a
pretty common theme: Usually, Indians do better running their
own affairs than somebody in Washington does.
I know in my tribe I have seen it over and over again. If
nothing else, if there is a mistake, it is so much easier to
correct if the people responsible for it are--you can get to
your Tribal legislator pretty quickly, as opposed to some
faceless bureaucrat 1,300 miles away.
So putting as many of these resources in the hands of the
people who are on the ground running programs just makes it so
much better and so much more responsive and self-correcting. So
I know that point of view is shared by everybody on this
committee. And where we can do things to, again, push down the
decisionmaking to the Tribal level, we are just always better
served, every single time.
So, anyway, thank you for your consistent advocacy and your
role in educating all of us to the concerns. And, hopefully,
over time, you know, as Mr. Miller suggested, the arc is bent
in the right way. I mean, we really have tried on a bipartisan
basis here--and the successive chairmen--to try and do the
right thing, but, you know, if you hadn't been going to the
Supreme Court asserting your own rights, the right thing
wouldn't have gotten done.
So, I mean, that active participation, using the tools that
are available through--obviously, through legislation but,
sometimes through negotiation, sometimes through litigation,
those things are all necessary. And all of you are to be
commended because you have done it not only for your respective
Tribes but for the good of Indian Country in general, and it
has made a big difference.
So thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Great. Thank you.
And thank you for your testimony.
This concludes our morning hearing. Thank you for making
the effort to be here this week.
Our next hearing begins at 1 o'clock this afternoon.
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
AFTERNOON SESSION
Mr. Calvert. Welcome. Welcome to this public witness
hearing specifically for American Indian and Alaska Native
programs under the jurisdiction of the Interior, Environment
Appropriations Subcommittee. I especially want to welcome the
distinguished Tribal elders and leaders testifying today and in
the audience. Most of you have traveled a long way to be here
this week. I hope you will seize the opportunity to meet with
other Members of Congress outside of this subcommittee to
remind them that honoring the Nation's trust obligations is a
responsibility shared by all Members of Congress, regardless of
our State or congressional district. I can assure you that your
voices are heard by this subcommittee.
For those new to this process, today's hearings are just
the start of a dialogue we have come to depend upon to help us
make smart choices in the budget, and to earn the votes of our
colleagues. The American Indian and Alaska Native programs will
continue to be a nonpartisan priority for the subcommittee,
just as they have been in recent years under the chairmanships
of both Democrats and Republicans alike.
Before we begin, I have a bit of housekeeping items to
share. Committee rules prohibit the use of outside cameras and
audio equipment during these hearings. The hearing can be
viewed in its entirety on the committee's website. An official
hearing transcript will be available at gpo.gov.
I will call each panel of witnesses to the table one panel
at a time. Each witness will have 5 minutes to present
testimony. Your full written testimony will be included in the
record, so please don't feel pressured to cover everything in 5
minutes. Finishing in less than 5 minutes may even earn you a
few little extra brownie points. So we will be using a timer to
track the progress of each witness. When the light turns
yellow, the witness will have 1 minute remaining to conclude
his or her remarks. When the light blinks red, I will ask the
witness to stop. We will hear from every witness on each panel
before members will be provided an opportunity to ask
questions.
Because we have a full day ahead, we have over 80 Tribes
here the next couple of days, I request that we try to keep
things moving in order to stay on schedule and respect each
other's time. I am sure many of you have planes to catch.
With that, I thank all of you again for being here today.
And I am happy to yield now to our distinguished ranking
member, Betty McCollum, for her opening remarks.
Ms. McCollum. I would just like to thank the chairman for
having this important listening hearing with our Native
American, Alaska Native brothers and sisters, and I look
forward to the testimony. And thank all of you for traveling
and coming to enlighten us. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Great. With that, let's start with our first
witness, Fawn Sharp, president of the Quinault Nation.
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
QUINAULT INDIAN NATION
WITNESS
FAWN R. SHARP, PRESIDENT
Ms. Sharp. Good afternoon, Chairman Calvert and Ranking
Member McCollum, and our Congressman Kilmer. We really
appreciate the opportunity to be here and to testify on such a
lovely spring afternoon. So thank you for the invite.
The Quinault Nation is an Indian tribe located in southwest
Washington. We occupy about 31 miles of international border
along the Pacific Ocean. I serve as president to nearly 3,000
Quinault citizens.
We have four basic issues that we want to touch on this
afternoon. And before I get into the specific issues, I want to
provide just a little bit of background on a priority that the
Quinault Nation has been advancing, and that is, to draw
attention to the significant funding disparities across Indian
Country. There was a report in 2003 delivered to Congress
called The Quiet Crisis. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is
currently updating that report, and we fully expect their
report to be delivered to Congress at the end of the year.
We did some homework this last year at Quinault, and found
that we subsidize the Federal trust responsibility to the tune
of $5.9 million annually. So over a 10-year period, that is
about $10 million that we provide supplemental funds to close
that funding gap to carry out Federal responsibilities. We also
realize that, to some extent, some of our most vulnerable
citizens subsidize the Federal trust. We had Tribal elders who
would like to have their timber harvested, but because they
don't want to wait the 2 years that might be necessary to go
through the BIA process, they, out of their own pocket, pay for
a timber appraisal to expedite the process. So at some level,
even our elders are subsidizing the Federal trust
responsibility.
So against that background, I want to provide just a little
bit of testimony on the needs that we have in Tribal forestry.
When you look at a report, another report that was submitted to
Congress called the Indian Forest Management Assessment Team,
IFMAT, there has been a series of three of those reports over
the last 30 years, each of the 10 years it has been submitted.
The IFMAT report also pointed out in 2011, Western States
average $20.46 per acre to manage Federal forests. The BIA
allocation for forest management stands at just $2.82 an acre.
You look at hazardous fuel suppression in the National Forest.
That is funded at $1.49 an acre. The BIA receives $0.69 per
acre.
So just with those two facts alone, the report points out
that we are not only chronically underfunded, there is an
incredible disparity, the congressional investment into either
State and Federal activities versus Tribal. And so we strongly
urge each of the committees to look at both IFMAT reports, The
Quiet Crisis, and we thank the committee for the 2 percent
increase in forestry funding for the National Trust Resource
Management. However, this will fall short of the increases
needed to bring parity to Indian forestry as compared to other
forests within the United States. Given the 2017 forestry line
item funded at $54 million, for 2018, we urge the subcommittee
to increase such funding to a minimum of $60 million.
The next issue that I would like to turn to is climate
change. The Quinault Nation has, over the last 5 years,
declared four states of emergency. The ocean is encroaching
into our traditional homelands and territories. There are
elders who, during their lifetime, can attest, we had the
length of a football field just to the west of our village. The
ocean is now encroaching, and at certain high tides, the ocean
actually breaches into our village. It came very close to our
courthouse, our jail facilities. We have our school, daycare,
all in the lower village, and so we are, right now, under a
comprehensive effort to move an entire village to higher
ground.
And so we urge the committee to appropriate funds to help
Tribes prepare to respond to climate change. And we support the
Department of Interior's request for $15.1 million increase in
such funding. We further urge the subcommittee to direct the
BIA to prioritize spending for Tribes on the front lines of
climate change, and include report language that mandates
funding criteria drafted in consultation with Tribes that are
flexible to meet the needs described in my written testimony.
I also want to, lastly, touch on drug interdiction efforts.
As I mentioned at the beginning of my testimony, the Quinault
Nation occupies 31 miles of international border. We have been
under constant threat of drug trafficking in our reservation
and around our reservation. And we applaud the increase in 2017
for $202 million, and we urge the committee to increase the
line item within criminal investigations to combat drug
trafficking within Indian Country.
With that, I thank you for the opportunity to testify, and
I have 10 seconds left.
[The statement of Fawn R. Sharp follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Good for you. Thank you.
Next, Aaron Payment, secretary of the National Congress of
American Indians.
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Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
NATIONAL CONGRESS OF AMERICAN INDIANS
WITNESS
AARON A. PAYMENT, SECRETARY
Mr. Payment. Good afternoon, Chairman Calvert and Ranking
Member McCollum, and members of the subcommittee.
On behalf of the National Congress of American Indians, we
thank you for holding this native public witness hearing,
specifically for troubled programs under the jurisdiction of
the subcommittee.
NCAI would like to acknowledge the steadfast work
undertaken and attention paid by the members of this committee
to uphold the Federal trust and treaty obligations funded in
this appropriations bill.
This hearing is so important, because the Federal budget
for Indian programs is one of the key measures of how and
whether the Federal Government is fulfilling its Federal trust
responsibilities towards Tribal governments. NCAI recognizes
that in the past few years, this subcommittee has supported
Indian Country and Tribal self-determination through
appropriations. The fiscal year 2017 Omnibus included hard-
fought increases for the BIA, Bureau of Indian Education, IHS,
and other core Tribal governmental programs. We are hopeful
that the final fiscal year 2018 Interior appropriations bill
will build on the investments made in Indian Country and the
fiscal year 2017 Omnibus.
The fulfillment of the Federal trust responsibility and
respect for Tribal self-determination is essential for the
ability of Tribal governments to meet the basic public service
needs of Tribal citizens. Importantly, these programs are not
based on race or ethnicity, but rather, on the centuries-long
political relationship between Tribes and the United States.
While the Federal treaty and trust responsibility calls for
Federal funding for health, education, social welfare, and
other governmental services, upholding these treaty obligations
is a critical component of Tribal and surrounding regional
economies. Economists have found that Tribal economic growth
leads to economic growth in surrounding regions. Tribal
economic activity produces regional multiplier impacts for the
off-reservation economy. Economic research on Tribal colleges,
timber procurement, and other Tribal enterprises has shown
direct, indirect, and induced impacts on gross regional product
and employment. Governments provide local and national public
goods that the private sector would otherwise under-provide,
such as public safety and justice, which is essential for
conducting business on reservation and Tribal lands. In
addition, the central government funds public investments in
core infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, and water and
sanitation systems that provide high economic rates of return.
Such core infrastructure in Indian Country has faced
insufficient public investments for decades. Please recognize
that noncore public investments also, such as early childhood
education, child care, healthcare, and a range of human
services, provide at least as much near-term economic boost as
core infrastructure.
Recent estimates show that Indian Affairs programs
contributed $14 billion to the GDP, $18 billion in economic
activity, and supported nearly 93,000 jobs, many of them on
Indian lands. These estimates did not include education and
public safety, which also provide significant social and
economic benefits that are difficult to measure. Justice
service programs provide economic and social benefit of support
of health and safety, lower medical costs from crime, human
capital development, and other positive spillover effects.
While the details of the President's budget are not
available, many of the BIA programs areas supported by this
subcommittee in previous years remain important. For instance,
Tribes from all of the BIA regions identified social services
and family support programs in need of increases in fiscal year
2018 to address the interrelated needs of their children,
families, and communities. The broad outline proposed by the
administration would reduce the budget for the Department of
Interior by 11.7 percent.
Hopefully, the department-wide reductions would not apply
to the BIA in the same proportion, as we have just begun to
reach parity across interior divisions. Any reductions would
undercut the potential progress of Indian Country as well as
undercut the ability of Tribal Nations to provide for our
citizens.
We urge this committee to continue its bipartisan approach
to meet the Federal obligations for Indian Country. The
President's budget outlined aimed to abolish many initiatives
that serve Tribes. At the moment, the initiatives that fall
into this category are unclear. Several of the top Tribal
budget priorities reviewed in the recent BIA budget formulation
process are programs included in the Tiwahe Initiative.
Our written testimony also addresses several
recommendations for the public safety, roads, natural
resources, BIE, IHS, and EPA. NCAI looks forward to working
with you on these important issues to uphold the treaty and
trust obligations while, again, are negotiated to our last--to
last as long as the rivers flow, grass grows, and the winds
blow.
Thank you. And I am happy to answer any questions you may
have.
And I beat you. 15 seconds.
[The statement of Aaron A. Payment follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. It is a race. Good. That is a good race. Thank
you.
Next is Esther Lucero. You are recognized.
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Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
SEATTLE INDIAN HEALTH BOARD
WITNESS
ESTHER LUCERO, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Ms. Lucero. Good afternoon, Chairman Calvert and Ranking
Member McCollum. Representative Kilmer, it is nice to see you
in person. I have to say that it is quite a privilege to sit at
a table with such incredible leaders. It is an honor to be here
today. And it was also an honor to hear the morning testimonies
and to recognize this subcommittee's knowledge when it comes to
Tribal issues and also urban Indian issues. And I am here today
representing the Seattle Indian Health Board. I am a fairly new
CEO, although I guess I am past a year now, so that newness is
going to have to pass pretty soon.
We at the Seattle Indian Health Board, there are a couple
of things that make us unique, and one of those things is the
fact that we operate a 65-bed residential treatment center. We
are the only urban Indian health program that has a residential
treatment center as a component of it. We also operate the
Urban Indian Health Institute. And the Urban Indian Health
Institute is one of 12 Tribal epidemiology centers, and the
only one that actually has a national purview. We provide
technical assistance and support to the urban Indian health
programs across the Nation, and we serve the data and
epidemiology and surveillance needs to those urban Indian
health programs.
Now, that said, I would just like to thank the subcommittee
for the continued equipment to strengthen the I/T/U system of
care, the I being his hospitals, the T being Tribal 638, and
the U being urban Indian health programs. That was really
demonstrated with your budget allocation of $232 million
increase to the IHS budget and also the $3 million increase to
the urban Indian line item. So I just want to thank you for
that. That demonstrates your continued commitment. It also
demonstrates your understanding of the great disparities that
we all have to face. It also shows that you respect the I/T/U
system of care. We work very closely with our Tribes in the
State of Washington to maintain our position and fulfill our
responsibilities as part of that continuum of care.
Now, you heard from a couple of my colleagues earlier
today, Ashley Tuomi from NCUIH, and also Sonya Tetnowski, who
runs the Indian Health Center of Santa Clara Valley. So I will
echo some of their requests of this subcommittee, and
hopefully, I will be able to provide some real-life examples to
support their request.
One of them is around 100 percent FMAP and the access for
urban Indian health programs. Now, we have actually received a
resolution letter from NCAI, we are grateful for that, and also
more recently, from NIHB. Again, recognizing that these are
Medicaid dollars that are directed to incentivize States to
actually work with Tribal programs, and we, as urban Indian
health programs, really value that leverage, so that we can
maintain the cultural integrity of our programs, and so that we
don't consistently get pushed into the broader community health
center network.
The way that plays out in our State is that our counties
then begin to make--they get to make decisions on who is
actually placed in our programs. And if we had not received the
CMS carve-out for our BHO program in the State of Washington,
we would have lost a significant number of our American Indian,
Alaska Native clients being placed into residential treatment.
Now, as it stands, because we were part of the CMS carve-
out, we actually increased our Native percentages to above 60
percent, which was really challenging to meet in the past.
Typically, it was roughly about 30 percent. So it is just an
example of why that is important.
It is also important to not capitate or cut Medicaid and
Medicaid expansion, and I will tell you why. Representative
Cole pointed out earlier that urban Indian health programs have
done really well in being able to leverage other resources to
really improve the impact within our communities, and I would
say that is absolutely true, and let me give an example of
that. We actually have a Suboxone pilot program, one of the
things that we discussed when I provided testimony last year
was the growing opioid crisis within urban Indian communities,
and so now, we have actually been able, using Medicaid dollars,
to hire an addiction medicine doctor; and we have been able to
provide comprehensive wraparound services that include mental
health services, outpatient chemical dependency, also access to
traditional medicine.
And so those are things that we are able to do with these
dollars. And I would tell you that because of Medicaid dollars,
we were also able to add a clinic site at our residential
treatment center. And so what happened there was we are no
longer transporting people from the residential treatment
center to our clinic site, because when we did that, we lost 30
percent of our residents. So that is no longer happening.
I would like to encourage the revitalization or the
reauthorization of the SDPI funds, you heard that earlier, and
let me tell you why; because as we move towards full
integration of services, the SDPI programs were actually the
first pilot for our patient-centered health home models, right,
where we can measure both behavior change and patient outcomes.
And so, if we can begin to build upon those programs, we can
certainly begin to grow and establish culturally-centered
integrated services within our clinics.
I also recommend the expanded view of health. So if we
think about social determinates of health, one example in
Seattle is that we have seven--American Indians and Alaska
Natives are seven times more likely to be homeless than any
other race. That is very important to know.
And then again, I encourage the increase of $10 million for
the urban Indian line item, $5 million dedicated to address the
capacity and infrastructure needs that we have within urban
Indian health programs, and then $5 million to meet the growing
service needs. And I think that is----
[The statement of Esther Lucero follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you very much.
Ms. Lucero. Thank you very much.
Mr. Calvert. Appreciate it.
Next is Samuel Penney, president of the Board of Directors
of the Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations. Welcome.
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Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
THE HEALING LODGE OF THE SEVEN NATIONS
WITNESS
SAM PENNEY, PRESIDENT, BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Mr. Penney. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Ranking
Member McCollum and members of the subcommittee.
Ms. McCollum. We are going to see if we can get the echo
chamber stopped.
Mr. Penney. Oh. Okay.
Mr. Calvert. Change mics. Just trade.
Mr. Penney. Is that better, Mr. Chairman?
Mr. Calvert. Very good.
Mr. Penney. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member
McCollum and members of the subcommittee. I thank you for
taking this time to hold this very important hearing on behalf
of Tribes across this country. It is very important to us and
it is very much appreciated. And actually, Congressman Simpson
is not present today, but he is one of our Congressmen from the
State of Idaho. Our tribe is located in Lapwai, Idaho.
So my name is Sam Penney. I am a council member of the Nez
Perce Tribe executive committee, and I currently serve as the
president of the board of directors of the Healing Lodge of
Seven Nations. With me in the audience today is Rebecca
Crocker, who is the executive director of the Healing Lodge.
On behalf of the Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations, I
respectfully provide this testimony on Indian Health Service
fiscal year 2018 budget. Personal background on the Healing
Lodge. The Healing Lodge is one of 12 IHS youth regional
treatment centers. We are a Tribal organization that contracts
with Indian Health Service under the Indian Self-Determination
and Education Assistance Acts. We were formed in 1988 by seven
Tribes in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The seven-member
Tribes were the Confederated Tribes of the Colville
Reservation, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, Kalispel Tribe of
Indians, Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, Nez Perce Tribe, Spokane
Tribe of Indians, and the Confederated Tribe of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation.
The Healing Lodge is one of the most successful Tribal
adolescent treatment centers, serving over 55 Tribes across
this country. Performance statistics over a 3-year span show a
consistent completion rate of 82 percent annually. We strive to
exceed this amount with the new additions to the facility. As a
youth regional treatment center, our main purpose is to provide
residential substance use disorder services to American Indian
and Alaska Native youth between the ages of 13 and 17. We
operate a 45-bed adolescent residential chemical dependency
treatment center within a centrally located, safe and caring
healing center in Spokane Valley, Washington.
We have a unique multidisciplinary approach to patient-
centered care designed around the individual youth's needs
grounded in Native American traditional, cultural, and
spiritual values and practices.
Now I will talk a little, Mr. Chair, about substance use
disorder and mental health needs. Our adolescent population
suffers from severe opioid dependence, Cannabis, and alcohol
abuse and addiction, and benzodiazapine dependency. These
substance use disorders result in significant family and social
issues, impairs motivation and normal functioning, and can lead
to legal problems.
At the Healing Lodge, we are also seeing more and more
youth who are presenting with higher mental health disease,
which is a serious concern for the future health of these
adolescents if not addressed appropriately.
The number of adolescents that the Healing Lodge had to
turn away from the program due to higher mental health issues
increased from 25 percent to 31 percent in 2016, which is
estimated about 115 youth, resulting in a significant barrier
to treatment and suffering at the Tribal level. This is a major
concern of the Tribes because of the lack of--we need--the lack
of access to culturally appropriate mental health treatment is
very significant to all our Tribes, and the youth need this
level of care if they are to become successful contributing
members of the society.
The needs of the increase for IHS facilities funding, the
Healing Lodge is thus proposing to create an innovative
adolescent program focused on outpatient and inpatient
treatment that is designed to address the chronic unmet
behavioral healthcare needs within this high-risk population.
We have two new construction projects that we feel we need to
complete at a cost of $2.5 million related to this program. If
approved, the infrastructure project will create jobs and
stimulate the economy of the greater Spokane Valley region. The
first is to add a 4,072-square-foot behavioral health family
and wellness center. This building will give us space to
provide mental health and chemical dependency and clinical
services. It will include office space, family-focused
counseling rooms, and the capacity for engaging in
telemedicine. The cost of this construction is estimated at
$1.6 million. It will be built within the 38 acres of property
that is currently assigned to the Healing Lodge by the Indian
Health Service.
The second project is to construct a 2,300-foot addition to
the existing gymnasium. This will allow us to add showers,
dressing rooms, a workout room, and restrooms. The project is
intended to improve our young people's mental and physical
health through physical exercise. By adding showers, that will
also give us better opportunity to discover any contraband,
mainly drugs, that the adolescents may try to bring back into
the youth center.
We expect expansion will cost around $868,000. Our facility
maintenance costs would be covered through our Indian Self-
Determination Assistance Act agreement with Indian Health
Services. We are very excited about both these projects, and we
look forward to the subcommittee considering our request. And
it is just such a great need, Mr. Chairman, I will just use a
quick example for our Tribe. We extend youth up there, and
because of their core-occurring disorders and mental health
issues, that we are unable to get them admitted to the regional
treatment center. So this mental health will be a great
addition to our facility.
So thank you, Mr. Chair.
[The statement of Sam Penney follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you. It seems a common theme
here with all the witnesses is this epidemic of opioids. It
seems like things change. Years ago, it was methamphetamine. It
is still out there. I am not saying it isn't, but now it seems
opioids are the drug of choice right now, and that is the most
deadly of all. I saw a statistic the other day a thousand
people a day are dying from opioid abuse in the United States,
and, obviously, your communities are not immune from that. And
a lot of the opioids are coming across the Canadian border, of
course, certainly across the Mexican border.
So, Ms. Sharp, do you see more intensity along the border
to try to stop this now, or what are you seeing right now?
Ms. Sharp. Yes. When we first started taking a look at this
issue back in 2007, we had a December 1 storm, and noticed a
lot of heavy traffic into the interior of the reservation from
101, Highway 101. I asked our staff, how many points of entry
do we have from the Pacific Ocean to this Interstate Highway
that runs through Quinault? 21 points of entry. I began to have
direct discussions with Federal officials, and I found out they
were patrolling from Port Angeles south to Kwaylok, which is
just a few miles from our northern border, and then from the
Columbia River north to Grays Harbor. So the entire exterior
boundary of the Quinault Reservation was not being patrolled
actively. And so when a Tribal elder talked to me about going
through a logging road at midnight coming from Neah Bay from
Akan noticing a low-flying helicopter surrounded by some cars
at midnight, it seemed very odd. Our commercial fishing fleet
would notice small Zodiacs making multiple trips to Raft River.
We saw heavy road traffic on a dirt road that was obviously a
lot of traffic.
So it was at that point we began to make a direct
investment to combat this, and it ended up culminating in the
execution of 17 Federal indictments. And the U.S. Attorney's
Office brought drug trafficking charges, individuals spent 10
years in Federal prison, but we found it was not only
trafficking the drugs, they were laundering drug money in the
timber industry. They were making bids on sales of $80,000 when
there was maybe $20,000 of product. So it was putting out not
only Tribal small businesses, but individual nontribal cedar
salvagers and logging folks.
So, yes, it was quite intensive. There was hardly any
patrol, and it was--we found the point of entry into Quinault
was not for distribution at Quinault, it was tracked to Ohio
and other parts of the country where the product ultimately
ended up, but the point of entry was through the Quinault
Reservation.
Mr. Calvert. That is something we need to do something
about.
I am interested in this--obviously urban healthcare is a
growing phenomenon with many people moving off reservation, and
we will certainly keep an eye on that and obviously, the other
challenges that we are having with that. And I certainly do
believe that we have Federal trust responsibilities, which we
have been trying to keep those responsibilities on this
committee and looking for new ways to find--thinking out of the
box to try to expand our financial capabilities, because we do
have some difficult challenges ahead of us, I suspect.
So, Mr. Penney, your job is difficult to try to get people
off of these drugs. Are you having pretty good success on
getting people off and not coming back on these drugs?
Mr. Penney. Yes, Mr. Chairman. Our treatment program is
from 90 to 120 days. It is strictly voluntary. So we have had
some--I think Harvard did a study on the statistics that I read
that I think about 82 percent success rate.
Mr. Calvert. Very good.
Mr. Penney. Of course, we think that could be more.
And, Mr. Chairman, your earlier question, you know, when
the Healing Lodge first started, it was mainly alcohol
addiction; now it is, as you stated, opioids, meth, heroin, and
marijuana are some of the drugs of choice. So what it meant,
getting some of these core-occurring disorders, and mental
health is a big part of that, because we also have to think of
the safety of the--we call them residents, the adolescents,
residents of the Healing Lodge. We want to make sure that they
are well taken care of, that their health needs are addressed
in a holistic manner, but also, make sure that they are in a
very safe environment, so that mental health is very important.
Mr. Calvert. Well, thank you for all you are doing.
Ms. McCollum.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you. Climate change and relocation. Mr.
Chair, if we have to call it sea level rise, as we do in the
Department of Defense, so that we can work with some of these
Tribes that are identifying the impacts of climate change and
having to relocate, I think the Department of Interior should
be getting a handle on that. They should be having a plan on
what they are going to do.
I don't care what we have to call it, so that we can put it
in print and put it out there. But the sooner we start
predicting the cost and putting up a budget for this, the
better. It is not going to be easy, because land is going to
have to be taken into trust and then there are going to be some
people who aren't going to be happy about that, and there are
probably going to be adjudication fees and things like that.
I know the Alaska Native folks have been facing that and
having to do some moves, and some of the Tribes are looking at
now moving for the second time. I know that down in Florida,
when I was with one of the Tribes down there, they are very
concerned. They might not necessarily have to relocate, but
they are losing some of their traditional hunting and fishing
places, and it is going to affect their quality of life.
I know that climate change has been a controversial issue
for this administration, so let's come up with a different name
so that we can talk about it in public and put it in writing.
One other question that I had, when we had people testify
last year from the urban health clinics, especially from
California, Mr. Chair, they talked about how their software and
hardware wasn't adequate. With this recent hack that just
happened, if I could put you on the spot, because I didn't
think to ask this this morning, did you feel very vulnerable
when you heard about this recent hack? Has anything changed
with helping you so you are not as vulnerable. One of the
places was still using DOS.
Ms. Lucero. Yes.
Ms. McCollum. With that, I will stop the questions. And
thank you all for your testimony.
Ms. Lucero. Thank you, Congresswoman McCollum. Yes, as I
said, I am fairly new to the organization. So one of the first
things we did, actually, was upgrade our IT system, and we did
not use the IHS RPMS system, so we actually used a separate
electronic health record system. And just recently, we
implemented a new cloud-based system so that we could have a
backup. So with this recent attack, we were very confident and
safe. Over the weekend, our IT manager made sure that we had
the appropriate backups, and so, I feel very blessed and lucky
to say that. I will have to tell you, if this had happened last
year, we would have been in very dire straits.
Mr. Calvert. Well, if the gentlelady will yield, too, on
this subject, this was a Microsoft backdoor, which was
discovered some time ago. Microsoft did do a patch on that.
Ms. Lucero. Yes.
Mr. Calvert. And I would say to all businesses out there
that it is--I know it is a pain to go back and do these
security protocols and go back and fix these things, but
everyone should do that. I mean, you get these announcements
from your provider, your software provider, you need to pay
attention to it. A lot of people do not. And those who did the
patch were protected, those who did not do the patch were not.
And so that is a problem.
Ms. McCollum. Mr. Chair, I totally agree with you, but
based on the fact that we have old and ineffective software out
there, it is just a matter of time until somebody decides to
break in and wreak havoc.
You decided not to go with the----
Ms. Lucero. With the RPMS.
Ms. McCollum. Yeah. The RPMS. Did it cost you more not to
go with the RPMS system? Did you have to pay out of pocket to
have a more secure system?
Ms. Lucero. Yes, ma'am, we did.
And if I may respond, Chairman Calvert, that is the issue.
It is the lack of resources to even have a team that could
actually implement a patch like that, much less the fact that
the RPMS system has been very challenging to even work with.
And I feel terrible for the Tribal communities who have decided
to go that direction. We feel blessed, again, because of some
of our supplemental dollars that we have been able to get ahead
of this. And like I said, if this was a year ago, we would have
been in a very different situation.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Mr. Kilmer.
Mr. Kilmer. Thanks, Mr. Chair. I just want to thank you all
for traveling so far to be here today.
President Sharp, I was hoping you could give the Committee
a sense of the cost of relocation. Do you have a ballpark
estimate of how much it is going to cost the Tribe to move to
higher ground?
Ms. Sharp. At this point, the first phase we are looking at
is close to $200 million.
Mr. Kilmer. I ask that question because we are talking
about literally relocating an entire village that is very, very
vulnerable. And I know the chair has asked for suggestions of
where the subcommittee might be able to go and visit. There are
four Tribes just in my district that are threatened by
encroachment from the ocean, and trying to go through this
process of relocating. We can sit here and talk about the cost,
but a picture is worth a thousand words.
Mr. Calvert. Is it just the rising ocean or is it also some
subsidence issues in there?
Ms. Sharp. Both. And Quinault is a good example of
frontline impacts of climate change. To the far east, the
Anderson Glacier that feeds the Quinault River has disappeared.
You could see photos from the University of Washington show the
glacier receding. I took a helicopter flight over and saw that
it was entirely gone. Then to the west, you have the ocean
encroachment. You have our fishery studies that show millions
of sockeye in the Quinault River, and there is a direct
correlation to a drop to just 4,000, and that is tied to ocean
acidification and the warming temperatures. So at Quinault, you
could see the impacts of ocean acidification, a melting
glacier, the ocean encroaching taking out an entire village.
Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Okay. Thank you very much. We appreciate this
panel. We will move on to the next panel. So come up. I guess
we are running a little behind schedule here. Jonathan Nez,
vice-president of the Navajo Nation; Edward Johnstone,
treasurer of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission; Leland
Bill, the chairman of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish
Commission. Welcome.
Mr. Nez, welcome. We will start with you. You are
recognized for 5 minutes.
---------- --
--------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
NAVAJO NATION
WITNESS
JONATHAN NEZ, VICE-PRESIDENT
Mr. Nez. Good afternoon, Chairman Calvert and Ranking
Member McCollum and members of the subcommittee. My name is
Jonathan Nez, I am the vice-president of the Navajo Nation. And
I appreciate some of the committee members coming out to Navajo
a couple years ago. So thank you for that visit.
I appreciate this opportunity to provide testimony to
address the Navajo Nation's 2018 funding priorities and needs.
We do not have the benefit of the President's 2018 budget
request, but we encourage the subcommittee to hold the line
against any proposed cuts. I also commend the subcommittee for
increased funding in fiscal year 2017. Indian Country is far
from sufficient funding. However, it is still good to see
incremental increase.
The Navajo Nation is the largest Indian reservation in the
U.S., with about 17.2 million acres of land. As such, the
Navajo Nation is also a member of the Coalition of Large
Tribes, which consists of 12 Indian Tribes who hold large land
bases.
For our natural resources division, we request an
additional 3.5--3-1/2--$3.56 million for a variety of
activities for water resources, forest management, and fish and
wildlife. Also, we need to resolve the issue of redevelopment
of the former Bennett Freeze area. Development in this area had
been frozen for at least 40-plus years going back to
congressional legislation enacted in 1934 and the actions of
the Commissioners on Indian Affairs in 1966.
As a result, homes and infrastructure are lacking or in
poor condition; the results of a lack of roads, schools, health
centers, and other facilities. We are working to bring
development back to the area, but it requires a huge amount of
funding, and at start, we have requested around $20 million.
For our public safety division, we request an additional $3
million, based on Interior guidelines. However, we estimate
that $74 million is needed to ensure proper services.
The Navajo Nation has 11.4 patrol officers per 10,000
citizens, which is less than the national average of 24
officers per 10,000. Navajo requested an additional $1.47
million to increase the number of officers to close the gap. We
also requested an additional $1.47 million for our detention
facilities and $107,000 for our courts that average 4,000 cases
per year.
In regards to education, we have approximately 85,000
students attending 244 schools located on and near the Navajo
Nation. With the recent Federal approval of our Dine school
accountability plan, we can improve our educational system
while using Dine content standards. Our goal is to seek
recognition as a State education agency, but we need sufficient
funding to meet the standards. We also requested additional
funding for scholarships in Johnson O'Malley. We also
appreciate the $63.7 million increase in education construction
which allowed replacement of two Navajo schools, and seven are
in design phase, but we need funding for 31 other Navajo BIE
schools that are in poor condition.
We also encourage the committee to provide funding for our
school bus routes.
Our Navajo division of social services provide many
services to families, children, and individuals. We request an
additional $1.83 million in order to keep up with the
increasing costs and inflation for social services and welfare
assistance. Because our caseloads per social worker does not
meet national standards, we request an additional $95,000 to
hire more social workers.
In regards to Indian Health Service, we are currently
designing a new alternative rural health center, which is
projected to serve over 60,000 primary care visits per year.
This facility provides a start, but with the outstanding
priority list for healthcare facility construction totaling
$2.5 billion; we urge Congress to start funding it at $170
million yearly so that we construction in 14 years versus 20
years under the pre-2016 funding levels.
We also urge Congress to continue support for the special
diabetes program for Indians, which has decreased blood sugar
and cholesterol levels in American Indians and Alaska Natives.
In regards to the environment, the Gold King Mine spill
occurred almost 2 years ago, and farmers still have not been
compensated for their loss. We encourage the committee to make
it their goal to rectify the situation despite EPA's recent
legal decision to not compensate. Also, the Navajo does receive
other EPA funding for its programs, and we encourage this
committee to not cut funding from Tribal environmental
programs.
In conclusion, the priorities outlined by the Navajo Nation
seek to strengthen the sacred treaty responsibility and trust
response relationship and assist the Navajo Nation in
furtherance of self-sufficiency and Tribal sovereignty.
I am available for any further questions you may have.
Thank you.
[The statement of Jonathan Nez follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Mr. Johnstone, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
---------- --
--------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
NORTHWEST INDIAN FISHERIES COMMISSION
WITNESS
EDWARD JOHNSTONE, TREASURER
Mr. Johnstone. Thank you. For the record, my name is Ed
Johnstone. I am a Quinault Tribal member. I am the treasurer of
the Northwest Indian Fish Commission, and the Northwest Indian
Fish Commission is a 20-member Tribes. We formed the Commission
shortly after U.S. v. Washington, commonly called the Bolt
decision. I am very proud to represent the 20-member Tribes as
the treasurer. I am here today with Justin Parker, executive
director, and it is truly an honor to be here. And I thank the
chairman, Mr. Calvert, and Ranking Member McCollum and my
Congressman, Mr. Kilmer. It is--it is really an honor to be
able to do this testimony, because I sit in some big steps, big
shoes from our former chairman for over 30 years, Billy Frank,
Jr. And it really struck me in listening to the Tribes, and I
have been blessed to be in this hearing room many times and
listening to our people throughout the United States tell their
story.
And our story from the Northwest Indian Fish Commission is
a story of the salmon people. That is our culture, that is our
way of life. When you listen to Sam Penney talking about those
kids, you know, that are in some form of addiction, you know,
our salmon is what gives us hope, our salmon is our way of
life, our salmon is woven into our cultures. And we have faced
many changes since we signed those treaties in 1854 and 1855,
as the growth and development of the United States moved west.
And we came to the table and we sat with Isaac Stevens, and we
signed those treaties, and we signed them with the
understanding of what we knew at the time, that we would always
have salmon, we would always be salmon people.
So when we talk about our request, you know, you can see in
the written testimony that it gives figures, you know, provides
protections, treaty rights protection, the RPI account, that is
so meaningful for us 41 Tribes. The Northwest, you have
Columbia River and then the Northwest Union Fish Commission;
you have--over in the Great Lakes, you have the Great Lakes
Fish Commission; you have CORA in 1854.
Those stories are woven into every one of these treaty
areas and Tribal areas that mean so much to us. So when we get
a chance to present, you know, those numbers, and in some cases
we are thanking you for a current 2017. You know, we don't know
what 2018 is going to bring us. We try to bring what we know
and how we can explain the good and wise use, not only by the
Tribes, but the State of Washington and the Federal Government.
We are all invested in recovering salmon. And that is what I am
talking about, is our salmon are in trouble in several areas of
Puget Sound. Thankfully on the coast, we have not been subject
to the massive amounts of growth and development that has come
to us since the signing of those treaties. And so in there--
there is a story of those funding--different fundings and in
the request, some of them like rights protection, or whether it
be hatcheries, there are requests for additional funds to take
on the almost overwhelming task of rebuilding these stocks and
how important, for instance, that hatchery fish are, and it
is--you know, it is really hard to impart, you know, our story
about how much we appreciate and how meaningful it is and have
a dialogue with you about what holds the future in these
funding requests.
So I only know how to do it one way. We wrote a whole bunch
of stuff down and I practiced it, but I didn't hardly use any
of it, but what comes to me, and I prayed last night that words
would come to me, always in the style of Billy Frank, and
probably Joe Delacruz and Guy McMinds and my president, Fawn
Sharp, who I am glad is my chairwoman and I get to serve with
her, under her, and she is my boss, and I respect, highly, her
and these folks that have come to tell our story.
[The statement of Edward Johnstone follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. You did well.
Mr. Bill, you are recognized.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
COLUMBIA RIVER INTER-TRIBAL FISH COMMISSION
WITNESS
LELAND BILL, CHAIRMAN
Mr. Bill. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chairman Calvert,
Ranking Member McCollum, and committee members. [Speaking
Native language], Leland Bill. I am a member of the Yakima
Nation Tribal Council, and chairman to the Columbia River
Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. It is my pleasure to address you
today regarding funding needs for the Columbia River Inter-
Tribal Fish Commission and the fisheries programs for our
member Tribes. The Yakima Nation, the Nez Perce Tribe, Umatilla
Tribes, and Warm Springs Tribes. We are celebrating our 40th
anniversary this year, and there is a lot of reason to
celebrate.
We conduct a comprehensive treaty rights implementation
program, which ensures compliance with our Tribal treaties,
court orders, regional, intergovernmental agreements, and
international salmon treaties. Together, our Tribes manage and
co-manage lands equivalent to the State of Georgia. We are the
leaders in ecosystem management working in collaboration and
partnership with five States, 13 Federal agencies, and several
private entities. Prefect in our member Tribes have a goal
through the region's efforts to halt the decline of salmon,
lamprey, and sturgeon populations and rebuild them to the
levels that support ceremonial, subsistence, and commercial
harvest. We emphasize the highest level of scientific rigor,
cost-effective management, strategies, holistic approaches for
the protection of our first foods.
While many of the Pacific Coast salmon stocks remain in
distress, our treaties--our Tribes are building Columbia basin
success acre by acre, tributary by tributary, and stock by
stock. And one of our success stories is Chinook from the Nez
Perce Tribe that you can see that they have--this orange part
right here is where it started like nothing, and then the blue
part is what they rebuilt and the success of them after we
implemented the fisheries.
Rights protection implementation dollars have allowed this
success story to happen. We are deeply appreciative of the
subcommittee's ongoing support for Tribes and our core
programs, including rights protection implementation, but the
needs remain high. Specifically, Columbia River Fisheries
Management, U.S.-Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty, Tribal Climate
Resilience, all these vital programs are carried out by
topflight professionals under the rights protections
implementation.
We also ask for robust support for public safety and
justice, which supports enforcement of Federal laws at in-lieu
and treaty fishing access sites on the Columbia River, and
support for BIA's facilities management operation and
maintenance to support annual operations and maintenance
funding for the 31 in-lieu treaty fishing access sites.
I have three directly related supporting requests of the
subcommittee. The first is the evaluation of the Federal
requirement to mass mark all hatchery salmon. In the Columbia,
this requirement is becoming more and more costly and
unnecessary, as we have seen the summer Chinook and fall
Chinook management. Salmon managers should be provided the
latitude to make case-by-case decisions whether to mark, and if
so, in the appropriate percentages.
I also ask the members of the subcommittee to support two
bills before you in the House of Representatives. The first is
H.R. 2083, the Endangered Salmon and Fisheries Predation
Prevention Act. This bill would allow Tribes and States to
better balance the interactions between overabundant sea lions
and endangered salmon.
The second is H.R. 1630, the Columbia River In-Lieu and
Treaty Fishing Access Sites Improvement Act, which will provide
operations and maintenance funding and jobs for Federal
properties heavily used by Tribal members. Both bills directly
affect Tribal treaty rights and protect the investment this
subcommittee has already made.
In summary, the CRITFC and its four-member Tribes have
developed the capacity and infrastructure to lead in
protecting, restoring, rebuilding Columbia River basin salmon
populations, our collective efforts to protect our 1855 treaty
reserve fishing rights for the next seven generations through
collaboration and partnerships with the States, Federal, and
nonIndian community in showing some success to provide healthy,
harvestable salmon population for all citizens to enjoy.
Thank you for this opportunity to testify. We will be
pleased to provide any additional information that this
subcommittee may require. Thank you.
[The statement of Leland Bill follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Thank you. I enjoyed our trip to Navajo country just a
while back. And you have the largest land area in the
continental United States with 17 million acres, something like
that?
Mr. Nez. Yes, sir. 27,000 square miles.
Mr. Calvert. 27,000 square miles. That is the size of West
Virginia.
Mr. Nez. The size of West Virginia, sir.
Mr. Calvert. And we were both on your reservation, the Hopi
reservation, and it was an interesting school. One thing we do
remember is the condition of the roads, which were not good.
Mr. Nez. The school bus routes, yes, sir.
Mr. Calvert. So I am hoping that if we ever get around to
an infrastructure bill, that we can make sure we have a carve-
out for infrastructure throughout the United States for Indian
Country to fix some of these roads that obviously are in badly
need of repair. So that is something that I think we all should
keep an eye on as this year goes forward. And I know----
Mr. Nez. If I may say, Chairman, sir, in regards to the
Department of Interior BIA budget, there is--$6 million goes
into road maintenance every year. I know the Navajo Nation has
been receiving a portion of that $6 million to address those
roads, but as you know, being a large land-based tribe, $6
million doesn't really cut it.
Mr. Calvert. It doesn't go a long way. You have a
significant increase, and when we do an infrastructure bill
that we have to have a carve-out, I think, for Indian Country
in that, so hopefully we will have that. And certainly, we
need--on the school construction nationwide, we have to come up
with a solution to that problem. You guys have obviously the
most schools, but we have a problem all across the United
States.
One thing on the salmon issue that is interesting, you kind
of perked my attention on the sea lion issue. I know that is
quite an emotional issue up there, but is the sea lion
population not managed properly? Let me be, I guess, somewhat
political about it, so you guys can answer that question. Is it
a little overpopulated?
Mr. Johnstone. Yes. What we have observed is in Quinault
territory in Grays Harbor, which has the Humptulips and the
Chehalis River and over into the Quinault River is we are
seeing sea lions, and we are not their normal habitat. They are
not--this is not their range. They are usually in the coastal
environments to the south of us or they come from that southern
range out of Alaska, but they are in Grays Harbor by the
hundreds.
And I recall about 5 or 6 years ago visiting with Billy
Frank on the Nisqually River, and we were at Frank's landing
and we were taking some photos, and behind us on the sandbar
was about eight sea lions. And Billy said, That is nothing.
There are 300 of them at the mouth of the Nisqually. They are
out of balance.
Mr. Bill. If I may, Chairman.
Mr. Calvert. Yes. Go ahead.
Mr. Bill. About 4 weeks ago we lost a member of our tribe
due to hazing of the sea lions, and it was very detrimental.
The boat capsized while hazing. Three of the four made it out
safely and the other one perished there in the--during the
whole incident.
And the sea lions down at Astoria are pretty abundant
there. I think they even took over one pier site. And roughly
there are about 300 sea lion bulls in that area, so they are
getting pretty carried away.
Mr. Calvert. Ms. McCollum.
Ms. McCollum. Mr. Chair, I will yield to the gentleman from
the west coast.
Mr. Kilmer. I just want to say thank you once again for
coming all this way to testify. And, Ed, you always do an
eloquent job of emphasizing the importance of having the
Federal Government uphold its treaty obligations. It was an
honor tojoin you to see those treaties in person. I thank you
for being here.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. And I thank you for your testimony
and we appreciate your being here.
We will go on to our next panel Frances Charles, Jim
Peters, Annette Bryan, and Jamie Valadez. Please come up. These
are all Mr. Kilmer's constituents, I understand.
Mr. Calvert. All right. Mr. Kilmer has been negotiating for
a visit, I suspect. You need to get on over there.
We appreciate your being here.
And let's see, we will start with Frances Charles, the
Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe--is that----
Ms. Charles. Klallam.
Mr. Calvert. Klallam. Okay. I appreciate your being here.
You are recognized for 5 minutes.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
LOWER ELWHA KLALLAM TRIBE
WITNESS
FRANCES CHARLES, CHAIRWOMAN
Ms. Charles. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and the
subcommittee members and my friend, the gentleman from District
Six from Washington State, Derek Kilmer, the Congressman. We
thank you for being here today and listening to us.
I went home and I dusted off my testimony and brought it
back.
Mr. Calvert. Welcome back.
Ms. Charles. So we have some Tribal specifics--and I
listened to the earlier testimonies from the previous chairs
just as well as the other community members as much, because we
are kind of ditto in regards to the issues that we are faced
with in Lower Elwha.
We are located 6 miles west of Port Angeles in Washington
State, and we are a population of a little over a thousand
Tribal members and still growing. We had acquired some
additional land base, so we have a little bit over a thousand
acres now, but we are continuing to purchase more of our
homeland.
Roughly, we are a checkerboard reservation. On the left
side as you drive down the reservation, it will be fee status;
on the right side, maybe reservation trust land status.
To date, our economic development opportunities have been
limited, and we are continuing to look for some of the
opportunities for a long-term perspective in regards to our
natural resources.
We are known to have taken the historical two dams down
into Port Angeles in regards to our home bases of our river and
protection and restoring the Chinook runs and some of the other
habitat. The beauty and the nature of it, not only are we
seeing and witnessing the salmon come back, but we are also
seeing other natural surroundings come back, whether it is the
elk, the deer, the eagles, and the resources that are moving
back into the homelands.
Unfortunately, the removal of the dam had caused short-term
threats to the salmon runs. Due to the settlement released from
behind the former dams would have a disparate impact on our
Tribal land base and to the Tribal budgets.
We are strongly committed to the restorations of the
fishery, the fish habitat, the streams, and the rivers in the
Port Angeles Harbor. We are asking and urging for an increase
in the self-governance funds to support the operation of the
dam removal, mitigation, and restoration features that revive
our other self-governance activities that have been forced to
transfer funds to support the dam removal mitigations.
In 1992, in the Elwha Act, there was a set-aside in it that
was in accordance with the Congress' direction for the Elwha
River ecosystem and the fishery restoration of $4.4 million not
only for the impact that it had on our land base for the
economics but for the impacts that it had on our river.
We are looking for some of the resources for the O&M costs
for our fish hatchery. The continuance operation budgets had
increases, and we had some impacts because of the settlements
that had come in behind the dam, utilizing the well system
rather than the river itself to raise the--so we are asking for
the continuance of $702,000 for that.
Flood control levee operation and maintenance. We were
mandated because of the Katrina episodes that had taken place
for a state-of-the-art levee, and that had impacted our revenue
just as much for the requirements that we are obligated to now
with the levee that is within the reservation boundary. So we
are asking for some increase in allocations not only of
$270,000 but some operation allocations of $10,400.
I know that I had talked with our Congressman and many
others in regards to the land acquisition for the Park Service
lands that we had acquired in the earlier stages of 1992 with
the congressional set-asides that were earmarked and that they
were stricken and taken away of the $4 million for the land
acquisition.
We have very sentimental values to the river. We have a
creation site that was rediscovered again. In regards to that,
we have a lot of cultural, sentimental values to the river, not
only to seeing the fish come back, but we have ceremonial
outreaches that are related to our youth, the activities that
we do with the surrounding communities just as much, that we
share the knowledge and the capabilities of what the river had
provided in the earlier stages. The cultural ties and the
economic aspects that it has for our ancestry all reaches for
the creation sites.
Tribal court and Tribal law enforcement enhancements. We
have seen a rise--I heard the testimony earlier in regards to
the drug activities. We, too, are having those issues and
seeing a rise because of the wraparound in the social services
programs not only under the Tribal TANF dollars but just in the
Indian Child Welfare and in our Tribal court and the
jurisdictional aspects of it. We have no control of our
juveniles. They go into the outside agencies, and they are
placed into detentions and juvenile court systems.
So we are looking for other resources and aspects to
maintain families. Foster children are on the rise within our
community, but we have limited families that are offered to
take the children because of their limited activities
themselves.
And treatments, I heard the treatments. It is something
that our people have gone to. I have gone and witnessed the
ceremonies and the fears that they have of going back home to
move back into the same environment, and that is part of it
too.
Indian Child Welfare, we have risen on our caseloads, as I
indicated in that part. The Indian Health Service specifics
funding, I have to go back and get after my staff, because I
think they are undercutting us $500,000 for the need. But the
mental aspects of it, again, is important. We have an outreach,
we have the wraparound programs, we have the fortunates and
opportunities, but it is not enough for our Tribal communities,
and we are underfunded.
So we are asking to continue with the Medicare and the
Medicaid Services' formulas for our Tribal people but also for
the people themselves and the elders. So we have a rise on
elder abuse/neglect that is taking place because of the pain
pill epidemic that are happening in the Tribal communities as
well as ours.
EPA, environmental, with the problems that we have with our
harbors. And I know that a lot of the delegates are involved in
that part of it. And we continue the support--I am cutting it
short now--that we will support with the Northwest Indian
Fisheries and the national and the Portland health community
members, as well.
Thank you.
[The statement of Frances Charles follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Sorry. We are just running a little
behind right now.
Ms. Charles. No, I see that.
Mr. Calvert. I appreciate your indulgence.
Next is Jim Peters, Tribal councilman with the Squaxin--how
do you pronounce that?
Mr. Peters. Squaxin.
Mr. Calvert [continuing]. Squaxin Island Tribe. Welcome.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
SQUAXIN ISLAND TRIBE
WITNESS
JIM PETERS, TRIBAL COUNCILMAN
Mr. Peters. I am Jim Peters. On behalf of the Squaxin
leadership and the citizens, I am honored to be here in front
of you, Chairman, and the rest of the committee.
And, Congressman Kilmer, good to see you again.
We applaud the committee's foresight and leadership on
seeking a long-term resolution of fully funding contract
support costs for the BIA and Indian Health Service. We thank
you for that.
I want to be able to just kind of touch some bases and then
maybe come back on a little bit of the Squaxin story here.
We are requesting $500,000 for shellfish management
programs for the BIA; $2.5 million to build and operate an
oyster and clam nursery in the southern Puget Sound; also the
$2.5 million increase in the Northwest Indian Treatment Center
that we run in our area. Also, a regional request to fully
support the budget request from the Affiliated Tribes of
Northwest Indians, the Northwest Portland Area Healthcare
Board, and also the Northwest Indian Fish Commission.
So Squaxin Island is located in southern Puget Sound. The
Tribe itself is a maritime people, and we are known as the
``People of the Water'' because of our strong cultural
connection to the water in Puget Sound.
The island reservation is located in southeast Mason
County, and we also are a signatory Tribe of the Medicine Creek
Treaty. We are also one of the first 30 federally recognized
Tribes to enter into a compact of self-governance with the
United States.
I want to go into some of the specifics of our shellfish
management requests that we have. We are in an area of very
enriched shellfish, and for us to be able to exercise our
treaty rights, we need moneys to be able to manage those lands.
Those are both on private lands and State lands that we have
the right to harvest.
We are not harvesting a lot of those because of that lack
of management dollars to be able to manage these properties. A
lot of times, the State of Washington, as soon as we are on
them, then we have to manage them ourselves. Obviously, the
private property they are managing a little bit but not to the
extent that really needs to happen. And so we are losing out on
a lot of our traditional economic source of funds that our
Tribal members go out to exercise these treaty rights. So we
really need the assistance to be able to do that.
Along with the oyster and clam nursery that we want to try
to build. Because of climate change, ocean acidification, there
are problems with the reproduction of shellfish. And so, by
doing them in a hatchery environment, it actually protects them
to get them big enough so then we can put them out on the
beaches. And part of the problem with the ocean acidification
is it affects the capabilities of the shellfish to grow their
shells on them. So being able to do this, we will be able to
not only provide seed for our own beaches but also with the
industry in southern Puget Sound and other Tribes.
Our Northwest Indian Treatment Center, it is something that
I am very proud of. We have named it an Indian name,
``Returning from the Dark Deep Waters to the Light.'' And we
have been fairly successful with that program because we have
incorporated our traditional teachings and our traditional
healings to be able to get Native Americans from Washington,
Idaho, and Oregon to come to our facility and get off of some
of the addictions that you have heard, the problems, the
epidemics of these drugs and alcohol and things in our world
today.
And so we have been really successful at doing that, but we
need to be able to increase for that center to be able to adapt
to the growing need for our people to be able to use that. We
have a pretty highly successful success rate. Rarely people
relapse, or if they do, they want to come back to our facility
instead of some other facility because of that cultural
connection that we provide at our treatment facility.
I want to just say thank you for the time here and allowing
Squaxin Island to come and share our important issues. I know
you guys have a tough job, and thank you for all your support.
[The statement of Jim Peters follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
PUYALLUP TRIBE OF INDIANS
WITNESS
ANNETTE BRYAN, COUNCILWOMAN
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Peters.
Next, Annette Bryan, councilwoman--I always have a hard
time pronouncing this.
Ms. Bryan. Like a church pew, ``Puyallup.''
Mr. Calvert. Oh, Puyallup--Tribe of Washington State.
Ms. Bryan. Thank you. [Speaking native language.] Good day,
my honorable people.
Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank you for
the opportunity to provide testimony for the fiscal year 2017
appropriations for American Indian and Alaska Native programs.
My name is Annette Bryan, Tribal Council member for the
Puyallup Tribe of Indians. Today I am here representing our
Tribal chairman, Bill Sterud, members of my Tribe, and my
elders, my ancestors, and our future generations.
The Puyallup Tribe of Indians serves more than 5,200
Puyallup Tribal members and 25,000-plus members from
approximately 355 federally recognized Tribes who utilize our
services. The Puyallup reservation is located in the urbanized
Seattle-Tacoma area of the great State of Washington.
First and foremost, while we do not know the details of any
cuts the administration may propose to programs critical to
Tribes, including Johnson-O'Malley, education, Native American
housing, social services, or healthcare, I must impress upon
you that Indian programs are already underfunded, and we cannot
do the job necessary to prevent homelessness, addiction,
violence, or protect our natural resources if the Federal funds
we do receive are cut.
The Puyallup Tribe contributes substantial amounts of funds
to support our programs, but we need the Federal Government,
our trustee, to remain a partner in these efforts.
The Puyallup Tribe accomplishes critical work with Federal
funding, and I would like to extend an invitation to any and
all of you to come and see the new justice center, our school,
our youth center, or our culturally relevant housing.
In 2009, the Puyallup Tribe received a Department of
Justice grant in the amount of $7.9 million to construct a 28-
bed adult correction facility. The estimated cost of operating
the facility was set at $2.6 million annually. The BIA base
funding offered to the Tribe in fiscal year 2015 was just over
$700,000, or 27 percent of the actual need, with no increases
to base funding in fiscal year 2016 or 2017.
We request support from the committee, to include committee
report language that would direct Office of Justice Services to
submit a plan for fully funding the staffing and operations of
the detention facilities now operating in Indian Country.
We would also like to thank the committee again for Tribal
court funding for Tribes in P.L. 280 States, like mine in
Washington, allowing the Tribe to operate and provide justice
to our people with prosecutors, public defenders, and law-
educated judges.
Addressing public safety needs in our community means
nothing if our natural resource environment is not protected.
The Tribe has treaty responsibilities to manage its natural
resources for uses beneficial to the Tribal membership and the
regional communities. Our fisheries are in danger, as we have
heard here today, and they must be protected.
Again, we support the call for increased funding for rights
protection implementation to ensure compliance with Federal
court orders through effective Tribal self-regulatory and co-
management systems. It is essential that adequate funding is
provided to allow Tribes to carry out our inherent stewardship
of these resources.
Related to this, the Puyallup Tribe continues to operate a
number of salmon hatcheries that benefit fisheries to the
Pacific Northwest and the Puget Sound. We work cooperatively
with the Northwestern Indian Fisheries Commission, neighboring
Tribes, Federal agencies, and State fisheries' managers to
ensure the success and sustainability of our hatcheries
program. Thus, we greatly appreciate the committee's $1 million
increase in funding for fish hatcheries operations and fish
hatchery maintenance.
The Tribe has been a leader in education for a generation.
Today, the Tribe operates Chief Leschi Schools, with an
enrollment of over 900 students. Chief Leschi Schools will soon
exceed its capacity in the near future. Additional education
facility space will be necessary to provide quality education
services to the Tribal students in the community. Thus, the
funding to address BIE facilities maintenance needs and
upgrades is vital.
Finally, as with education, the Tribe has been a leader in
healthcare, with the first 638 contract for an his clinic in
the Nation. We know all too well the inadequate funding of
Indian Health Service is the most substantial impediment to the
current Indian healthcare system. The Puyallup Tribal Health
Authority's current patient load exceeds 9,000, of which
approximately 1,700 are Tribal members.
There are no Indian Health Service hospitals in the
Portland area, so all specialties and hospital care are paid
for out of our purchased/referred care, PRC, allocation. The
PRC allocation remains inadequate to meet the need. The Tribal
PRC subsidy has grown to more than $6 million.
Given that the PTHA service population is only comprised of
17 percent of Puyallup Tribal members, it is clear that the
Tribe is shouldering the responsibility that lies within the
Federal Government. Thus, we urge the committee to continue to
support the Indian Health Service, including direct care,
dental, mental health, substance abuse, and purchased/referred
care.
Tribes are found in the Constitution, and the U.S.
Government has a trust obligation and, in some cases, as with
the Puyallup Tribe, a treaty obligation to fund our programs.
Thank you for your time.
[The statement of Annette Bryan follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Next, Jamie Valadez, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Jamie is the language teacher at the Lower Elwha Klallam
Tribe, Port Angeles School District.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
LOWER ELWHA KLALLAM TRIBE, PORT ANGELES SCHOOL DISTRICT
WITNESS
JAMIE VALADEZ, KLALLAM LANGUAGE TEACHER
Ms. Valadez [Speaking native language]. Good afternoon.
[Speaking native language.] My Indian name is [speaking native
language], also known as Jamie Valadez, and I teach the Klallam
language and Native American studies at Port Angeles High
School since 1999.
I am here to tell you about the success of our Klallam
Language Program that was funded by the National Endowment for
the Humanities in 2007 to publish this dictionary. By 2012, we
completed the publication of the dictionary, the most extensive
Native language dictionary in our State and a very important
tool in preserving our language.
The Klallam language is spoken by three federally
recognized Tribes: besides Lower Elwha, Jamestown S'Klallam,
and Port Gamble S'Klallam. These three Tribes are located in
western Washington along the Straits of Juan de Fuca and to the
Puget Sound. Klallam is a language of the central-coast branch
of the Salishan languages, which are spoken in Washington,
Oregon, Idaho, and the western part of Montana.
The Klallam language was the last language in western
Washington that had first language speakers. Our last two
fluent first language speakers passed on in 2013 and were major
contributors to this dictionary. Fortunately, we were able to
preserve their traditional knowledge here. Thirty-eight elders
contributed to this dictionary.
The Klallam Dictionary project, in turn, made it possible
to preserve the language by passing it on to second language
speakers, such as myself, and younger generations.
I have been teaching here since 1999 at Port Angeles High
School, and until the dictionary--and then after the dictionary
was published, we were able to publish our grammar with the
proceeds that were made from this publication.
Let's see. We had very limited resources, and now there are
more second language speakers of Klallam than any other Tribal
language in our State. This has authenticated our existence,
raised up our standard of living, and helped make our social
fabric whole once again.
The academic impacts for Native American students
associated with the Klallam Language Program have been
enormously positive. Grade point averages have risen from 1.3
to 2.5 from 2005 to 2012. More students are staying on track to
graduate, and test scores in English have risen, and more
Native American students are graduating high school.
The Klallam Language Program has also helped the
relationship between the Lower Elwha Tribal community and the
local city of Port Angeles. It wasn't that long ago that the
Native American and non-Native communities in Port Angeles were
isolated from one another, with little interaction or mutual
trust, but increased interest in the language and culture has
helped change that.
We have seen a huge increase in usage of the Klallam
language in local publications, street signage, and the city's
new beach park with interpretation and Klallam place names. The
Klallam language is spoken as a regular part of the programs at
many community gatherings.
It is safe to say that the National Endowment for the
Humanities grant has been a great investment not only in Native
language preservation but also in improved understanding
between two communities that really needed it.
By having the opportunity to speak with you today, allowing
us to share our success story, we hope that the committee
continues to support projects under NEH that help Native Tribes
revitalize languages.
[Speaking native language.] Thank you for your hard work.
[Speaking native language.] I also thank you for listening to
our story.
[The statement of Jamie Valadez follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you very much for your testimony, for
all of you.
Just one quick question for Frances.
On the dam removal side, I understood the environmental
enhancement that created for future fish population. But did
those dams offer any flood control? Is that some of the reasons
why you to have this levee management?
Ms. Charles. It was a requirement to have the flood control
levee in place because of some of the old homes that were down
there but were transferred over to the----
Mr. Calvert. So these homes are all----
Ms. Charles. They are no longer there----
Mr. Calvert. Okay.
Ms. Charles [continuing] Because of the flood in that
earlier stage, it was a mandate.
Mr. Calvert. I understand. Thank you.
And shellfish. I know that shellfish populations are kind
of up and down. How is it up there in your neck of the woods?
Are the populations rebounding pretty well?
Mr. Peters. It goes up and down, certain years, we will get
higher number of natural production and stuff like that, but
because of the climate issues, it is continuing to go down.
So the production of that natural environment has been
impacted such that it can't sustain itself, so that is where
the hatchery type of facilities come into play. And it is
impacting not just the Tribal harvest, but it is impacting the
industry in general.
Mr. Calvert. Okay.
And I wanted to plug--I understand the National Endowment
for the Humanities helped with that. And, as you know, that is
part of our responsibility on this committee also. So we fully
funded the National Endowment for the Humanities and Arts this
year.
Ms. Valadez. Good.
Mr. Calvert. So, hopefully, that will continue to help not
just Indian Country but throughout the United States. So it is
an important program.
Ms. Charles. Mr. Chairman, with the last funding sources on
that, it was a little over $300,000 of that endowment money
that had helped us with the language program.
Mr. Calvert. Great. That is good. Thank you.
Ms. McCollum.
Ms. McCollum. Congratulations on the grammar book--which is
every child's trepidation, right?--and the dictionary.
But children who learn a second language do much better in
school. Whether that second language is music, math, or another
spoken language or sign language, they do much, much better in
school. And for those children then to feel proud of who they
are and understand where they have come from, it grounds them
even more.
So congratulations, and I am glad to see my tax dollars at
work with the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Ms. Valadez. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Mr. Kilmer.
Mr. Kilmer. Thanks, Mr. Chairman.
I know we are short on time, so I am going to ask one brief
question.
Annette, I know in the past representatives from your Tribe
have said that the Justice Department project probably wouldn't
have happened if you had known that the operating expenses
wouldn't be covered. Do you want to just affirm that?
Ms. Bryan. Yes. Good question. Thank you, Congressman
Kilmer.
The operating expenses are burdensome, and had we known
that they weren't going to be covered, we may have reconsidered
this project, absolutely.
Mr. Kilmer. I want to thank Jamie for the programming you
are doing at my alma mater.
And I thank the rest of you for coming.
I also just want to mention to Chairwoman Charles, the
Interior Secretary visited with our subcommittee a couple weeks
back, and I raised the issue of the land acquisition with him.
I know it is an issue for the Tribe, so please know we are
trying to elevate that issue for the Tribe.
And I appreciate the chair's attention to it, as well.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
And thank you for your attendance. We appreciate it.
Our next panel is Charlene Nelson, Dee Pigsley, Mel
Tonasket, and Donald R. Michel, if you all will please come
forward.
First, we are going hear from Charlene Nelson, the
chairwoman of the Shoalwater Bay Tribe.
Welcome. You are recognized for 5 minutes.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
SHOALWATER BAY TRIBE
WITNESS
CHARLENE NELSON, CHAIRPERSON
Ms. Nelson. Thank you for having me this afternoon, and I
would like to thank the other members of the subcommittee.
And, fellow Washingtonian down there, I am glad you are
here in the sunshine.
Mr. Kilmer. I haven't seen it in 8 months.
Ms. Nelson. My name is Charlene Nelson. I am chairwoman of
the Shoalwater Bay Tribe. The Shoalwater Bay Tribe is right on
the coast, and we are a Lower Salish Sea Tribe. We are close to
the Columbia River.
I know my allotted time is short, so I am going to try to
go through what is important.
One of the very important things I wanted to do is give a
thank you. Twenty-five years ago, Congress listened to the
story from the Shoalwater Bay Tribe. We were losing our babies;
it was an infant mortality crisis. And they provided us with
funding. We had no doctor, nothing on-reservation, no medical
care. They provided us with funding so the Tribe for the first
time could administer a wide range of healthcare on the
reservation. We, as a Tribe, say masi--``masi'' means ``thank
you''--to the Congress for doing that.
Now we have a baby due any day. And the exciting thing to
me is we have, this year, nine graduates from high school--nine
graduates from high school, and we will send every one of them
to college that can go, because we believe in them.
Our wellness center, which we built afterwards--when we
first had our wellness center, it was in a very small area, but
we had a good doctor and a good dentist, so it really, really
helped us. And we had other things. But right now our clinic is
open to everyone, Indian and non-Indian alike. It is a good
model for affordable care.
It was dedicated to our ancestors, and it was named the
Wellness Center because we consider health very, very
important. If you are well, you have a different outlook on the
world. And I believe that we want all people well. And if they
are ill, we strive hard to make them well.
But you all have my written testimony. Our people are
becoming more healthy, but the community itself is in severe
danger.
We have a reservation, and we are a small reservation, of
1,034 acres. Of that land base, over 700 acres is unbuildable
tidelands. You can't build down there; I don't think you would
want to. Of the remaining 334 acres, the vast majority is
steep, forested hills, land slopes, roads, or wetlands. All
buildable lots on the reservation are already occupied.
And our wellness center, government offices, graveyard, and
almost all residents sit within just a few feet of the high-
tide line. Some of us are right down near at sea level,
definitely. That is sea level, but we are below.
If we had an earthquake on shore, the land below us sinks 6
feet. It becomes liquified because it is sand. And the sea will
inundate the village. If the earthquake is offshore, we have 20
minutes to get uphill. And we actually have a place for people
to go. And we don't care who they are; anybody who gets up
there is welcome to come in and be safe. Twenty minutes is not
very long, and it is hard to get people up there. We need to
move to high ground.
I am requesting--coastal erosion is a constant threat. The
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reconstructed a natural sandspit
that was out in front of us forever, and that is helping keep
care of our reservation right now. But we had two severe storms
in a different wave action last year, and we lost about 2 miles
of it.
And, right now, the Corps, who I consider great friends and
most, most helpful, are trying to arrange so that they can
repair the berm. The berm cost about 9 years of my time and
Federal moneys. I don't want to see it disappear. And they can
do some revetment on it that will help. Revetment is like a
rock, I believe, they are going to use.
In case of a tsunami, our reservation would no longer
exist. In case of tsunami, many will go to God's house, like,
overnight, right then. We need to move to high ground.
I am requesting that this subcommittee work with the
Washington delegation for a funding vehicle for $480,000 for
initial planning and construction that would begin the process
of our Tribe moving uphill, relocating to higher lands that we
have already bought but we have bought with the idea that we
would move uphill, but we did not begin that process. We
realize now, as things change, or are changing, we really need
to get our reservation uphill.
The written testimony discusses and illustrates with the
attached map what we plan to do. The land and road are going to
cost money, and it has to go over wetlands, where I think we
are going to have to mitigate for that. We need to start now.
And we have, by resolution, as a Tribe, said in 2016 that we
will move uphill.
In order to survive, the Tribe has repeatedly had to make
its way through lean times. The Tribe prides itself on its
resilience and its capacity to make a little go a long ways.
The Tribe counts on full funding from Congress on contract
support costs in order to make these things work.
I appreciate that Congress is making CSC a separate account
in the his and the BIA budgets. This ensures that the Tribe's
self-governance compacts with the his and the BIE will be
implemented, and we have assurance that the Federal programs
are strong.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Ms. Nelson. I am in support of the congressional funding
provided for the Tribal court systems for Tribes impacted by
P.L. 83-280. We have one. It is in an old trailer, and you can
all come down to see it. But we have a judge and the
prosecuting attorney and lawyers that come in, and we are now,
as far as the county, being looked at as real. That is a good
thing.
We rely on that court for health, safety, justice, and
peace. We cross-commission our officers so that we can help the
county. Because, where we live, it is a long ways for the
sheriff to get to--and his deputies.
State Highway 105 runs through our reservation. It is our
only way to leave this area except by boats or helicopters. We
have boats, no helicopters. The highway and the beach beside it
needs repair.
The part that is in worse shape is north of us, and it is
not on-reservation, but this is the highway the school buses
carry the children from the reservation and surrounding lands
to school. This is the highway emergency vehicles take when
headed for the hospital, which is 33 miles. This is the highway
that law enforcement must travel to assist citizens north of
here. This is the highway that people use to go to grocery
stores, et cetera. This is the highway that is an important
trunk highway in case of emergencies, such as terrorism attacks
or flood or whatever. And this is the highway that brings
tourists in to our enterprises. If it is washed out, it would
destroy historical and traditional lands, cranberry bogs, and
homes. When these things are gone, they are gone forever.
Please consider helping us back Pacific County's request
for help by supporting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under
section 103 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1962 for the
Shoreline Protection Project.
I believe in health and safety. Masi for letting me talk to
you today. We live in a beautiful area of the coastline. Please
come down and visit us.
[The statement of Charlene Nelson follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Would love to.
I am trying to stay within these timeframes because we have
so many witnesses here today. Please, we will try to stay
within the 5-minute rule. You know, I will try to be
respectful, but we are getting a little bit behind.
Next is Dee Pigsley, Tribal Council, Confederate Tribes of
the--Siletz Indians?
Ms. Pigsley. Siletz Tribe of Oregon.
Mr. Calvert. Welcome.
---------- --
--------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF SILETZ INDIANS
WITNESS
DELORES PIGSLEY, CHAIRMAN
Ms. Pigsley. Thank you for entertaining our testimony
today.
I have been the Tribal chairman at Siletz for a very long
time. I am not going to say how many years. We rely on multiple
funding sources and the flexibility of self-governance to
adequately fund services to our membership. And we are entering
the era of a new administration, and we are a little bit
nervous about some of the proposed changes that we are
obviously going to have to live with.
Indian Health Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs
contract support costs. Sufficient contract support costs are
essential for Tribal Governments to carry out our new and
existing program services, functions, and activities under
self-determination and self-government. We urge Congress to
continue to adequately fund CSC. And we appreciate the lady's
testimony on contract services.
The Purchased/Referred Care Program. This program is the
most important budget line item in the IHS budget for the
Siletz Tribe. With no IHS or Tribal hospital in our entire
region, Oregon Tribes are 100-percent dependent on this program
to pay for hospitalization, hospital services, including
specialty care.
Historically, insufficient resources for this program
resulted in underfunded/deferred healthcare requests such as CT
scans, hernia repair, knee and hip surgery, psychological
counseling, and back surgeries, and other treatments that did
not meet current funding levels. As a matter of fact, we were
on Priority 1 for about 8 years, and that meant only treating
people with emergency kinds of care. Healthcare rationing
causes Tribal members to be diagnosed only when their disease
is advanced and the cost of the treatment becomes prohibitive.
So we support full funding of Purchased/Referred Care at
$1.3 million, which is an increase of $422,000 over the current
budget level. And we support the testimony of the Northwest
Portland Area Indian Health Board.
BIA Tribal courts. The Siletz Tribal Court exercises only
civil jurisdiction, handling about 552 cases a year. And it is
staffed by a part-time judge, a full-time court administrator,
a part-time deputy court administrator, and four on-call
judges. The court's budget is only $249,000, with only $21,000
provided by BIA funds.
The BIA methodology for calculating Tribal court programs
shows a minimum budget at $717,000 for a part-time court,
serving a population of less than 600 people. And our current
enrollment is 5,119 members--half men and half women, by the
way. We recommend funding Tribal courts at $106 million to
provide a functioning justice system.
BIA Tribal law enforcement. The Siletz Tribe is a Public
Law 280 Tribe and has struggled to create and maintain a
sufficient public safety program. We operate our own police
department, but funding was not sufficient to maintain a
program.
We then contracted for reduced hours from a local city
police department but had to terminate the contract in 2014.
And we actually went without any policing activities for 2
years, until, 2016, the Tribe and the city of Siletz were
successful in forming a special district levy to help pay the
costs for law enforcement, and we currently operate one with
Lincoln County Sheriff's Office and contribute a share of that.
Enhanced services began in 2016 at 80 hours a week. We only
received $93,000 of BIA funds for law enforcement, which is
less than half of the Tribe's current law enforcement costs
with the county. The BIA methodology for estimating law
enforcement costs showed that the most minimal program should
be funded at $666,000 for a population of 600 people.
In 2016, the BIA law enforcement was funded at $348
million. Recently, the BIA determined the total need for basic
law enforcement and detention services in Indian Country is $1
billion. This disparity is exacerbated by the Bureau's long-
term policy of generally providing law enforcement and
detention funding only to P.L. 280 Tribes.
We were encouraged to see that the omnibus appropriations
bill included a $10 million set-aside to address the needs of
Public Law 280 Tribes, and we look forward to learning how the
assistance will be provided. We support funding law enforcement
and detention at $548 million, taking into the account the
needs of Public Law 280 Tribes.
BIA hatchery operations and maintenance. The Tribe operates
its fish hatchery on a shoestring budget using our own funds
and a minimal amount of BIA hatchery maintenance funding. The
hatchery is important to the continuance of the Tribe's
subsistence salmon fishing resource. To operate the hatchery
properly, we need to invest several hundred thousand dollars.
But the Tribe cannot tap into the BIA hatchery operations
funding because there is not enough funding in that pot to
sustain the operations of the existing hatcheries of other
Tribes. We support increasing the hatchery operation budget to
$3.8 million and the hatchery maintenance budget to $6.6
million.
One of the very important duties of our Tribe is to provide
education benefits for Tribal members. We are currently funded
at the same level we were funded in 1995 when we became a self-
governance Tribe. And the BIA funding totals $200,000, and,
currently, we support 125 students in higher education, 18 in
vocational training. We provide over a million dollars a year
in our own funds to help these students.
Mr. Calvert. We need to wrap this one up, please.
Ms. Pigsley. So we want to thank you for listening today.
[The statement of Delores Pigsley follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Great.
Oh, by the way, all statements will be submitted for the
record, and I will be looking through them all.
Sorry to be on this timeline. I know that some people have
to catch an airplane at 5 o'clock, I have been told, so we are
trying to keep it on schedule.
Ms. Pigsley. Thank you very much.
Mr. Calvert. Next, Mel Tonasket, vice chairman of the
Confederate Tribes of Colville Reservation.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE COLVILLE RESERVATION
WITNESS
MEL TONASKET, VICE CHAIRMAN
Mr. Tonasket. Thank you.
My name is Mel Tonasket. I am currently the vice chairman
of the Colville Confederated Tribes Business Council. And I
would like to thank Chairman Calvert, Ranking Member McCollum,
and our friend from the Northwest, Mr. Kilmer. I met you when
you were first running for Congress over on the coast.
There are three items that the Colville Tribe really wanted
to present to your committee today, along with all of the other
kinds of things, but I am going to focus on BIA forestry, BIA
law enforcement, and Tribal EPA programs.
I don't know if you heard in the media back here, but back
in our country, in 2015, we had some major fires, forest fires,
on the Colville Indian Reservation. And we lost about 255,000
acres of forest in those fires, which was nearly 20 percent of
our full 1.3-million-acre reservation. And in that loss, it was
almost a billion board feet of timber that burned up, which
leaves us--as a Tribe that primarily was supported by the
forestry program, timber sales, and a couple mills, it has
really been a devastating effect on the Tribe.
So the Colville Tribe would like to request an increase of
$5 million for BIA forestry for reforestation and an additional
$5 million for hiring 67 additional foresters. What we would
like to do is to get back into replanting the areas that we
have lost.
The BIA's entire replanting budget for Tribes nationwide is
$3.2 million. This would cover planting of less than 11,000
acres. At the current funding level, this would mean that
hundreds of thousands of acres of forest burned in the Colville
Reservation in 2015 may not be replanted for decades.
In fiscal year 2016, the committee provide an additional $2
million for fire restoration, which we greatly appreciated and
used for replanting our forest. The $5 million increase we are
requesting for 2018 will help us and other affected Tribes
continue these efforts. This increase is needed to ensure the
Colville Tribe and its members can continue to utilize our
forest for future generations.
BIA law enforcement. What we are asking is that the
committee continue to fund the BIA law enforcement at least at
its current levels. As the committee is aware, large-land-base
Tribes often lack enough police officers to adequately patrol
and respond to calls. The Colville Tribe is no different. On
occasions, the Colville Tribe has only a single officer on duty
for the entire 1.4-million-acre reservation, which caused us to
have to cross-deputize with counties and cities so that we
wouldn't have those blank areas where there is no law
enforcement whatsoever.
There is a constant need for reliable funding for Tribal
law enforcement and detention operations. BIA law enforcement
has received much-needed base funding increases during the past
few years, but, despite these increases, these programs
continue to be underfunded relative to need. And the committee
should ensure that current levels are maintained.
We are in an area--it is not in my written, but we are in
an area between Canada and the south, which is what we see as a
drug route through the Okanagan Valley. And we have seen
evidence now of Mexican mafia coming in. And so we know that we
are going to have more problems as the drug issues increase,
like on all reservations.
The third and last is Tribal EPA programs. Finally, the
Colville Tribes request that the committee maintain current
funding levels for several Tribal EPA program activities. These
programs are described in more detail in my written statement
but include the Tribal General Assistance Program and the
Tribal components of the EPA's Clean Air Act and Clean Water
Act programs.
Since 2004, the Colville Tribes have been fighting to
compel the Canadian mining company called Teck Cominco Metals
to clean up decades' worth of slag that is deposited into the
Columbia River for nearly a century. All of this--the Tribal
EPA programs that I mentioned in my written statement have and
continue to contribute to our efforts.
What we are getting in that slag is mercury and lead, and
so that doesn't just affect the Colville Tribe but affects all
of the communities on both sides of the river, to a point that
even the Governor has tried to put out--for the State of
Washington--tried to put out a certain amount of fish that is
safe to eat out of the Columbia River, and that is scary. So
that is one of our really important fights that we are in for
today, and we would hope to continue to be able to fund the
cleanup and the fight.
Thank you very much. That concludes my statement. Did I
make it?
Mr. Calvert. You did. You did fine.
Mr. Tonasket. Okay.
[The statement of Mel Tonasket follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Next, Donald Michel, executive director of the
Upper Columbia United Tribes.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
UPPER COLUMBIA UNITED TRIBES
WITNESS
DONALD R. MICHEL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Mr. Michel. Good afternoon, Chairman Calvert. I appreciate
the opportunity to be here today to provide testimony on behalf
of the Department of the Interior on the President's budget
request for Indian Affairs for fiscal year 2018 to continue
support for the $16 million of base budget funding of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, BIA, trust--natural resource
management account, sub-activity--Tribal Management Development
Program.
My name is D.R. Michel. I am a member of the Colville
Tribe, and I am currently the executive director of the Upper
Columbia United Tribes. Our organization consists of the Coeur
d'Alene Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville
Reservation, the Kalispel Tribe of Indians, the Kootenai Tribe
of Idaho, and the Spokane Tribe of Indians.
Combined, the five UCUT member Tribal Governments represent
over 15,000 enrolled Tribal members and retain management
duties over 2 million acres of reservation lands, 14 million
acres of aboriginal territories, and includes over 500 miles of
waterways, 40 interior lakes, and 30 dams and reservoirs. The
UCUT responsibilities encompass diverse land uses, ranging from
wilderness to timber, grazing, mining, industrial zones, and
growing urban areas.
Out of that $16 million line item, UCUT receives
approximately $589,000. We are a decentralized organization, so
there are five of us that work at the central staff. Out of
that $589,000, we subcontract out to our member Tribes, which,
in turn, allows them to participate back in the organization,
so that gives us access to all of their technical, legal, and
policy folks. So we are able to do what a lot of bigger
organizations with bigger budgets do for, you know, a very,
very small portion, $589,000.
Some of the major things that we are working on or are
involved in is the Columbia River Treaty, which includes
modernizing of the Columbia River Treaty between Canada and the
U.S. to include ecosystem function, ecosystem services. Within
that is fish passage at Chief Joe and Grand Coulee Dam.
I think over, you know, the past 80 years or with the
development of the Columbia River, we have tended to focus on
the two aspects of the treaty, which is flood risk management
and hydro-production, and based all of the economics or a lot
of the things that we do around those two legs of the stool, so
to speak.
So we worked real hard through the sovereign review process
to get ecosystem function or ecosystem services included in the
modernization of the treaty, which would allow us to look at
the economic opportunities of fish passage, of some of the
other things that currently aren't necessarily looked at when
you are planning operations at the Federal Columbia hydro
system. So there are a lot of economic opportunities that we
feel are available in modernizing the Columbia River Treaty.
We are in the process of completing an economic study of
the Columbia River Basin, including the portion in Canada,
which puts a value on those things--irrigation, navigation,
recreation. All of the uses within the Columbia River, we are
working on valuing those.
So, for the last 80 years, 100 years, ecosystem has been a
cost to flood risk management and hydro while, in our opinion,
flood risk management and hydro production has been a cost to
ecosystem. And we are just trying to swing that balance back a
little bit. So we are looking at all of those economic
opportunities when we operate the Columbia River. It is a huge
asset.
Our mission statement--I will run through real quick--is to
unite the Upper Columbia River Tribes for their protection,
preservation, and enhancement of treaty, executive order
rights, sovereignty, culture, fish, water, wildlife, habitat,
and other interests and issues of common concern in our
respective territories through a structured process of
cooperation and coordination for the benefit of all people.
And that is our philosophy, is, while the Tribes are out in
front of these issues, the Tribes aren't the only ones that
benefit. All the work that the Tribes do benefits everybody who
lives along the reservoir, who lives in the region, recreates
in those areas. And just a small budget allows the Upper
Columbia United Tribes to come together on those common issues
for the benefit, again, of all people.
And we thank you again today for this opportunity to
provide testimony. If there is anything else we can provide or
answer, we would be more than happy to. Thank you.
[The statement of Donald R. Michel follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. I appreciate it.
One thing I just kind of remembered as we were having this
testimony today is, obviously, being from California,
earthquakes are a big thing in California, but I was surprised
a number of years ago to read that, actually, the largest
earthquake calamity could occur, in the Pacific Northwest and
that, historically, it happens every so many thousands of
years. And it seems like----
Mr. Kilmer. We are overdue.
Mr. Calvert. You are overdue, yeah. So I was reading that,
which was somewhat alarming, because if that occurs, that would
be truly a----
Ms. Pigsley. We won't be back next year.
Mr. Calvert. Yeah.
So that just--it reminded that I know of the subsidence
issues that are going on in that part of the world, not just
water rising but ground sinking. So those two things are not
good if you own low-lying land, I know that.
So, with that, Ms. McCollum.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I was getting a map out
to look.
So for part of where you are on the Canadian border, are
there First Nations right above you? Are your lands rather
contiguous, and is the Canadian Government helping the First
Nations with some of these requests as you are having these
discussions, because these are artificial lines that
governments drew.
Mr. Michel. Correct.
Ms. McCollum. Your Tribal Nations didn't draw them, the
First Nations, or as we refer to ours, as the First Americans.
So can you tell me how the synergy works along the border
between you and Canada?
Mr. Michel. So there are still family ties, family
relations between First Nations in Canada, and Tribes in the
U.S., Colville Tribe is actually part of the Okanagan Nation
Alliance, the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho is one of the seven
bands, the Tanana, which the other six are located in Canada,
so we have those family ties.
Again, you mentioned the borders. You know, we don't really
recognize it, but have to kind of follow along with that.
Ms. McCollum. Yeah.
Mr. Michel. We do work with the First Nations on those
issues, coordinating messaging, and we have met with folks
within the BC Hydro, and other entities, so there are those
ties and that working relationship between First Nations and
the U.S. Tribes.
Mr. Tonasket. Can I add that I am also chairman of the UCUT
organization, at least until July and then I am retired.
But, when we have had meetings, with all of the Columbia
River Tribes, that are affected by what is going on on the
Columbia, and the UCUT hosted it, we also invited the Canadian
Tribal leadership to come down and participate with us there
too. So they are sitting with us when we are talking about the
Columbia River Treaty so that we won't be at heads on the
issues, because we are--you know, we are all in it together,
water, fish, everything.
Ms. McCollum. Because the water flows north?
Mr. Tonasket. South.
Ms. McCollum. It flows south there? Because near the Great
Lakes, up where we are in our water basin, it flows north.
Mr. Tonasket. It flows south.
Ms. McCollum. Yours flows south?
Mr. Tonasket. Yes.
Mr. Michel. Flows south. And it is unique that it comes
into the U.S., goes back into Canada and then comes back into
the U.S., some of the waters, the Okanagan, the Pend Oreille.
So there is a lot of trans-boundary issues. Mel mentioned Teck
Cominco and the pollution. That is a trans-boundary issue.
Ms. McCollum. I am going to have to look at a U.S. map. So
you must be below the Laurentian Divide. You have got this
former geography teacher really, really confused.
Mr. Tonasket. It is easier to paddle a canoe south on that
river than it is to paddle it north----
Ms. McCollum. Oh, I will figure that out quick.
Mr. Tonasket [continuing]. Because it is going south.
Ms. McCollum. Okay, thanks. Because we don't have the water
flowing up there, it is concerning. Their water quality then
falls down into yours.
Mr. Tonasket. Yes.
Ms. McCollum. Okay.
Mr. Tonasket. Yes. That is why we are fighting the Teck
Cominco.
Mr. Michel. If I may, there is a lot of information on our
web page, UCUT.org.
Ms. McCollum. I will go there after the meeting.
Mr. Michel. A lot of information about operations and
currently what we are working on.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Mr. Kilmer.
Mr. Kilmer. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Briefly, I just want to say thanks to all of you for
coming. And, Mel, congratulations on your impending retirement.
I know that you have been spectacular not only in your service
to your own Tribe, but to NCAI. You have demonstrated decades
of leadership, so thank you for that.
Mr. Tonasket. Thank you very much.
Mr. Calvert. All right. Thank you. Thank you to this panel.
We appreciate your attendance.
Next we have Reynold Leno, Phil Rigdon, Patty Brown-
Schwalenberg, Mark Hoover. So we are going to start off with
Reynold L. Leno, Tribal council chairman for the Confederated
Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon. Did I get that
right.
Mr. Leno. Grand Ronde.
Mr. Calvert. Grand Ronde.
Mr. Leno. Grand Ronde.
Mr. Calvert. You are recognized for 5 minutes.
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF GRAND RONDE
WITNESS
REYNOLD L. LENO, CHAIRMAN
Mr. Leno. Thank you, Chairman Calvert, Ranking Member
McCollum, members of the subcommittee.
My name is Reynold Leno. I am the Tribal council chairman
of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. Thank you for
providing the opportunity to raise an issue of great importance
to Grand Ronde and other restored Tribes.
I would like to thank Dee for her comments. She is a
neighboring Tribe from Siletz.
The lack of adequate law enforcement funding for our
reservation and in particular the continued impacts of
termination has had on Grand Ronde's ability to secure Federal
funding for much needed law enforcement services. Grand Ronde's
reservation is located in the outlying areas of Polk, Yamhill,
Lincoln County, and Tillamook County in rural northwest Oregon.
The Tribe has over 5,000 members.
The Tribe was terminated by the Federal Government in 1954,
but we all stayed there in Grand Ronde, but we were restored by
the government in 1983. Grand Ronde, like other terminated
Tribes, did not receive any of the Federal money for services
and infrastructure that was otherwise available in Indian
Country in the years before restoration.
Since restoration, the Tribe has spent a lot of time and
money rebuilding its Tribal community, including the
development of housing, which is approximately over 200 houses
just for our Tribal members, not counting outside community,
government buildings and an education complex, a health and
wellness center, fire and police station, management of over
10,000 acres of timberland, and operation of a successful
casino.
The Tribe has made substantial contributions in the
infrastructure of the surrounding community as well, including
roads, water systems, fire protection, and more.
Due to the high crime rate in the community and inadequate
county resources since 1997, the Tribe has funded or provided
criminal law enforcement on or near its reservation and
surrounding community, initially entering into an agreement
with Polk County and paying hundreds of thousands of dollars
per year for coverage.
In 2012, following a change in the State law, the Tribe
started its own police department, and now has the primary
responsibility for law enforcement in all four of them county
areas.
Crime on our reservation is a problem. Grand Ronde Tribal
Police Department and the Polk County Sheriff's Office handled
nearly 900 cases in 2015 and more than 1,000 in 2016 in the
Grand Ronde area.
The numbers so far suggest we are on track to handle an
estimated 1,200 cases in 2017. Drug-related crime is a real
concern for our community, as it has increased in sex crimes
also. Many reductions in force which resulted in loss of gains
made and reduced our ability to keep our youth safe and drugs
off of our lands. While Grand Ronde has made great strides in
rebuilding its reservation community, the Tribe continues to
suffer the effects of 29 years of termination and it continues
to have problems getting funding for law enforcement.
The Tribe has never received operational funding from BIA,
and requests for funding have been denied. The Tribe has
utilized Cop grants and State grants to fund some law
enforcement and emergency preparedness function, which I will
also say when we were talking about the earthquake, we do serve
as the emergency center for Polk and Yamhill County.
Due to the high crime rates in the remote and rural areas,
which also contains one of the largest tourist destinations in
the State, it is imperative there be a police protection, and
the Tribe needs for BIA funding to provide it.
The Tribe has requested that BIA enter into a 638 contract
under which the Tribe would procure law enforcement services,
but these requests have been turned down because the BIA hasn't
provided law enforcement services, so there are no services to
contract for. Had Grand Ronde not been terminated in 1954, we
believe the BIA would have provided law enforcement services on
the reservation, thus allowing the Tribe today to qualify for a
638 contract to fund its police department.
There is a lack of law enforcement funding for Indian
Country. As a formerly terminated Tribe, Grand Ronde and other
Tribes who have been restored are at a disadvantage, as we are
unable to secure law enforcement funding through the 638
program. BIA funding should be made available to those Tribes
who have been terminated and then restored and who provide
criminal law enforcement in their respective communities.
So on behalf of the Grand Ronde people and myself, I would
like to thank you for the time.
[The statement of Mr. Leno follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you very much.
Next, Phil Rigdon, president of the Inter-Tribal Timber
Council. Welcome.
---------- --
--------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
INTERTRIBAL TIMBER COUNCIL
WITNESS
PHILIP RIGDON, PRESIDENT
Mr. Rigdon. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member.
My name is Phil Rigdon. I oversee the Department of Natural
Resources for Yakima Nation and I am also the president of the
Intertribal Timber Council. I want to thank you for this
opportunity to testify today.
Indian forests are sacred to our people. They provide the
food, medicine, jobs, revenue, and the connection to our
culture, our past, and our way of life today. One-third of
Indian forest lands held in trust by the Federal Government are
forest and woodlands. That translates to 18.6 million acres.
Indian forests generate over $40 million in annual Tribal
government revenue for about 19,000 jobs nationwide. Overall,
Indian forestry produced $3 in economic activity for every $1
invested by the Federal Government. With only a couple of
Tribal sawmills left in production, most of our timber is
processed by nonIndian mills across the West, meaning that
surrounding communities share in the benefits of Indian
forestry.
Our commercial forest management is guided by an annual
allowable cut that harvests a sustainable benchmark that can be
maintained indefinitely. The current AAC has targeted about 750
million board feet. That lumber could generate--or could build
about 47,000 houses. But the BIA forest management has been
chronically underfunded. BIA Forest received $1 for $3 that the
U.S. Forest Service was appropriated. As a result, Tribes are
challenged every year to meet the goals within our forest
management plans.
Tribes are currently harvesting half of the annual
allowable cut since 1991. This decline in itself will cost $700
million in foregone stumpage revenue and tens of thousands of
jobs in the woods and mills.
In fiscal year 2015 alone, the depressed level of harvest
cost Tribes more than $60 million. Even small increases in BIA
forestry funding can and has resulted in positive results. The
ITC thanks this committee for its willingness to invest in
Indian forestry, and every additional dollar will generate more
in local economies. As such, the ITC provides the following
recommendations for fiscal year 2018.
We ask that you increase two accounts within the BIA
Forestry. First would be a $5 million increase in the Tribal
priority allocation for forestry. This will pay for an
additional 67 foresters to increase Tribal trust timber
harvests. Tribes can't cut timber without foresters on the
ground laying down timber sales according to our forest
management plans. The modest investment we request could
increase Tribal harvest by up to 200 million board feet,
generating $3 in stumpage for $1 invested and create over
15,000 rural jobs.
To cite my own reservation, the Yakima Nation, 33 of the 55
BIA positions have not been filled. To date, it is basically
unchanged despite the pleas by our Tribal government. Our
harvest targets are not being met, our forest health is at
risk, and economic opportunities are being lost.
Second, we ask for a $5 million increase in BIA forestry
projects. This will go towards reforestation as well as
thinning projects.
On a related issue, wildfire plagued Indian Country, as it
does other large landowners. 2015 was the worst fire season in
recorded history for Tribal forests, killing 1.5 billion board
feet of timber worth more than $200 million in Tribal revenue.
Before fires, Tribes are ready and willing to thin
overstocked stands and reduce the threat of wildfire. When
fires do hit, however, we struggle to compete against other
Federal agencies for fire suppression resources. After fires,
Tribes can move quickly to salvage portions of the damage and
get moving on rehabilitation, because Tribes rely heavily on
our forest for our jobs and food. We are better motivated to
get this work done than other of the Federal agencies, but we
need funding in place to accomplish these three actions before,
during, and after wildfires.
So we are asking for three items within the Department of
Office of Wildland Management. $49.5 million in burned area
rehabilitation for Indian forests burned in 2015. The vice
chair from Colville talked about the need that Colville has to
reforest. The Yakima Nation, where I come from, we have the
need from the 2015 fires for reforestation on our lands.
Increase the fields management funding to $206 million and
allow reserve treaty right lands to be expended on Tribal
lands. The fund request within the Office of Wildland Fire is a
reassessment of the Federal wildfire suppression priorities.
Specifically we are asking the committee direct UAI to raise
the priority of fires on Indian Lands to that of threat--that
of life and property on other lands.
Time after time we have seen air tankers and fire crews
diverted from Indian forests to protect private property in or
near other Federal lands. We don't want to diminish the
importance of suppression of these areas, but surely an
uninsured summer cabin somewhere north of us is not worth more
than a million acres of Indian land that sustains entire
communities as well as being a trust asset to the United
States.
Finally, the Intertribal Timber Council requests broader
authorization for Anchor Forest initiative with the Forest
Service. We are making great progress and planning many of
these type of projects now, and we need to implement them,
which includes timber harvests. We would appreciate report
language that accelerate their completion.
We also ask the committee to encourage the Forest Service
to increase the Tribal Forest Protection Act authority.
Previous report languages provided by the committee have been
helpful in initiating a number of TFPA projects and agreements,
but much more can be done.
[The statement of Mr. Rigdon follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. I thank the gentleman. Next is Patty Brown-
Schwalenberg, executive director of the--how do you pronounce
that? Chugach?
Ms. Brown-Schwalenberg. Chugach.
Mr. Calvert. Chugach Regional Resources Commission. You are
recognized for 5 minutes.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
CHUGACH REGIONAL RESOURCES COMMISSION
WITNESS
PATTY BROWN-SCHWALENBERG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Ms. Brown-Schwalenberg. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank
you, committee members, for allowing all the Tribes the
opportunity to share our information with you today.
[Speaking native language.]
I am an enrolled member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake
Superior Chippewa Indians in northern Wisconsin and the
executive director of the Chugach Regional Resources
Commission, also known as CRRC. We are located in south central
Alaska.
And I wanted to start just by thanking my elders for
sharing their knowledge with me over the years both at my own
home reservation and in Alaska, and as well as my ancestors,
who I know or watching over each and every one of us.
So I am here to ask Congress to sustain the current level
of funding for the $410,000 in the BIA budget for our
organization. While we recognize the reality of our Federal
deficit and the need to reduce Federal spending, we also
encourage Congress to continue to fulfill its legal and
contractual spending obligations to the Tribes.
CRRC is a nonprofit coalition of Tribes established in
1984. The Tribes are located in Prince William Sound and Lower
Cook Inlet, and include Tatitlek, Chenega, Port Graham,
Nanwalek, the Native Village of Eyak, the Qutekcak Native
Tribe, and the Valdez Native Tribe.
So our mission is to work with the Tribes to collectively
address environmental and natural resources issues that affect
the subsistence resources upon which they depend. We are also
charged with developing culturally sensitive economic projects
at the local level to support the sustainable development of
the region's natural resources, such as shellfish and salmon.
The action to create a separate entity to address natural
resources rather than relying on the regional nonprofit
organizations in Alaska is a testament to the level of concern
and importance these Tribes hold for the environment and the
need to preserve these resources for future generations.
So through our programs, we provide employment for up to 20
native people in our region, and this is an area that faces
high levels of unemployment. So support from this committee has
allowed us to realize real economic opportunities, savings, and
community investments that have had a great impact on our
region. So our employees are able to earn a living and reinvest
that money back into the community.
So--and we have also been very successful at leveraging
this funding into almost $2 million annually to support
community-based programs. So we have been able to match this
funding with other sources, such as University of Alaska, the
State of Alaska, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fish and
Wildlife Service, Department of Education, and many
philanthropic foundations.
So this diverse funding pool has assisted us in funding the
development of the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery. It is the
only shellfish hatchery in the State of Alaska run by our
organization, and it is located in Seward. It houses shellfish
seed, brood stock, and algae production facilities, and has
undertaken hatchery nursery operation as well as grow-out
operation research to adapt mariculture techniques for the
Alaskan shellfish industry.
The hatchery is also conducting scientific research on blue
and red king crab as part of a larger federally-sponsored
program, and we have already been successful at culturing
geoduck oyster, littleneck clam, and razor clam species, and we
are currently working on sea cucumbers, which as a potential to
dramatically increase commercial opportunities for the region
in the future.
And as you have heard from the Squaxin Island Tribe and Mr.
Peters mentioned that their populations of shellfish are
declining, and we have been experiencing that same phenomenon
for the past 20 years, and so we also have an ocean
acidification lab in the hatchery, and we are testing the water
throughout the region to determine if that is one of the causes
of the shellfish decline.
So we are doing some important work at the hatchery and it
is also providing some food security opportunities for the
villages, as we are planting some of those clams back into the
beaches near the communities.
And as I said, it is the only shellfish hatchery in the
State, and it is also the only organization in Alaska that can
carry out this research and production. So we have many
important partners, but it also allows opportunities that we
continue to enjoy if our funding remains stable.
So, we have also developed natural resource curriculums
with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and NOAA, and that is
to encourage students to pursue degrees in the natural
sciences. And it is kind of a step down from the, I don't know
if you are familiar with the Alaska Native and Engineering and
Science Program, and so that is a college based, at the
university, this is more of a voc tech type thing.
And then, finally, the Migratory Bird Co-Management
Council. The Alaska Migratory Bird Co-Management Council is a
partnership between the Fish and Wildlife Service, the State of
Alaska, and the Alaska Natives to set regulations for the
spring-summer harvest of migratory birds.
And so we were able to after 30 years to offer the harvest
of Emperor geese this year, which is exciting. And that also--
it is done through a funding agreement. And we would like to
ask Congress to encourage the service to more seriously
consider 638 contracts with the Tribes for services that the
Tribes can provide on their behalf.
So in conclusion, we urge you to sustain the current level
of funding of $410,000 in our budget, and we will, again, use
these dollars to leverage more to do more for the Alaska
people. So thank you.
[The statement of Ms. Brown-Schwalenberg follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you very much for your testimony.
Ms. Brown-Schwalenberg. [speaking native language.]
Mr. Calvert. Next, Mark Hoover from Cordova, Alaska.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
NATIVE VILLAGE OF EYAK TRIBAL COUNCIL
WITNESS
MARK HOOVER, MEMBER
Mr. Hoover. [Speaking native language.]
Mark Hoover. We are located on the eastern shores of Prince
William Sound, most notoriously known as the biggest DUI event
in the world probably, Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Our big concern is the sequestration, the possibility of
that with a proposed budget of $54 million in defense spending,
and probably that means cutting out a lot--$54 million, and we
are part of what that would be, so we are asking for an
exemption like the Veterans Administration, if that would be
possible.
Healthcare, we are trying to decide how to go about
building a new hospital or a clinic, but we live in a town that
has a hospital already, but they are losing 500 to 1 million
dollars a year, and that has been going on like that, the city
has to subsidize it.
So we don't know how long they are going to last, so we
don't know what to go for next, you know. I mean, a hospital
would make sense, but we are in a lease situation right now
with an old building, it is getting too small. And we are also
taking care of the nonnative people in Cordova through a
community health center grant.
And then the Tribal courts, funding is really important to
us. We are just kind of getting started with that. We are doing
referrals from the State court for minors consuming right now,
and we are hoping to expand that to other, you know,
jurisdictions of law.
And so we also would like to speak in favor of the village-
built clinics and the joint venture program also for--
especially if that could be opened up for 2018 for new Tribes
to be involved in that.
So I had one thing here I wanted to conclude with. We face
some of the same problems dealing with mental health and
learning to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder that the
government faces right now. Soldiers returning from war are
experiencing the same symptoms that our indigenous peoples are
dealing with, alcohol and drug abuse, loss of identity, high
numbers of suicide.
And Native People have been dealing with trauma for
generations, such as disease wiping out entire villages, loss
of language, loss of land, and the nightmare of boarding
school; still trying to deal with those events. And we are
hoping that once there is a tool that can be used to deal with
it, I don't know if the government has that for their soldiers
yet or not, but we would really be interested in knowing
anything that we could do to help stop that.
We have done our best to deal with the physical health
issues with funding that has not really kept up with rising
costs over the years, and little to no funding to deal with
trauma-based disorders.
And so those are our main key problems, and we thank you
very much.
[The statement of Mr. Hoover follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Do you know my good friends John and Barbara
Harville up there?
Mr. Hoover. Oh, yeah.
Mr. Calvert. I was raised with him, so he is a good guy. So
say hi to him the next time----
Mr. Hoover. I will. I will.
Mr. Calvert [continuing]. You see him. So you have a direct
line to me through John. No. John is a little older than me.
Mr. Hoover. Yeah.
Mr. Calvert. He is a great person.
I was curious, why were you terminated in the first place
as far as----
Mr. Leno. Well, I guess everybody probably shares their own
story--I guess everybody could share their own story. The
belief of our people was that we were terminated because they
wanted our timber.
Mr. Calvert. I see.
Mr. Leno. We sat right at the coast range on this side of
the mountain and we had prime timber, prime old growth timber,
some of the best stands in the state of Oregon, and they wanted
it and they took it.
Mr. Calvert. Okay. Well, I am sorry that occurred, but
thank you for your service in the United States Marine Corps. I
appreciate that.
Mr. Leno. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. God bless you.
On timber, which is obviously an interest to many of the
Tribes in the Pacific Northwest and in Alaska, but, I think I
know the answer to this question, but I am going to ask it
anyway. How is the interaction between the BIA forest
management and the United States Forest Service and the State
and the, say, other agencies? Do they work well together?
Mr. Rigdon. I don't know if the BIA necessarily. I think
the Tribes spend a lot more time trying to coordinate between
the States, the Feds and, you know, the BIA and the Forest
Service. There is some interaction at times with the Forest
Service and the BIA, but usually they are way off on what their
missions are also.
Mr. Calvert. Well, I know we need to work better on that.
One thing I know that we should all work together on, as
this committee is, Mr. Simpson is not here right now, but to
support his bill to have a better way to fund the forest
calamities, the forest fires that we are having throughout the
United States, and that way we can use our, you know, disaster
accounts rather than having to take money out of the forest
accounts and other accounts to fight fire.
It makes it more difficult to manage fire, because we end
up taking out money from all these various accounts, and I
suspect that happens in the BIA accounts also. So it is
something we should look at.
With that, Ms. McCollum, do you have any questions?
Ms. McCollum. You must have been reading my mind, because I
was thinking the same thing.
Mr. Calvert. Yeah.
Ms. McCollum. Would Mr. Simpson's bill help, or do we need
to look at better integration between what the BIA Division of
Forestry is doing and what the U.S. Forest Service is doing.
We would have to do it with the support and with consulting
the Tribes, but would there be a way to make this more
commonsense? Rather than standing up two separate organizations
and all the bureaucracy that goes with that, to have one
organization be in charge, but to make sure you got your fair
share and to have good oversight on it.
I don't know the answer to that, but it seems duplicative.
You are not getting good service because they are not filling
the positions, not because people are giving you bad service,
you are just not getting any service. Is that correct?
Mr. Rigdon. I think it is a real important concept, because
I will use our Yakima Nation as an example. Back in the 1990s,
we had a western spruce bloodworm, and we had resources to do
this. We harvested 225 million board feet of timber a year,
over 25,000 acres a year--you know, salvaging these areas.
As we move into today, you know, we were challenged with
the resources that we had to get 106 million board feet
following the 2015 fires. And that shouldn't have been as big a
problem, but the resources that we have, we have a third of the
resources, and so our ability for that. As far as, I think--we
are very proud of what we accomplish on our ground, and we look
across the boundaries and we see a lot of red tape that holds
up activities.
And so if we had the same resources as the Forest Service,
I think we could be able to treat a lot more acres in a lot
more consistent manner that is actually, I consider, more
conducive to what the natural world looked like when my
ancestors were here before the nonIndians came, and so----
Mr. Calvert. Sure. Now, one last comment on the budget.
Both Ms. McCollum and I serve on the Defense Appropriations
Committee, so we spend a lot of time together between this
committee and that committee, and we have our challenges in the
Department of Defense, but you shouldn't have to suffer through
that. And so we are hopefully going to come up with a budget
agreement, I hope, that we can agree on, so that shouldn't
devastate the Department of Interior.
So that is what we are working toward, anyway. So we will
see how that all works out.
Any other questions?
Ms. McCollum. No. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Okay. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
Next panel is Audrey Hudson, Victoria Demmert, Victor
Joseph, and Christopher Bolton. We are all here.
First I would like to recognize Audrey Hudson, mayor of
the--see if I can pronounce this correct--the Metlakatla Indian
Community. How's that?
Ms. Hudson. How about we sit here until you get it right?
It is Metlakatla Tribe.
Mr. Calvert. Okay. I will take your word for it.
You are recognized for 5 minutes.
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
METLAKATLA INDIAN COMMUNITY
WITNESS
AUDREY HUDSON, MAYOR AND TRIBAL CHAIR
Ms. Hudson. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chairman Calvert and
Ranking Member Betty McCollum. It is an honor to be here today.
My Tsimshian name is Galksiyaa da mangyepsa tgwa, my
English name is Audrey Hudson, and I am the mayor of Metlakatla
Indian Community.
I am here today on behalf of the Metlakatla people of
southeast Alaska, the federally-recognized tribe that I was
elected to represent, and I do so as one sovereign nation to
another.
We are an island Nation of people. We have the only
reservation in the State of Alaska, which we fought to retain
all through the statehood and later as the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act era.
When you live on an island, you recognize the nature of the
resources around you, and like our ancestors, you learn to keep
and fight for those resources.
As you will note in our written testimony, we have specific
resources we are highlighting this year, which by no means
indicates that we have full funding in other areas. I encourage
you to hop on a plane and visit the island community of the
Metlakatla so that you have a better understanding of our
people, our culture, and history, and our need. We need water
to drink to survive, and energy to heat our homes, maintain our
government, and engage in economic development.
As discussed at greater length in the written testimony, we
have two dams on Annette Island, and the BIA has determined
this spring in its Safety of Dams Evaluation, that the Chester
Lake Dam qualified to have its hazard classification upgraded
from low to high hazard. This is significant. And while this
determination now requires additional comprehensive evaluation
of the dam, its status and steps to take to prevent any kind of
an emergency or hazard to the community health and wellness,
there is no immediate funding. We determined through this
process that $1 million in infrastructure funding is necessary
to make safety improvements at Chester Lake Dam as well as
carry out necessary planning and studies for expansion of the
dam's storage and hydropower production capacity.
We make this request to the subcommittee that it
appropriate this additional $1 million in funding. The total
cost of this project will be approximately $12 million, but the
initial funding will allow for the immediate safety measures to
be implemented to protect the drinking water supply while
planning for the Phase II improvements that will increase not
only the water storage capacity, but also expanded hydro power
production for Chester Lake Dam.
In order to maintain order and provide public safety and
community justice systems, we maintain law enforcement and
Tribal court systems. I strongly urge the subcommittee to move
forward with funding in line with the appropriation levels in
the fiscal year 2017 act supporting Tribal court systems in
states impacted by Public Law 83-280. Alaska is such a State,
and the need for Tribal court funding support in Alaska was
underscored in the 2013 bipartisan Indian Law and Order
Commission Report.
As the subcommittee is aware, effective governance through
the Federal Tribal trust relationship requires full contract
support cost funding. I want to personally thank this
subcommittee for its continued leadership in the contract
support cost funding.
Our objective, though, continues to be the indefinite
appropriation of CSC funding as mandatory and permanent full
payment of CSC is not discretionary, it is a legal obligation
under the ISDEAA affirmed under the U.S. Supreme Court. Funding
of CSC on a discretionary basis has in the very recent past
placed the House and Senate appropriations committees, in their
own words, in the untenable position of appropriating
discretionary funds for the payments of any illegally obligated
contract support costs.
We remain committed to working with the appropriate
congressional committees to determine how best to achieve this
objective.
On the health side, our testimony focuses on two key
initiatives, village-built clinics funding and his funding
protection from sequestration. We thank Congress so much for
the $11 million for the Tribal health clinic leases in the
fiscal year 2017 Consolidated Appropriations Act and in
particular for Senator Murkowski's determination in advocating
for these very small clinics, which are the health lifeline in
rural Alaska villages.
I ask that you put yourself and your family in the position
of living in a tiny, incredibly remote village with limited
roads and challenging weather, and needing the healthcare that
can be provided by trained community members and the health
professionals who rotate in and out of those communities and
utilize the small clinics as headquarters.
The $11 million increase in fiscal year 2017 was a major
step forward, but still does not cover the full amount of need.
In addition, without a separate line item for the village-built
clinics, much of the funding could be distributed to other
types of facility leases, leaving the village-built clinics
coming up short.
Finally, we have requested in our previous years testimony
that the his budget be protected from sequestration. We again
ask your support in amending the Balanced Budget and Emergency
Deficit Control Act to exempt the his from sequestration of
funds just as Congress has done for the Veterans Health
Administration.
Thank you on behalf of the Metlakatla people for the
opportunity to provide this testimony in person. And I am
looking forward to seeing all of you this summer when you take
me up on my invitation and come to Annette Island in southeast
Alaska.
I was here last year before you requesting some funds for
our natural resource department, and the hatchery was funded,
so thank you very much. That has provided the community with
another source of income to become financially independent, and
it will definitely help with our economic development plan. So
thank you for last year's funding.
[The statement of Ms. Hudson follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thanks for the help.
Next is Victoria Demmert, President of the Yakutat----
Ms. Demmert. Tlingit.
Mr. Calvert [continuing]. Tlingit Tribe. Welcome.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
YAKUTAT TLINGIT TRIBE
WITNESS
VICTORIA L. DEMMERT, TRIBAL COUNCIL PRESIDENT
Ms. Demmert. Good afternoon, Chairman Calvert and Ranking
Member McCollum.
My name is Kuddukeit. My English name is Victoria Demmert.
I have the privilege and honor of having been elected president
of the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe for the past 12 years. We want to
thank you for scheduling these hearings to allow us a voice.
Our tribe is located in the community of Yakutat on the
eastern shores of the Gulf of Alaska between Juneau and
Anchorage and in the northern part of the Tongass Rain Forest.
We also have the beautiful mountain range that separates us
from Canada.
We are only accessible by air and boat, and our tribe is
the only provider of healthcare in the community and
surrounding area. We are very pleased to have been selected
into the joint venture project with his. We intend to build an
11,000-square-foot health facility and provide equipment, while
his will provide the staffing.
When completed, we will complete our primary and dental
care services and make space available for our visiting
providers and our administrative staff. Our concern is whether
the funding will be provided in a timely manner for the
staffing packages, because a tribe like us in our very remote
location, we must commit far in advance for construction costs
and also have sufficient time to get the staffing, which will
require advertisement and relocation, et cetera. We think this
should be in fiscal year 2019, so we are letting you know at
this time that that is when it will be.
Regarding his maintenance and improvement, they have a
backlog of maintenance and repair, which is currently $473
million. There hasn't been much progress made on this critical
need. We will qualify for this when our facility is completed,
so we do have a concern.
We know that you are hearing from many Tribes and Tribal
organizations that are appreciative of your leadership in the
his for fully funding the his BIA contract support costs, and
we join in that appreciation and also concur with the view that
contract support costs should be made permanent and mandatory.
We also are asking for your support for Congress to
enacting a permanent reauthorization of the special diabetes
program for Indians and an increased annual funding level.
EPA Indian Environmental General Assistance Program is of
great interest to us, also known as IEGAP. This was recommended
for elimination in the administration's quote/unquote ``skinny
budget,'' and it includes a focus on solid waste management,
water and air quality monitoring, recycling programs, renewable
energy, among others, and it also helps us to recruit and
retain professionals to carry out our regulatory programs. It
has also helped us with remediation of the World War II
cleanup, which there was quite a bit in our area.
For a small little community of 600, and it was about 250
at the time, we had about 10,000 soldiers located all over. So
we are busy with cleanup working with DOD regarding that.
We also monitor our water quality, because we have so many
salmon streams in the area. We are very rich in resources, and
we really want to stay that way.
We also partner with the city and bureau of Yakutat, the
forest service, our village ANCSA corporation to increase the
dollars that we receive. We have great partnerships with them,
and we help each other out, because in a small community, that
is what you do.
We have a real concern about the universal service proposal
to slash subsidies for the internet service. Apparently the FCC
is proposing to prorate by 7.5 percent the subsidies for
internet. We currently have a subsidy from Universal Services
Administrative Company, USAC, the FCC designated administrator
of Universal Service that pays the internet service, which if
it was paid in full price would be $20,000 a month. Our portion
after subsidy is $500 a month. There is no way we can afford
$20,000 a month. So this would definitely sink us. That is
$240,000 a year.
Connectivity is a lifeline for the provision of health
services in Alaska, and while this is an FCC and USAC matter,
we do need to bring this to your attention because of the
subcommittee's critical importance to the provision of health
care in Indian Country.
And we also ask that the IHS and BIA budget and any of the
Federal agencies that tend to give money and help us out with
our healthcare and our other programs, we really would like to
see that we are not subject to across-the-board cuts or
sequestration.
The people of Yakutat thank you, and may our creator truly
bless you for hearing our voice and for the work that you do on
our behalf.
[Speaking native language.]
[The statement of Ms. Demmert follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.
Next, Victor Joseph, chief and chairman of the Tanana
Chiefs Conference.
Thank you.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
TANANA CHIEFS CONFERENCE
WITNESS
VICTOR JOSEPH, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF CHAIRMAN
Mr. Joseph. Thank you, Chairman Calvert, Ranking Member Ms.
McCollum.
I also want to just thank Mr. Benjamin for all the efforts
and the tax credits information you sent us. Much appreciate
it.
You know my name is Victor Joseph, and I serve as the chief
chairman of the Tanana Chiefs Conference. Thank you for
inviting me to testify today. We are grateful for this
committee's bipartisanship and the positive results the
committee has made in our communities.
TCC is a nonprofit Tribal consortium of 42 communities, 37
of which are federally-recognized Tribes. We serve
approximately 16,000 people throughout the interior, and we are
strung along about 1,400 miles of the Yukon River and its
tributaries. Not only do we serve 16,000 of our Tribal people,
but we also serve about 700 nontribal vets, and that is through
our agreement with the VA.
And in one of our communities, we have recently taken over
a local healthcare center that provided primary care to
nontribal members, which was fairly significant for us, as we
reach out and expand our healthcare system.
We have major concerns with the America First budget that
reduces Federal spending for nondefense programs. Such a budget
undermines this committee's diligent work to increase funding
in such critical areas as Tribal health, public safety,
contract support costs, education, and construction.
With regards to this appropriation, Alaska has the
unfortunate distinction of having amongst the highest
healthcare costs in the country. In many cases, Alaska Tribal
health programs must refer care to outside Alaska. The current
level of funding does not meet the needs, and often forces
health care programs to delay referral until the disease has
progressed beyond the optimal early intervention stages to the
costlier, less effective later stages of the illness.
Chronic underfunding is resulting in higher morbidity and
mortality with higher cost of care. We rely heavily on PRC
funds, and request a substantial increase over last year's
funding.
We also appreciate the appropriation of $5 million for
small ambulatory programs, also known as SAP, in 2017. We ask
the subcommittee to increase this figure in 2018 so additional
Tribes can construct small ambulatory clinics in their
communities.
I would like you to know that I still have clinics in our
area that are not hooked up to water or sewer, and so that
makes it really hard to provide quality healthcare in these
type of facilities.
We urge the subcommittee to include an additional $10
million in fiscal year 2018 within BIA's public safety and
justice count for Tribal courts, or TPA funding, and include
report language that increases should be used by BIA and Public
Law 280 states like Alaska.
As a Public Law 280 State, the State of Alaska has
jurisdiction over crimes in Native American communities. The
BIA, with limited law enforcement funds, prioritizes public
safety funds in nonPL280 States in the incorrect assumption
that Public Law 280 states are investing resources and
personnel required to ensure public safety and law enforcement
in our communities.
Finally, I want to share a success story that was borne out
of Tribal sacrifice. It concerns the Chinook salmon, or also
known as the king salmon, management along the Yukon River
during the 1990s. The average king run was about 300,000 fish.
Runs began to decline in early 2000, and in 2013, the run
plummeted to a record low of 60,000.
The Native Alaska villages along the Yukon knew that it
would fall to them to make sacrifices, which they did. In 2014
and 2015, these villages, our Tribes imposed a self-moratorium
on king salmon. The villages also formed the Yukon River
Intertribal Fish Commission, which TCC supports financially.
The self-imposed moratorium left Tribal members with little to
no traditional king salmon harvest.
Due to this sacrifice in over the first time in over a
decade, the United States had met its escapement goal to Canada
in 2014, 2015, and 2016. That was a major sacrifice by our
people.
I just wanted to add a little to your--you were talking
about wildfires. And there are solutions, and part of that
solution is working with Tribal entities that could help train
firefighters to be ready to take on fires. A few years ago
Alaska had a major fire that was early in the season, and it
called out over ten crews from outside of Alaska, called out.
And so they had to call in crews from outside, and that is
normal, it comes and goes, but the reason why they called it
out was simply because our firefighters did not have their
permit for tree falling. And if you think about that, to knock
down a tree. Our people have been doing that for years, that is
how we warm our houses, but we couldn't go out on a fire to cut
down a tree, and they had to go to the extreme cost of sending
crews to Alaska and not using Alaska crews.
So I just want to share, there are solutions. I am going to
reach out to Mr. Simpson and also Ms. McCollum if you would as
we look at what we can do to improve our firefighting response.
Thank you, sir, and thank you for the opportunity here.
[Speaking native language.]
[The statement of Mr. Joseph follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. I appreciate your testimony.
Next, Christopher Bolton, the chief operating officer of
the Norton Sound Health Corporation.
----------
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
NORTON SOUND HEALTH CORPORATION
WITNESS
CHRISTOPHER BOLTON, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Mr. Bolton. Thank you, members of the committee, for
allowing us to testify in the 2018 appropriations.
My name is Chris Bolton. I am the chief operating officer
of Norton Sound. I have been there about 5 years, I have been
working in Alaska about 11 years.
Norton Sound is the only regional hospital serving
northwest Alaska, about 44,000 square miles. We are not
connected to any large cities by any road. We are over 500 air
miles from Anchorage. And we operate a regional hospital, a
long-term care facility, and 15 village clinics in remote
villages.
I want to talk to you about three needs today. We have more
than that in our written testimony, but the three biggest
challenges we face are facility needs for substance abuse and
behavioral health, the village--the new village clinic funding,
and then also water and sewer projects.
So one of the most important issues facing us right now is
financing for construction and staffing of a new wellness
center. We have a really nice new hospital that was constructed
about 5 years ago with our funding, but behavioral health is
notoriously underfunded in terms of reimbursement, and we need
to deal with the addiction in our region.
We have a crisis, which affects not only our people's
overall health, but is also connected to higher suicide rates,
school and vocational dropouts, incarceration, Child Protective
Services cases, and referrals to women's shelters. People are
literally dying from addiction, and we do not treat them well
enough.
In response to community surveys, which is part of our
personal funding requirements, Norton Sound is developing a new
wellness and training center. Services will include
detoxification, intensive outpatient services, day treatment,
and sober housing. It will allow us to provide a higher level
of care for the patients who receive the deep clinical
counseling required to combat a lifetime of substance abuse,
mainly brought on by enter generational trauma.
The building will also house our health aid training
program. It is one of only four health aid training programs in
the State of Alaska. I am not sure if you are familiar with
health aids, but it is a physician extender model, low cost
physician extender model that has been very successful, but it
is also been underfunded.
We have already funded the design work for the wellness
center and the initial phases of the project through grant
funding and donations and $1.9 million of our own funding. We
have pledged another $2.5 million towards construction. The
total cost is $11.8 million. We were hopeful that the new
center would be jointly funded by Norton Sound and his, but
that is not the case. His has denied our participation in the
competitive joint venture program because the project includes
a behavioral health component.
Behavioral health facilities, like any healthcare facility
in Indian Country, are in desperate need of additional funding
for staffing and operating their programs, and IHS's position
is not supported under the applicable authority in the Indian
Health Care Improvement Act. We thus ask this committee--or
subcommittee continued support for the his joint venture
program, but that program should be expanded to allow
behavioral health programs to participate.
We have also recently started construction on two new
health clinics in Gambell and Savoonga on St. Lawrence Island,
isolated communities of Gambell and Savoonga located close to
the Russian border. You literally can see Russia from Gambell.
We had intended to apply for the fiscal year 2017 small
ambulatory clinic funding, but have been informed by his that
our projects will not be eligible because construction is
already in progress. So we basically took our own funding. We
were told all along that we would be eligible. Now we are being
told that we are not eligible. So we ask you to direct his to
accept small ambulatory clinic funding applications for new
health clinician even if the construction is already in
progress.
And then the final item I want to talk to you about is
water and sewer projects, a major concern for Norton Sound. We
don't have the funding for adequate water and sewer, especially
in the remote villages. To put it in perspective, five villages
within our region are still completely unconnected to any
water, running water or sewer. In three of the villages, 30 to
50 percent of the homes are also unconnected to running water
and sewer, and we have ongoing sewer and water upgrade
maintenance backlogs in seven of our communities.
There are multiple Federal programs that help fund these
projects, but they cannot all be used for the same thing, and
it can be challenging to coordinate the funding in order to
plan for and many complete these projects. Establishing a
program within his that would allow Tribes to enter into
contracts with the private sector, use Federal sewer and water
funding from multiple agencies to support the complete
construction of running water and sewer in a community would
lead to a clear path toward water and sewer development.
We ask for the subcommittee to help make it possible to
streamline and align Federal agency authorities for running
water and sewer through the his and for expanding the current
funding within the his budget that is allocated towards water
and sewer.
I started off by telling you that I have been in Alaska for
10 years, at Norton Sound for 5. I am there because I have
never been at a place that I could see the pieces coming
together for a health system to really deliver preventative
care, and we are doing it. We have got a great new facility, we
have got a great her, we have the patients at our medical home,
but the behavioral health piece missing is a huge problem for
it. The village clinics, where 70 percent of our care occurs in
rundown, underfunded facilities without water, those are huge,
huge problems. Thank you.
[The statement of Mr. Bolton follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Thank you all for your testimony.
Ms. Hudson, I was just curious, on the Chester Lake Dam,
who built the dam in the first place?
Ms. Hudson. The Corps of Engineers back in the early 1970s.
Mr. Calvert. So have you gone back to the Corps and asked
them to take another look at that, to the district out there?
Ms. Hudson. We sure have.
Mr. Calvert. And they haven't been too responsive to you?
Ms. Hudson. They told us it belongs to us now and it is our
responsibility.
Mr. Calvert. Ah. Was there a contract signed that turned
over the responsibility at that time?
Ms. Hudson. Yes.
Mr. Calvert. I see. Well, Don Young is a great friend of
ours around here. I am going to talk to him on the authorizing
side, but I am also on the Energy and Water Committee. I will
take a look at that and see--if the Corps didn't build the dam
to its safety provisions, I wonder if they can sign away their
obligations to that. We will take a look at that.
Ms. Hudson. Sir, I was kind of hoping Mr. Young would come
busting through the door and save the day.
Mr. Calvert. I think he was trying to get here. That is
what he does. I think he was in Alaska this last week, so he
was trying to get back in time.
Ms. McCollum. There are storms.
Mr. Calvert. Is that right? So that is probably it, because
that is why we have--I suspect that he wanted to be here, but--
he usually is.
And I know internet service is a challenge all around these
remote areas all around the whole country, so that is not
really in our jurisdiction. But since we represent a lot of
these rural areas, I will mention that to Lisa Murkowski too,
because she has the whole State, and do so the same thing with
Don. So we will make sure that that is recognized.
And, Mr. Joseph, as far as commonsense is concerned,
sometimes in the Federal Government we don't have much, yet
bringing in an outside group because they know how to cut down
trees doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. So we will certainly
take a look at that. There must be some kind of a waiver
program that the BIA or the Forest Service can have that would
waive that requirement.
Mr. Joseph. Currently, we have a request in to BLM to take
over that role of training our local Tribes within the State of
Alaska. The problem is is some delays that it takes through the
approval process. If we can work on that approval process that
it gives us the authority, we could have been providing that
training this year.
Mr. Calvert. Right.
Mr. Joseph. As it is now, we have to wait until the next
fiscal year, and you only get approval for 2 years at a time,
and so we are hoping we can work through that.
Mr. Calvert. Okay. And, Mr. Bolton, I hear you on this
issue with behavioral programs should absolutely be a part of
this. I think, you know, we will look into that and find out
why they are thinking the way they do. Obviously, addiction in
Indian Country is, unfortunately, more prevalent than most
parts of the country, so we have to deal with it.
So with that, Ms. McCollum.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
So, Mr. Bolton, I know different States use different
licensing terms, and I just want to understand what your needs
are, because there is a big difference. And I was looking this
up, a physician extender is usually somebody who has a 4-year
degree who goes on to get something else, a PA, or we call them
physician's assistants in Minnesota. You kind of said you
needed health aides or physician extenders. So do you need
both, because the health aide is only a 120-hour program, or
what do you need most?
Mr. Bolton. We do need both, but the health aides are the
backbone of our care in the remote villages.
Ms. McCollum. And is that a problem with offering training
or is it just a labor shortage, people aren't interested?
Mr. Bolton. No. A number of the training facilities around
the State have closed, and, again, it has been underfunded.
Medicaid in the State of Alaska, fortunately, is actually
coming up with a community health aide provider, a CHAP,
encounter right now.
So, traditionally, when we would send a physician or a PA,
a mid-level, to a village, which is very expensive, we would
get an encounter rate of about $600. When a health aide would
see the same patient, we would get 85 percent of the physician
fee schedule, which would be about $85. So that was
underfunded.
And so facilities don't have the incentive to keep working
with health aides because we get much more reimbursement for
the more expensive provider, which is against the whole idea.
The whole idea was to have less expensive providers, but the
reimbursement mechanism has made it such that we staff with PAs
and physicians.
The training centers also were not funded. They were
typically grant funded by the State of Alaska, if we didn't
have Federal funding for training centers. And what we are
doing is combining the training center with the wellness center
with the intent of trying to get enough funding to build a
whole building.
Ms. McCollum. So you have got lots of problems----
Mr. Bolton. We do.
Ms. McCollum [continuing]. With staffing, because you have
your reimbursement rate, you have struggles with people being
trained, and then there are the professionals that are in
between a nurse practitioner, a PA, a doc, and then you have
got the health aide, but you have R.N.s certified in between.
So you have got some challenges.
Mr. Bolton. We do, but I have got to tell you, we have
worked well with the various agencies to try to make the best
of it. So, for example, we work with HERSA to get--we are a
community health center, so we get grants from HERSA to keep
the doors open. We have a close relationship with State of
Alaska Medicaid, so we ensure that we enroll as many
beneficiaries as possible so we can get the Medicaid as well as
the compact funding that comes from his.
So your funds comes from Interior. These other funds come
from Health and Human Services, and we have been doing
everything we can to make the whole system work, because his,
again, traditionally underfunds not only our hospitals but
especially our clinics, haven't recognized the health aides, so
we have had to make due with these other programs. And we have
been doing it, but we would like to see it all come together
better.
Ms. McCollum. Is Alaska doing Medicaid expansion?
Mr. Bolton. They are. They have.
Ms. McCollum. I don't want to get into the middle of the
health bills, but you need something that recognizes the
importance of the expansion that currently exists or you are
going to have another problem.
Mr. Bolton. We do. And, again, really, behavioral health is
what we are trying to promote, because as part of the patient
center medical home and in prevention, we can get people on
diets, we can get them to get their annual physical, but if
they are putting--you know, if they are committing suicide
because they have behavioral health issues, or they just
won't--you know, they won't work out, they won't see the
physician because there is so much depression, and again, a lot
of it goes to intergenerational trauma. And that key piece has
been notoriously underfunded, and it is still underfunded as
evidenced by this joint venture. It doesn't make sense that
behavioral health is excluded with joint venture funding.
Ms. McCollum. Okay.
Mr. Bolton. That is our biggest ask, by the way.
Ms. McCollum. Let's turn to the DOD cleanup, because the
Chairman and I are both on the Subcommittee that funds the
Department of Defense. I have worked with the DOD on cleanups,
and you have to stay on top of the Department on the cleanups.
Is that going along to plan? Is that way behind? Are there
arguments about how the cleanup is going?
Ms. Demmert. There is all these arguments about what their
responsibility is, and they have different levels and play with
words.
Ms. McCollum. Yeah. How clean is clean, right?
Ms. Demmert. Right. And our concern is to be able to clean
it up completely, because we actually had to move our culture
camp, our children's culture camp because of dioxins in the
water and our crab and our clams in the area and berry picking.
So we are working on cleaning it up to the point where we can
have the culture camp there again. We had to move it. We have
moved it to a river, but----
Ms. McCollum. They typically only want to clean up to
industrial standards, and you need residential standards to
have children present on the grounds?
Ms. Demmert. Right. And then there is argument about where
the dioxins are coming from so----
Ms. McCollum. Oh, really? They just fell from the sky.
Ms. Demmert. Also not only the DOD, we have the NALEMP and
the brownfields cleanups, but we also had a White Alice site in
the same location as a lot of the other Quonset huts and the
varied oil drums, and so all of that is getting cleaned up now.
It is just going to take a while. They keep saying, well, we
have done it to as far as we can, and we then we push them,
well, we still have got stuff in the ground.
Ms. McCollum. In some of our signoffs, the Minnesota
Pollution Control Agency also had a voice into certifying all
the cleanup. Is the State of Alaska with you with getting up to
residential standards or----
Ms. Demmert. You know, they are not really involved with
this.
Ms. McCollum. Okay. Because it kind of depends upon the
compacts and all that.
I am going to learn more about that, but I will do it in
working with the gentleman from Alaska.
Ms. Demmert. Okay.
Ms. McCollum. I will have a conversation with him.
Ms. Demmert. Thank you.
Ms. McCollum. And August 7th I might be hugging a
grandbaby, I don't know, but it is awfully tempting to come to
Alaska in August. It is so beautiful.
Thank you, your Honor, for the invite.
Ms. Hudson. You are welcome.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Just real quickly, most of this waste, this was all from
World War II?
Ms. Demmert. The majority of it is. About 99 percent of it,
and the other is from the White Alice, but they weren't in just
one area. They were all over the place. There are big cannons
out on the beaches. We have our own cannon beach because of the
cannons themselves as part of, you know, watching for the ships
going by. And then all through the peninsulas and on the
islands and throughout the mainland, they were everywhere.
Mr. Calvert. Sure. Thank you.
And thank you. This concludes this afternoon's hearing on
American Indian and Alaskan Native Programs.
Thank you all for making the effort to be here today, and I
encourage you to meet with as many members and staff while you
are in town.
So with that, hearing adjourned. Thank you.
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
TESTIMONY OF INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS
----------
CATAWBA INDIAN NATION
WITNESS
WILLIAM ``BILL'' HARRIS, CHIEF, CATAWBA INDIAN NATION
Mr. Calvert [presiding]. Welcome to this public witness
hearing specifically for American Indian and Alaska Native
programs under the jurisdiction of the Interior and Environment
Appropriations Subcommittee.
I especially want to welcome the distinguished tribal
elders and leaders testifying today and in the audience. Most
of you have traveled a long way to be here this week. I hope
you will seize the opportunity to meet with other members of
Congress outside this subcommittee to remind them that honoring
the Nation's trust obligations is a responsibility shared by
all members of Congress, regardless of our State or
congressional district.
I can assure you that your voices are heard by this
subcommittee. For those new to the process, today's hearings
are just the start of a dialogue we have come to depend upon to
help us make smart choices in the budget and to earn the votes
of our colleagues.
American Indian and Alaska Native programs will continue to
be a non-partisan priority for this subcommittee just as they
have been in recent years under the chairmanships of both
Democrats and Republicans alike.
Before we begin, I have a bit of housekeeping to share.
Committee rules prohibit the use of outside cameras and audio
equipment during the hearings. The hearing can be viewed in its
entirety on the committee's website, and an official hearing
transcript will be available at gpo.gov.
I will call each panel of witnesses to the table one panel
at a time. Each witness will have 5 minutes to present
testimony. Your full written testimony will be included in the
record, so please do not feel pressured to cover every item in
5 minutes. Finishing in less than 5 minutes would be
appreciated if you can.
We will be using a timer to track the progress of each
witness. When the light turns yellow, the witness will have 1
minute remaining to conclude his or her remarks. When the light
blinks red, that is when I will ask the witness to stop.
We will hear from every witness on each panel before
members will be provided an opportunity to ask questions.
Because we do have another full day ahead, I request that we
try to keep things moving in order to stay on schedule and
respect each other's time. I am sure many of you have planes to
catch.
With that, I thank you again for being here today. And I am
happy to yield now to our distinguished ranking member, Betty
McCollum, for her opening remarks.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank all the people who have come to testify
today, and I am ready to listen. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Calvert. Great. Thank you. Well, I want to thank our
first panel, and I am going to recognize William ``Bill''
Harris, chief of the--I always pronounce this wrong--Catawba--
--
Mr. Harris. Catawba.
Mr. Calvert. Okay. Okay. Catawba Indian Nation. You are
recognized for 5 minutes. Thank you for coming.
Mr. Harris. Okay, mike is on. So, on behalf of the Catawba
Nation----
Mr. Calvert. Move it up a little bit.
Mr. Harris. On behalf of the Catawba Nation, thank you for
this opportunity to testify before this subcommittee.
My name is William Harris, and I am the chief of the
Catawba Nation. This committee has heard me testify before and
has been very supportive of the Catawbas. I have had the
opportunity to talk to you about our Tribe's long and close
relationship with the United States. We stood side by side with
the American patriots during the Revolution, and have fought on
behalf of the United States in every conflict since.
Today I would like to talk to you about the importance of
funding economic development for tribes that do not have
substantial revenue from resources like gaming.
Technically, the tribe, the Catawba Tribe, is currently
allowed one form of gaming, which is bingo, played according to
traditional rules and not on machines. Unfortunately, we just
announced last week that we had to shut down our bingo hall.
Over the last few years, the bingo operation grossed about $14
million.
However, since we are the only tribe in the country that is
required to pay a tax to the State straight off the top, the
State gets 10 percent of the gross. So, the State got $1.4
million, and we had to comply with other restrictions involving
payouts, so in the end, there was no net revenue. This means
that the tribe made nothing, but we lost money, and South
Carolina made $1.4 million.
Similarly, we are the only tribe in the country that is
required to pay to send our kids, our children, to local public
school, in our case, at the county rate. Our local school
district, which has done a good job educating our children, has
taken the position that with interest, we owe $4.5 million on
that debt, which far exceeds our total assets.
So, we want to achieve economic self-sufficiency, but we
have been financially crushed by the unexpected restrictions
placed in our Settlement Act at the insistence of the State of
South Carolina. We have to find another path.
Many tribes are economic engines in such areas as tourism,
energy, small business development, and commercial services,
among many others. However, limited access to capital and
investment financing remain substantial barriers to economic
development in Indian Country.
We struggle with uniquely burdensome Federal restrictions
and regulations, poor infrastructure, and other challenges that
limit our economy from flourishing. It is important to create
avenues for investment funds, financial resources, and business
models that are mutually advantageous to tribes and potential
partners for economic advancement, stability, and
diversification. We encourage this subcommittee to provide
increased support for investment opportunities in Indian
Country. Such funding could flow through the Office of Indian
Energy and Economic Development at the BIA.
As an artist and traditional potter, I am intimately
familiar with the press of cool clay beneath my fingers and the
process of creating a new form from the South Carolina earth.
Such vessels transmit not only the impressions of the artists
who created them, but also the cultural heritage and world
views of all those individuals who came before. When these
items are removed from native communities through illegal
trafficking, theft, or disruptions in the transmission of
traditional practices, an irreplaceable aspect of our cultural
expression and identity is lost as well.
We would like to take this opportunity to provide a
heartfelt thanks for you providing expanded funding for NAGPRA-
related law enforcement activities in the 2017 omnibus. With a
secure and dedicated funding stream, BIA and tribal officials
will have an enhanced capacity to combat and to deter
trafficking of tribal cultural patrimony.
When aligned with the Federal protections of the Protect
Patrimony Resolution passed by the Congress last year, the
Catawba Indian Nation can see a positive path forward in
ensuring that the next generation will have access to these
important cultural resources. We strongly encourage you to
continue to support programs that protect our cultural
heritage, including law enforcement funding and funding for the
Tribal Historic Preservation offices.
I thank you for this opportunity to talk to you about the
needs of the Catawba Nation.
[The statement of Mr. Harris follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, and thank you for your testimony.
Next, Kirk Francis, president of the United South and
Eastern Tribes Sovereignty Protection Fund. You are recognized
for 5 minutes. Thank you.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
UNITED SOUTH AND EASTERN TRIBES SOVEREIGNTY PROTECTION FUND
WITNESS
KIRK FRANCIS, PRESIDENT, UNITED SOUTH AND EASTERN TRIBES SOVEREIGNTY
PROTECTION FUND
Mr. Francis. Thank you, Chairman Calvert, Ranking Member
McCollum, Representative Pingree, and members of the
subcommittee. Again, I appreciate the opportunity to share my
thoughts with you this morning.
As elected officials, you know all too well the great
responsibility that comes with serving the interests of the
citizens who elect us to office. We share in common the desire
to make a positive difference in our communities and within the
lives of our fellow citizens.
As chief of the Penobscot Indian Nation and president of
the United South and Eastern Tribes Sovereignty Protection
Fund, I come before you today with a great sense of urgency and
anticipation. The Penobscot Indian Nation, the 26 federally-
recognized nations of USET, and tribal nations across the
country continue to evolve, grow, and mature as sovereign
governments, just like any other sovereign government,
including the United States.
Due to the perseverance of us as a people and through the
blessings of our Creator, we are still here today. I know that
you are all intimately familiar with our unique and special
relationship. However, many in Congress do not have this same
level of familiarity and understanding, which is the reason for
the existence of organizations such as ours. You know, as
Congressman Cole has stated in the past, when you, the members
of Congress, swear allegiance to the Constitution, you are
swearing an allegiance to Indian sovereignty whether you know
it or not.
Ours is a story and relationship between two sovereign
government entities that has not been without its fair share of
challenges. It is a relationship that includes the exchange,
sometimes voluntary, but most often involuntary, of our land
and natural resources for promises of our protection and
overall well-being. These promises have no expiration date and
have been further validated and confirmed by the Constitution,
treaties, and numerous laws and court decisions. These lands
and natural resources that the United States acquired from
Indian Country are at its very foundation and directly
attributable to this country becoming the most powerful and
influential Nation in the world.
However, despite these facts, I once again come before you
asking the United States to honor its commitments, to honor its
sacred promises. As I sit here, tribal nations across this
country, the first peoples of this land, continue to experience
some of the greatest disparities in health and overall wellness
and well-being. As you move forward with this budgetary
process, fulfillment of the trust obligations should not be
viewed and executed as a yearly discretionary decision as it
currently is rendered.
This is not a question about addressing poverty and needs
across Indian Country. Our relationship is much more than this.
This is ultimately a question about honor, about fulfilling
commitments and promises. The Nation's exceptionalism is
grounded in these principles.
As leaders who have consistently demonstrated a true
understanding of this commitment and obligation, I implore you
to lead the change within Congress that is necessary to improve
how the United States views, honors, and fulfills its promises
to Indian Country. The Federal budget is a reflection of that
commitment. I recognize that there are many causes and issues
that this body considers. However, I ask you to always remember
the Nation's first promise to its first people.
Regarding our specific priorities for Fiscal Year 2018, it
appears the Indian Health Service and the Bureau of Indian
Affairs are largely protected under President Trump's budget
blueprint. However, we have deep concerns with proposed cuts
and eliminations of other programs and agencies critical to
meeting that trust responsibility. We urge the subcommittee, as
some of Indian Country's greatest congressional allies, to
ensure the trust responsibility is upheld during the Fiscal
Year 2018 budget and appropriations process.
We are also concerned that the across-the-board
sequestration of all Federal agencies and programs will return
as a real possibility for Fiscal Year 2018. This violation of
the Federal trust responsibility must never happen again. And
we urge this subcommittee to ensure the permanent exemption of
all Federal Indian programs from any sequestration.
The USET is troubled by the President's signing statement
for the Fiscal Year 2017 omnibus suggesting that the Native
American housing block grant is race based, and, therefore,
unconstitutional. As this subcommittee knows, all Federal
Indian programs are based on a political government-to-
government relationship between the United States and tribal
nations. USET SPF seeks the assistance of this subcommittee in
educating the White House on this sacred relationship.
We join tribal nations and organizations across the country
advocating for greater increases in the Indian Health Service's
chronically underfunded budget. For Fiscal Year 2018, the work
group recommends a 37 percent increase for a total of $7.1
billion. We totally support this request.
Within the Department of Interior, the BIA historically has
received lower percentages increases than any other program.
The TIBC representatives that advise on the BIA budget have
been asked to spread a projected 8 percent across the 125
separate BIA line items, a very impossible task.
So finally, USET recognizes that a major priority for the
President is the full reorganization and reduction in workforce
of the executive branch. However, we also note that executive
orders and memoranda issued do not, with only very limited
exceptions, exempt positions in the agencies to deliver on this
trust responsibility.
I again want to thank you for all your time, and attention,
and patience with my testimony, and I am happy to answer any
questions.
[The statement of Mr. Francis follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Next, Maulian Smith, Council Member
of the--how do you pronounce that, your Indian nation----
Mr. Smith. Penobscot.
Mr. Calvert. Penobscot Nation. Great. You are recognized
for 5 minutes.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
PENOBSCOT NATION
WITNESS
MAULIAN SMITH, COUNCIL MEMBER, PENOBSCOT INDIAN NATION, ISLAND, MAINE
Ms. Smith. Thank you. Good morning. On behalf of the
Penobscot Nation, I want to thank the leadership of this
subcommittee for continuing to hold these public witness
hearings. I also encourage each of you to visit tribal nations
so that you can see how these Federal programs are working on
the ground. The Penobscot Nation would happy to host you.
Thank you also to Congresswoman Shelly Pingree for being a
tireless advocate for tribal nations in Maine.
Many of the issues that the Penobscot Nation faces are a
result of what we believe to be unintended consequences of the
Maine Indian Claim Settlement Act. This Federal law was
supposed to resolve longstanding land claims by tribal nations
in Maine, and provide a path forward for productive government-
to-government relationships between the tribes and State.
Instead, it has resulted in a legal maze whereby we find
ourselves in constant litigation with the State, spending vital
dollars defending our sovereignty rather than on critical
programs.
Since passage of the act in 1980, we have spent 2 decades
in litigation defending our rights against attacks by the
State. All we want and ask for is to be treated the same as any
other federally-recognized tribal nation.
We have over 123,000 acres of land. This includes about 200
islands covering approximately 80 miles of the Penobscot River.
Our Natural Resources Department is the largest department
within our government, and probably the most important to our
hunting and fishing rights. Fowl, moose, and deer hunts, and
fishing throughout spring and summer provide food for our
people throughout the year.
We are very concerned about the funding cuts being proposed
by President Trump for the EPA. The base funding for our
Natural Resources Department comes from the BIA, but we rely on
grants from the EPA to supplement our programs. The EPA's
Brownfields Program, Air Quality Program, and the Wetland
Program allow us to monitor any contamination of our land and
air.
EPA funding allows us to monitor, sample, and analyze the
water quality of the Penobscot River, which is critical to the
health of our fish. We have not harvested a salmon since 1984,
but with the help of Federal funding last year, more than 1,300
salmon came through the Penobscot River. Any cuts to these
vital EPA programs would have a critical impact on our lands,
water, and natural resources.
Currently, we are in 2 lawsuits with the State. One
involves our right to regulate waters within our territory
where our people conduct sustenance fishing. The second lawsuit
involves the EPA requiring the State's water quality standards
to meet a minimum level that keep the fish happy. Healthy and
happy. [Laughter.]
While the State acknowledges our right to fish, it does not
believe such a right entitles us to eat healthy fish. In both
of these lawsuits, the Federal government has been on our side.
In fact, two members of this subcommittee, Ms. McCollum and Mr.
Cole, signed onto an amicus brief for one of those cases, and
we are very grateful for that support.
I raise this matter because my constituents believe that
the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act is becoming a failed
Federal policy that is degrading the health and well-being of
our people. The constant conflict between us and the State
jeopardizes our ability to adequately implement Federal
programs.
For example, we receive Indian Child Welfare funds to help
ensure that our children are kept within our community, but we
are constantly fighting with the State over which court system
has jurisdiction to decide the placement of these children.
This conflict results in wasted resources by us and the State.
For this reason, we ask that the subcommittee consider
including language in its report directing the Interior
Department to work with the tribes in Maine to identify ways to
address the impact of the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act.
Our biggest health problem is the epidemic of opioid abuse.
It is creating alarming levels of death, overdoses, crime,
juvenile delinquency, and unemployment. One in four deaths in
Maine now involve heroin or morphine, and 87 percent of
Penobscot child welfare cases involve parental opioid abuse. We
are hugely disappointed that we were not invited to the opioid
summit attended by Secretary Tom Price last week.
Tribes play a critical role in addressing these issues on a
statewide level. Our law enforcement and social services
personnel work well with our counterparts at the State and
local level. It is the politics of the government that tend to
get in the way.
We do a great job cobbling together our various Federal
funding to develop a comprehensive strategy for combatting the
epidemic we are facing. Within our court system, we have
developed a Healing to Wellness Program. It involves
collaboration between 10 tribal departments that work together
to develop a holistic treatment and wellness plan for each
participant, and none of the graduates of this program have re-
offended in the years following their program completion. And
the cost of this program is substantially less than
incarcerating people.
The base funding for our tribal court system comes from the
BIA. Funds specifically for our Healing to Wellness Program
come from the Department of Justice, but we would not be able
to support this program without having a stable tribal court
system in place. Thus, any cuts to the BIA's public justice and
safety programs would directly impact our ability to help these
people.
We could do a lot more if we had a drug investigator
assigned to the main tribes. The BIA employs three drug
investigators to cover the 26 tribes from Maine to Texas. Given
the crisis in Maine, we need a drug investigator designated for
our tribal communities.
I recognize that as appropriators, you constantly have to
make hard decisions with too little money to address all the
needs, so let me end by saying [Speaking native language], is
thank you in our Abenaki language. Thank you for supporting
programs that allow us to protect our language, our culture,
and our sustenance way of life.
[The statement of Ms. Smith follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, and thank you for your testimony.
Next is Camille Ferguson, executive director of the
American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
AMERICAN INDIAN ALASKA NATIVE TOURISM ASSOCIATION
WITNESS
CAMILLE FERGUSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMERICAN INDIAN ALASKA NATIVE
TOURISM ASSOCIATION
Ms. Ferguson. Good morning, Chairman Calvert, Ranking
Member McCollum, and members of the House Interior
Appropriations Committee. I actually really appreciate and
thank you very much from the bottom of my heart to be able to
have this opportunity to speak with you.
As you mentioned, I am Camille Ferguson, the executive
director of the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism
Association. I am here to request funds for the implementation
of the Native American Improving Visitors Experience Act, the
NATIVE Act as it is referred to, and it became law last fall. I
have the honor to lead the Nation's only nonprofit solely
devoted to developing and sustaining Indian Country tourism.
Cultural tourism provides sustainable economic development,
job creation, and infrastructure development in rural and
remote communities across the United States. International
visitation to Native American communities contributes $8.6
billion annually to the U.S. economy, according to the U.S.
Department of Commerce.
AIANTA has contributed to this success supported by the
Bureau of Indian Affairs Transportation Division, and we have
been working in the international marketplace since 2007. The
good news is as a result from our work from 2007 to 2015,
international visitation to Indian Country has increased a
whole 180 percent. This huge growth is good for the United
States as a whole.
International visitors to Native American communities spend
12 extra days in the United States. Because they spend those
extra days, they spend their extra dollars, and because they
spend their extra dollars and they are visiting more
communities and more cities using rental cars, taking more
domestic flights, they visit national parks, small towns, art
galleries, museums, and fine restaurants, and cultural heritage
sites, dropping their dollars along the way.
Tourism tribes are grateful for each and every one of you
who have voted for the NATIVE Act, and endorse the potential
for economic development for job creation. AIANTA is ready to
facilitate closer tribal and Federal agency collaboration,
organize tribal resources, and build capacity to attract and
satisfactory travelers to Indian Country destinations.
However, in order to implement the mandate of the NATIVE
Act, AIANTA is asking less than $5 million for 3 major or 3
Interior agencies: the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the National
Park Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. We believe
this investment in Indian Country will attract 3 million new
visitors to Indian Country by 2020. And that was with a minimum
of 5 percent based upon, again, the U.S. Department of
Commerce. The annual revenue will increase to an estimate of
$13 billion annually.
Our goal by 2020 is that tribes and tribal members in many
States will have tourism development training, have been
consulted by Federal agencies, guided through assessments of
their tourism potential and product development. They will be
collaborating with nearby public lands, with labor, housing,
arts, and humanities, and other agencies to expand the capacity
to serve visitors.
Tribes will have increased capacity and become better
organized. Their presence on the AIANTA-run destination
website, nativemamerica.travel, and other marketing will help
attract thousands in additional international and domestic
visitors. We will have improved data and analysts, leading to
investments and infrastructure.
Indian Country tourism is an opportunity for advancement
that reinforces, and does not diminish our native culture,
history, and pride. It actually perpetuates and gives pride to
Native Americans and adds value and enhances our visitors'
industry. This is good for the USA. One billion overseas
travelers annually guarantee a long prosperous life for Indian
Country tourism if we fund the NATIVE Act implementation.
We are proud to have the appropriations request supported
by the U.S. Travel Association, the Affiliated Tribes of the
Northwest Indians, the State of Washington Indian Affairs,
Nevada Inter-Tribal Council, the All Pueblo Council of
Governors, Rocky Mountain Leaders Association, Minnesota travel
organizations, and other industry leaders and tribal
organizations.
To succeed in tourism, Indian Country needs 3 things: the
collaboration of Federal agencies, additional native workforce
capacity, and an improved infrastructure. These challenges are
doable because AIANTA and BIA have provided technical
assistance and training for cultural tourism development, and
Congress has given Indian Country the NATIVE Act to encourage
economic prosperity.
And, again [Speaking native language], which is thank you
in my Tlingit language, and I will be more than happy to answer
any questions you may have.
[The statement of Ms. Ferguson follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.
Chief Harris, I was wondering, your agreement with South
Carolina, I guess they have limits on gaming in South Carolina.
That is why you are limited to bingo, and you cannot negotiate
a compact with the State that would be----
Mr. Harris. It is one of those things where the State has
actually ruled against us. Under our agreement, it said that,
you know, we could have on our reservation that which the State
has authorized. Well, the State has authorized gaming, but it
goes out 3 miles into Federal territorial waters. Our
reservation is Federal territorial land.
So, there is a Supreme Court rule that, you know, we have
to go out 3 miles. Well, we are landlocked. They did authorize
it. So, it did not say in the agreement that it had to be where
their gaming was. It just said if the State authorized it, the
Catawba Nation was allowed to have that which was authorized by
the State.
Mr. Calvert. And also in the State, I assume because the
schools, do you pay a local property tax within South Carolina?
Mr. Harris. Well, that was what led us to this school tax.
When we did the settlement agreement in 1993, we were allowed
to take 3,600 acres into Federal trust. The beauty of this is
the Catawba Nation has only taken 307 acres into Federal trust.
So, we did not actually impede the tax base, but yet we were
charged an out-of-county rate for our students that was
equivalent to, currently right now it is $4,500 per student for
public school.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. So, your main problem is not with
the U.S. government. The problem is in South Carolina.
Mr. Harris. Well, I think, you know, it took three of us to
come together-- the Catawba Nation, the Federal government, and
the State of South Carolina--to actually work our way into this
fiasco. So, maybe between the Catawba Nation and the Federal
government, we can work our way out of it.
Mr. Calvert. Right. Mr. Francis, I agree with you. We have
trust obligations. This committee is very aware of it, and we
try to do the best we can under the limits we have financially.
But we try to make sure that we fully fund our contract health
service, and I know we have some challenges on education and so
forth.
As far as the workforce is concerned, you know, I think
every agency could be more efficient. I am hoping that every
agency looks at ways over time to create more efficiency, just
as the private sector does. And so, I do not think the BIA is
immune to that. I just wanted to make that point.
Mr. Francis. Well, I appreciate it, and, again, appreciate
the opportunity to get some of these things. We realize we are
preaching to the choir here a lot of times, and you folks have
fought the hardest on behalf of Indian Country and these areas.
We are extremely appreciative of all your efforts.
And, on behalf of USET, as the newly-elected president,
very proud president of USET and the powerful nations we
represent, thank you for having these hearings, and also for
your attention. And not only that, but the effort and results
we have obtained over the years.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. We heard yesterday from 40 tribes,
and the opioid abuse seems to be the common theme here, and not
just in Native American country, but throughout the country. I
think there are a thousand deaths a day from opioid abuse right
now. It is terrible, so we need to do more.
And I am sorry you were not invited to that summit. I think
that is probably an oversight that somebody made. I am sure
that Tom would want you there, and certainly the Native
Americans there to give testimony.
And tourism is a good thing. So, I have been up to Alaska a
number of times, and a lot of native tribes up in Alaska, and
certainly through Nevada and Arizona. And so, that is a big
part of the business I am sure for everybody here. So, we need
to encourage that, and we will see what we can do.
Ms. Ferguson. I appreciate that. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Ms. McCollum.
Ms. McCollum. Mr. Chair, with your permission, I would like
to yield to the gentlewoman from Maine, Ms. Pingree.
Mr. Calvert. Sure.
Ms. Pingree. Now, I have got all the time in the world.
[Laughter.]
I understand the chair is trying to keep us on track this
morning, so I will not take up too much time, and I thank the
ranking member for yielding. Thank you all for being here on
the panel today, and in particular I am very proud to have two
people from Maine here, and I really appreciate your testimony.
I do not need to reiterate everything you said because I
think you were very eloquent, and I appreciate the chair
recognizing that the opioid epidemic is particularly
challenging in most of our States, but also in even more
difficult ways for the tribes. The request on extra enforcement
and, the way you laid it out, Councilwoman Smith, about the
lack of enforcement up and down the coast. We really would
support that request.
Also, in our State we are particularly concerned, as you
articulated, about potential cuts at the EPA and the impact
they could have on the tribes. Since our State has been at odds
at times, and our State is not necessarily partisan. It is just
there is a feeling amongst some people who represent State
government, and we have been fortunate to have the EPA
assisting in keeping the river clean. We are very excited about
the return of the salmon, and I am glad that they are happy.
Ms. Smith. They are happy. [Laughter.]
Ms. Pingree. Because I just feel that is going to make even
more of them want to come, and they will be reproducing even
more. But that is really important, and it was wonderful that 2
members of this committee did sign on to the amicus brief
because I know that has been beneficial.
The one thing I will let you talk about just a little bit
before we get cut off, I do think we have a particularly
challenging role with our land claim settlement, and I am
sympathetic to South Carolina. I can see that many States have
had difficulties in how these have panned out.
But now, Chief Francis, because you are at USET, and
congratulations on your new position, you have seen a lot of
different settlements. Maybe just make a couple more comments
for the benefit of the Committee about how hard this has been
for our tribe, and how it compares to some of the other
settlement agreements.
Mr. Francis. Sure. So, just, you know, briefly, you know,
at USET, I believe we have 8 tribes that are affected by some
form of restrictive settlement act that States have been able
to use to, one, assume a delegated responsibility to tribes
through exercising what amounts to a plenary authority over
Indian tribes, but really having no legal responsibility or
fiduciary or trust responsibility to tribes.
So, in Maine, for example, we have a clause in our act that
says acts passed for the benefit of Indians generally, and I am
paraphrasing, after 1980 will not apply in Maine unless the
State of Maine and the tribes agree. Well, for close to 40
years, we have not gotten one agreement from the State of Maine
on anything, whether it is TLOA, VAWA, the HEARTH Act, on and
on. So, and certainly not the Indian Game Regulatory Act.
We have been hampered in a lot of ways despite the fact
that we run over a hundred Federal programs. We have 19
departments, about 300 government employees that provide a
comprehensive service, and that is not unlike every tribe
affected with this issue. So, the tribes, it is not just an
economic issue. It is really a social issue. And as
Councilwoman Smith mentioned earlier, you know, our ability to
address things like the opioid crisis really requires the
tribe. And I think what Congress has very wisely decided in
these areas of violence against women and other things is that
a local response is going to produce the best results to these
things.
And as she also stated, on the ground, the Maine Drug
Enforcement Agency, our folks, you know, Maine Department of
Environmental Protection and our folks on the ground, they work
famously together. We tend to mess those things up at our level
in this struggle over power, and nobody is taking
responsibility for the conditions.
I think these unique things have to be looked at. Congress
is a party to these things. We have had great engagement by
Department of Interior over the last couple of years. We have
held roundtables in Maine with several Federal agencies,
members of the delegation. And we are just looking for a path
forward to allow the tribe to simply benefit no more, no less
than anyone else from the conditions we are trying to fix here,
and make you all understand that there are tribes getting left
behind on those issues.
Ms. Pingree. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you very much
for your testimony.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, and I thank this panel. I
appreciate it, and have a good day, and we hope to help you out
here a little bit. Yep.
Next, we have Paul Torres, chairman of the Pueblo Council
of Governors, Michael Chavarria, governor of the Pueblo of
Santa Clara, and Virgil Siow, governor of the Pueblo of Laguna.
Ms. McCollum. Mr. Chair, as the distinguished panel is
taking their seats, I am wondering if either you or I, or if
Mr. Cole and I, as co-chairs of the Native American Caucus,
should write to our fellow appropriators about looking at some
of the other issues that keep being brought up in testimony,
whether it is judiciary, housing, education, CDC, some of the
other accounts in which there are grants made to Native
American communities. As they are making their budgetary
decisions, we should encourage them to think of how it is going
to affect the Native community.
Mr. Calvert. I have a feeling that most of those accounts
are probably in Tom's allocation, but you are right, we
should----
Ms. McCollum. Most of them are, but the judiciary accounts
and the housing accounts are not.
Mr. Calvert. That would probably be helpful.
Ms. McCollum. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Calvert. Great. Thank you. Good morning.
Voices. Good morning.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you for coming out here today, and I am
glad to recognize Paul Torres, chairman of the All Pueblo
Council of Governors first. You are recognized for 5 minutes.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
ALL PUEBLO COUNCIL OF GOVERNORS
WITNESS
E. PAUL TORRES, CHAIRMAN, ALL PUEBLO COUNCIL OF GOVERNORS
Mr. Torres. Good morning, Chairman Calvert, Ranking Member
McCollum, and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for this
opportunity to testify. My name is Paul Torres, and I am the
chairman of the All Pueblo Council of Governors, a tribal
consortium comprised of 19 Pueblos in New Mexico, and one
Pueblo, Ysleta del Sur, from Texas.
Natural resources protection. The APCG encourages
congressional support for effective natural resource
management, particularly in regards to the National Forest
Service and the Interior Forestry Programs. Our forests play
critical roles in economic development, disaster mitigation,
recreation, and regional ecology for birds and wildlife. They
also play an irreplaceable role in our traditional practices
and ceremonies.
Cuts in Federal funding for natural resource management at
the Interior, Forest Service, and USDA threaten the delivery of
services in each of these areas. We respectfully request
additional funding for Interior forestry programs and the
funding of the National Forest Service, at least at the Fiscal
Year 2016 enacted level to maintain our national forests and
their diverse resources for future generations.
NAGPRA funding. I would like to take this opportunity to
thank the members of the subcommittee and Congress for
providing the $1 million to support NAGPRA-related law
enforcement activities under the 2017 omnibus. Dedicated
funding for BIA law enforcement advances stronger Federal
protections for cultural patrimony put in place under the
Protect Patrimony Resolution. We thank you for your support,
and encourage continued funding in this important area going
forward.
The Bears Ears National Monument. My testimony on the need
for greater protections for tribal cultural patrimony would be
incomplete without a discussion of the cultural landscapes that
define us as Pueblo and native people, including Bears Ears.
While I understand that Bears Ears is not directly an
appropriations matter, the designation of Bears Ears cultural
landscape as a national monument is of critical importance to
tribes. And funding for its protection represents money well
spent by the subcommittee.
As Pueblo people, we do not just reside on the beautiful
land of the southwestern United States. We are the people of
this land. We carry it in the very essence of our being. Our
cultural heritage is passed down not only through tangible
objects protected by NAGPRA and the Protect Patrimony
Resolution, but also in the living landscapes of our tribal and
Pueblo communities.
Our ancestral ties to Bears Ears, for example, run deep
beneath the soil of the Greater Cedar Mesa area, and are
visible in the ancient roads, dwellings, and petroglyphs that
enrich the entire region. However, these sites are under
constant threat by erosion, human damage, such as vandalism and
off-road vehicle use, and the general degradation of the
natural landscape. The continuation and very existence of our
traditional practices in this area are an immediate and
unacceptable risk.
The open 15-day comment period for Bears Ears will close on
May the 26th, and it is entirely too short to address our
complex concerns. Moreover, only online comments are being
accepted. As my written testimony describes in further detail,
our Pueblo communities and Indian Country in general face
tremendous discrepancies in access to broadband services. How
can the Secretary expect meaningful tribal comments and
consultation when many of us do not have internet access to
have our voice heard? We urge Congress to protect our cultural
heritage by providing designated funding for the preservation
of Bears Ears National Monument in the Fiscal Year 2018 budget.
Thank you for the opportunity to testimony on the natural
resource concerns of the All Pueblo Council of Governors. We
look forward to working with you on advancing the critical
funding needs of Indian Country programs under the Fiscal Year
2018 budget.
[Speaking native language.]
[The statement of Mr. Torres follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Next, Michael Chavarria, governor
of the Pueblo of Santa Clara.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
SANTA CLARA PUEBLO
WITNESS
J. MICHAEL CHAVARRIA, GOVERNOR, SANTA CLARA PUEBLO
Mr. Chavarria. Good morning. [Speaking native language.]
Out of respect for my language of Tiwa, I lay down the respect,
and may I speak in front of this committee. Thank you,
Chairman, members of the committee.
Well, good morning, Chairman, members of the committee. My
name is Michael Chavarria. I serve as governor for Santa Clara
Pueblo. They are in New Mexico. I also serve as the secretary
for the All Pueblo Council of Governors. Today I am here on
behalf of my Pueblo, which is Santa Clara.
As the subcommittee is well aware, the process of
appropriating a Federal budget reflects the political nature of
the government-to-government relationship, and it's reflected
by the Federal government's trust responsibility to Indian
tribes and communities. The Federal government's trust
responsibility is to be fulfilled by regular, direct, and
meaningful tribal consultation, which provides tribal leaders
an opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue that affects
Federal issues, but also affects the direct actions on us as
tribal communities. And so, that is what is very important.
So, today is also a forum of tribal consultation. This
enables us as tribal leaders to voice our concerns for our
people, our resources, our land, our water. We still live off
the land and utilize the resources that ties into our tradition
and our culture, but it comes back down to our native
languages. And so, that is very important.
Santa Clara is a self-governance tribe, meaning we assume
control over Federal programs. We can now redesign those
Federal programs to best meet the needs of our people and our
communities in Santa Clara. We provide a full range of
governmental services that include education, elder care,
public works, law enforcement, tribal courts, to support the
personal growth of our people and our communities in Santa
Clara.
Our inherent powers of self-governance are rooted in our
tribal sovereignty as recognized by the United States
Constitution, treaties, Federal law, Supreme Court cases, and
other agreements. The Office of Self-Governance in Interior
plays a pivotal role in supporting the exercise of our Tribal
sovereignty by advocating for implementing tribal self-
governance statutes and Federal policies.
However, they are a staff of 16. However, there are 277
tribes, federally-recognized tribes, that now operate self-
governance of our programs, a ratio of almost 17 to 1. The
Interior, however, currently provides only $1.5 million on a
recurring basis for the office; however, the need is almost $2
million. Again, that is to employ full-time staff.
The office is constantly operating in a deficit, which
impairs its ability to fully support self-governance tribes in
the delivery of essential, timely services to our people. Self-
governance is the cornerstone of modern tribal sovereignty.
Supporting tribal self-determination is necessary in supporting
the mission of the Office of Self-Governance. So, again, we,
therefore, urge Congress to support their investment in self-
governance tribes by providing full funding for the Office of
Self-Governance.
Also for law enforcement. A key expression of our Tribal
sovereignty is a provision in public safety and law enforcement
services, such as police, firefighters, tribal court systems,
rehabilitation services, child protection services, among
others, which enable tribal leaders to provide a safe and
vibrant environmental community or safe communities for our
Pueblo.
However, the Pueblo is deeply alarmed by the overnight
shutdown of the Emerald Corporation's Turning Point
Incarceration Rehabilitation Program there in Yuma, Arizona on
April 7th. Our Pueblo have seen many positive benefits from
that program, including a successful rehabilitation rate of 76
percent of substance abusers, and a reduced Pueblo crime rate
of almost 50 percent over the past 4 years. Yet, we received no
advance notice of that shutdown.
And the closure has resulted in the immediate increase in
detention costs, and left our law enforcement officers and
tribal courts scrambling to find appropriate placements for
those individuals. Tribal members who have been beneficiaries
from these essential services are now all left without any
adequate aid and assistance in their more pressing time of
need, again, within their lives.
So, we are requesting significant funding to implement a
similar program at an alternative center. We also request that
the Office of Justice Services actively consult with tribes as
part of the decision-making process going forward to avoid any
crisis in the future. And so, that's very important, and,
again, it comes down to tribal consultation.
So, again, members, Chairman and members of the committee,
I thank you for the time to testify regarding the Fiscal Year
2018 budget, and I look forward and stand for any questions.
Thank you.
[The statement of Mr. Chavarria follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Next
is Virgil Siow, governor of the Pueblo of Laguna.
---------- --
--------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
PUEBLO OF LAGUNA
WITNESS
VIRGIL SIOW, GOVERNOR, PUEBLO OF LAGUNA
Mr. Siow. Good morning, Chairman Calvert, Ranking Member
McCollum, and distinguished members of the committee. On behalf
of the Pueblo of Laguna, I thank you very much for the
opportunity to provide our testimony today.
Our Pueblo is one of the original 19 Pueblos located in the
State of New Mexico. Our existence has been since time
immemorial. We are located west of Albuquerque, and currently
have approximately 8,700 tribal members. Our reservation is
over 550,000-plus acres.
I will speak to four of our priorities in my testimony
today, one being litigation and negotiation funding for water
rights.
The Pueblo is a party to a general stream adjudication of
the Rio San Jose Basin, State of New Mexico versus Kerr-McGee,
filed in 1983. The system provides the only water source for
our Pueblo. In the years 2014 through 2016, we have received
$290,750 from the BIA. During this same period, the Pueblo
expended $2.7 million of its own funds protecting our water. We
ask that funding be increased through funds provided to the BIA
to support the Pueblos' efforts to protect this precious
resource.
Bureau of Indian Education. Last year, the Pueblo of Laguna
Department of Education was one of 10 applicants selected to
have its severely outdated and dilapidated BIA-funded Laguna
Elementary School replaced. The 2017 appropriations lacked the
funds necessary for new school construction. Instead, there is
merely an allocation of $130 million nationwide for operations
and maintenance and emergency repairs.
The Pueblo has completed the planning phase, and is ready
to begin the design phase, and move to the construction phase.
We ask that funding be made available for the construction of
the new Laguna Elementary School. The estimate of planning
phase construction costs is approximately $24 million. The
Pueblo request these funds be made available in its 2018
budget.
Regarding Indian Health Services and the Affordable Care
Act. The healthcare services at the Indian Health Center
service Acoma, Laguna, Canoncito ACL facility have been
inadequate and severely underfunded for decades. Referrals to
specialists for services have been non-existent, except for
individuals who have critical needs. The 2017 appropriations
only includes $14 million nationwide for purchase/referred
healthcare. This is inadequate to serve the needs to American
Indians across the Nation. The Pueblo requests that funding for
this program be increased.
In addition, Laguna has established a community health and
wellness department through a Public Law 93-638 contract with
IHS, including the Community Health Representative Program.
This program is one of the few programs that places people in
the homes of some of our most at-risk tribal members, shut ins,
and elders, who cannot easily leave their homes. We believe
this funding is critical, and ask that it be increased, not
eliminated.
Regarding the Environmental Protection Agency. Our Pueblo
had the world's largest open pit mine in operation for
approximately 30 years. It was known as the Jackpile Mine. It
closed in 1982. On December 12th, 2013, the U.S. EPA listed the
site on the National Priorities List, making it a Super Fund
site. Since then, we have worked with EPA to address issues
related to the site. We ask for continued funding and support
for the Jackpile Superfund site cleanup and for the EPA's
actions to appropriately pressure the principally responsible
parties into compliance and cleanup of the site.
We also need support for the removal of the Homestake
Tailings Pile near Milan, New Mexico, and increased efforts on
reducing and contaminating the toxic plume spreading south and
contaminating both shallow and deep aquafers. In addition,
solid waste management on Indian lands is an issue because most
Pueblos and tribes do not have a sufficient tax base to support
efficient solid waste management, including recycling in
current policy, and reducing the ability of the EPA to support
those activities on Indian lands.
Regarding the Clean Water Act, Section 106 Funding. This
program is critical for the Pueblo to protect its water
resources. Any reduction could potentially impact the program's
ability to protect the water resources.
I thank you for the opportunity to testify today and to
provide our views and priorities for funding. I am happy to
respond to any questions you may have.
[The statement of Mr. Siow follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony, and
appreciate you being here.
Mr. Torres, one thing I wanted to let you know on the
forest program, because that is important. Mike Simpson, who is
a member of this committee, has a bill that would allow us to
use the disaster account for these catastrophic fires, which
would then allow the U.S. Forest folks to manage their accounts
more effectively. They would like to spend more money in
managing the forest of the United States, but it difficult when
we use up all the money in these catastrophic fires of late.
One percent of the fires burn up literally 70 percent of
our forest accounts, you know. So, we need to get support. You
might mention that to whoever your member of Congress is to
support this bill. It is supported by all the members of this
committee, and we are pushing to get this thing done this year,
which would be very, very helpful.
As you know, Bears Ears is a little controversial, you
know, certainly for the folks in Utah and some other parts of
the area, and some other tribes obviously have different
opinions. And so, this is a review process that is going on
right now. We will see where that ends up.
And certainly, Mr. Chavarria, we believe in self-
governance, and we are happy that you are taking on that
responsibility and effectively representing your people. And I
know this issue of drugs has been consistent with virtually all
the tribes that come here. It is a national epidemic, and so we
need to all work together to get this under control.
And, Mr. Siow, we certainly are aware of our difficulties
with healthcare. We actually have, it is about $1 billion that
goes into purchased referred care out of our budget, and it is
still not enough. But we are doing the best we can with what we
have allocated. But we have a responsibility there. We know
that, and we are trying as much as we can to do that, and we
will continue to work on making sure we have the resources
available for Native Americans nationwide.
These Superfund sites and Brownfield sites around America,
we need to push EPA to get these sites cleaned up and get back
to economic order again. So, you know, this is all over the
country, so these things go on forever, and I am sure you are
sharing that frustration since 1984 and, you know, progress is
slow probably. And I do not know your situation specifically,
but I suspect that is the case.
Mr. Siow. Yes, thank you, sir. It has been ongoing for
quite a while.
Mr. Calvert. What did they mine there?
Mr. Siow. They mined uranium.
Mr. Calvert. Oh yeah, okay. I know exactly where your mine
is, yeah. That was the World War II effort. That is where most
of our uranium was, that is correct. Yeah, I have been by
there.
Ms. McCollum.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Mr. Chair. To the gentlemen of the
panel, I have been conferring with staff behind me based on
your comments trying to get a quick answer for you. It appears,
Mr. Torres, that written comments related to Bear Ears are
being accepted, but probably not very user friendly because
people have to find it on the website, which goes to your
point. You have to be on a website to find out if you can
submit written testimony.
So, I am going to speak with the House members from New
Mexico. We found out Senator Heinrich has a letter going out
instructing the Department of Interior to make it more user
friendly for comments to be made. We are going to do something
similar in the House, and I will work with the New Mexico
delegation on that.
But to your point, if you do not have internet and you
cannot get on the Department's website because you do not have
internet, then how do you know what you can do? And lots of
times now, we are not publishing things in newspapers, and we
are not buying a radio spot to encourage comments because we
are just leaving it all up to the internet. I have been out in
your part of the world, and there is very spotty reception and
it is very difficult for some people to access the internet.
So, thank you so much for raising that, and we will do what
we can. However, for the record, I do want to state that I do
not necessarily agree that the President has the right to
revoke a national monument. But that does not mean I am not
going to make sure that people have an opportunity to comment.
Mr. Siow. Thank you, Ms. McCollum. I met with Senator
Heinrich yesterday, and we talked about that. I have a copy of
that letter that he sent to the Secretary. But the governors
are having a meeting on Monday, and I am going to make a
recommendation that they do a letter to Secretary Zinke
requesting an extension of this time period. So, the governors
will be addressing that.
Ms. McCollum. If I could ask you, gentlemen, to comment on
something. I have had the, and I do mean this genuinely, the
privilege to be in some of the pueblos in some of the areas in
which there are sacred sites. They are not marked for a reason,
and that reason is because of the looting that takes place and
the disrespect that takes place.
So, the fact that these sacred sites have not been marked,
lends to sometimes people saying, ``Well, these really do not
exist'', or ``People are''--I am just cutting to the chase
here--``People are making it up.'' You have heard all the
excuses not to honor sacred sites.
So, if you would take a second to say how important it is
that the respect be given, and why you do not go out and
identify sacred sites. What happened to the tribes in Standing
Rock is an example. When they did start identifying sacred
sites, when the pipeline was going through, was looting and
harmful activities taking place on the sacred sites.
Mr. Chavarria. Thank you.
Mr. Siow. Well, if I could respond. You did mention that
that is the concern. If we do identify those and plot them on a
map, that we will have individuals go in there and actually
start digging or looting those particular sites. And, you know,
those sites are very sacred to us. They go centuries back, you
know. We still make pilgrimages to those sites; however, you
know, that is not made public. We still take sacred items
there, and ask for help from our ancestors to continue moving
forward in this world. So, they are sacred to us. Thank you.
Ms. McCollum. If I could, just one more question. The
Laguna School, is that where the earthquake was? I was out in
that area. Is that where the earthquake was?
Mr. Siow. At one point, there was a minor earthquake, yes,
and it did affect the school. It did put little cracks in the
building. Right now, the gym for that school is held up by high
beams to support the gymnasium. So, it has been condemned
several times, and it has been refurbished, but I think it is
about time that we get new school to replace it.
Ms. McCollum. Mr. Chair, at one point, I had been in one of
the buildings, and they had put a piece of metal mesh on it
because they were measuring whether or not the building was
cracking any farther. They had condemned the building. But the
Bureau painted the building, and it was magic paint because it
went from being condemned to not being condemned. [Laughter.]
So, I think this is a school we should look at, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
Mr. Siow. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Well, as you know, we are trying to figure out
a way to come up with significant funds for the schools around
America. We have a big challenge ahead of us on that.
Oh, Ms. Pingree, excuse me.
Thank you. Thanks to this panel. We appreciate it, and have
a great day.
Voice. Come and visit us in New Mexico.
Mr. Calvert. Well, I love New Mexico. It is a great State.
Ms. Pingree. I am going to find myself some of their paint.
Mr. Calvert. There you go. Let us see. Our next panel:
Robert Valencia, Edward Manuel, and Walter Phelps. Good
morning.
Voice. Good morning.
Mr. Calvert. How are you today?
Voice. Good.
Mr. Calvert. Good. Okay. Good morning. Take a seat there.
First, we are going to recognize Robert Valencia, chairman
of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. Welcome, and you are recognized for
5 minutes. Turn on your mic. That would be great. Thank you.
---------- --
--------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
PASCUA YAQUI TRIBE
WITNESS
ROBERT VALENCIA, CHAIRMAN, PASCUA YAQUI TRIBE, ACCOMPANIED BY ROSA SOTO
ALVAREZ, COUNCIL MEMBER
Mr. Valencia. [Speaking native language]. Chairman Calvert,
Ranking Member McCollum, and members of the subcommittee, my
name is Robert Valencia. I am the chairman of the Pascua Yaqui
Tribe. With me today is Councilman Rosa Soto Alvarez.
The tribe appreciates the opportunity to testify before the
subcommittee today. I would like to speak in support of
appropriations within the Department of Interior, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, and the Indian Health Service for American
Indian/Alaska Native programs. It is important that you hear
the voices from across Indian Country today so that you may
know the importance of Federal programs to tribes and tribal
peoples. A fully-funded budget for the BIA and IHS are
essential to support many important programs that help improve
the lives of tribal members.
The Pascua Yaqui Tribe is a sovereign nation located in
southern Arizona. The tribe has a reservation southwest of
Tucson with a non-reservation population of about 5,000
members. The total population of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe is
close to 20,000 members.
In addition to the reservation, which comprises 2,216
acres, the tribe also has several predominantly Pascua Yaqui
communities off the reservation throughout southern and central
Arizona. These communities predate the tribe's Federal
recognition in 1978 and the designation of the reservation at
the time. While not trust lands, these Pascua Yaqui communities
are home to tribal members for whom the tribe provides
services, including housing, healthcare, and various other
costly services and programs.
The Pascua Yaqui Tribe is governed by a tribal council
comprised of 11 elected members. The tribal council wants to
support tribal self-determination for the improvement of the
lives for tribal members. While a few of the tribe's programs
and direct services program are through the BIA, including BIA
detention, many of the tribe's programs are through PL 93-638
self-determination contracts.
Today I would like to provide testimony to let you know the
Pascua Yaqui Tribe's views and recommendations on the Fiscal
Year 2018 budget for the BIA and Department of Health and Human
Services Indian Health Services, IHS.
One concern of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe is that the Tiwahe
Initiative remain fully funded and even increased. The tribe is
a recent recipient of Tiwahe Initiative funding. Today the
tribe has received about $800,000 in funding to improve system
coordination and integration of service delivery among Yaqui
government agencies to Yaqui families.
A Child and Family Networking Board coordinates the efforts
of tribal departments to improve coordination of tribal
programs and the use of resources available to the tribe's
communities. The goal is to increase department collaboration
and, thus, improve outcomes for families.
The funding also supports the tribe's work under the Indian
Child Welfare Act, providing funding for programs to keep
Indian families together. The tribes specifically ask that
Tiwahe Initiative funding remain at Fiscal Year 2017 levels in
2018, if not receive an increase. The need is great, and the
tribe is seeking to fully implement the program to maximize its
benefit for tribal members. It would leave a tremendously
beneficial program unfinished, and the tribe would not be able
to sufficiently fund these programs without support through the
initiative.
The Pascua Yaqui was one of the pilot project tribes in
implementing the Special Domestic Violence Criminal
Jurisdiction enacted by VAWA, the Violence Against Women Act.
Although the tribe has been pursuing VAWA prosecutions, which
call for more qualifications of attorneys and judges, the tribe
has also had to expend significant resources to do so.
Currently, the Office of the Prosecutor receives only 14.8
percent of its budget from Federal support.
An increase to funding for justice services is essential to
help the tribe continue its implementation of VAWA, as well as
prosecutions under the Tribal Law and Order Act, TLOA. These
laws are helping bring domestic violence perpetrators and
offenders committing serious crimes to justice, and have been
highly successful on the Pascua Yaqui Tribe's reservation.
However, cuts in funding will be a disaster to these programs,
which are in their infancy.
The tribe requests funding for VAWA prosecutions and for
serious prosecutions under TLOA. The tribe has had longstanding
issues with the detention of prisoners incarcerated by order of
the tribal courts. Detention services are direct services
provided by the BIA, yet the tribe finds that the beds are
limited, and often the BIA insists that we pick up prisoners or
house them in our short-term facility for longer than is right.
BIA detention needs better funding. They often run out of funds
for prison contract beds, leaving tribes to deal with inmates
that are BIA's responsibility.
We recently learned that our prisoners will be moved
further down from the tribe's reservation after the BIA lost
its contract with the Emerald Corporation in San Luis. All the
vehicles in our police fleet are high mileage vehicles. At
least one new vehicle is needed to use for transport to and
from the new facility that BIA will contract with. But
importantly, the BIA detention services need increased funding
to better serve the tribe.
Other important programs that the tribe hopes you will
support are social service programs, education, BIA, water
programs, housing, and IHS. The tribe hopes you will continue
to support full funding of the contract support costs for both
BIA and IHS. This is of paramount concern to the tribe. Full
funding of the contract support costs makes it possible for the
tribe's programs to function properly, and we ask that you
continue to support it.
I submitted a full statement with greater detail in
writing. I would like to thank you again for the opportunity to
present and for your attention to all the critical needs of the
Pascua Yaqui Tribe as well as Indian Country.
[Speaking native language.] Thank you.
[The statement of Mr. Valencia follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Next, Edward Manuel, chairman of
the Tohono O'odham Nation.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
TOHONO O'ODHAM NATION
WITNESS
EDWARD MANUEL, CHAIRMAN, TOHONO O'ODHAM NATION
Mr. Manuel. Good morning, Chairman Calvert, Ranking Member
McCollum, and distinguished members of the committee. My name
is Edward D. Manuel. I am chairman of Tohono O'odham Nation
located in Arizona. It is a federally-recognized tribe, 34,000
members, and it is one of the largest reservations in Arizona
and throughout the United States as well.
We also share 62 miles of the international boundary with
Mexico. It is one of the longest shared international borders
of any Indian tribe in the United States.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to testify in
regard to the Nation's Federal funding priorities. First, I
would like to present our water settlement challenges.
Tohono O'odham Nation is facing a serious water crisis due
to the Federal government's ongoing failure to fund the
nation's historic water settlement. The Southern Arizona Water
Rights Settlement Act, known as SAWRSA. SAWRSA authorized up to
$32 million for a cooperative fund to pay for the delivery of
the nation's water entitlement, and directed the Secretary of
the Interior to inform Congress of the amount of money
necessary to carry out the settlement. However, the Interior
has never requested any of these funds to inform Congress that
this settlement will be in jeopardy without the cooperative
funding.
The Bureau of Reclamation projects that our settlement may
run out of funding for water delivery within 3 years. We do not
want to close the tribal farms, lay off employees, default on
crop loans, and the breach of related agreements.
Our water settlement is meaningless without water. We
respectfully request that the committee direct the Secretary of
Interior to provide notice of the Federal funds of the
cooperative funding shortfall, and that funding be included in
the Fiscal Year 2018 budget, and not jeopardize the Southern
Arizona Water Rights Settlement Act.
Next, I will turn to law enforcement. The Tohono O'odham
Nation faces significant and unique law enforcement challenges
because of our shared border with Mexico and the size of the
reservation. Our police patrol remote and isolated areas that
are difficult to access. Radio communication among tribal and
Federal law enforcement agencies is also unreliable. As a
result, officers face increasing, sometimes unnecessary, risks
in the field.
Due to our extensive shared border with Mexico, drug
trafficking, illegal immigration, and border security divert
limited tribal police resources from our communities. While the
nation works closely with Border Patrol and other law
enforcement agencies, we spend millions of dollars in tribal
revenues annually to help meet Federal border security
responsibilities. Additional funding is desperately needed to
improve communication, hiring and training officers, vehicles,
and addressing the overcrowded jail, and to improve the
security of police stations.
Next, I will discuss road funding. The nation has hundreds
of miles of damaged and poorly maintained roads: inadequate BIA
funding, heavy monsoon rains, flooding, and heavy usage by
Border Patrol vehicles. 200 Border Patrol agents utilize these
roads 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All of these contribute to
the poor road conditions.
During the monsoon season, flooding washes out bridges,
isolate communities, strand children on school buses, and
prevents access for emergency vehicles. Sadly, a number of our
people have been killed by flooding while traveling on these
roads.
Despite years of discussion, BIA and Border Patrol cannot
agree on how they can share existing appropriations and
authorities to fund the repair of the roads damaged by Border
Patrol vehicles. All that is needed is a technical legislative
fix. The nation's written testimony contains draft legislation
language to make the technical fix. We ask that the
subcommittee work with the Homeland Security Subcommittee and
consider including that language in the appropriations bill.
Finally, I would like to address healthcare funding. Tohono
O'odham Nation hospital that serves the nation in Sells,
Arizona is over 50 years old. It is one of the oldest
facilities in the IHS. The hospital is completely inadequate to
meet the nation's healthcare needs.
Our hospital has been listed for replacement for over 2
decades. However, the backlog is so bad that there still are
several projects ahead of us on the IHS priority listing. Even
though they requested a budget increase, it is still unlikely
that the nation's hospital will be funded.
Additional funding is desperately needed for IHS to address
this backlog. We ask the committee to provide a substantial
increase in the IHS facilities budget.
In conclusion, the nation appreciates the subcommittee's
dedication to provide Indian Country with much-needed resources
in a very challenging Fiscal climate. I am happy to answer any
questions. Thank you.
[The statement of Mr. Manuel follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Manuel, for your
testimony.
Next, Walter Phelps. Good to see you again. You are
recognized for 5 minutes.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
NAVAJO HOPI LAND COMMISSION AND NAVAJO NATION COUNCIL
WITNESS
WALTER PHELPS, CHAIRMAN, NAVAJO HOPI LAND COMMISSION, AND DELEGATE,
NAVAJO NATION COUNCIL
Mr. Phelps. Good morning, Chairman Calvert, Ranking Member
McCollum, and honorable member Pingree. My name is Walter
Phelps. I chair the Navajo Hopi Land Commission for the 23rd
Navajo Nation Council. My colleagues and I on the Navajo Hopi
Land Commission are entrusted with addressing ongoing efforts
of the relocation and people being relocated off their
ancestral lands, as well as dealing with the realities of the
nine chapter communities within the former Bennett Freeze Area
in Western Navajo Nation.
First, I want to still once more express appreciation for
this subcommittee for your efforts in paying special attention
to the complex and important matters. Since the visit by this
subcommittee to Navajo Nation in January 2015, some very good
progress has been made. The increased funding made possible by
this subcommittee has dramatically accelerated the delivery of
benefits to many who have been on a waiting list for many
years.
As you are aware, the Office of Navajo Hopi Indian
Relocation was established by Congress to carry out relocation
activities, and serve as a trustee and Federal land
administrator to the Navajo Nation. Unfortunately, although the
Office of Navajo Hopi Indian Relocation carried out its charge,
the work was done at a very slow pace. However, as a result of
increased funding, OHNIR in its November 14th, 2016 report
stated that by the end of September 30th, 2016, there remained
a total of 74 eligible qualified applicants ready to receive
housing benefits, 199 pending appeals to be addressed in Fiscal
Year 2017, and 3 pending cases before Federal district courts.
In OHNIR's report, it further states our goal, and I quote,
``Our goal has always been to assure that all relocation
activities that are conducted by the office are consistent with
the intent of Congress and the executive branch as expressed in
the Navajo Hopi Settlement Act of Public Law 93-531, and the
Navajo Hopi Indian Relocation Amendments Act, Public Law 96-
305.''
Let me point out that in 1981, this same office provided a
report and plan to Congress by stating, ``Congress was greatly
concerned that relocation of Indian families to be to areas
where community facilities and services exist or will exist.
The Commission's plan for relocation shall,'' ordered Congress,
``assure that housing and related community facilities and
services, such as water, sewer, roads, schools, and health
facilities for such households, shall be available at their
relocation sites.'' That was Public Law 93-531. ``The
Commission intends to carry out this mandate with the same
vigor as the sympathetic and generous Congress conceived it.''
The point is that the Relocation Commission ``failed to
adequately address the requirements of the original act in
ensuring that housing and related community facilities and
services, such as water, sewer, roads, schools, and health
facilities, for such households shall be available at their
relocation sites.'' In moving forward, my colleagues and I on
the Navajo Hopi Land Commission appreciate the need to bring
closure to the relocation process. However, we believe that the
Federal government has the responsibility to bring closure
about in a conscientious and compassionate manner, and live up
to the promise of a thorough and generous relocation.
The second portion of my testimony has to do with the
urgent need for rehabilitation of the 9 Navajo chapters in the
Former Bennett Freeze Area and western agency. The freeze
remained in effect from 1966 to 2006, during which development
of housing, community facilities, and economic development were
restricted. Field hearings conducted by the Senate Interior
Appropriations Subcommittee in 1993 concluded that the Former
Bennett Freeze Area would require a sustained construction
program implemented over a decade or more in order to recover
and redevelop.
We ask the subcommittee to support innovative incentives
that can encourage private sector partnerships and investments
and streamlining of Federal regulations. We request funding for
critical needs in the Former Bennett Freeze Area for safe
drinking water, electricity, emergency response services,
telecommunications, infrastructure, and community facilities.
Lastly, we request establishment of a DOI task force for the
benefit of the Former Bennett Freeze Rehabilitation.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide this testimony. I
am happy to answer questions.
[The statement of Mr. Phelps follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, and thank you for your testimony.
We appreciate that.
I know there are some consistency here on law enforcement,
and that is a challenge that we are going to have to deal with,
and we are going to do the best we can in this committee. You
have a particular challenge because of your border with Mexico.
I have been down there.
Is Homeland Security in any way done anything to help
improve some of the roads along the border there? And I am also
curious, what kind of infrastructure along the border have we
put up? Anything at all, or is it just the old fence that used
to be there.
Mr. Manuel. Right now, they are working on the border.
Mr. Calvert. Yeah.
Mr. Manuel. Right now, they are working on the border road,
and also they put in the, they call it the IFP tower,
integrated fixed tower. And there are about 9 of them that are
proposed on the main borderline, but also there are also 4 more
that they are proposing along the mountain range. And they also
have some FOBs, forward upright bases, too, along the border in
our land base where the Border Patrol utilize those stations so
many days a week, and then they leave them so more can come in.
Mr. Calvert. Do you still have a significant amount of
drugs coming across that border?
Mr. Manuel. There are still drugs coming through, yes.
Mr. Calvert. Yeah. We will talk to Homeland Security about
this. Obviously they have a responsibility. If they are using
your roads, they have a responsibility to help fix that. We
need to get an infrastructure bill done here and have Indian
Country a part of it. The Navajos have issues on their roads,
and I am sure that whole place in the southwest. So, we will
certainly look into that and see if we cannot be of some
assistance.
Mr. Phelps, we have met a number of times over the years.
Mr. Phelps. Yes.
Mr. Calvert. And hopefully we are going to close in on
this. As you know, a goal of mine is to, and I think of the
committee, is to bring this to an end and have the resources
there to bring it to an end.
Mr. Phelps. Absolutely.
Mr. Calvert. And hopefully we are closing in on this after
40 years. That is a long time. So, hopefully we can, for
everybody, you know, for the Navajo people, for the Hopi
people, for the American people, everybody, we can bring this
to a positive conclusion.
Mr. Phelps. Yes, thank you. Thank you, Chairman. We have
the same desire and goal, but we know that as a trustee, our
people were given, you know, substantial commitments by this
Congress. And we just want to remind our members that that is
what we still stand on. So, we thank you for that.
Mr. Calvert. All right. Thank you.
Mr. Phelps. And by the way, Congressman, the school that
you visited is going to have a ribbon cutting on Friday if you
want to come down.
Mr. Calvert. Oh great. I would love to be down there, yeah.
I still remember that bus ride over. [Laughter.]
Mr. Phelps. Right. Right.
Mr. Calvert. Ms. McCollum.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, gentlemen,
for your testimony. As the chair said and we mentioned earlier,
we need to get some of our other committees more engaged in
some of the challenges or opportunities in Indian Country
because these are across-the-board cuts. If they are not
mindful of how they are going to affect the work that this
committee is doing, they can have an unintended consequence in
not moving Indian Country forward.
So, thank you for your testimony.
Mr. Calvert. Ms. Pingree.
Ms. Pingree. No.
Mr. Calvert. Well, thank you for your testimony.
Voice. Thank you very much.
Mr. Calvert. Next, we are going to call up our next panel.
Jamie Henio, vice president of the Ramah Navajo Chapter,
Marlene Martinez, president of the Ramah Navajo School Board
for Pine Hill School, and Faye BlueEyes, administrative
services director. And I am not even going to try to pronounce
this. Well, I will try then. [Laughter.]
Dzilth-Na-O-Dith-Hle Community Grant School. That is about
as good as I can do. But thank you for attending. We will see
if we can get that door closed, and we will move on.
Okay. First, I recognize Robert Valencia, chairman of the
Pascua--oh, excuse me--Jamie Henio, vice president of the Ramah
Navajo Chapter. Welcome.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
RAMAH NAVAJO CHAPTER
WITNESS
JAMIE HENIO, VICE PRESIDENT, RAMAH NAVAJO CHAPTER
Mr. Henio. [Speaking native language.] Honorable Chairman
Calvert, Ranking Member McCollum, and Committee Member Pingree,
my name is Jamie Henio. I am the vice president of the Ramah
Navajo Chapter, Ramah Band of Navajo Indians. I appreciate this
opportunity to provide oral testimony regarding the Department
of Interior BIA Fiscal Year 2018 budget.
The Ramah Navajo Chapter has four areas of concern in our
written testimony: number one, inadequate and untimely
distribution of 638 Program funding; and, two, the lack of
funding for adequate police officer salaries; three, the lack
of funding for equipment and operation of our brand new
detention correctional facility; and four, unmet needs for our
transportation and road maintenance program.
The chapter appreciates you holding these hearings on an
annual basis, and over the years you have listened to us and
our concerns, and have moved towards resolution on many of our
concerns and issues.
The Ramah Navajo Chapter has operated as a self-government
since 1986 using the Public Law 93-638 contracting requirement.
So, therefore, number one, my point is that there is inadequate
funding for 638 contract programs as compared to BIA programs.
Every year, the BIA, they put tribes through an exercise of
prioritizing unmet needs and budget requests.
And the Ramah Chapter, we comply with this exercise, but
what happens is we rarely see any type of funding increases.
While we operate on the same funding year after year, and BIA,
while they operate similar programs, these programs see a
substantial increase. This is our issue here, is that the BIA
views the Ramah Chapter as a 638 tribe, so when it comes to
appropriations and distribution of funds, we are told stand at
the end of the line while the BIA central office and
administrative programs get a buckle of that money. So, what we
are asking is that a lot of these funds be distributed to the
front lines where we provide direct services to the people as
it was intended.
And then also if these funds are awarded, we need to have
BIA distribute these funds in a timely manner. Many times we
have to wait months at a time just to see any type of funding
from the BIA. So, what we are requesting for is that BIA be
expressly directed to distribute the funds to tribal programs
immediately upon appropriation.
Number two, a lack of funding for adequate police officer
salaries. Pursuant to 25 C.F.R., Subsection 12.34, police
officers operating under a 638 contract should be paid the same
wages as a BIA police officer. To this point, BIA has not
funded this mandate.
The Ramah Navajo Chapter, we have a budget for 10 police
officers to provide public service to the citizens of the Ramah
Navajo community, but then our officers are severely underpaid.
If you look at our written testimony, we have included that in
there. That shows the disparity between the Ramah Navajo police
officers' annual wage comparing that to a BIA police officer.
And then we also included officers from New Mexico State
Police, from the nearby sheriff's department, and also the City
of Gallup, and you will see that the Ramah Navajo police
officer is the lowest paid officer within that geographical
area.
And with this, we lose officers to these nearby agencies.
We bring in a young police officer. We invest money in the
officer, take him to the Federal law enforcement training
academy where they get federally certified. Then we also take
him to the New Mexico State Police Academy for state
certification and other specialized training. And when they
come back, they enticed by other agencies with higher pay. We
need to keep our officers within our location.
The third area of concern that we have is a lack of funding
for equipment and operation of our new detention facility. The
Ramah Chapter was awarded TARP Recovery Grant money, and using
the grant money, along with other matching funds, we were able
to construct a 13,000-square feet detention facility. In
November of 2016, the BIA issued a certificate of occupancy,
and our detention center is in full operation right now.
And BIA has failed to award funds sufficient, though, to
operate the facility in accordance with the BIA standards. They
set their stands up here, but they only fund us at this level.
So then, we need to have BIA fully fund the operations.
And lastly, what we have also included as a concern is the
unmet needs for our transportation and road maintenance
program. We have included some data in our written testimony
for reference. And we have contracted the roads program 3 years
ago, and BIA has failed to sufficiently fund the program to
adequately meet the road needs for our community.
And so, at the end in closing, the Ramah Navajo Chapter has
been a successful steward, and we have been diligent in
operating the Public Law 93-638 Program for many decades. And
from the onset, we have had clean audits.
So, the Ramah Navajo Chapter, we appreciate the continued
support of Congress in our effort to build a sustainable
community and to be resilient throughout the oncoming years.
I stand for questions. [Speaking native language.]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[The statement of Mr. Henio follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.
Next, Marlene Martinez, president of the Ramah Navajo
School Board for the Pine Hill School. You are recognized for 5
minutes.
---------- --
--------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
RAMAH NAVAJO SCHOOL BOARD FOR THE PINE HILL SCHOOL
WITNESS
MARLENE MARTINEZ, PRESIDENT, RAMAH NAVAJO SCHOOL BOARD FOR THE PINE
HILL SCHOOL
Ms. Martinez. Good morning, Honorable Chair and committee
members. My name is Marlene Martinez. I am the president of the
Ramah Navajo School Board, Pine Hill Schools, and I appreciate
the opportunity to allow us to provide oral testimony to
Congress on behalf of our schools.
Today I am providing testimony on our school buildings that
are showing signs of drastic aging and nearing the end of its
useful life. After nearly a half century, our school buildings
are showing significant wear and tear. These buildings have
deteriorated almost beyond repair, have inoperable heating
systems, have unsafe water systems, and are unusable due to
serious mold issues.
In recent years, it has gotten to a point where the
students have had to be sent home early due to cold classrooms
or a water line break on campus that causes no water or low
water pressure. The water lines on campus are corroded with
rust.
Our students are also exposed to the dangerous environment
due to leaking roofs in certain classrooms, or playing on the
wet basketball court in the gymnasium, and walking on crumbling
sidewalks. The biggest concern is the presence of mold in our
library in our kindergarten building. These buildings have been
closed due to the health and safety of our students. This
caused our students to be shuffled around, to be housed in
other areas of the facility.
We are alarmed that due to the leaking roof in our
gymnasium, the water caused the inside ceiling insulation to be
exposed, and the presence of mold has been detected. The
insulation fiberglass particles may become airborne and cause a
serious health issue to our students.
The heating system in the high school building has been
inoperable and outdated. The BIA committed to designing and
installing a heating system in our high school since December
2016. The BIA is still in the bidding stage to repair the
heating system. Our students have been subjected to the cold
and it has created a negative learning environment. It has been
almost 7 years since the heating system has been inoperable.
Our school facilities were built in the '70s, and most do
not meet the ADA requirements, therefore, causing a challenge
for our disabled students. Our students' academic performance
has been negatively impacted by the substandard school
facilities. If our students were not exposed to this type of
learning environment, we believe they would be more successful
academically.
We fully support the committee and BIE to begin the effort
towards replacing all BIE schools. Then our students would not
have to be housed in aging, unsafe, and dilapidated buildings.
We appreciate the commitment of Congress to continue
funding school facilities so that the BIA funded schools will
begin planning design and construction of new school
facilities. In the meantime, we request that Congress increase
funding for emergency and minor improvement and repair projects
so that schools, such as Pine Hill, can address the current
deficiencies in our school buildings.
And on behalf of the Ramah Navajo School Board, I would
like to thank you for your time and the consideration of
Congress to help schools out in Indian Country. Thank you.
[The statement of Ms. Martinez follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, and thank you for your testimony.
Next, Faye BlueEyes, administrative services director. And
you can pronounce the name of the school.
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Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
DZILTH-NA-O-DITH-HLE COMMUNITY GRANT SCHOOL
WITNESS
FAYE BLUEEYES, ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DIRECTOR, DZILTH-NA-O-DITH-HLE
COMMUNITY GRANT SCHOOL
Ms. BlueEyes. Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity
to be here on behalf of Dzilth-Na-O-Dith-Hle Community School.
Local controlled schools such as ours educate our students
to be contributing members of our community and to come back
and help our people. This focus has helped improve our
students' performance. Our students' assessment for the last 2
years has looked very promising. In some areas, our students
have even outscored the National Test Assessment. If we were
able to operate our schools without funding shortfalls and
constant worries, we think, wow, we could do a lot more better.
Our students could even reach amazing heights.
At the onset, we do want to recognize the testimony of Dine
Bi'Olta School organization and fully support their
recommendations, such as fully fund new school construction,
provide $109 million for facilities operation and $76 million
for facilities maintenance, protect BIE and Indian education
programs from sequestration or shut down.
Our school is proud to say that we have been one of the
successful applicants for new school construction, and we are
in the first round of the planning phase as our school
facilities were outdated and insufficient for our needs. We are
looking forward to being able to offer a safe and improved
school for our students.
We will be completing the planning phase for our new school
by July. We have worked closely with the BIA facilities staff
in moving this project along, and have made great success. We
are on schedule, and we are in line with our budget. If
necessary, we hope the subcommittee will recognize that there
must be flexibility in timelines for funding availability in
these projects, and work with us and the BIE on these matters.
Our school is fortunate to be selected for new school
construction. However, we feel for other Bureau-funded schools
who also need school replacements. Their students and staff
have to endure the same problems we have, such as water lines
breaking that we have to divert students to another part of the
building for a restroom, and that causes them to lose valuable
instruction time, or sewer lines breaking and our staff and
students having to smell the awful sewer causing headaches.
And, again, inefficient heating and cooling, and it is too
cold in the winter because the outdated aged boiler is down, or
too hot because we do not have any air conditioners in our
school. And we have obsolete utilities systems where parts are
no longer available, and it costs extra money to have parts
actually be built again for some of our systems. That is
another loss of funds for schools.
At least for the Dzilth-Na-O-Dith-Hle School, we see a
light at the end of the tunnel. How many more years will the
rest of the Bureau-funded schools have to wait to get their new
schools?
According to the Department of Interior's 2013 figure, the
backlog of construction projects is now estimated to be as high
as $1.3 billion. But we are encouraged by the substantial
increase that this subcommittee provided for education
construction in Fiscal Year 2016 and maintained it for Fiscal
Year 2017. We believe BIE schools are due for full school
replacement efforts like that provided for the Department of
Defense schools where 134 of their schools were rebuilt over 5
years beginning in 2011.
Our schools support the call for full funding for school
construction funds to immediately address this need. We urge
the committee and the BIE to engage in consultation with tribal
schools and tribes to begin the efforts towards modernization
of all BIE schools.
Lastly, we ask that Indian related programs be protected
from budget fights that result in sequestration or government
shutdown. We join those in urging this subcommittee to include
language in the budget and appropriation bill that continue
funding for native and related programs through these
challenges. Funding for our programs is scarce enough.
Reductions for sequestration and shutdowns hit reservations
extremely hard, and the students do feel the same stresses that
affect their parents and neighbors.
We look forward to working with the subcommittee on
furthering the important work of our schools and enriching our
students. Thank you very much for the opportunity to provide
testimony.
[The statement of Ms. BlueEyes follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Let
me just go back to my notes here. First, I want to talk about
roads a little bit since that has been brought up. We recognize
we have a problem throughout the United States on roads in
Indian Country. And I have been on the, at least on the Arizona
side, the Navajo reservation in Arizona. I suspect they are
very similar to what you have in your part of the country in
New Mexico, but they are in bad shape.
So, if we ever get around to an infrastructure bill, that
we have a section in the bill for road construction throughout
the United States on Indian reservations to rebuild those
roads. So, we can work together on doing that.
On school construction, which both of you obviously are
mentioning that, you are right. We have over a billion-dollar
need, and we need to come up with, like you mentioned, a DOD
kind of program. Now, that was a public/private partnership
that did that, and not just for schools, but also for housing
for the military, and it was very successful. The Department of
Defense was able to generate by moving off excess property that
they had. We do not have that luxury in Native American
country, so we have to come up with a financial mechanism which
hopefully we can do, and figure out a way to finance this. And
I would like to see all the schools around the United States
rebuilt. And I know that that is shared by this entire
committee. We hate to see kids going to schools that are in a
difficult situation.
We have directed the BIE to do the analysis. It is the same
thing the Department of Defense did, which is a necessary step.
And we are going to try to find a way to do this just like we
did with the DOD schools.
With that, Ms. McCollum.
Ms. McCollum. Well, thank you, Mr. Chair. I think one of
the frustrations, besides what the chairman mentioned, is that
we are trying to figure out different financing mechanisms,
loans, repayments, grants, and such. We are leaving no stone
unturned to figure out how to do a school renovation rebuild or
remodel, as well as figure out a way to have a maintenance
account so that we keep up on maintenance.
When you first notice your roof is leaking, you do not want
to walk away from it. You should be able to pick up the phone
and figure out what is causing the leak, and get it repaired so
it does not spread any further.
But I think one of the frustrations that is coming across
in your testimony is when you, sir, pointed out the fact that
the Bureau of Indian Affairs is not getting the contracts and
the bids out in a timely fashion. In part, we own that as a
Congress when we are doing continuing resolutions and we do not
get our bills closed and our homework done on time.
We are talking schools here, so we need to hand our
homework in on time. We need to complete the assignment because
when we do continuing resolutions, the agencies are out there
not sure at the end of the day what they are going to have for
resources. I know that the Appropriations Committee stands
ready to get our work done on time. We just have to convince
our other colleagues on both sides of the aisle that we want to
complete the appropriations bills on time. I know that is the
goal of our chair and our ranking at large and our goals when
we get our bills done.
Some of this is that we need to push the agencies to do a
better job. But some of this is not necessarily the agencies'
fault. It has been the inability of the entire Congress, both
House and Senate, to get their jobs completed in a timely
fashion. So, we need to do better by you as well.
So, thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, and I want to thank the panel for
coming today and testifying.
Thank you to this panel, and we appreciate your attendance.
Speakers. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Okay. All right. The next panel is Genevieve
Jackson, president, and I will let her pronounce it, and Jerry
Chavez, president of the Dine Grant School Program, and Royd
Lee, president of the Native American Grant School Association
School Board member for the Shonto Preparatory School.
At least we have two out of three. Okay. So, Royd? Okay.
Here we go. Welcome.
Ms. McCollum. Mr. Chairman, these are many different
languages, languages that we do not hear every day for many of
these tribes. And I appreciate your willingness to boldly go
with pronunciations because most Americans have never heard
these languages spoken until today. So, Mr. Chair----
Mr. Calvert. Well, as a former teacher, I hope you do not
grade me on this. [Laughter.]
Ms. McCollum. Mr. Chair, I appreciate your willingness to
try. And I can see the look on the faces of the tribal members
as they come up. They are appreciating it, too.
Mr. Calvert. Okay. All right.
Ms. Jackson. We will give you an ``A'' for effort.
Mr. Calvert. Okay. There you go. [Laughter.]
---------- --
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Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
DINE BI'OLTA SCHOOL BOARD ASSOCIATION
WITNESS
GENEVIEVE JACKSON, PRESIDENT, DINE BI'OLTA SCHOOL BOARD ASSOCIATION
Mr. Calvert. Okay. You are recognized.
Ms. Jackson. I am Genevieve Jackson, president of the Dine
Bi'Olta School Board Association, also known as [Speaking
native language]. And I would like to thank Mr. Honorable
Calvert, and Darren Benjamin, Ms. McCollum, and Ms. Pingree for
giving us this time.
We submit our position on Fiscal Year 2018 budget request,
and provide recommendations on the overall direction of the BIA
education system. For the Fiscal Year 2018 proposed commitment
to self-determination, we support continued funding 100 percent
of the administrative cost grants. On the Indian School
Equalization Program, also known as ISEP, we supported
increasing the amount of $6.5 million. We would also like to
see an estimate of the funding needed to meet the DOD teacher
pay requirements compared to the overall increase for Indian
Country and education.
Facilities O&M, we support the increase of $6 million. This
will reduce the problem of schools having to divert
instructional dollars to keep the lights on. The failure
through the years to adequately fund these line items results
in minor repairs evolving into major repairs. For education
program enhancements, the BIE requested an increase of $2
million. It is not clear how this funding is to be used.
The justifications for the program have been rather vague
and the results seem minimal. There needs to be a fair and
transparent process established by which the tribes can apply
for such funding. We have questioned the funding of 26 FTEs
with education program enhancement funds, and the proposed
increase of 8 more FTEs in the Fiscal Year 2017 budget. The
Bureau should consider transferring this line item to education
program management budget to more accurately account for
personnel.
For school transportation, we support the retention of the
Fiscal Year 2016 level of $4 million increase in
transportation. Historically, the funding in this line item has
been inadequate to cover the full cost of the transportation
program. The shortfall means that the school must take funding
out of instructional programs just to get the students to
school.
On the broadband and IT enhancement, BIA received only a $2
million increase for information technology, far less than the
$34 million actually needed. A great many innovative teaching
techniques and materials, including testing materials, are
based on digital platforms and cannot be used without such
access.
For the BIE school construction, we support the Fiscal Year
2016 school construction funding level in the budget of $138
million, but with an increase of $7.5 million for employee
housing. The lack of adequate housing for staff is a
significant factor in teacher turnover in our schools. The
current backlog of repair costs for employee housing is $107.8
million on Navajo Nation schools alone.
We agree with the House report that reads, ``A more
comprehensive long-term planning approach is needed for every
campus and component facility in the BIA system modeled after
the Department of Defense education activity.''
On early childhood and family development, we support the
increase of $4 million for the FACE Program. We also support
the release of the 2013-2014 study and internal review of the
program.
On BIA education program management, we ask that the true
implementation of the statute in 25 U.S.C. 2006(a) and (b)
would involve a transfer of functions, personnel, and funding
from BIA to BIE, as well as provide new funding. These
statutory provisions are consistent with the GAO
recommendations and with language in House Report 114-632 and
Senate Report 114-281. And these are our recommendations for
the BIE education system and the reorganization.
On the budget analysis division for the 25 U.S.C. 2001(h)
requires the comptroller general to conduct a study to
determine the adequacy of funding and formulas used by the
Bureau to determine funding for programs operated by Bureau-
operated schools. We believe these statutory mandates should be
implemented.
The GAO Report 13-774, states its intention clearly, citing
problems related to the organizational structure,
accountability, finance, health, and safety, and student
performance. The Department's reorganization plan does not
address the GAO's recommendation, and it is not in compliance
with applicable statutes. The Department of Defense education
system receives its total funding through its own DOD
appropriation. It is, therefore, free to develop its own
educational programs to meet the special needs of the students
it serves.
We recommend that the BIA set aside funding from the
Department of Education and ESSA be transferred to the Interior
budget for BIE. The BIE then should be required to have
substantial consultations with the tribes' school staff and BIA
funded school boards to further develop a unique education
system based on self-determination and deemed most beneficial
and effective for Indian youth.
And I thank you for your time. I know it is going to be a
long day for you, so thank you.
[The statement of Ms. Jackson follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Jackson.
Ms. Jackson. [Speaking native language.]
Mr. Calvert. Next, Jerry Chavez, president of the Dine
Grant School Association. Welcome.
---------- --
--------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
DINE GRANT SCHOOL ASSOCIATION
WITNESS
JERRY CHAVEZ, PRESIDENT, DINE GRANT SCHOOL ASSOCIATION
Mr. Chavez. Good morning, honorable chairman and committee
members. My name is Jerry Chavez, president of the Dine Grant
School Association. We are comprised by six Navajo BIE funded
schools. As local school boards, we have both the greater
freedom and the tremendous responsibility to ensure that our
students receive high-quality, culturally-relevant education
that will help them to reach the fullest potential.
We take this responsibility seriously, and we would like to
thank this subcommittee for playing an important role in our
students' success. Thank you.
Our highest funding priorities are travel grant support
costs, facility operations and maintenance, ISEP formula funds,
and BIE budget, as well as education construction and repair in
the BIA budget. Today I am here to give our testimony of why
Federal funding is important to our local schools in Navajo
land.
We need continued funding to maintain our facilities so we
can provide a safe environment for our students to provide a
high-quality education that will help our students achieve
success. We want our principals, teachers, educational
assistants, and all other key staff members to be up to date
with training, and it costs money to provide them the tools to
be effective in each role.
Since 1988, tribally-operated schools have received funding
for administrative expense incurred for the operations of our
school through our administrative cost grant, now called tribal
grant support costs. These funds are used for essential
services, such as contract grant administration, program
planning and development, human resources, insurance, physical
procurement, and property management, and require annual
audits, record keeping, legal and other overhead services.
In Fiscal Year 2016, tribal grant support costs were fully
funded for the first time in Fiscal Year 2017. Congress
increased this amount at the BIE's recommendation to $80
million. On behalf of Dine Grant School, we thank you for such
an increase. The increase we received prevents from redirecting
ISEP funds to funds to cover essential administrative costs
that our school has done in the past.
Consistent full funding of tribal grant support costs is a
primary necessity for tribes to continue to operate schools,
and for more tribes to decide to take on this responsibility.
We are grateful for Congress' commitment to fully and
willingness to work with tribal school boards and BIE to arrive
at an amount that fulfills this obligation. Particularly, more
schools convert from BIE operated to tribally controlled.
The Indian School Equalization Program formula is a core
budget account for educational and residential programs on the
BIE elementary and secondary schools and dormitories. These
funds are used for instructional programs at the BIE-funded
schools, and include salaries for teachers, educational
assistance, and principals. I want to share the importance of
these funds and highlight where these funds are used.
Professional development. Funds allow us to provide
professional development for our staff so they can be better
equipped to provide teaching strategies and align with Common
Core. Student support services. Counseling, which are needed at
our schools to address social needs of our students. College
and career readiness are necessary to prepare our students to
excel and be successful in higher education, or prepare them
for potential career opportunities.
Language and culture. These programs are developed based on
our students' desire to learn our Navajo language and culture
for self-identify and self-esteem. We can include you on the
language immersion. [Laughter.]
Mr. Calvert. I need it.
Mr. Chavez. The $6.5 million program increase for a total
of $400 million that Congress provided in Fiscal Year 2017 will
be very helpful. However, it does not acknowledge the
shortfalls that have been building for years. We respectfully
request a total of $431 million for the critical budget
category.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony on these
critical matters. As we work to provide high-quality education
for our students, we consider members of Congress to be
partners in this endeavor. Thank you very much.
[The statement of Mr. Chavez follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.
Next, Royd Lee. You are recognized for 5 minutes.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
NATIVE AMERICAN GRANT SCHOOL ASSOCIATION
WITNESS
ROYD LEE, PRESIDENT, NATIVE AMERICAN GRANT SCHOOL ASSOCIATION
Mr. Lee. Good morning. Thank you, Mr. Chair. To start off,
I would like to introduce myself in my Navajo language.
[Speaking native language.] Thank you. Good morning.
My name is Royd Lee, and I am the current president of the
Native American Grant School Association, also known as NAGSA.
I would like to take this time to write this testimony on
behalf of our schools that work with Native American children
from both the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe within the two
States of Arizona and New Mexico.
I am an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. I am only 26
years old. I come from a small community in northeast Arizona
from a place called Shonto. I am a product of Shonto Boarding
School before it converted into Shonto Preparatory School, a
100297 school. I am currently serving as an elected school
board member for Shonto Preparatory School.
At age 26, I have seen the issues, and I feel for our
Native American children that many still live in Third World
conditions. I grew up with no running water, lack of
electricity, and unpaved bus routes. And yet to this day, there
is no excuse why our children live in these same conditions.
Becoming the objectives of NAGSA testifying before you
today is to advocate for our schools. Each of our schools face
independent challenges. Overall, our schools still lack the
resources to ensure that our students receive the best
educational needs. Our school truly depends on funding for our
school. Without the education community, it will vanish.
Currently, NAGSA represents 16 schools with two residential
halls, a second home for our Native American students, a total
of seven schools on the Hopi side, and 9 schools on the Navajo
side. Today I am here to represent both tribes. I am here to
speak for those who cannot speak for themselves, primarily our
students, because it is an ethical duty that I did to take the
oath of office.
Our students have the obligation to reach the potential,
but yet with President Donald Trump's proposed plans and budget
cuts, I positively protest in a positive manner that our
funding should adequately stay the same. One percent can make a
drastic difference. Our resources can deplenish. I am here for
those because our students deserve equal education as those in
the multicultural areas.
And so, with that, with all of the promises and the
credentials that our students need, it is crucial that we stand
together as the Native American community that the budget cuts
is not for us, and it will never be for us, because the EPA
needs to do a vital role. We have 2 schools on the Hopi
reservation that have high-level arsenic, and that needs to be
looked into. With any budget cuts, everything that we look
forward to is diminishing.
We all share a common interest in the common issues that we
have, teacher shortage. The teacher shortage is that we have a
lack of housing. We need funding to increase better housing.
The Navajo Nation is nearly the size of West Virginia, but yet
we only have 13 grocery stores. And so, that is hard to recruit
and retain our teachers.
NAGSA is working hard with our member schools. As the
president, I visit schools. I have attended school board
meetings. I have looked at the conditions. I took the time and
effort to make sure that our students are there for whatever
purposes it is to receive the best education.
On behalf of that, I am also an educator. I teach the
Navajo language. I am a Navajo language teacher. So, with all
these adequate resources, the ESSA needs to be left alone
because the Federal level, we mandate so many requirements that
it takes the time away from our school administrators to
actually ensure that our students are ready for the Common Core
and all endeavors that are replayed at the State and tribal
level.
Again, thank you very much that we keep everything the same
it is, and I thank you, congressional leaders. Thank you.
[The statement of Mr. Lee follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you, and I appreciate your
testimony.
Obviously education is extremely important, and I cannot
think of anything more important than education throughout
Indian Country, or throughout the rest of the country. And we
have our challenges, and we are trying to face those challenges
over the last number of years to try to increase funding for
education in general, and obviously the school construction.
And as I have mentioned to the previous panel, we are
attempting to find a way to resolve this problem once and for
all and get on with it. We have an obligation to do this, and
we all agree that that's an obligation we need to meet.
I appreciate your offer for a language immersion
program.[Laughter.]
I may take you up on it. Some people think I cannot speak
English very well, so this would probably help me out.
And as far as the budgets are concerned, we have been
through Republican presidents and Democratic presidents, and we
agree to disagree on occasion. And so, those budgets will be
proposed, and the Congress will, as the Constitution outlines,
put together the budget and the appropriation bills, and
hopefully pass them in regular order as we all should do.
And with that, Ms. McCollum.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for your
testimony. I think we have heard a very solid, united front
from across Indian Country. I think we will hear from the
Plains States and a couple more of the Great Lakes States
tribes today on some of the same issues. I thank you for that.
And thank you, at 26, for standing up and running for
school board because sometimes students do not think the people
serving on school boards really know what it is like to go to
school. I think you speak with fresh experience of the struggle
that students in Indian Country face when trying to focus in on
their studies. So, thank you very much, Mr. Lee, for your
testimony.
Mr. Lee. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Great. Thank you. Ms. Pingree.
Ms. Pingree. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.
Mr. Calvert. Well, thank you. Thank you for your testimony.
We appreciate your being here today. Have a great day.
Voice. Thank you very much.
Voice. Thank you.
Mr. Stewart [presiding]. We welcome the panelists. Thank
you for being here. And we appreciate your time, and we want
you to know that we are here to listen to you, and that your
time here is well spent, and it can make a difference.
So, I am Congressman Stewart substituting for the chair
today, and I believe Tom Miller from the Association of
Community Tribal Schools. Mr. Miller, we will start with you,
and you have 5 minutes.
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY TRIBAL SCHOOLS
WITNESS
TOM MILLER, CHAIRPERSON, ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY TRIBAL SCHOOLS
Mr. Miller. Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity
to testify.
I am the president of the Association of Community Tribal
Schools, and we are an organization that has been around since
1982. In the schools, we represent a significant number of the
130 schools and the 30,000 students that are in the BIE-funded
system. There are approximately 21 States that have schools in
them, and Minnesota is one Michigan, my area where I am from,
the Great Lakes area. I am a member of my home tribe, which is
the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.
And these schools are operated directly by tribal governing
bodies or tribal organizations, and they have to be authorized
by tribal governing bodies. We have something that we have done
for years that is now coming into schools of choice. Our
schools, which started with the original tribally-controlled
school, which was Rough Rock Demonstration School in 1966, we
always say we are the original schools of choice, and we
continue to be so nowadays.
I would like to thank Congress for the modest increase that
we saw in appropriations. We would like to see more, of course.
And I think one of the last panel members highlighted something
that happened. We had tribal grant support costs funded at 100
percent for the first time in 50 years, so that is kind of a
significant thing for us.
Appropriations, of course, have been at we feel a modest
level, but we would like to thank you for doing that. We feel
increases in our five major elements areas, which are ISEP
facility operations, facility maintenance, student
transportation, tribal grant support costs, probably are in
need of about $60 to $70 million a year. We are getting $13
million in those areas this year. So, you can say when I say
thank you for the increase, but a larger increase would be very
well appreciated.
The area of facility operation and maintenance, which I get
into my area that I am really on is the facilities. And we
would like to see a possibility of the $125 million for
facility operation and maintenance be forwarded to kind of take
us out of the political ping-pong game that we are kind of
involved with right now, and allow the schools to at least plan
and have secure funding for that 1 year because facilities are
so important.
Early childhood and family development. One of our key
areas funded, but, boy, it could be funded a lot better, $3
million. It could be $4, $5, $6. It is one of our top priority
programs to enable our tribes to have more success when the
children get to the K through 12 system.
Facilities. The deterioration rate right now for the
facilities that are in the BIA-funded system is $75 million a
year. We do not even get funding to replace that. We are in a
declining spiral downward movement on it, and we really need to
have Congress look at adequately funding and developing a plan
by which the schools would be able to be replaced in a timely
manner so the facilities and the cycle of life of a school,
which is 40 years, would mean something.
If we go with the present rate right now, and I am not
exaggerating this, it will be 120 years before the last school
on the list is done. I do not plan on being around that long.
You know, actually it is mind boggling when you look at the
need and then the actual appropriations which are in place.
ACTS is working on the fact that we could develop a plan
with help from all the associations that are here for timely
replacement of the schools and get the kids into quality
educational facilities that will help us better educate them.
The things like infrastructure, school construction, staff
housing. One of the things that the schools have that most of
the schools around the Nation do not have to worry about,
teacher recruitment, teacher retention, that we need a housing
factor to help get quality teachers there and to keep them
there. That is something else that has not been funded
adequately.
The last thing I have got is we are looking at trying to
get a study done where the tribes new school starts, which we
have a legislative moratorium on which we would like to see
lifted. A number of tribes want to expand grades, which have
been blocked for the last 20 years. And then there is also the
aspect with the BIE taking all the hits it takes on bad
management. There might be a need for a separate agency to be
formed similar to AIANTA, and maybe let us try to manage the
thing through that. And those are ideas that are out there.
With that, I thank you for the time, and I could go on for
a few hours, but thank you.
[The statement of Mr. Miller follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Stewart. Thank you, Mr. Miller. We appreciate again
your testimony. I would like to follow up on just one thing.
You had $13 million this year. What was it in previous years?
You said it was up a little bit.
Mr. Miller. It has always been just a modest increase. It
has never been near the need. The need and actual, they are
light years apart.
Mr. Stewart. You are saying $60 to $70 is a need, and maybe
$125 for some of the facilities' infrastructures?
Mr. Miller. Well, if you did the infrastructure stuff and
you wanted to get rid of the backlog, which it deteriorates
faster than replacement, you probably need a billion.
Mr. Stewart. Yeah.
Mr. Miller. It is a significant sting for the
appropriations if you are going to actually do something
significant and actually lessen or get rid of the problem.
Mr. Stewart. We appreciate the frustration. Sometimes when
the numbers are unknown year to year, it makes it very
difficult, as you said, for future planning.
Ms. McCollum.
Ms. McCollum. I will wait.
Mr. Stewart. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Miller.
Leander ``Russ'' McDonald then, who is representing United
Tribes Technical College. Mr. McDonald.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
UNITED TRIBES TECHNICAL COLLEGE
WITNESS
LEANDER ``RUSS'' MCDONALD, PRESIDENT, UNITED TRIBES TECHNICAL COLLEGE
Mr. McDonald. Thank you. Good morning. I am Russ McDonald,
president of United Tribes Technical College located in
Bismarck, North Dakota. I am enrolled member of the Spirit Lake
Dakota Nation, and a proud descendent of the Sahnish and
Hidatsa Nations, all located in North Dakota.
Thank you for holding this hearing to hear knowledge from
tribes and tribal organizations regarding Fiscal Year 2018
funding for Indian programs under your jurisdiction. There are
very few public witness appropriations hearings this year, and
we are very appreciative that you are devoting 2 entire days to
listening to us.
The United Tribes Technical College has been in the
education and training business for 48 years. 40 of these years
were operated under an Indian Self-Determination Act agreement.
We are governed by a 10-member board of directors composed of
the chairman and one delegate from each of the five tribes
located in North Dakota.
We are a residential college offering technical and
academic education with support services to enhance the success
of the individuals and families we serve. Our Indian student
body comes from all over the Nation, but primarily from the
Great Plains. Over 70 percent of our students receive Pell
Grants. Our written submitted testimony tells our course
offerings and data regarding our services and student outcomes.
Before summarizing our recommendations, we want to thank
you specifically for two specific things: number one, for
$500,000 Fiscal Year 2017 increase in the Bureau of Indian
Education budget for tribal technical colleges. This funding is
shared with Navajo Technical University. And number two, for
putting tribal technical colleges on a forward funded basis as
of Fiscal Year 2016. Forward funding has made a positive
impact, especially in years like this one when Federal agency
funding is uncertain due to long-term continuing resolution.
In summary, we request $11 for the Bureau of Indian
Education line item for tribal technical colleges, which would
be a $3.1 million increase over the Fiscal Year 2017 enacted
level. Given the great need in Indian Country and elsewhere for
a better prepared and trained workforce, this is a good
investment.
Continuation of full funding for contract support costs and
placement of this funding on a permanent mandatory basis. As a
self-determination contract, we are directly affected by this
provision. Continuation of full funding for tribal grant
support costs for tribally-operated elementary and secondary
schools. We have a Bureau of Indian Education-funded pre-K
through 7th grade school on our campus, the Theodore Jamison
Elementary School, for whom this is very important. Many of the
children of our United Tribes Technical College students and
staff attend this school. We like the deal of parents and their
children attending school on the same campus.
Lastly, Northern Plains Tribal Law Enforcement Academy. We
continue to feel strongly that there should be a tribal law
enforcement academy in the Northern Plains. Establishment of
such an academy is supported by the Great Plains Tribal
Chairman's Association. The body of Indian law, including
expanded tribal authorities under the Tribal Law and Order Act,
the Violence Against Women Act, and requirements of the Indian
Child Protection statutes, all call for tribally-directed
training.
We also have growing issues with drug addiction, and human
trafficking, and crimes related to addiction. We understand
that State and national training resources would have an
important role in this new endeavor. Basic law enforcement
training is currently provided to the Bureau of Indian
Administration's police academy in Artesia, New Mexico, with
the BIA using State academies to supplement what it provides.
That is something that we could develop and provide a tribal
college located on the northern tier of the United States.
United Tribes Technical College already has a criminal
justice program offering two- and four-year degrees. We want to
expand our program to better help meet law enforcement needs in
Indian Country. Given our criminal justice program, our
location, and our campus resources, we propose the
establishment of a Northern Plains Indian law enforcement
academy, and ask that you support such an endeavor.
Thank you for your consideration of our recommendations.
[The statement of Mr. McDonald follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Now President Wilson. Ryan Wilson is president of the
National Alliance to Save Native Languages.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO SAVE NATIVE LANGUAGES
WITNESS
RYAN WILSON, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO SAVE NATIVE LANGUAGES
Mr. Wilson. Thank you, Congressman Stewart. I congratulate
you for being appointed to this committee, too, and we always
need new allies coming in. So, I am glad you are here with us.
Just so I am being honest, I got jealous of the Navajos
talking Dine here, so we will share a little bit. [Speaking
native language.] Just saying that little bit, and we will on
another day translate for you and so forth, but it is all good
words, you know, yeah. [Laughter.]
Mr. Stewart. We are trusting you, yeah.
Mr. Wilson. Thank you. So, I will just jump right into it
that we want to thank the committee for the Fiscal Year 2017
report language where they allocated $2 million for immersion
projects in these schools, and that came out of program
enhancement. What our request here today is on behalf of the
National Alliance is that we double that for this 2018 Fiscal
Year.
And we take the position that the urgent need and the
crisis in language loss is so profound that it has to be done
now. And we also thank the committee in Fiscal Year 2015. They
had report language that really substantiated and documented
for the first time in the history of this committee that they
support immersion in these BIE schools. And then in Fiscal Year
2016, they expanded the report language to include what Tom
Miller was talking about, you know, expansion of BIE, there has
been a moratorium on any expansion. But in that report
language, you guys allowed expansion to occur if it was
immersion school related to grandfather in community-based
immersion schools and things of that nature.
So, we are moving in the right direction, and I thank you
guys for that. It means a lot. Many years ago, not to give up
our age or so forth, but Congresswoman McCollum and I when I
was a NIA, and others, we worked very hard on the Esther
Martinez Native Language bill, which is in HHS.
At that time, people kind of thought we were crazy talking
about immersion schools, you know, and native languages as the
medium of instruction. Yet the people in the beltway here are
all familiar with immersion. They send their children to French
immersion, and Spanish immersion, and Chinese language and so
forth. And so, it was kind of really introducing a new concept.
And I am scared to be sitting so close next to my brother-
in-law. We are not supposed to sit by each other, like this
might be lightening hitting here or something. [Laughter.]
But he is a leader in the tribal college movement. And back
in the 70s, my mom worked very hard for passage of the Tribal
College Act. At the time, they thought Indian Country was crazy
thinking that they could handle tribal colleges, and these
colleges were all being run out of portables and trailers and
in the middle of nowhere, you know. And having the vision and
being progressive, not liberal, just progressive in our
thought. It is a sacred progression of next logical steps. So,
this committee could take a big step in emboldening this budget
specifically for the immersion.
I would also ask you to pay high attention to detail in the
report language because some of the same leadership in the
Bureau was the same leadership that created this fattened
bureaucracy that we see now with the middle management. They
have been recycled from the Bush Administration, you know, back
10 years ago. And you need to be cognizant of that, that I
think we need higher specifics in directing funding and so
forth. So, I, you know, wanted to share that little bit.
There are always questions on who supports this, and as I
indicated in the written testimony, this is supported by the
National Congress of American Indians. This is supported by the
National Indian Education Association for which I was a board
member for 15 years and a former president. It is supported by
the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council. It is supported by
Tribal Interior Budget Council, who had two resolutions
covering three different Fiscal Years to do this. It was
supported by Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Association.
So, tribes themselves have made, I think, you know, a
cognizant decision that they are going to have to give up
something somewhere to assure that immersion exists in this BIE
system.
In my written testimony, I explain the authority and what
authority you have as a committee as well under statutes, you
know, to do this, which is really broad based, and it also
explains other justifications in here. In previous years, I
have introduced probably a stack this tall of research,
scientifically research-based things that show these are best
practices in Indian Country as well.
So, I will conclude by thanking you. As my brother-in-law
said, it is not lost on us that you guys give up 2 days of your
time. To us, we know that is like a year of your time. And I
hope you continue to honor the tradition of this hearing and
keep doing that. And it is good to see you guys again.
Thank you.
[The statement of Mr. Wilson follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Stewart. Thank you, Mr. Wilson. And I can pretty much
assure you, I think, speaking for the chairman, that we will
certainly continue with these 2 days. They are very valuable to
us. So, thank you.
Victoria Kitcheyan, who is with the Winnebago Tribe of
Nebraska. Did I say your last name close?
Ms. Kitcheyan. Close. Kitcheyan.
Mr. Stewart. Kitcheyan.
Ms. Kitcheyan. No ``yan.''
Mr. Stewart. Okay. Thank you. And I turn time over to you
for 5 minutes then.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
WINNEBAGO TRIBE OF NEBRASKA
WITNESS
VICTORIA KITCHEYAN, COUNCILWOMAN, WINNEBAGO TRIBE OF NEBRASKA
Ms. Kitcheyan. Thank you, Congressman Stewart. Good
morning, Congressman Stewart and members of the committee. My
name is Victoria Kitcheyan, and I am from Winnebago, Nebraska,
and I serve as the tribal council treasurer. And I would like
to thank you, this committee, Congress Fortenberry, his staff,
and all those that have been with us on this ongoing crisis in
the Great Plains.
And as you know, Winnebago has the only federally-operated
health facility to ever lose its CMS certification. So, for 2
years now, we have not been able to collect third party revenue
that our facility heavily relies on. As you know, IHS is
underfunded, and this third-party revenue has been tragic, and
the loss of services and support from that revenue has been
detrimental to our tribe, our people, and all those that that
facility serves.
Collectively, it serves about 10,000 people, so it is just
not the Winnebago in Omaha who are suffering. It is the
tristate area who count on that facility.
Mr. Chairman, as you know, the certification has been lost
for 2 years, and I wish I could come here and tell you that we
are close to regaining that certification. The tribe learned
that May 1 we would submit an application, and then pending the
CMS review in Pine Ridge and Rosebud, they decided to push that
back, and for all logical reasons that seems like a good move
to do another internal review, have the governing body look at
this application.
But I just come here yet again with no good news. We are
not certified. We are pushing it back further. And, frankly, I
am tired of coming here telling you the same thing over and
over again. And you have been a great partner to the tribe, yet
we need to support that effort so that we can make some real
sustainable changes.
While IHS is telling the congressional delegation that
improvements have been made, the progress and the concerns of
my council have grown greater. We have 51 vacancies at our
service unit out of 202. That is a little over 25 percent. And
without the funding and the personnel to correct this
corrective action plan and see it through, our service unit
continues to suffer.
Additionally, we are up to $4 million in lost revenue from
the CMS de-certification. And every day that we do not have
that certification, we are losing and burning through the
carryover dollars. So, it is unreasonable to think that we can
deal with this crisis with a net loss of $4 million, a 25
percent vacancy rate. And it is just not set up for success or
for adequate healthcare.
This is not to say that there have not been some
improvements. Last fall, we got a new CEO. We had been asking
for, like, 7 years, and just a cycle of administrators coming
through with no continuity of healthcare nor administration.
And so, although our CEO generally believes in his work, and
works very hard, and works well with the council, this
gentleman does not control the funding of the service unit, and
we found great difficulty in just in his tenure on making these
improvements.
And just several days ago when I am telling you that I have
great news to report that we have a CEO, I learned just
yesterday that this CEO is going to be leaving our facility for
family reasons. And it is like another tragedy. It is like
somebody passed away. I mean, that is how critical our service
unit is and how this is not good. So, I am sorry I am getting
caught up in that.
So, it is the lack of funding, the lack of personnel, that
we are not going to be able to continue on under these
circumstances. For all these reason, we are requesting
assistance in obtaining a clearly identified portion of that
additional funding that was just allocated for recertification
issues. But without an administrator, all the funding in the
world is not going to solve our problems.
So, you can understand we are at a critical juncture in our
recertification process. And not only that, this gentleman who,
like I said, is highly respected by the council and has been a
great resource, has to jump through hoops to get these critical
positions identified as prerequisites to the recertification
process filled. He goes to area, and area finance department
says this is not in your budget, you cannot fill this position.
What do you mean? We need this dietician. We need this AO. You
know, it has to happen, but without this funding and it not in
the budget, we are not making any progress.
Additionally, the hiring freeze, although, you know, we are
hearing that it is lifted, it is no issue, in the Great Plains,
it is still an issue. We know that the area office can submit
for exemptions, and I know that 19 exemptions were applied for.
But as I said, we have 51 vacancies, and that 19 exemptions are
probably across the Great Plains and not for Winnebago.
So, when we ask for funding and we ask for continued
support, it is to fill those vacancies to get out of jeopardy,
to save lives. And it is just an urgent need.
So, this ongoing certification, no later than October 1. If
we do not certify by October 1, we are not going to be able to
continue to operate at the already unacceptably low level, and
then we do not collect anything. It is just unreasonable.
So, we know that this committee has never failed to pass
its budget out of full committee, and we appreciate that. But
it is our colleagues or your colleagues at Congress that will
kindly have to have to fund these needs, or we are just not
going to come out of this rut. And it is hard to plan under a
continuing resolution, and you can imagine more than one
continuing resolution. So, it is really difficult to do this.
So, I am here. I am worried. And I am just asking for your
support. Rumors of future cuts in IHS and HHS, and it is those
make difficult recruitment, difficult to save the jobs even
going to be available. And so, we just ask for your continued
support from this subcommittee, and we know that we you have
always worked hard to fund these programs. So, I just thank you
for your time and your full consideration in helping Winnebago
out.
[The statement of Ms. Kitcheyan follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Stewart. All right. Thank you. To all of the panel,
thank you again for being here and bringing these important
issues to our attention. We sense your stress and concern, and
it is apparent why that would be the case.
I have a few follow-up questions I will do very quickly.
But before I do, I will yield the time to Ms. McCollum, the
ranking member.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think a theme that we
were not hearing as articulately put until you raised it, Mr.
Miller, is your very rural areas and rural schools--whether
tribal nation schools, or rural schools, or rural hospitals--
are all facing a lot of challenges with housing, internet
connection, and pay for teachers, law enforcement, for
everything. It is very, very difficult.
Then you add the continuing resolutions from Congress and
some of the challenges, like the hospitals are facing, and
people question do I want to take a job at someplace that is
not accredited? It is creating a snowball effect, which is just
making the situation feel all the more hopeless. But we want to
work with you to turn that around. We cannot turn it around if
we do not look at the problem face on.
I do not know if you were here earlier when the Chairman
and I mentioned we are going to be talking to our counterparts,
whether it is homeland, housing, and the other appropriations
committees, saying we want you to do your due diligence as to
cuts and programming that you are doing in accounts that
directly impact Native Americans. Because we could do
everything we want in Interior, but if we are not looking cuts
could be happening in the Justice Department. We are very
fortunate with Chairman Cole being on this committee because he
is watching what is going on in Labor, Health, and Human
Services. But we need to have that happen with appropriations
across the board.
I wanted to ask if there has been movement to work on year-
round Pell Grants. Could you talk about how year-round Pell
Grants, Mr. McDonald, would be helpful for your students? Then
I have another question for you as well, too. You talk about
your law enforcement training. Is there work within the State
of North Dakota with some of their law enforcement schools to
share resources? Some of it gets right down to shooting ranges
and some infrastructure that is very expensive to build into
law enforcement training.
So, as you see yourself rolling this out, are you located
in a situation where the State school system for higher ed
would be willing to be cooperative? And where are the trade
schools? Being from Minnesota, I am not in the Plains, but I am
right next to it. I know the pressure for welders coming in
from all around the country and trade schools working with
technical school.
So, if you could, just give me a little more background of
what's going on.
Mr. McDonald. Well, thanks for the question. First of all,
the Pell Grants, the year-round Pell Grants, they are just
going to be a phenomenal help to those students trying to
complete their education. And I think what we are seeing out
there in regard to our students is that they are excited about
it. And visiting with some of them is that, because they want
to go to school year round. They want to complete, and they
want to get out there and get to work, so we are seeing that.
And as the United Tribes Technical College, our roots are
in the trade area. In fact, we have a waiting list. Our highest
programs of interest there are welding and heavy equipment
operating. And these are good salary, good career type jobs
that are still needed within the State of North Dakota,
especially because the oil boom is still going on.
With regard to the other question and regard to the police
academy is that there are resources within the Bismarck area.
There is a highway patrol training facility there. Bismarck
State College is located right up on the hill from us.
University of Mary is located on the other side of the hill
from us. And both of them have resources in regard to these
areas.
The other part is that we are not part of the North Dakota
University System, but we collaborate often with the North
Dakota University System. So, we work not in United Tribes
Technical College, but the North Dakota Association of Tribal
Colleges. There are five tribal colleges in North Dakota, and
we all work closely in regard to course transfer and to help
our students.
If we do not have a program of study, maybe they get their
generals done with us or vice versa. They either come to our
college, or we come to their college, so we become feeder
programs for one another to help get our students out the door
and to get them out there working.
Ms. McCollum. Are you looking at doing a 4-year law
enforcement or a 2-year law enforcement? A lot of law
enforcement have moved to the 4-year degree and then doing the
post. I want to work to have law enforcement as you are
describing it, tribally run, tribal leaders and that. But if
you are going to be competing, how do we ensure they are not
scooped off.
You train them in, as other people have talked about
earlier in the panel, and then they get scooped off. I will use
an example. North St. Paul. When I was on the city council, the
first year out of the academy, we would be able to hire. The
bigger cities were looking to see who looked like they were the
cream of the crop, right? Then after we had invested the first
year of full police training, Minneapolis and St. Paul would
come knocking at the door.
So, if you are looking at doing the full 4-year, then we
are going to have to look at what we do then for paying law
enforcement well so that we do not start the cycle of you
making all the investments, we are making all the investments,
and then other people coming and taking the treasure.
Mr. McDonald. Well, good points. For us, we already offer a
2-year and 4-year. And what we are seeking to do is enhance
that activity by providing the extra training that is provided
already, and duplicating that work up in the Northern Plains,
you know.
But you are absolutely right in regard to faculty and some
of the other issues, and this committee really recognizing what
is happening in rural America. So, this is not just an Indian
Country issue. This is a rural issue. And so, we see a lot of
our teachers, our faculty, our police officers, EMS being
pulled into the city because of better paying jobs.
The other issues that were mentioned already is the lack of
housing within our areas, the lack of transportation. Those
things are just non-existent. And then we are looking at the
younger workforce, and so there is not a whole lot of
relationship if they are looking to get married or something,
or build a family. And so, there are not a whole lot of single
folks available out there either, you know, especially in North
Dakota with our aging population.
So, you know, there are things along those lines that I
think are really recruitment efforts and retention efforts that
would help us in regard to all these professions that are not
there right now. And it is a really a rural issue.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Stewart. Thank you, ma'am. So, one very quick comment
and then a question for you, Victoria, if I could. But, Mr.
Wilson, it is just interesting to me that you we have an
immersion program for some of these native languages. I had no
idea that they were on the precipice of losing those types of
skills and that type of thing was necessary. And we want to
help you on that.
Can you tell me what will it take to recertify? What is the
key to that?
Ms. Kitcheyan. So, 2 years ago when the hospital lost its
certification, the service unit engaged in a further, I guess,
an oversight of some sort, and they came up with a corrective
action plan. And so, they have been working on that corrective
action plan to move the hospital into good standing and ready
to apply.
And so, we have had several internal reviews. We have had
Joint Commission come to ensure that we are ready. Well, Pine
Ridge and Rosebud did not do well, so now IHS is scared that
Winnebago is not going to do well either. And so, it is filling
these vacancies and filling these positions so that we are even
at the bare bones standard of what healthcare should be.
Mr. Stewart. Yeah. Well, and it seems like that is a self-
fulfilling event because you lose the certification, and now
people are hesitant to come. You lose a certain part of your
revenue, and it becomes, again, kind of a death spiral, and it
makes it much, much more difficult to recertify this as
necessary.
Ms. Kitcheyan. It has been a direct impact on patient care,
and you are right, and the reputation of the place. So, it is
hard to recruit. It is hard to get people to go there. I mean,
it is just a multilayered crisis.
Mr. Stewart. Have you been able to meet your payroll in a
sense with this reduction in revenue? Is there any stress at
all with meeting the current payroll that people----
Ms. Kitcheyan. They are able to meet the payroll, but the
current staff is, although they work hard, it is not adequate
to man the ship.
Mr. Stewart. Okay.
Ms. Kitcheyan. And those 51 vacancies are direct deficiency
to the healthcare that is provided.
Mr. Stewart. Well, and that makes it hard on the people
that are working hard there when they are covering for a 25
percent deficit in personnel. And it makes it much more
difficult for them.
All right. Well, thank you. Again, Ms. McCollum, you are
complete and you are good?
Ms. McCollum. Yes, I am. Thank you. Thank you.
Mr. Stewart. All right. So, in that case, this concludes
the morning's hearing on American Indian and Native Alaskan
programs. I want you to know, as I said, we will honor the
trust responsibility that all Members of Congress have, not
just those of us that are here participating with you today.
Thank you once again for your time, and this hearing is
adjourned, and the next hearing will begin at 1:00.
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
AFTERNOON SESSION
---------- --
--------
AMERICAN INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE PUBLIC WITNESS HEARING
SHOSHONE-BANNOCK TRIBES OF THE FORT HALL RESERVATION
WITNESS
DARRELL SHAY, ACTING CHAIRMAN
Mr. Simpson. Welcome to the public hearing specifically for
American Indian and Alaska Native programs under the
jurisdiction of the Interior and Environment Appropriations
Subcommittee.
I especially want to welcome the distinguished tribal
elders and leaders testifying today and in the audience. Most
of you have traveled a long way to get back here this week,
just as I did yesterday to get back here.
I hope that you will seize the opportunity to meet with
other Members of Congress outside of this subcommittee to
remind them that honoring the Nation's trust obligations is a
responsibility shared by all Members of Congress, regardless of
our States or congressional districts. I can assure you that
your voices are heard by this subcommittee.
For those new to this process, today's hearings are just
the start of a dialogue we have come to depend upon to help us
make smart choices in the budget and to earn the votes of our
colleagues. American Indian and Alaska Native programs will
continue to be a nonpartisan priority for this subcommittee,
just as they have been in recent years under the chairmanships
of Democrats and Republican alike.
Before we begin, I have a bit of housekeeping items to
share. Committee rules prohibit the use of outside cameras and
audio equipment during the hearings. The hearings will be
viewed and can be viewed in its entirety on the committee's Web
site, and an official hearing transcript will be available at
GPO.gov.
I will call each panel of witnesses to the table one panel
at a time. Each witness has 5 minutes to present their
testimony. Your full written testimony will be included in the
record. So please don't feel pressured to cover everything in 5
minutes.
Finishing in less than 5 minutes may even earn you more
brownie points. We have to abide by the 5-minute rule in order
to keep on schedule with the many, many different witnesses we
have, and we want to hear from all of them.
So welcome. We are glad to have you here today. We will be
using a timer to track the progress of each witness. When the
yellow light turns yellow, the witness will have one minute
remaining to conclude his or her remarks. When the light blinks
red, I will have to ask the witness to stop.
We will hear from every witness on each panel before
members will be provided an opportunity to ask questions.
Because we have a full day ahead, I request that we try to keep
things moving in order to stay on schedule and respect each
other's times. I am sure many of you have planes to catch.
With that, I thank you all again for being here today, and
I am happy to yield to our distinguished ranking member, Ms.
McCollum, for any opening remarks she might have.
Ms. McCollum. Mr. Chair, I have heard about these brownie
points for a couple of days. Did you bake any brownies?
Mr. Simpson. Oh, yes. And I am good at it.
Ms. McCollum. All right. No, I sincerely thank you all for
coming here. This has been a very enlightening day and a half,
and I look forward to the last section teaching me even more on
how to be more effective in doing my job for Indian Country.
Thank you.
Mr. Simpson. Our first panel is Darrell Shay, the acting
chairman of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes; Mary Jane Miles,
chairman of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee; Rodney
Mike, chairman of the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe; and Ted Howard,
chairman of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley
Reservation.
Darrell, you are first.
Mr. Shay. Thank you.
I want to introduce myself. My name is Darrell Shay. I am
the acting chairman of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe, and I wanted
to mention one of my ancestors, you guys probably know about
her, is Sacagawea.
I come from what we call the Agaidika band of Shoshone, but
we got moved over to Fort Hall. We are part of the Shoshone-
Bannock Tribes from Fort Hall, Idaho, now. So I just wanted to
mention that.
I wanted to thank the committee for this opportunity. From
what I understand, it is a really important committee, you
know, when we are talking about financing. And then I wanted to
thank Representative Simpson for all the efforts he has done
for Indian Country over the years, even being the chairman of
this committee.
And I guess, you know, my testimony will be kind of guarded
because that painting there, I have witnessed that group of
people many times in my lifetime coming up. And you know, the
women of our tribe are really strong, and they provide a lot of
guidance for us. So that is an appropriate picture to be
sitting here, especially if Shoshone people talk. Most Shoshone
people will identify with strong women like that.
So, today, my remarks will pretty much focus on the efforts
to protect my people from all the different things that are
going on. One of the things that we have is infrastructure that
is old and deteriorated that we inherited from the Bureau of
Indian Affairs. Most of the stuff was built back in the '40s
and the '50s, and since we have taken over it, we have had to
deal with that. They are old. They are unsafe.
Another area is in the environment. We have a lot of
contaminated water. A lot of our land is contaminated, both on
the reservation and for off reservation because we exercise
off-reservation treaty rights.
Another important area that you guys have been dealing with
kind of on the national scene, but it hits us harder at home,
is the healthcare. You know, we depend on the funding that is
available to us, and it is critical.
And the Treaty of Fort Bridger, 1868 treaty, required the
U.S. to protect the Shoshone-Bannock people, and our land on
the reservation is considered our permanent home now. I mean,
we were nomadic in the earlier days, but that is our home now
and we can't go anywhere else. So we have to take extra care to
protect it.
And there is another picture here. I have an assistant. He
is not Vanna, but probably more like the Lone Ranger.
[Laughter.]
I am Tonto, but he is my assistant. It is right there. It
kind of points out the off-reservation treaty rights, the
exercise of it, our culture and stuff.
Then we have the health clinic. It was built in the late
'70s. And then our high school, they are there. And then there
is another picture of somebody that you are going to recognize.
He is standing right there.
But even though we have some of the modern, up-to-date
facilities, we still need the financing to run the programs
within those facilities. So that is important there, and we
urge the committee to provide as much adequate funding as we
can to address our needs there in Indian Country.
Like I said before, we inherited old BIA roads. They are
unsafe. They are probably substandard. You know, they cause a
lot of, like, wrecks. You can't touch the shoulder of the road
before you end up rolling over, and a lot of these roads are in
the back country of our reservation.
They used to be called farm-to-market roads, but we are
running out of space to develop so some of our housing gets
developed along those roads, and they are used more by our
people rather than the farmers.
There is other infrastructure needs that I provided in my
written testimony about the sewer and water upgrades that we
need. We have a lot of contaminated water that we have to deal
with, both from the industries that are adjacent to the
reservation as well as from agriculture.
Going to the environment, I would like to urge the
committee to protect funding for the tribal programs that are
provided by EPA. And EPA has become one of those agencies that
is, I guess, responsible for contaminated water, the air, and
the land, and our people are getting sick from a lot of that.
We are noticing a lot of respiratory illnesses and even some
cancerous development.
And even off the reservation and both on, our traditional
ways of life and culture depend on that. A healthy environment
helps us protect that, and we depend on the EPA.
One of the things that we continue to do is spearfishing up
there on that picture, and that takes place every summer. We
have two Superfund sites that are located on the reservation.
One of them is called the Eastern Michaud Flats, and then the
other one is the Gay Mine, and both of them produced phosphate
at one time.
And the two sites that process these things are closed now,
but just because they are closed and not there, they still--the
effects of their contamination and, you know, their legacy is
creating an unsafe environment there.
Speaking of the EPA, we have developed a love-hate
relationships with them. And but the solution that we keep
hearing is that--and it is not, the solution is not to slash
their budgets. We want to make them work to protect our land,
and we have been. We request this subcommittee to direct the
EPA to clean up and remove the contamination at those sites and
direct the Department of the Interior to work with the EPA and
the tribes on this matter.
Going to the health area, and Indian Health Service mainly,
we urge the committee to fully fund the Indian Health Service
because, you know, our Indian people are getting sick, and they
are hurting from the unsafe infrastructure, the environment,
the contamination, and along with that, we have the problems of
substance abuse, you know? We have a pretty modern health
clinic over there, but if we don't have the financing or the
doctors and the staffing needs, it doesn't help very much if
you have that.
So substance abuse and the other conditions are leading to
extreme violence, and we are noticing that. Just so you know,
at one time, Fort Hall, in the 1960s and the '70s, our tribe
had one of the highest rates of suicide in the United States.
And unfortunately, we are seeing more and more of that come
back again, and we don't want it to escalate to any rates
higher than what it is.
So we urge the subcommittee to prioritize these community
wellness initiatives because we don't see very much funding in
the area of wellness. We want to create a wellness center as a
way to, I guess to combat a lot of the illnesses. Rather than
treating them after they happen, we want to try to prevent them
from happening.
So I want to thank you for your consideration, and I hope I
made some brownie points.
[The statement of Mr. Shay follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Simpson. Thank you for being here today. You went on a
couple minutes longer than 5 minutes, and that comes out of
Mary Jane's time. [Laughter.]
Mr. Shay. Uh-oh.
Mr. Simpson. I am just kidding. Mary Jane. Go ahead.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
NEZ PERCE TRIBAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
WITNESS
MARY JANE MILES, CHAIRMAN
Ms. Miles. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and subcommittee. I
appreciate the time, and I say [speaking Native language]. That
is ``thank you'' in Nez Perce.
And I acknowledge and express our deep gratitude that the
subcommittee affords us in time and in monies that you look for
for our programs on our tribal reservations.
And I say [speaking Native language] for our appreciation
in the recently enacted Fiscal Year 2017 Consolidated
Appropriations Act, and it increased funding in BIA, BIE, and
IHS. Increased it to $60 million and $232 million, hugely
significant to the citizens of our tribes and liken to
restoring and maintaining habitat for all the creatures that we
subsist on.
[Speaking Native language] also for the funding for the
contract support cost to IHS and BIA, and we hope this funding
continues. I will summarize recommendations that our tribe
requests in our letter to you or our testimony, written
testimony to you.
The Environmental Protection Agency. These programs and
services does for the tribe what we want to do ourselves to
keep the Nez Perce reservation in ideal condition for the
animals and the fish.
Idaho experienced a record-setting year of 2012, 2014, and
2015 in wildfires. The result was extremely poor levels of air
quality, and the tribe's air program provided critical health
benefits for tribes and nontribal members in our area.
The tribe addresses pollution from underground storage
tanks, brownfields, and we recommend, one, Indian General
Assistance Program funded be at $75 million; two, tribal
allocation under Clean Water Act 106 program increase to 20
percent; three, $13 million for tribal air quality management;
four, $80 million for brownfields program; five, $13 million
provided in lieu of percent cap on tribal funding for nonpoint
source pollutant control.
Indian Health Service. We have two clinics, Nimiipuu
clinics, one at Lapwai and one in Kamiah. They serve 3,950
clients each year, computing to 40,000 visits. We still have to
rely on third-party billing and supplemental funding to ensure
timely, effective service to our clients. We ask to continue
the $5 billion funding enjoyed in the 2017 and have an
increased purchase/referred care to $51.9 million.
Fish and Wildlife Services. We rely heavily on the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the Kooskia fish
hatchery. Recently, we lost 60,000 juvenile due to a
malfunction of a switch that didn't turn back on. The Lewiston
Morning Tribune reported it, and there was a general pall of
dismay over the workforce. I was expecting to get a sympathy
card, ``Sorry for your loss.''
Through these grants, tribes worked on diverse issues, as
wolf monitoring, Big Horn sheep research, rare plant
conservation, and condor habitat research. We urge increased
funding, $66 million in increased tribal share by $2 million.
They provide a large return for a small investment. These
grants are a few of the sources of funds that we can tap into
for wildlife management.
The Nez Perce Tribe has long been a proponent of self-
determination for tribes and believe our primary obligation is
to protect the treaty-reserved rights of the tribe and its
members. This work cannot be accomplished unless the United
States continues to affirm and follow through on its trust
responsibility to tribes by properly funding programs. All of
the work of the tribe is guided by this principle.
Congressman Simpson has asked to bring members of this
subcommittee to Idaho, and the Nimiipuu would welcome you to a
land that we share with the deer, elk, moose, bear, wolf, Big
Horn sheep, mountain lion, that watches the eagle announce the
return of the salmon, alongside the trout and now the coho.
Come to one of our pow wows. It is no longer a place where
we are contemplating a war. We are just having fun and enjoying
our culture. Come and join us.
Thank you.
[The statement of Ms. Miles follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Simpson. Thank you, Mary Jane.
Rodney.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
DUCKWATER SHOSHONE TRIBE
WITNESS
RODNEY MIKE, CHAIRMAN
Mr. Mike. Thanks for allowing me to come and visit with you
folks. I must say that you guys have a really busy city here.
This is the first time I have been on the east coast. I
have never been past Colorado. So it has been a real adventure.
So I am really impressed by the country here.
Mr. Simpson. There is an old song that goes, ``If I ever go
east of Denver again, it will be too damn soon.'' [Laughter.]
So those of us in the West understand that.
Mr. Mike. Yes. Yes, it is beautiful here, beautiful. But it
is a busy place, and I know you guys are busy people.
Give you a brief history. I am the chairman of the
Duckwater Tribe. We are located about 4 hours north of Las
Vegas in the central part of Nevada, more on the east coast by
the Utah side. Very small community, about 420 people. Total
enrollment, about 150, give or take who is home on the weekend,
you know? So very small place.
We are one of the very first seven tribes that was a self-
governance tribe. We are kind of proud of that, but funding is
always an issue. Money is always an issue and probably will
always be an issue.
But when we hear of budget cuts, sequestrations, and things
like that, that really affects us, and it affects us deeply
because of our funding. We have no economical development in
our area. We are looking for things that can possibly down the
road in the future give us that, but being where we are located
at, it is very difficult.
We live in a State that is known for mining. It is probably
one of the richest States in the country, but yet we are so far
away from that, and our resources are just not there. So the
funding that is provided is very, very important. I don't know
how to stress that.
Our population base is 50 and over is the huge part of that
population base. The young people no longer stay there because
they can't. There are no jobs there. The tribe provides most of
the employment for the people that live there.
We have ranchers there, but ranching does not, cannot stand
alone. They have to find jobs to support. So without funding on
the IHS side and the BIA side, it becomes very difficult for
our people.
Our remote location, we have to travel quite a ways to get
the basics, 75 miles to go get a loaf of bread, tank of gas,
you know, things like that. It is normal for us, but it poses a
problem, especially when it comes to healthcare for our people
because location is not exactly attractive for physicians and
nurses and things like that that we need.
We just expanded our health clinic, and trying to find a
doctor to come and work there has been really difficult. When
they find out the nearest Wal-Mart is 3 hours away towards
Ted's country, they don't really want to come.
So these are some of the issues that we are faced with. And
healthcare is a really big one. It really is, like I said, with
our population base being 50 and over, the majority of the
population base being 50 and over and the elders.
We also have an infrastructure problem with roads also. Our
roads are dilapidated. They have been there for a lot of years.
There is a one way in situation dirt road on the other end out
going to the next town. We live in a big, long valley. We have
our non-Native friends down below us. So we all share the same
problem. They also have to deal with the dirt road whenever
they need to go north.
So, what I would like to ask of you guys is to see that the
contract support continues, very needed in our country, both on
the IHS and the BIA side, and see that sequestration does not
affect IHS.
See that we have funding for diabetes which happens to be a
really big problem in Indian Country. I am a member of that
club, I guess you can say. But without what I have learned from
education and dieting and things like that, I probably would
have never known.
But anyway, that is my spiel, and I want some brownies. So
I am going to quit, and I thank you very much.
[The statement of Mr. Mike follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Simpson. Thanks, Rodney. I appreciate it.
Mr. Mike. Thank you.
Mr. Simpson. Ted.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
SHOSHONE-PAIUTE TRIBES OF THE DUCK VALLEY RESERVATION
WITNESS
TED HOWARD, CHAIRMAN
Mr. Howard. Thank you.
Good afternoon, Acting Chairman Simpson, Ranking Member
McCollum, subcommittee members. My name is Ted Howard, and I am
the chairman for the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes. Our reservation is
half in Idaho and half in Nevada and almost dissected down the
middle.
Thank you for inviting me to testify here today concerning
the fiscal year 2018 budget for the BIA, BLM, and the Indian
Health Service. The Shoshone-Paiute Tribes are grateful for
this subcommittee's longstanding support for Indian tribes and
for sharing your understanding of Indian Country with your
House colleagues.
As you have done for fiscal year 2017, I ask that you
reject the administration's budget blueprint for fiscal year
2018, which calls for unwarranted reductions in nondefense
agency appropriations important to tribes. If enacted, the
budget would cause great harm to tribal communities and to
Native Americans, who, more than most Americans, rely heavily
on Federal appropriations across multiple Federal agencies, not
just the Interior and Department of Health and Human Services.
Our priorities for fiscal year 2018 include the following.
With regard to the Indian Health Service, we appreciate the
$232 million increase provided for 2017 for the Indian Health
Service and request an increase in funding for clinical
services, including purchase/referred care, contract support
costs, and facilities construction.
We are a remote reservation and would like to expand our
health programs to our 2,000 tribal members. We urge the
committee to continue its current approach of employing a
separate and definite appropriation for contract support costs.
With regard to the BIA funding, we ask the committee to
continue its commitment to public safety on tribal reservations
by providing increases to the BIA public safety and justice
program next year. The BIA struggles to provide adequate law
enforcement services on the Duck Valley Reservation. We
received a modest $250,000 in supplemental funding to fight
recidivism on the reservation under the BIA's Special
Initiatives Program, and we are seeking--just a minute.
And we are working to develop alternatives to incarceration
with limited facilities and program personnel. It is a
struggle. An increase in funds would help us renovate FEMA
trailers that we plan to use for education, family support, for
incarcerated youth, equine activities, emergency medical
services. We estimate a $2.5 million budget for the
infrastructure for these programs.
We also request statutory language which authorizes the
purchase of temporary trailers and modular units using Special
Initiative funds. For rural communities, housing is often the
linchpin to program success.
Regarding the BIA Road Maintenance Program, we appreciate
the $3.6 million increase and ask the committee to add an
additional $10 million in fiscal year 2018. That should be
prioritized for the purchase of replacement heavy road
maintenance equipment in rural regions like Western Region and
BIA Eastern Nevada Agency.
The Western Region has the highest percentage of BIA system
roads, 26 percent. Our equipment is ancient, and repair shops
do not carry the parts anymore.
While BIA or IHS may not be the primary agency for
broadband, we ask the committee to increase funding for this
much-needed utility. We require $500,000 in Federal funds to
construct a new fiber network.
Regarding the Bureau of Land Management, please provide the
funding for the Owyhee initiative, a joint effort by ranchers,
recreationists, county and State officials, and the Shoshone-
Paiute Tribes to protect sacred lands and manage public lands
in the tri-State area of Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon.
Increased recreational use in the Owyhee River Wilderness
Area threatens cultural resources. BLM's Boise District has
three to four rangers to cover three million acres of land. We
seek recurring funds to pay our chief tribal ranger, continue
flying patrols, hire an assistant director tribal ranger and
part-time youth rangers.
We contribute the vast majority of the required budget, but
it is a burden. We seek $600,000 to fully fund these important
activities that support our culture.
We also support additional funds for the BLM cultural
resources management to protect historic properties on public
lands and request Interior funding to expand the native plant
program and our greenhouses. We cooperate with the BLM to
propagate and make available native seedlings for planting on
public lands.
Finally, please increase the BIA's Trust-Natural Management
and its Tribal Management/Development Program, and Fish,
Wildlife, and Parks Program to support the tribe's program to
return salmon to the Duck Valley Indian Reservation, which had
been a staple food source for our people up to 1930 when dam
construction along the Columbia and the Snake River cut off our
reservation from the salmon runs.
And we have returned salmon to the reservation waters in
2015 and 2016 and took them by spearfishing. Please support our
trap and haul program.
Thank you.
[The statement of Mr. Howard follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Simpson. Thank you all.
Obviously, this is a panel that is near and dear to my
heart, being from Idaho and northern Nevada. I know there is a
great deal of needs there, and I do hope to get the committee
out--we have talked about this for a while--and visit some of
the tribal lands out in Idaho and let them see what is going on
at the various places.
So I thank you for your testimony. I know that Chairman
Calvert and Ranking Member McCollum have done a great job, I
think, in this last budget in trying to protect funding for
those programs that are vital to Native Americans, and I am
sure they will continue to do that in the future. And it has
been a bipartisan effort.
So appreciate you being here. I just was coming back to
Washington a couple weeks ago, and I was walking through the
airport, and there was a book there that had just come out
called Thunder in the Mountains. And so I picked it up and read
it, and it was the fascinating history of the Nez Perce war and
General Howard and Chief Joseph and stuff. It was really very
thorough and very interesting, yes.
So, anyway, thank you all.
Betty, did you----
Ms. McCollum. I appreciate the tribal nations speaking up
on behalf of the work that the EPA does, both in land and in
water and the Superfund sites, too. Because lots of times when
people think of Superfund sites, they think of big industrial
area chemical spills and things like that. They are not
thinking of what is actually happening out in rural America.
We are going to have the EPA Administrator at some point in
to testify, and I really appreciate you speaking up and
speaking out about this and the work that they do because, as
you know, that budget is one of the ones to be targeted for the
biggest cuts.
So thank you very, very much for your words.
Mr. Simpson. And while I shouldn't say this. But that has
never stopped me before.
Ms. McCollum. Do you want me to cover my ears?
Mr. Simpson. Yes, between me and you and the walls here, I
am not too worried about the Trump budget because, frankly, I
just don't think it could pass, you know? There are too many
things in there that are slashed and burned and things that
Members of Congress care about, and our tribal responsibilities
are part of that.
So it was interesting to hear the request for funding on
the Owyhee Initiative. I want to sit down and talk to you a
little bit more about what needs to be done on that. I know
that was an effort by Senator Crapo and getting that important
bill passed. But now it has to be funded in a variety of ways.
So I want to work with you on that.
So, anyway, thank you all for being here, and we will be
out as soon as I get--Darren is going to want to come to Idaho
again. He has been out once. [Laughter.]
Anyway, I am going to have to adjourn for just about 15 to
20 minutes before we call the next panel. We have two votes,
and we will be back ASAP. Shouldn't take more than about 15
minutes, and then we will call our next panel up, okay?
Thank you.
[Recess.]
Mr. Calvert [presiding]. Good afternoon. Our hearing will
come to order.
Our second panel, we are joined by Tony Small, councilman
from the Ute Tribe of Utah; Levi D. Carrick, president of the
Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority; and Patrick Roberts, health
policy fellow, the National Native American AIDS Prevention
Center.
So welcome, and we will start with you, Mr. Small, for 5
minutes.
Thank you.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
UTE TRIBE OF UTAH
WITNESS
TONY SMALL, COUNCILMAN
Mr. Small. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the
subcommittee. My name is Tony Small. I am the vice chairman of
the Ute Tribal Business Committee.
Thank you for this opportunity to testify on behalf of the
Ute Indian Tribe and the Uintah and Ouray Reservation. We ask
that the subcommittee take action on two issues that are vital
to us and many other tribes. We need the subcommittee's
immediate support for our new justice center, and we ask for
your continued support for Indian energy development.
First, we need $4.85 million in annual funds to staff and
operate our new justice center. We have been waiting for BIA to
replace our original BIA jail for more than 10 years. In 2006,
our BIA operated and funded jail was condemned. We spent many
years near the top of BIA's priority list, but nothing
happened. Instead, BIA paid to house a few detainees in the
county jails.
After it became clear that both the BIA and the Department
of Justice had stopped funding the construction of detention
facilities, we had no choice but to act. We spent the last 5
years designing and building a new $36 million BIA justice
center.
We built this new BIA justice center with our own money.
Construction followed strict Federal requirements and was
supported by BIA's Office of Justice Services. In August 2016,
the new facility was opened. As you can see, we have the
justice center, pictures of the justice center there.
The justice center includes our tribal court, our BIA
police command center, and is available to be BIA's primary
adult and juvenile detention facility. But today, the jail is
only partially open. This is due to the lack of BIA operating
funds.
This is why I am here. We need our BIA jail money back. We
need it updated to accommodate our current needs. Our needs
have increased from gangs and drugs being brought onto our
reservation. BIA has an average of 39 adult prisoners to 14
beds.
Let me be clear. The UTE Indian Tribe has done its part by
funding construction of the BIA's justice center. The Federal
Government has a treaty and trust responsibility to provide law
enforcement on our reservation.
Our new justice center could be a national leader for
providing alcohol and substance abuse treatment, but we can't
do any of this without your support. We ask that you open up
Medicare and Medicaid funding to help support alcohol and
substance abuse treatment for detainees.
Many studies show the relationship between addiction and
crime on Indian reservations, but current law prevents Medicare
and Medicaid funding from helping to solve the problem. Current
law also restricts IHS and the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Service Administration from treating addiction in tribal
and Federal jails. How can we fix this problem if we cannot
treat those that are most in need?
The Ute Indian Tribe strongly supports Federal policies
promoting alternatives to detention. These are cost-effective
solutions that treat the real cause of criminal activity, but
without Medicare and Medicaid and IHS funding, alternatives to
detention will never become a real alternative.
The second issue we need your immediate action on is
funding for Indian energy. And we appreciate the subcommittee's
support for BIA's Indian energy service center. In fiscal year
2016, the subcommittee provided $4.5 million to establish a
service center. The center will support efforts at the local
level to process energy permits.
To support the work of the service center, we ask the
subcommittee provide $13 million needed to fully fund the
service center so that it can open and begin operating as soon
as possible. Just like the law enforcement, supporting Indian
energy is an area where this subcommittee can make a real
impact in the lives of tribal members.
Indian energy funds are government and services we provide
our members. It also employs thousands of people and supports
economic activity across our region.
Despite these benefits, BIA's budget for oil and gas
development is usually about 3 percent of the funding BLM
receives for oil and gas development on Federal lands. BIA
energy budget is about the same as Fish and Wildlife Service
energy budget. This is unacceptable. Tribal governments provide
lifesaving and essential services to our communities.
The Federal Government support for tribal law enforcement
and justice must be increased to meet the need, and we need a
budget bigger than Fish and Wildlife Service budget to unlock
the potential of our energy resources.
Finally, we ask that you fund BLM and Forest Service work
on Bears Ears National Monument. We understand that Congressman
Chaffetz asked that you not provide any funding for agency work
related to Bears Ears. Bears Ears is a sacred landscape that
needs protection.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I am available
for any questions you may have. Thank you.
[The statement of Mr. Small follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Next we have Levi Carrick, Chippewa Ottawa Resource
Authority. You are recognized for 5 minutes.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
CHIPPEWA OTTAWA RESOURCE AUTHORITY
WITNESS
LEVI D. CARRICK SR., PRESIDENT
Mr. Carrick. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the
subcommittee.
My name is Levi Carrick. I am the president of the Bay
Mills Indian Community, which is a little reservation fishing
village on the east shores, the east end of Lake Superior where
the Ste. Marie's River dumps all that clean water down into
Lakes Huron and Michigan through an 80-mile river system.
So, but I am here on behalf of Chippewa Ottawa Resource
Authority, which is an intertribal resource management
organization that was established by the five federally
recognized Indian tribes in the State of Michigan whose
ancestors signed the treaty of March 28, 1836. This treaty
reserved the right to hunt, fish, trap, gather on the lands and
waters that were ceded to the United States.
This area encompasses about two-thirds of the State of
Michigan, the land mass and the large portions of Lake
Superior, Michigan, and Huron. So it is a vast area. CORA
provides for the management and preservation and enhancement of
all species and habitats which are within this area.
I requested the opportunity to testify today just to
personally express CORA's appreciation for the Rights
Protection Implementation Program, RPI--easier to say that way,
right?--funding request for CORA that is contained in the
President's 2018 budget for Department of Interior.
RPI funds enable CORA's tribes and their members to
regulate and exercise the reserved right to hunt, fish, trap,
and gather on the lands and waters. But I have to say the RPI
funds we do receive are nowhere near enough to accomplish what
is needed to protect the resources. It seems like every day we
hear of a new invasive species that we have to deal with.
Whether it be a plant, animal, microscopic, we have to find a
way to deal with it, and they are coming more and more.
So we do this management through different funding sources
in addition to the RPI. I guess, when we don't really say
``climate change'' anymore. I think the new administration does
not like that term, but that funding that was available was a
help. But now in the most recent Green Book, it is on a
competitive basis. That makes it difficult. We shouldn't have
to compete to try and protect the resources. If something could
be cleaned up on that so it would go directly to the tribes,
that would be appreciated.
The way things are going lately, we are getting a little
more concerned. For instance, the Secretary of Interior
recently in a statement somewhere, it was all over the press,
said if the tribes had an off ramp, they would take it, maybe
become corporations. Well, we are not interested in that, and I
think you probably got 560 other tribes to tell you the same.
So we are not interested in that because we are here on a
treaty right, and treaty rights are permanent. So we appreciate
any assistance that you can offer and when it comes up, if it
comes up.
The GLRI went on the chopping block in the President's 2017
budget, where he reduced it by more than 90 percent. It was 97,
actually. And he wants to eliminate the EPA.
We give a big thanks to all involved that understood it was
not the right thing to do and you put that back in, and I did
not even hear an argument about it, basically. It was back in
the budget. So we went from big low to big high instantly
because it shows you are concerned about the environment and
what we have out there. So thank you.
The EPA is the funding agency for many programs under GLRI,
and you might consider direct funding some of these to the
tribes themselves, the GLRI funds, so that we can especially
with the stress it is putting on the EPA, hopefully, they are
still here, but we support any fight on that also.
But, as the tribes have proven over and over again that
they are protectors of the lands and the waters, and so give
them the funding to continue to try at least to go. But CORA,
we're operating under a 1980 consent decree with the State and
then the Federal Government, which basically comes to a head
here in 2020. We have to renegotiate, and we are starting
preparing that process now.
But we hold regular executive council meetings with the
State and the Feds down at Fish and Wildlife to help manage the
resources there in the Great Lakes. This is the Great Lake
portion of it.
We just recently had a meeting, one of these such meetings,
and NOAA came in and put on a presentation to us about the
status of the fisheries in northern Lake Huron and Michigan.
And we were there to basically assess the lake draw quota
harvest numbers for the year going through to 2020 when this
consent decree is up.
When they got done with their presentation, we were all in
awe. We were just, you know, jaws on the table because of what
they had to offer. The presentation was called the Lower
Trophic Food Web, which deals with the microscopic. I hope
somebody has seen that. I see the reaction. It is devastating
what the zebra and the quagga mussel have done to our lakes out
there.
We take and it started out with the phosphorus levels. Way
back in the day, there was too much phosphorus in the soap. So
they took and reduced it, eliminated it. Now that has
plummeted, and it is so low they do not get the algae bloom,
the spring algae blooms that come to the surface that is vital
to the sustenance of all the organisms out there. That has all
changed. The water is so filtered out.
Back in 1994-1995, the zebra mussels hit, and everybody was
screaming about it. It was near shore, plugging intake lines
and river mouths. But near shore and shallow. By 2000, the
quagga mussels showed up, and that turned and that is basin-
wide deep, and that filtered out everything. You know, the
sunlight penetrates so much in the water now that there is no
different temperature levels. It is all basically the same
level as far as the sun will reach.
So this is coming from NOAA's report. It has really messed
things up out there. Most important one is like the diaphoria.
That, it is a small shrimp-looking thing that lives on the
bottom. That is just about eliminated from the Upper Great
Lakes of the Michigan and Huron. It was large masses of it, and
it just about gone now.
So we are all screaming about Asian carp, keeping them out
of the Great Lakes, but I think we have got to work on the
quagga mussel, do something with them. I haven't seen any
studies where they are even attempting to control them yet.
I thank you.
[The statement of Mr. Carrick follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Carrick.
Next, Patrick Roberts, National Native American AIDS
Prevention Center.
---------- --
--------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
NATIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN AIDS PREVENTION CENTER
WITNESS
PATRICK ROBERTS, HEALTH POLICY FELLOW
Mr. Roberts. Chairman Calvert and members of the committee,
I want to thank you for being here today. My name is Patrick
Roberts, and I am a Colorado resident and a registered tribal
member of the Hopi Nation.
My mother is a member of the Clay Clan with the Hopi Tribe
in a village 50 miles north of Winslow, Arizona, called
Shongopovi, Arizona.
I am also a member of the LGB, Two-Spirit Native community,
and I have been living with HIV for 30 years. I am also a proud
survivor of HIV.
I also represent two organizations, the National Native
American AIDS Prevention Center in Denver, Colorado, and the
Caring Ambassadors Program, located in Oregon City, Oregon, as
a health policy fellow.
We encourage members of the committee to immediately
investigate the opportunity to save money and eliminate the
burden of hepatitis C, utilizing creating financing
recommendations and other recommendations that are in a recent
report called the National Strategy on the Elimination of
Hepatitis B and C by the National Academies of Science,
Engineering, and Medicine.
In this report, the report clearly states the elimination
of hepatitis B and C as a public health threat is possible by
the year 2030 only if Congress and the administration provide
strong leadership. Hepatitis C is the most common chronic
blood-borne infection in the United States, yet it remains
unrecognized in the minds of many Americans. It also is one of
the leading causes of death within Native communities.
Annual deaths due to hepatitis C have surpassed deaths of
HIV in the U.S. While an estimated 1 million Americans have
been infected with HIV virus, at least 2.7 million to 3.9
million Americans are chronically infected with the hepatitis C
virus. Native people have both the highest rate of acute
hepatitis C infection and mortality than any other racial/
ethnic group in the U.S.
From 2002 to 2012, hepatitis C infection increased by 82.6
with Natives, and incident rates of acute hepatitis C have
remained higher relative to any other racial or ethnic group in
the U.S. Funding for accurate data collection and inclusion of
Natives is needed to eliminate this virus.
Data should be streamlined with tribes, State, and national
registries, and electronic data collection should be funded in
tribal clinics and agencies. We encourage you to review the IHS
budget and develop a program which is similar to the Department
of Veterans Affairs to test and treat Natives living with
hepatitis C, regardless of their stage of liver disease.
The Cherokee Nation's Hepatitis C Elimination Program is a
model that can be used within all Native communities. The cost
of end-stage liver disease caused by cirrhosis and hepatitis C
infection or liver transplants can be avoided through early
screening, treatment, ultimately lowering the cost to patients,
providers, and the Medicaid programs.
Hepatitis C elimination is possible. In October 2015, Dr.
Jorge Mera, Director of Infectious Disease with the Cherokee
Nation, developed the Hepatitis C Elimination Program. At the
start of this program, an estimated 5,000 members of the
Cherokee Nation were infected with hepatitis C.
Within the first 60 days of the project's implementation,
eight pregnant women were identified as hepatitis C positive,
and increased surveillance or screening resulted in at least
one new case of hepatitis C per day. To date, nearly 300
patients have been treated for hepatitis C, and based on a 12-
week treatment, 96 percent sustained a positive cure rate.
Three important factors came out of this--increased
screening for hepatitis C results in accurate prevalence rates;
early intervention to screen, identify, and treat hepatitis C
infection works within the Native communities; and the actual
rate of infection for the Cherokee Nation was 5.8 as compared
to the CDC's estimate of 2.8.
Hepatitis C treatment is cost-effective, but due to the
high rate of infection, it puts a strain on Medicaid, NIHS
policy, and also within tribal communities. We encourage the
committee to adopt the recommendation 6.1 in a National
Strategy for the Elimination of Hepatitis B and C.
We ask the following. One, we ask for increased funding to
IHS and also for them to participate in the World Health
Organization's elimination program of hepatitis C by 2030. We
request the committee to investigate the benefits of purchasing
the rights of direct-acting antivirals to aid in the
elimination of hepatitis C by 2030.
The Cherokee Nation project also highlighted the need for
better data. We request increased funding for data collection
and data and that data collection include all Natives for more
accurate reporting. Datasets must be streamlined with tribe,
State, and national registries, and electronic data collection
should be funded in tribal clinics and agencies.
And lastly, we ask for the committee to request that the
Senate on Indian Affairs Committee conduct an expert hearing to
address the state of viral hepatitis in populations that are
served by IHS as well as Native community-based organizations.
We ask that Native community stakeholders be invited to speak
at the hearing so that they may address their firsthand
experience of hepatitis C infection within their community.
We have an opportunity that rarely exists within medicine,
and that is cure. We need the political will--your political
will to ensure cure. Delay in treatment will only result in
tens of thousands of deaths and billions in wasted dollars for
healthcare costs in tax dollars.
We look forward to hearing from you and making hepatitis
history, and I want to thank you on behalf of the Native
American AIDS Prevention Center, the Caring Ambassadors
Program, and all Native communities within the U.S.
I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
[The statement of Mr. Roberts follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.
I want to thank all of our witnesses.
The new justice center, it is quite a justice center you
put up there. How much money did you spend on that?
Mr. Small. We spent $36 million, close to $37 million, Mr.
Chairman.
Mr. Calvert. And you think it is going to cost how much per
year to operate that?
Mr. Small. $4.8 million.
Mr. Calvert. And right now, you are not receiving any
money?
Mr. Small. No, we are not. We are funding it. The tribe is
funding it right now.
It is only partially open.
Mr. Calvert. And before you built that, did they assure you
that they would--if you built it, they would pay the operating
cost of that?
Mr. Small. Yes. It was built to their specifications. So,
yes.
Mr. Calvert. So it was built to their specs with the
assurety that they would pick up the operating costs, and they
have not done so. So we will follow through on that, see where
that is at.
Mr. Small. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Calvert. Certainly we are interested in energy
production so we need to take a look at, I think, energy
production throughout the West because it seems that we may
have some opportunities to work together with both the BLM and
with Department of Energy. Maybe we can figure out a way to do
this.
Mr. Small. We can gather those together.
Mr. Calvert. I just said that because Department of Energy
is under his jurisdiction.
Mr. Small. Okay. [Laughter.]
Mr. Calvert. So maybe we can work together to resolve that.
And certainly, the Great Lakes, I hear a lot about the
Great Lakes, Mr. Carrick, because to my left here, we have a
great advocate for that, and we have, actually, two of them.
That is right. I have got two people here. Plus, we have on our
side, we have a few.
So as you notice, in the 2017 bill, we did not cut back on
the Great Lakes.
Mr. Carrick. We noticed, thank you.
Mr. Calvert. And we are big supporters of all that fresh
water, especially if we could export it to California, but they
tell me I can't do it. [Laughter.]
Mr. Simpson. We need some more medical care.
Mr. Calvert. Yes, right.
And I guess the good news about hepatitis C and B is that
we have a cure for it now?
Mr. Roberts. There is a cure for it, right.
Mr. Calvert. So the bad news is I--just bring that mike up.
The bad news, as a matter of fact, I had a close friend--well,
he is still a close friend. I mean, happily, he is cured. But
he didn't even know he had hepatitis. He got in a traffic
accident early in his life, and they did a blood test and found
out he had it.
Mr. Roberts. Roughly about 70 percent of Natives don't know
that they have hepatitis C or have been exposed to hepatitis C.
Mr. Calvert. So they never had a blood test.
Mr. Roberts. Correct.
Mr. Calvert. But it is, what, $100,000 per treatment to
cure. Is that about right?
Mr. Roberts. Correct. And the current Medicaid policy for
most States is there are five different fibrosis scores that
you have to wait for. Most States are fibrosis Stage 3. But at
that point, you're already on death's door when it comes to
that.
Mr. Calvert. Right, right.
Mr. Roberts. So sometimes treatment is available at that
stage, but it is not always effective.
Mr. Calvert. Right. Yes. But it has been, even with severe
cases, over 90 percent effective on cure, right?
Mr. Roberts. Yes.
Mr. Calvert. So that is encouraging. As I think if these
drugs are out there longer, the price of these drugs are going
to come down. But right now, it is very, very expensive, but we
will look into that.
Ms. McCollum.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Back to your point, Mr. Roberts, about having a hearing.
There are ways. There are health groups, bipartisan, caucuses,
that put together hearings quite often. I will get your card
afterwards, and we will work with some members, to see if we
can have an informal hearing. Staff can attend and figure out
some legislation and some policies and that to work forward on
it.
It is interesting that you brought this up because I had a
health disparities meeting with the different populations
within my congressional district last summer. I spent a lot of
time with them, and this came up, but it came up very quietly.
Mr. Roberts. Yes.
Ms. McCollum. And the numbers weren't there the way that
you pointed it out.
Mr. Roberts. I can certainly provide you additional numbers
if you would like.
Ms. McCollum. I am going to go back and talk to my
community health clinics and then talk to our State
epidemiologist about it because I know this is important--as
the chairman pointed out, to be tested for it, to find out you
have it before it activates in your system.
Mr. Roberts. Correct.
Ms. McCollum. Stopping that permanent damage is cost
savings for the healthcare system, but it is the cost savings
to you as a human being, you know, there is no price tag you
can put on it like that.
Mr. Roberts. And as a community because hepatitis C just
not only affects the patient or the person that is infected by
hepatitis C, but community at large because we are so engrained
in our family and culture and community. This virus really has
an effect on community at large and how it affects people's
perceptions and emotion and spiritual state.
Ms. McCollum. So do you have to ask to be tested in most
States, or are some States retroactively----
Mr. Roberts. Mostly in every clinic, you have to ask,
specifically ask for hepatitis C screening. It is not provided.
But with the Cherokee Nation's elimination program, they are
testing anybody 20 or above, and they are also screening in the
dental clinic.
So we are trying to adopt that process and that policy
across all nations. So it is just a matter of education and
making sure that people are aware.
Ms. McCollum. Because you can always refuse to have it
tested, but if no one offers to have it tested, you don't know
to ask.
Mr. Roberts. Correct, yes.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
Turning to the Great Lakes, I couldn't agree with you more
about all the problems that we are having, not only in the
Great Lakes, but all of our Lakes, with some of the algae and
all the quagga mussels and the zebra mussels. We are just
getting really overwhelmed with a lot of invasive species.
The other thing that we are seeing in the north is all the
salt runoff accumulating over years, changing the alkaline of
our lakes. We are not so sure that that is reversible. So that
is another issue that we are starting to have to look at.
Thank you for bringing that up.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Ms. Kaptur.
Ms. Kaptur. I just want to thank our witnesses very much
for being with us today. Being an Ohioan, I am interested in
where the Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority is located?
Mr. Carrick. In Sault Ste. Marie.
Ms. Kaptur. Way up in the Sault.
Mr. Carrick. Right. Right at the headwaters of all three
lakes, where Ste. Marie's River dumps into the other ones.
Ms. Kaptur. You haven't seen any Asian carp up there, have
you?
Mr. Carrick. No.
Ms. Kaptur. Okay. We don't want those.
Mr. Carrick. No, we don't want them. We don't want quagga
mussels up there either. We are fortunate in Lake Superior
right now they are not there because of the fresh cold water,
but don't know.
Ms. Kaptur. While we have such distinguished witnesses in
front of us, I feel obligated to say that we worked very hard
over the years with little success with the Department of
Interior to try to get interpretation of the tribal history
that has been a part of the Northwest Territory, America's
first frontier after the 13 colonies.
And I just wish to place that on the record because I think
that your life and the lives of those you represent are just as
important as those who happened to live west of the Mississippi
River and have much fuller interpretation. So I would hope you
just know you have an ally on this committee, maybe more than
one, to take a look at the entire region.
I represent counties called Cuyahoga, Erie, Ottawa. The
lake I represent is called Erie, and there is a huge history
that the Department of Interior just puts its hands up like
this. I would think that they could put a little more due
diligence into the histories of our particular region of the
country.
So just thank you very much for coming here today to
testify.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, and I thank you for listening.
Mr. Simpson. Mr. Chairman, let me ask just a really quick
question. Tony, it looks like a pretty nice justice center you
built. Is the detention part of this for tribal members only,
or do you do regional detention?
Mr. Small. It is for tribal members only. We were looking
at that and maybe bringing in different tribes into the area if
we could. And, but basically, it is for tribal members.
Mr. Simpson. We have encouraged the Department to use some
of these for regional detention, which I think would be
beneficial.
Mr. Small. Would be.
Mr. Simpson. So, okay, thank you.
Mr. Small. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. Okay. Thank you very much for this panel. We
appreciate your attendance. You are excused.
And we are going to ask the next panel to come up. Robert
Blanchard, chairman of the Bad River band of Lake Superior
Chippewa Tribe; George Thompson, councilman of the Lac du
Flambeau Tribe; and Michael ``Mic'' Isham, chairman of the
Great Lakes Indian Fish Wildlife Commission. If you will please
come on up.
Boy, you tribal chairmen are getting younger every time.
[Laughter.]
We can't call you an elder. No way. Everybody get a seat
here.
Well, welcome, and we are going to start with Mr.
Blanchard, the chairman of the Bad River band of Lake Chippewa
Tribe. You are recognized.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
BAD RIVER BAND OF LAKE SUPERIOR CHIPPEWA TRIBE
WITNESS
ROBERT BLANCHARD, CHAIRMAN
Mr. Blanchard. Thank you. [Speaking Native language.] Good
afternoon, everyone.
Mr. Calvert. Oh, move your mike just a little closer. That
would be great. Thank you.
Mr. Blanchard. I thank you for the opportunity to come
before you to testify today.
Bad River Reservation is located in northern Wisconsin on
the south shore of Lake Superior, which holds 10 percent of the
world's fresh unfrozen water supply. The tribe has over 7,000
enrolled members. About 1,500 live on the reservation.
Our people migrated to the Lake Superior region to what is
now called Odanah, Wisconsin, where it was said that we would
settle when we came across food that grows on water called
manomin, or wild rice. It is our sacred food.
The Bad River and Kakagon Slough area is the largest
pristine freshwater estuary in the Lake Superior region and
contains the wild rice beds that are important to the people of
Bad River.
Four main issues I would like to talk about today that
directly affect my people are the environment, our
infrastructure, our health, and our drug addiction, mostly
opiates and meth.
Our environment is paramount to our survival. The Great
Lakes Restoration Initiative allows for investigation,
education, and solutions to protect culturally significant
water resources, historic harvesting techniques, and healthy
food access. GLRI funding helps to restore wetlands, wild rice
beds, brook trout habitat, and protects spawning grounds
critical to Lake Superior fisheries, such as the lake sturgeon,
which are spiritually significant to my people.
The Bad River Tribe requests your support for the
continuation of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Bad
River is one of 42 tribes with EPA-approved water quality
standards. The funding we receive through the EPA program
allows us to make decisions based on sound science.
The natural resources management funding we receive through
the Bureau of Indian Affairs supports our fish hatchery
operations, which releases about 4 million walleye fry annually
back into the rivers and streams leading to Lake Superior,
which benefits the entire fisheries of the western Lake
Superior region. Sustaining or increasing this funding received
from the Bureau of Indian Affairs is critical to maintaining
the resources.
EPA funding provided through the Safe Drinking Water Act,
the Clean Water Act, and through the IHS sanitation deficiency
system, which provides vital funds that helps remove critical
infrastructure efficiencies which are required to meet the
health needs of the Bad River band.
The second issue I would like to discuss is our
infrastructure. SAFETEA-LU, which was designed to supplement
the Tribal Roads Maintenance Program, is now the main roads
funding for a majority of tribes. An increase to this funding
is necessary to maintain and improve the transportation
infrastructure of the Bad River community.
Roads, bridges, and trails are an important part of our
daily lives for access to work and access to recreational
activities and the economic benefit they provide. The
development of a recreational trail across the reservation is a
project that my tribe wants to continue to develop, in part
with the use of Bureau of Indian Affairs funding.
A project such as this would have huge positive impact not
only for the tribe, but our neighbors as well, as this would
connect Iron County and Ashland County and Bayfield County
together, and we would have that as a corridor going through.
So we ask that you consider the needed increase in funding for
needed improvements in our infrastructure.
The final two issues I would like to talk about are
healthcare and drug addictions. Our tribe is very proud of our
new tribal health and wellness center. However, with the drug
epidemic growing, our ability to treat drug addictions and help
families which maintaining normal health service has strained
our resources to the maximum.
The Indian Health Service alone cannot provide the funds
required. Our clinic relies heavily on third-party funding, and
a decrease in Medicaid funding would only increase the
financial burden on the healthcare system.
The Bad River tribal community has seen an influx of
illegal drugs being distributed on the reservation. Meth is the
number-one drug.
Our social services programs are experiencing an increase
in caseload involving tribal members who are struggling with
the drug addiction and violence as well as children suffering
from neglect, abuse, and trauma due to violence. Due to the
meth epidemic, we ask that the Department of Interior Bureau of
Indian Affairs funding be increased to address these issues.
Our Housing Authority recently reported that nine
residential homes tested positive for meth. These hazardous
waste properties require special staff training and equipment
to make the properties livable again. This has cost our Housing
Authority an additional $60,000 in the past 90 days.
So it is essential to keep working to honor treaties with
my tribe and my neighbor tribes in the western Lake Superior
region and to provide funding to support pristine water and
air, safe and sanitary housing and related infrastructure, and
adequate healthcare through the Indian Health Service.
I would just like to say [speaking Native language]. Thank
you for your time, and may the Great Spirit be with you all.
[The statement of Mr. Blanchard follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Next George Thompson, councilman for the Lac du Flambeau
Tribe. Yes, I got it. Okay.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
LAC DU FLAMBEAU TRIBE
WITNESS
GEORGE THOMPSON, COUNCILMAN
Mr. Thompson. I have some additional information.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. We will submit that for the record.
[The information follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Thompson. Good afternoon, Chairman Simpson, Chairman
Calvert, Ranking Member McCollum, and members of the
subcommittee.
I am George Thompson. I am a tribal council member for the
Lac du Flambeau band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians located
in northern Wisconsin. I am joined here today by our tribal
president, Joseph Wildcat Sr., and Larry Wawronowicz, our
tribal natural resource director, and my son Mason, who is here
as a part of an educational piece to see what we are working
towards for his future here.
Our tribe of 3,400 members is the largest employer in Vilas
County. Together with tribal enterprises, the tribe employs 800
individuals. Of that 800, about 25 percent of our workforce are
paid full or in part with appropriations made under the
subcommittee's jurisdiction.
If Congress were to enact President Trump's proposed budget
for fiscal year 2018, the tribal government would have to
resort to potential layoffs of these dedicated tribal
employees. I am confident the committee will uphold the Federal
Government's trust responsibility to Native Americans and
oppose the White House's harmful budget cuts.
We are grateful for the bipartisan leadership this
committee has demonstrated with enactments of the Fiscal Year
2017 Continuing Appropriations Act, which has increased funding
for fiscal year 2017.
To give an idea of the challenges we face on our 86,600-
acre reservation, we have 260 lakes, 71 miles of streams and
rivers, approximately 4,200 acres of forested land, and roughly
42,000 acres of water and wetlands. Our waters are sacred. Like
many rural areas, we are dealing with opioid abuse and the
challenges of creating and maintaining jobs for our citizens
and our residents.
Please recognize the interconnectedness of IHS, BIA, and
EPA programs which help us promote healthy tribal members and
healthy communities, the essential building blocks for stable
communities. We want to raise our tribal youth in safety and
security so that they may realize their fullest potential and
contribute to our community's and our Nation's future.
With respect to IHS funding, we greatly appreciate the $232
million increase Congress provided for fiscal year 2017. We
operate our own healthcare and dental program, a family
resource center, a domestic abuse program, a youth center, a
child support agency, and recently opened a drug treatment
program. We employ 140 individuals in our healthcare programs.
We respectfully ask for increases in fiscal year 2018 so we can
continue to engage in proactive, preventive healthcare, which
saves lives and saves money.
Wisconsin has seen a large increase in children born
addicted as a result of women taking prescription drugs and
using illegal narcotics during pregnancy. Vilas County has the
second-highest rate of such babies, 2 to 3 per 100 births.
Early treatment is critical. Combined with the opioid epidemic,
our budget is stretched to the breaking point.
With respect to the BIE and BIA funding, we oppose proposed
cuts for fiscal year 2018, which threaten to undermine
educational services for Native youth and adults returning to
school. We ask that you please support the important Johnson
O'Malley grant program and increase adult scholarships and
special higher education scholarships for fiscal year 2018.
Education is the key to our tribe's future.
I operate the tribal roads program in Lac du Flambeau. So I
want to personally thank you for the $3.6 million increase for
BIA road maintenance. A $10 million increase is required for
fiscal year 2018 so that the percentage of the BIA system's
road maintained in fair condition can increase beyond the
current 16 percent. It is a public safety issue, plain and
simple, and the BIA funding is inadequate.
Let me conclude my testimony with natural resource needs.
We have a vibrant natural resource program that we are proud of
at Lac du Flambeau. Our natural resource programs protect our
culture, our health, our economy, and is part of Wisconsin's
$19.3 billion fishing, recreation, and tourism industry.
Minnesota and Wisconsin lead the Nation with mercury
contaminated lakes, and we are a fish culture tribe. To protect
our reservation, we ask the committee to, one, maintain funding
for Great Lakes Restoration Initiatives at $300 million;
increase the fiscal year 2018 funding for BIA's Trust-Natural
Resource Management Programs above $201 million and protect
funding for Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission;
three, protect EPA's Tribal General Assistance Program's grants
and support and increase funding for BIA's Circle of Flight
program to protect vital habitats.
Thank you for your time.
[The statement of Mr. Thompson follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Appreciate your testimony.
Michael ``Mic'' Isham. You are recognized for 5 minutes.
---------- --
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Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
GREAT LAKES INDIAN FISH AND WILDLIFE COMMISSION
WITNESS
MICHAEL ``MIC'' ISHAM, CHAIRMAN
Mr. Isham. Chairman and members of the committee, I want to
thank you for the opportunity to testify before you this
afternoon.
My name is Mic Isham. I am chairman of the Lac Courte
Oreilles band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians and also
chairman of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife
Commission.
In northern Wisconsin, where I am from, it is still the
middle of spring, unlike the middle of summer like it is here
today, and our tribal citizens have just finished up our main
fish harvesting season. Fish is a sacred food to the Ojibwe
people. There are four sacred foods that we must have at all
feasts, funerals, and ceremonies, and that is wild rice,
berries, venison, and fish. Those are the four foods.
Many of our citizens harvest these fish off of our
reservation, and we are able to do this for a few reasons.
First and foremost, our ancestors told the United States
Government that we would not sell our land unless the U.S.
guaranteed and wrote into the treaties that our tribe would be
able to hunt, fish, and gather as we always have throughout the
territory that we ceded.
Another reason we can do this today is that the U.S.
Federal courts have agreed with us that our rights that we kept
in the treaties never went away in the 150 years since we
signed them. And finally, we can do this because we have
developed, in partnership with the Federal Government, the
institutions needed for us to regulate this activity by our
citizens so that we protect the natural resources and public
health and safety.
Now the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission,
which I chair, is the intertribal natural resource agency that
helps our 11 member tribes implement the Federal court's orders
that reaffirmed our right to self-regulation. Our treaty-ceded
areas cover over 73 million acres of land and water in what is
now known as Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, and it is in
the second last page of the handout there.
We greatly appreciate the decades of funding and other
technical support that Congress and each administration have
provided to our commissions and member tribes. For over 30
years, the Federal Government has wisely chosen to invest in
our program as efficient and cost-effective ways to fulfill the
Federal treaty obligations at the appropriate government level.
We respectfully request that Congress and the House
continue to support our programs by funding the Rights
Protection Implementation line item within the BIA's budget at
no less than fiscal year 2017 levels. We also request that
funding through that line item be distributed as it has in the
past, proportionately based on historic allocations. As the
primary mechanism through which the Federal Government supports
the intertribal commissions that implement treaty rights in the
Great Lakes and Northwest regions, competition has no place
within this line item.
As an example of how our RPI funding, how we use it, we
will use the fish harvest season that just ended. Our GLIFWC
wardens, they are at all the boat landings and they enforce
tribal regulations, ensure public safety, and provide for creel
teams to count and measure every fish and collect biological
data to help ensure population health.
Our population assessments lead to harvest and management
policies undertaken with cooperation with State agency
partners. These assure that our small, super highly regulated
harvest doesn't harm the fishery.
GLIFWC's public information office spreads the word about
how our treaty-reserved rights are implemented to calm fears
and to encourage the relative social stability that we see
today rather than the protests, threats, and intimidation that
we have seen at the boat landings in the 1980s.
We also request that you support, as you have heard
earlier, and fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative at
$300 million. This program has allowed for significant progress
in the restoration of the Great Lakes and their ecosystems. It
has also enhanced interjurisdictional cooperation and
coordination in the management of the Great Lakes.
With GLRI funding, GLIFWC and member tribes have been able
to restore and protect wild rice beds, control non-native
invasive species, test mercury levels in fish, and provide
consumption advice to tribal citizens, and bring a tribal
perspective to intergovernmental management activities.
The GLRI is bringing on-the-ground results, but it needs to
continue so that we can finish the important work that we have
begun. These treaty rights are fundamental to who we are as
Indian people. They benefit us, and the exercise of our
cooperative management responsibilities benefits the natural
resources for all people. We ask the subcommittee to continue
our partnership by funding the RPI line item at no less than
the fiscal year 2017 levels.
And I have sat here through a couple of committees here,
and I have heard a lot of the issues that the tribes have, and
we share in those issues. We like to say culture is the cure.
We really promote the treaty rights to our youth as a way to
help with all those issues--diabetes. Obviously, game and fish
are much better for our bodies than the Big Macs and such and
the USDA commodity cheese. No offense. I know we are in the Ag
building here, too. [Laughter.]
But also the exercise of those treaty rights are good
physical activity that youth need to be in, and when you can
provide a young person like this guy here, can provide that
those four sacred foods for the ceremonies, they get their
identity as an Ojibwe person rather than getting an identity
from a gang.
Thank you for your time.
[The statement of Mr. Isham follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you.
And I know from this whole panel is a great amount of
support for the Great Lakes. I even see you wearing a button
there signifying the Great Lakes.
Mr. Isham. Yes, that is what it is. That is what it is, Ms.
McCollum. [Laughter.]
Ms. McCollum. Mr. Chair, I just have to say for the record
that the fact that someone wearing a Green Bay pin would kind
of, you know, pooh-pooh cheese was very interesting.
[Laughter.]
And being a Vikings fan, I will say no more.
Mr. Isham. Cheese is for wearing on your head, not for
eating.
Mr. Calvert. I just thought I would point that out. But a
number of the issues that have been pointed out today. The
budget, of course, as you have heard, we are waiting for it.
They say May 23rd Mick Mulvaney will be coming up here to
submit the budget. I think they will make it public May 22nd.
That is supposedly the date. I hear they may slip a couple of
days. I hope not.
Mr. Isham. Cheese is for wearing on your head, not for
eating.
Mr. Calvert. Yes, you and me both. But the President--you
know, that is the way these things go. The President proposes a
budget. This is the Congress. The Constitution is pretty clear.
We will look at it and go to the Budget Committee, and we vote
then on the Budget Committee, and that will be processed. And
then we will deal with it. We will see what happens.
As far as EPA is concerned, you know, we want to make sure
that EPA does their core functions, and we will be working
together to make sure that they continue to do that, especially
these programs like the Great Lakes and other areas in the
country that we try to clean up and bring back to health.
So we will be working together through this whole process.
I am sure I will be hearing from all of you as we go through
this and, hopefully, have a successful conclusion.
With that, Ms. McCollum.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Blanchard, I appreciate the fact that you brought up
meth because that still is a problem. The problem besides it
poisoning people and destroying people's lives, is the toxic
residue you mentioned in the houses. They actually become
superfund sites, and the law enforcement sometimes walks
unknowingly into those toxic sites. No drugs are good, and I am
not saying opioids are any better. They are all terrible, but
there is a different legacy issue that actually comes along
with meth.
As long as I have the three of you here, let's talk about
the role of the EPA. Mr. Thompson, in your handouts, you have a
lot of information on watching mercury levels in walleye. That
is something that I know many of us pay strict attention to,
the mercury levels in our lakes--and I am from Minnesota--
especially if you find yourself in a family where someone is
planning on becoming pregnant, you are very, very focused on
mercury level.
And then sulfates, with some of the mining activity that
has been talked about up in the large watershed. As I was
telling people, we are on the Laurentian Divide. So where I am
in Minnesota, the water is flowing north at a certain point
into the lakes, into the Boundary Waters Wilderness, and that.
The EPA has a role both in sulfate and in mercury
regulation--mercury in fish, sulfate affects wild rice. Could
you maybe talk a little bit about mercury levels and how that
can affect your commercial fishing or your own personal
consumption. Why is it important that we actually regulate it?
You know, the three of you can say something or just one of
you wants to. I would like to get that on the record because it
is the EPA that helps you monitor those levels.
Mr. Isham. Yes. You know, just as you mentioned, our people
are more susceptible to environmental contamination than the
general public because we subsist so much on fish, game, and
berries, and things like that out in the environment. And so,
it is different if you are just catching a couple walleye or
putting a big muskie on your wall. But when you are like us, we
just harvested fish, we put them away like a farmer puts corn
in a silo, and then we use them throughout the year.
So we did a study, I believe it was in the '80s, when I was
director of our conservation department, and did blood testing.
And our people were really high in mercury. So what the Great
Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, and I don't remember
what the grant was at the time, but we started doing mercury
testing of the fish that we harvest. Different sizes--big,
small, medium. And then we make mercury maps, which I think are
included.
And so the DNR, the State DNR tested them different than we
did. They throw like the whole fish in there. But we tested
them with just the filet, without the lips and the scales and
the tail and all that. And so ours were a little different. But
our members harvest based on those maps, and so that funding
was very important to us.
You mentioned meth and all these other things. There is one
other thing that tends to get overlooked in tribal housing, not
just at LCO, but across the country, and that is mold in
housing. And I don't know if this committee deals with that.
That might be HUD. But that is another issue that can be a
toxic thing in housing.
Mr. Calvert. Mr. Simpson.
Mr. Simpson. I just have one question. What is your name?
Mason. My name is Mason.
Mr. Simpson. Mason?
Mason. Yes.
Mr. Simpson. Is this the first time you have been to
Washington?
Mason. Yes, this is my first time in Washington, and I am
enjoying it here.
Mr. Simpson. Great. It is kind of a crazy place, isn't it?
Mason. Yes, it is.
Mr. Simpson. Welcome, and thank you for bringing your son.
Appreciate it.
Mr. Calvert. Well, we certainly thank you for coming here
today and your testimony, and we will try to get up there and
try some of that wild rice out. Get up there soon.
Ms. McCollum. Walleye.
Mr. Calvert. I love walleye. I was in Cleveland over the
summer for a special occasion. You might remember it. And I had
some walleye while I was there. So that was fantastic. So thank
you very much.
[Pause.]
Okay. Our next panel is Lisa White Pipe, councilwoman;
James ``Joe'' Dunn. Hi, how are you? I think it is just the two
of you. So, yes, I think, Lisa, James, that would be fine.
Welcome. Nice to have you, and first, we are going to
recognize Lisa White Pipe, councilwoman with the Rosebud Sioux
Tribe. You are recognized and start any time.
---------- --
--------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
ROSEBUD SIOUX TRIBE
WITNESS
LISA WHITE PIPE, COUNCILWOMAN
Ms. White Pipe. Good afternoon, Chairman Calvert and
Ranking Member McCollum and members of the subcommittee. On
behalf of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, I would like to thank you
for the opportunity to share our fiscal year 2018
appropriations priorities.
I am Lisa White Pipe, a Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council
representative.
We have numerous priorities, and it is a difficult and
humbling task to attempt to rank such priorities. Nonetheless,
I will discuss a couple of Rosebud Sioux Tribe's priorities
with you today.
Despite making gradual progress in its economic development
efforts, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe experiences an overwhelming
level of unmet need. However, this is not unmet need. It is
unmet treaty obligations. The Federal Government has a
fiduciary trust responsibility under the Fort Laramie Treaty of
1868 to provide adequate resources to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe.
As of May 5, 2017, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe's enrollment
office reported that we have 34,856 living tribal members. It
is estimated that 29,628 of our tribal members reside within
the reservation. That is 34,856 human beings that the Rosebud
Sioux tribal government and the United States Government has
the responsibility to provide services to, which include
healthcare, law enforcement, justice, education, and
infrastructure. And I know that like the Rosebud Sioux Tribe,
this is a task that the United States does not take lightly.
I would like to mention our most pressing priority to start
with is healthcare. Native Americans have a lower life
expectancy than any other racial or ethnic group in the Nation.
In fiscal year 2015, the 35-bed Rosebud service unit had 12,760
emergency room visits.
On November 23, 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services, the CMS, delivered a notice of intent to terminate
the Medicare provider agreement based on alleged deficiencies.
On December 5, 2015, I had just placed the Rosebud on a divert
status.
The Rosebud hospital emergency room has been recently
removed from the divert status. However, as you may be aware,
the Rosebud service unit continues to struggle and maintain
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid accreditation.
The Snyder Act of 1921 and the Indian Healthcare
Improvement Act expressly provided legislative authority for
Congress to appropriate funds specifically for Indian
healthcare. We are grateful for these congressional acts
because they reinforce the United States duty to provide
healthcare to members of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe.
We recognize and appreciate the $29 million included in the
fiscal year 2017 omnibus for IHS units facing CMS accreditation
emergencies. We humbly request that the Congress continue to
honor--continue this honorable progress, exercise their
authority, and fulfill their duty by increasing total funding
for the Indian Health Service by at least $7.1 billion for the
fiscal year 2018.
We believe that an increase in funding, combined with the
IHS reform legislation that has been introduced, will help to
recruit and retain medical professionals and purchase updated
medical equipment.
For the sake of brevity, I will touch on one more priority.
As you may know, the death rate experienced by the American
Indian and Alaska Native population is far greater than any
other group of Americans, 50 percent greater according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unfortunately, the
Rosebud Sioux Tribe is not immune to these statistics.
When a loved one is lost, families not only face the
emotional hardship associated with the absence of that person,
they also face the associated cost of providing their loved one
with a respectful burial.
Under 25 CFR 20.100 states that a burial assistance payment
is made on behalf of an indigent Indian who meets eligibility
criteria to provide minimal burial expenses according to the
BIA payment standard established by the Assistant Secretary of
Indian Affairs.
The Bureau maximum burial payment standard is currently
$2,500. The National Funeral Directors Association calculated
the median cost of a funeral in 2014 at $7,181. This has likely
increased since.
As you can see, there is quite a disparity between the
maximum burial standard payment and the median cost of a
funeral. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe has recently experienced an
increase in deaths, which has taken a toll on the tribe
emotionally and financially.
The adequate maximum burial standard payment for the
funding of indigent burial assistance service that has left the
tribe scrambling to find resources to help ensure that tribal
members are provided with a respectful burial. One of the very
few local funeral homes almost had to close its doors due to
delays in payments from the BIA of an outstanding balance of
$70,000.
In an effort to address this issue, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe
enacted a resolution requesting an increase in the BIA burial
assistance payment. The superintendent of the Rosebud agency
mentioned that there may be funds available elsewhere in the
BIA budget. However, a statutory cap has been exercised since
2009 that prohibits a transference of funds from elsewhere in
the BIA budget into the burial assistance program.
The resolution also seeks to address this issue by
requesting the United States Congress to take the necessary
action to lift the statutory cap prohibiting transference and
adding additional funding into the BIA burial assistance
program.
I would like to thank you once again for your time and this
opportunity, and I will attempt to answer any questions that
you may have.
[The statement of Ms. White Pipe follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, and thank you for your testimony.
Mr. James ``Joe'' Dunn, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
STANDING ROCK SIOUX TRIBE
WITNESS
JAMES ``JOE'' DUNN, COUNCILMAN
Mr. Dunn. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, committee members.
[Speaking Native language.]
This day I offer my hand with a good heart.
My name is Joe Dunn. I am the chairman of the Standing Rock
Sioux Tribe's Judicial Committee. I appreciate the opportunity
to testify regarding the fiscal year 2018 Interior/Environment
budget.
I especially want to thank Chairman Calvert for his
continuous support of Indian Country as the chairman of this
subcommittee and for his work on the fiscal year 2017 budget,
which did not reflect the deep cuts proposed by the new
administration. Although this year's budget gives me some
relief, I remain concerned about the next budget cycle and what
may come of the new administration's intentions to aggressively
shrink discretionary spending.
I am here to remind you that the obligations made in the
treaty signed by our grandfathers were not considered to be
discretionary, nor were they meant to be subject to changes in
administrations or shifts in fiscal policies. The Standing Rock
Sioux Tribe has a government-to-government relationship with
the United States that is reflected in our 1851 and 1868
treaties. These treaties underscore the United States
obligations to the tribe, and our testimony today is submitted
with those obligations in mind.
I respectfully ask for the subcommittee's support for three
main areas--law enforcement, education, and healthcare. The
Federal funding for our tribe has always been inadequate. We
are doing our best to develop our economies and rebuild our
infrastructure, but our aging facilities and underfunded
services place us at a tremendous disadvantage when compared to
most of the United States.
For example, regarding law enforcement, the tribe
participated in the High Priority Program goal which involved
the use of proven, effective law enforcement strategies, and
these strategies included providing sufficient police officers
to cover our large land base.
As a result of this program, our crime rate decreased by 19
percent. Then the High Priority Program goal ended in 2013 with
no explanation other than the BIA had proven its theory that
with adequately funded law enforcement, crime decreases.
We would greatly appreciate a more stable and satisfactory
funding source for the BIA law enforcement so we can sustain
and decrease crime rates for the long term. For example, we are
currently staffed at 50 percent of the recommended staffing
level for police officers.
So we have about 14 police officers to provide law
enforcement services for an area of 2.3 million acres. So our
staffing is insufficient. The crime rate continues to increase.
Along with law enforcement, our judicial branch lacks
suitable buildings for our court system, and we are in great
need of a modernized detention facility. Our current detention
facility has an approximate capacity of about 40, but often
houses 80 or more prisoners.
So this poses a couple of different risks for the health
and safety of the staff and the prisoners as well.
Next I would like to discuss our education. The
administration's near flat-line funding for virtually all
aspects of Bureau of Indian Education programs fails to
consider population growth, increased costs, or inflation. Lack
of adequate teacher housing is a great detriment to the
community.
When we have this problem with having to import people to
work in our school systems, often they lack the commitment that
our people would have if they had some stake in the community.
So there is a number of ways that is impacted.
First of all, their commitment to the children. Secondly,
we lose the economic benefit of having them live in the
community. And thirdly, we lose them--their contribution as
community members. So this has been a significant concern of
mine over the course of my participation in this
administration.
So I am grateful for the recent attention on education of
Indian youth, but we are still waiting to see how this
awareness will translate into actual changes in our school
systems. While an increase in construction funding is a
positive sign, unfortunately, not a single school in the Great
Plains is slated for new construction under the existing
methodology for new BIA school construction.
Our Bullhead School is over 100 years old. But it will be
decades before the children's needs are fully met in this
community, and so we ask you for increased funding for these
schools and also direct the Department of Interior to examine
and propose a new funding strategy that is both fair and just
for our children.
Finally, we are alarmed by the deep cuts proposed to all
health programs in fiscal year 2018, and we encourage Congress
to continue health investments and prioritize IHS preventive
healthcare service programs, such as the diabetes grant
program. Increased funding above the modest increase provided
for in fiscal year 2017 is also necessary to meet Indian Health
Service priorities, especially funding for healthcare
personnel.
In many instances, if additional funding for our clinical
services and preventive health programs were available, illness
and injuries could be treated at their initial stages or
prevented altogether. This is especially important at Standing
Rock, where many of our members' health program's problems
could be addressed if timely preventive care were available.
We have an ongoing methamphetamine and opioid addiction
problem that we are struggling to address because of the
inadequate funding and availability of facilities and services.
We also support fiscal year 2018 increases in dental health,
mental health, and purchase and referred care, which has been
historically underfunded.
Also we have the same concern that you have heard from
others today about the environment and the culture. As you may
be aware, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has been in the news
over the course of this past year, and so we support the
sustained funding for EPA programming as well.
And I assure you that all of these needs are very real, and
I personally extend an invitation to you to come to Standing
Rock.
Mr. Calvert. Well, we would love to get out there. We would
love to get out there.
Mr. Dunn. So on behalf of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, I
would like to thank you for this time.
[The statement of Mr. Dunn follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you very much for your
testimony.
First, I want to say to Ms. Pipe, it is an embarrassment
that this accreditation issue occurred, and we need to fix it.
I know that was a priority for us to patch this and get that
back, your accreditations. But you know, these facilities, as
you point out, both Mr. Dunn and yourself, are old and need to
be replaced. And we need to come with a methodology to not just
replace your health facilities, but also the schools. And we
are trying to figure out a way to do that, you know?
We have over a $1 billion requirement in Indian Country for
school construction, and certainly, health is a big challenge
also. We are going to be working with Chairman Cole, who has
significant jurisdiction in Labor-H and, obviously, is very
interested in these issues, and so we are going to see if we
can't figure out a way to work together and see if we can get
more money flowing into resolving some of these healthcare and
education issues.
And certainly, law enforcement is a big problem in Indian
Country. You hear that consistently with all the tribes.
Obviously, drugs is a big problem, and this opioid epidemic is
costing 1,000 lives a day in the United States, 1,000.
Ms. White Pipe. We are experiencing a methamphetamine
epidemic right now, and it is affecting our housing. They are
being tested at high levels, which is leading to evictions or
relinquishments of the homes. So right now, our council is
working on a strategic action plan to get something in place.
But we also need help with the tribal courts, and I have it
listed in my list of priorities with the staffing.
And I did talk to somebody at SAMHSA today, and they had
informed me that our meth treatment center is underfunded also.
And so SAMHSA will provide funding for a meth treatment center
if we have a drug court for a year, but we need to find the
funding to fully staff our court.
Mr. Calvert. We will see what we can do to help.
Ms. McCollum.
Ms. McCollum. Thank you.
I want to point out and ask you to comment on some things.
As the chairman said rightly, the President proposes the
budget. The Budget Committee, under the Republicans, will come
up with a different budget. But one of the things that I know,
even within Congress, something often cut is the Low-Income
Heating and Energy Assistance Program.
I have to believe that a lot of your tribal members,
especially the elders, really rely on that. As you know, that
was zeroed out in the President's budget. I don't think it will
be at zero in the budget here. I don't get to set those
numbers, but I am concerned about any cuts into that.
Maybe if you could explain on the record how many people
are reliant on that? Usually, you have one person who
administers it. You describe the program because it is a
lifesaving program in the areas that you two represent.
Mr. Dunn. This is a great concern to Standing Rock. We have
a high number of people because of the state of our economy, we
have a lot of people that are unemployed or underemployed. And
so the result is that this program is very helpful to assisting
them to make it through. That is a real challenge for a lot of
our members.
A lot of them are living in substandard housing. You know,
whatever it is that is available, they are living in, and they
got to find a way to heat them things through the 30 below wind
chill winter. So this is a great, this is a great concern. So
any assistance with all fuel assistance program is greatly
appreciated, I assure you.
Mr. Calvert. Were you responsible for that Internet hit
that was the one where it showed this cold weather outside? And
I don't know.
It was 30 below zero. They said it was colder than Mars or
something like that. Don't go outside.
Ms. McCollum. But we are.
Mr. Calvert. Yes.
Mr. Dunn. Well, I will give you an example as over this
past winter, now a lot of those heating systems that have
propane and electricity interdependence, we had during a
blizzard that where people couldn't move out of their homes for
several days lost their electricity. So they lost their ability
to use their propane heating also.
Mr. Calvert. I can't even imagine it is that cold.
Mr. Dunn. This is an elderly couple, they called me during
the second day of the storm, and they said they couldn't even
get out of the house because the house had been encompassed in
a snow bank, and there was no electricity. So this was after 2
days without heating. They were heating with whatever they
could to heat the home.
They were probably using the propane cook stove that they
could light with a match or something. Finally, after like the
third day, we were able to get some neighbors over there to get
the house open.
Mr. Calvert. Wow. I am from near Palm Springs. We complain
when it is 50 degrees. So I can't imagine it being 30 below
zero. So----
Ms. McCollum. These programs are lifesaving.
Ms. White Pipe. Our LIAP program, the monies that we
allocated for the 2017 funding have already almost been
diminished, and last month we had to supplement the program by
I think it was $60,000 or $80,000. Over the winter months,
President Kendall does set up a program where he has different
individuals come in and cut cords of wood, and we went through
so much wood this past winter. Now it is going to start going
into our resources, which is our timber reserve.
Mr. Calvert. Okay. Well, we appreciate it.
Ms. White Pipe. So it is disheartening to hear that the
LIAP program will be eliminated.
Mr. Calvert. Well, again, I am sure we will be going
through this process. We will be working all that out, but
thank you for coming. I appreciate it.
Ms. White Pipe. Thank you for your time today.
Mr. Calvert. We will talk to you soon.
Mr. Dunn. Thank you. Very appreciative.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Mr. Dunn. [Speaking Native language.]
[Pause.]
Mr. Calvert. All right. Our next panel, Robert Flying Hawk,
chairman of the Yankton Sioux Tribe; David Kills-A-Hundred,
tribal council member of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe; Troy
Scott Weston, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe; and Cecelia
Firethunder, representative of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Oglala
Lakota Nation Education Partnership.
Thank you for coming out here to Washington, D.C. We
appreciate that.
We are going to recognize Mr. Hawk first, chairman of the
Yankton Sioux Tribe. You are recognized for 5 minutes, sir.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
YANKTON SIOUX TRIBE
WITNESS
ROBERT FLYING HAWK, CHAIRMAN
Mr. Flying Hawk. Thank you, Chairman and committee.
I just wanted to greet each and every one of you with a
heartfelt handshake and good to see you. Traditionally, we have
been sending delegations to the city here, making our asks. And
we are here again.
We have some challenges at home, as what you have been
hearing, and we at the Yankton Reservation are experiencing
those same types of things.
The four areas are our health, our education, our welfare,
and our economic development. So those are some of those
challenges that we have been sending delegations up here to
share those concerns, and we hope we aren't sounding like a
broken record. But we, as a people in this free nation, are
facing those challenges together, working together as nation-
to-nation, and we really thank you for that.
The health challenges are for us at home, it is a hospital
that was working as a hospital, but now is just a clinic. So we
would ask that we be returned to that emergency care. An
example for asking for that emergency care is some of our
members, because of billing, do not wish to go in when it is
after hours because of paying that bill.
So in some instances, it involves the heart, and it is very
critical. But our members would choose not to come in, and
there are times when life has been lost.
But that is how serious it is. We, as a people, have lived
and understand that we are a strong people. But yet because of
the tradition that we have and with Government saying that we
are to be taken care of, and we have taken that a little bit
too far, but yet we are trying to achieve that balance to
understand that we need to get back to that strength as a
people.
And with that, it is having these delegations here to share
those concerns that we have a life that is a strong life. But
with the education of our children, we seem to be missing some
history, some language, some culture, and it is--we have the
basics, the sciences, the maths, the biology, and we understand
we need those.
But because of that lack in the language, lack in the
history of who we are, I think that was mentioned by one of the
gentlemen earlier, the identity. That seems to affect us. We
need to have that for that self-worth, that self-esteem so that
we can continue to be a strong people to get up, to have that
work ethic, to go out to rake a yard, to scoop some snow.
But to get up. That traditionally is what we have in our
blood that we did these things. But for some reason, through
the history, as we worked together, we misconnected there.
There was a disconnection, and the understanding wasn't there.
We share, I think one of our leaders had said, I think it
was the Sitting Bull said as we go through our life, we pick
things up that are good and some things that are bad. We put
those things back down that are bad for us and carry those
things that are good.
And so that's us as a people. Our economy is always in
need, and with the dollars that are there with some of the cuts
that were mentioned, we ask that they be maintained where they
are at and possibly increased if at all possible.
We need those programs. We have program development for us
at home. It is a food service program that is going to be
started, and our people need that.
So we have so many challenges, but they are written, and
they are given to you for your consideration.
So thank you.
[The statement of Mr. Flying Hawk follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you, Chairman Hawk.
And we will look at all the written statements, and they
will be submitted for the record, and we will be looking
through them. And we appreciate your testimony.
Next, David Kills-A-Hundred, you are the council member for
the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe.
Mr. David Kills-A-Hundred. Yes, sir.
Mr. Calvert. You are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. David Kills-A-Hundred. At the risk of maybe breaking
protocol, I ask would it be okay if Representative Firethunder
and President Weston were heard before me. They are my elders.
Mr. Calvert. Sure. Just have them have a seat over here.
Mr. David Kills-A-Hundred. They are right here.
Mr. Calvert. Oh, right here. Oh, I am sorry. I thought it
was some additional people. Sorry.
----------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE
WITNESS
TROY SCOTT WESTON, PRESIDENT
Mr. Weston. Thank you, David. That was a very, very good
sign of respect. Thank you for that.
To the chairman, thank you for allowing us to be here.
Representative McCollum, thank you for allowing us to be here
in front of you today.
I was given this oral testimony, but I believe Chairman
Flying Hawk a precedent here with his knowledge, his caring,
and his fight for our people, not only for his tribe, but for
ours. Because a lot of what is being said here is pretty much
everything across the board of Indian Country today.
Our fights in our healthcare. IHS, for one thing, is our
biggest fight. Along with education. Along with our police
department, public safety. We have those are our three biggest
fights right now.
Within our IHS, we have a system within the Aberdeen area
that allows our PRC to allow a contractor to refer all of our
emergency, whether if you get a stubbed toe, I mean, it gets to
that point. They are being referred out to Rapid City Regional
Hospital.
We don't have a specialty doctor. We have P.A.s. The
majority of them are P.A.s. We have a couple of M.D.s. No
specialties. We don't have any rheumatologists. We don't have a
cardiologist. We are just pushing this out.
And to me, it sounds like it is a corporate move. I don't
care for it because we cannot allow our people to be burdened
with having to be referred out to another facility, thereby
having the tribe have to pick up a bill to return them home.
And some of the people need to have assistance to go after that
family member, and the tribe has to pick up another bill. So
there is a lot of inequities that we need to really sit down,
and that is one of them.
On another hand, it is our law enforcement. You know, there
was another story earlier. I believe it was the councilman from
Standing Rock, talked about the law enforcement.
Our law enforcement has issues. Three million acres. Our
reservation is approximately 100 miles from east to west and 60
miles north to south. I think that may be four Rhode Islands.
So we need to understand that as big as we are, we have 33
officers. I think that came from the councilwoman from Rosebud.
She was in the ballpark.
Within the BIA system, the way everything is recorded, we
should be allowed to operate fully staffed at 120 officers, and
that is still not enough because we are sitting at 40,000
members. That is just on the reservation. We still have another
30,000 to 35,000 off of the reservation that come back and
forth to utilize IHS, law enforcement, land, everything across
the board--our education.
Our former president will get in detail about our education
problems here, but we have serious issues. I believe you got to
come out in 2012 to our reservation. We invited you back in I
believe it was 2012, when President Steele invited you, and
Representative McCollum, Simpson, and Representative Cole. Yes,
yep, yes.
And came out, and they got to see what was going on. They
got to see the real picture. Well, that picture hasn't changed
because of the fact that we cannot genuinely operate with the
amount of money that we are not getting. You know, we are
already cut. We were already running at 48 percent.
And then with all of these proposed cuts, we cannot
operate. We really cannot operate. What is that going to say to
our officers who are already working 12-hour shifts, four per
shift per every 12 hours. That is unreal. That is unheard of.
That is inhuman.
I am trying to pull at your heartstrings because I know you
understand how I feel and how we all, as tribal leaders, feel.
And I know you have that same thought and that same mindset
because we know what we have to have for our people. And I
wouldn't be doing my job if I wouldn't be trying to jerk at
them heartstrings.
We need help. We need more money. We need technical
assistance. We have to have what we need to have.
I thank you for your time.
[The statement of Mr. Weston follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. I appreciate it. Thank you very much.
Representative Firethunder, you are recognized.
---------- --
--------
Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE, OGLALA LAKOTA NATION EDUCATION COALITION, THE
LITTLE WOUND SCHOOL
WITNESS
CECELIA FIRETHUNDER, REPRESENTATIVE, OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE, OGLALA LAKOTA
NATION EDUCATION COALITION, PRESIDENT OF THE LITTLE WOUND SCHOOL
Ms. Firethunder. Thank you very much.
Chairman Calvert, Ranking Member McCollum, and honorable
members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to
testify on behalf of the Oglala Lakota Nation Education
Coalition.
My name is Cecelia Firethunder, a member of the Oglala
Sioux Tribe. I am speaking on behalf of the Oglala Lakota
Nation Education Coalition, which represents the Oglala Sioux
Tribe's six tribal treaty schools.
We are all Public Law 100-297 tribal grant schools funded
through the Bureau of Indian Education under authorization of
Public Law 93-638. We are located on the on the Pine Ridge
Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota, and we have
22,114 eligible students attending our schools, elementary
through the 12th grade.
Accompanying me today are members of my tribal school board
from across the rails, and sitting next to me is my colleague
Dr. Gloria Kitsopoulos, superintendent of American Horse
School, also a retired colonel from the United States Army.
Well, that tells you something, Congressman Calvert. Somebody
keeps us in line.
Mr. Calvert. There you go. Thanks for your service.
Appreciate that.
Ms. Firethunder. Thank you. All right.
Indian School Equalization Program, ISEP, formula grants
are the primary source of educational and residential programs
at BIA-funded elementary and secondary schools for
instructional services. The most pressing concern we have at
our level right now is the underfunding constraints in our
facilities' operation and maintenance.
You know what our utility costs are during the winter in
the Great Plains region? It gets pretty cold there sometimes.
And because we don't have adequate monies in our facilities, we
use our ISEP dollars to substantiate and pay for our fuel
costs. I am just going to drop down there a little bit here.
One of the greatest challenges we face today, along with
the facilities operation and maintenance is our teacher
salaries. The base at our salaried schools is $9,000 less than
the local South Dakota public schools. As you know, recently
the State of South Dakota gave an increase to its teachers
within its public school system, which are within 15 miles of
our newer schools, who are all on the same land base.
As we use more and more of our ISEP funding to supplement
the areas which are drastically underfunded, we have less and
less money to bring these amounts closer to the schools near us
and with whom we compete for teachers. The public schools can
offer a larger salary base, but also a better health insurance
package and a retirement package.
Another area that impacts teacher recruitment and retention
is the major use of funds to provide health insurance for our
employees. Congressman, we provide really good healthcare
coverage for our employees. That allows them not only to use
the HIS facility, but if necessary, to leave the reservation
and seek healthcare in the surrounding small communities where
they have providers.
Public Law 93-638 is the foundation for programs to receive
Federal employee health benefits. We have been since 2012 as
tribal schools have been seeking a way for our schools to be
able to access Federal employee health benefits so we can
provide better health insurance at a lower cost.
Congressman, you know, we started to analyze what we are
paying in health insurance with the premiums that keep
escalating, we could pay for two teachers for some of our
schools.
Facilities. Facilities is something that everyone here has
been talking about. Yes, we have some old buildings.
Maintaining and operating them is very, very costly because
they are old.
I am going to ask you to turn to the graph because this
graph kind of says everything that I need to tell you. ISEP is
the funding that we use for instructional services. However, if
you take a look at that graph, we like for you to take because
it speaks for itself. So when you begin to take a look at the
total ISEP dollars here, when we are over one-fourth of our
ISEP dollars are being used.
For example, for Little Wound School, which is a K-12
school, we have 800 students. So when you take a look over here
for facilities, we are using $753,300 out of our facilities
line item of ISEP to fund facilities and then transportation.
So we wanted to show you that we have taken instructional
monies, and supporting those line items to keep our school
going takes away from our students. Down here, American Horse
School, Dr. Gloria is the superintendent, and I would like for
her to address that from a K-8 level.
Mr. Calvert. And please state your name for the record.
Ms. Kitsopoulos. Dr. Gloria Coats-Kitsopoulos, and I am an
enrolled member of Oglala Sioux Tribe.
Mr. Calvert. Thank you.
Ms. Kitsopoulos. Our school is a K through 8. We have a
face program, we are a Pre-K up through 8th grade. When I
arrived retired from the military and went back home, we had
110 students. We have over 327 now. The big problem we have is
recruiting teachers.
They put a new water plant in. I am also--I run a little
city. I have the lagoon. I have the water that I have to answer
to EPA on.
One of our biggest things is that we are not getting funded
enough money. The quarters are falling apart. The water system
doesn't work. So I put my teachers on a shower schedule. They
have to start at 5:00 in the morning, and everyone has to get
in there, get their shower, and be off in 15 minutes so the
other teachers in the other buildings can use the shower.
So it is very hard to recruit with saying you don't have
facilities there, and we have got no money to fix the
facilities. It took me 6 years to get a fire alarm system in my
school.
We just need more. We are not asking for anything more. We
are just asking for what Congress said we would get. We are not
getting 100 percent, and that is what we ask so we can bring
that ISEP dollar back, so we can get better education for our
students.
This year, I am bringing a teacher from Saudi Arabia and
three from the Philippines because I cannot pay the salaries
around me.
Mr. Calvert. Well, I appreciate that, and I hear you. And I
need to get--I know that Ms. McCollum has been over there,
along with Mike Simpson and Mr. Cole, Chairman Cole, and I want
to get out there, too, if I can.
Ms. Firethunder. I apologize, but this last graph you have,
Congressman, is very important because we have been tracking
our facility shortfalls for the last 26 years, but we only
included this. This is a really important piece of information
because if you take a look at the shortfalls, these shortfalls
that we are picking up out of ISEP, Congressman, and this is
money that is coming out of the classroom to support this.
So, in conclusion, this is what we are going to
respectfully ask. Using the 2016-based budget of $33,241,715,
for my six schools, we are asking for a 17.7 increase, which
brings it up to $43,450,599. And in the spirit of relatives--
and thank you, David, for what you did today. In the spirit of
relatives, we would like to ask you to consider increasing
across the whole United States with our tribal grant school the
17.7 percent to bring us up to part for what we need, and that
is all we are asking.
Thank you.
[The statement of Ms. Firethunder follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Well, we will be working on our
budget this year. We are going to be challenged, as you have
probably been reading in the newspapers, but I am hearing from
all of Indian Country, and we are going to be working on that,
I think.
Did you have any additional comments?
[Pause.]
Okay. Did you have any additional comments to make? You are
the last witness to testify. You have 5 minutes.
---------- --
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Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
FLANDREAU SANTEE SIOUX TRIBE
WITNESS
DAVID KILLS-A-HUNDRED, TRIBAL COUNCIL MEMBER
Mr. David Kills-A-Hundred. I want to thank you, Chairman
Calvert, Ranking Member McCollum, and the members of this
subcommittee. It is a pleasure to speak with you regarding our
various funding issues relevant to the Flandreau Santee Sioux
Tribe, located in South Dakota.
I intend to primarily discuss the funding issue present for
our Joint Venture Construction Program healthcare facility and
the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe tribal police, but will
briefly discuss issues of other critical programs if time
permits.
For decades, the healthcare service provider to the members
of my tribe have been grossly inadequate. We have utilized
Public Law 93-638 contracting to operate the tribal health
clinic to the best of our abilities, but due to insufficient
and untimely funding, unpaid contract support cost, and limited
facilities, we are failing our people.
We have a lack of privacy issues in our current clinic,
coupled with inadequate space to fully perform necessary
program functions. The Joint Venture Construction Program,
found at Section 818(e) of the Indian Healthcare Improvement
Act, authorizes the Indian Health Service to establish projects
that allow American Indian and Alaska Native tribes to
construct tribally owned healthcare facilities in exchange for
HIS providing the post construction funding for equipment,
operations, and maintenance for a minimum of 20 years.
Left without adequate means to self fund the construction
of a healthcare facility, in 2007, the tribe made applications
to the Indian Health Service to participate in the Joint
Venture Construction Program. The tribe was awarded a
commitment in 2009 but took several years to organize its
efforts under the program.
In 2012, the tribe aggressively pursued the opportunity and
hired a Minnesota architect and South Dakota construction
manager to plan the project. These groups worked exclusively
with the Indian Health Service to design a state-of-the-art
facility which met all Federal requirements.
The tribe and the Indian Health Service formalized the
arrangement in July of 2014 by entering into a joint venture
agreement. There were new provisions to the joint venture
agreement itself that left the tribe with fewer options to
finance the construction.
Construction was also pushed back over a year because of
the miscommunication between IHS area office in Aberdeen and
IHS headquarters that kept us out of the President's budget.
With financing in sight, the tribe took the risk and began
constructing in March of 2016, regardless of the obstacles
faced. The tribe was able to successfully sell bonds in June of
2016, and construction has continued under budget and on time,
with an expected completion date in July of 2017.
The tribe now faces its largest endeavor. Article 8 of the
joint venture agreement provides, ``In exchange for the tribe's
design and construction of the facility, the tribe's purchase
of the initial equipment for the facility, IHS agrees to
provide the equipment, supplies, and staffing for the operation
and maintenance of the facility for an initial period of 20
years, subject to provision of appropriations by Congress.''
The tribe must have funding promised by the IHS
appropriated to assure our membership and all nontribal members
that we serve that we can operate our new facility. A
continuing resolution for fiscal year 2018 would not allow the
additional funding promised, causing a possible default on our
financial obligations and resulting in a grossly underfunded
facility.
The tribe pleads with the subcommittee to fulfill the
contractual obligations of the Indian Health Service. We are in
the process of needing to hire around 50 new employees to fully
staff our facility, and we can simply not afford to use tribal
funds dedicated to other critical programs to continuously
supplement our clinic.
We further have issues with our police department funding
that I would like to expound on as well. Public safety is one
of our utmost importance to all tribes, especially in South
Dakota, where the State is becoming plagued by methamphetamine.
We have stagnant funding for the police while our expenses are
rising exponentially.
We have had stagnant funding for the police while all our
other expenses are rising exponentially. The tribal police
drive arrests of individuals on the reservation, we have to
drive them 125 miles away to be detained, which poses serious
community exposure during transportation due to gaps in
coverage. The facility 120 miles away was the only detention
center willing to house our arrestees.
The tribe has two police officers and another who is in the
police academy. With our current funding level, we cannot
afford to provide coverage that our community needs. Even a
modest increase would have an incredible impact on our small,
but equally troubled reservation.
We implore the subcommittee to consider all of the programs
that our membership depends on and to maintain or increase
funding. We are trying to run professional government
operations and are doing it in the absence of clarity. The
tribe is relying on its funding and cannot provide adequate
services and gridlock. And the tribe further demands parity
with the States on all funding matters because of the Federal
promises of promoting tribal sovereignty and self-sufficiency.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared remarks and my
colleagues and I are prepared to answer any questions you may
have.
[The statement of Mr. David Kills-A-Hundred follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Calvert. Thank you. Thank you. Sorry I missed you for a
second.
One thing I wanted to mention to Chairman Hawk. There are
some other programs, too, that we will be working with. For
instance, in earlier testimony on saving languages in Indian
Country all around the country, the National Endowment for the
Humanities is very much involved. And I don't know if they are
involved with your tribe or not, but certainly, you should look
into that because there are grant programs that are available
through the National Endowment for that purpose, you know, to
put together a vocabulary of your language, which would be kept
for prosperity.
So you might want to look into that. They have done that
for a number of tribes.
Mr. Flying Hawk. Okay. Will do. Thank you.
Mr. Calvert. And so that is something important. And I hear
consistently the three major problems in Indian Country, of
course, law enforcement, education, and healthcare. And I get
it, and we have a challenge, and we need to meet that
challenge, and we are going to do what we can.
I know Chairman Cole is going to work with us. He has the
committee that has the primary jurisdiction over healthcare in
the United States, but I have the jurisdiction over Indian
healthcare. So, but he has a much bigger budget than I do. So,
hopefully, we can work together to help resolve some of these
issues.
Infrastructure is another issue. I know in your part of the
world, you are working with so many, you know, 3 million acres.
That is a lot of land. And when we do an infrastructure bill,
which I hope we do later this year, I hope Indian Country helps
us and pushes that there should be a section in that bill for
infrastructure on tribes all around the United States.
And that would be very helpful to us to push that to get
that section in the bill that we can go in and fix a lot of
these problems.
Same thing with school construction. We would like to
figure out a way, similar what we did with DOD and is to fix
that problem universally across Indian Country. It is $1
billion that we have that we need to spend to fix this problem
throughout Indian Country.
I was curious. On your new health facility, you said you
sold bonds. What kind of bonds were they?
Mr. David Kills-A-Hundred. On that one, I would refer
probably back to the treasurer.
Mr. Calvert. Yes, I was wondering because I used to--you
usually have to have an income stream. What is the income
stream you are using to pay for the bonds?
Mr. David Kills-A-Hundred. I want to say it was a third-
party, I think. Third-party billing. In truth, a lot of this
stuff with our clinic was done before I came on. I was just
elected back in August. This was done before that.
I do believe it was third-party billing.
Mr. Calvert. Okay. I would be just curious to see how that.
Well, maybe the gentleman can? Please state your name for the
record, and grab that mike from Chairman Hawk and say your name
for the record.
Mr. Ryan Kills-A-Hundred. My name is Ryan Kills-A-Hundred.
I am the treasurer for the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe and
tribal member as well, and now my newly elected little brother
is my boss now.
Mr. Calvert. Okay, great. [Laughter.]
I figured you guys were related.
Mr. Ryan Kills-A-Hundred. So, yes. Yes, we are using our
third-party revenue streams to take care of that.
Mr. Calvert. Can you define what third-party revenue stream
means?
Mr. Ryan Kills-A-Hundred. That is what we bill out for
tribal members or for who have insurance.
Mr. Calvert. I see. Okay.
Mr. Ryan Kills-A-Hundred. So if we can get that revenue in,
which, again, closes the problem. We are using that for our new
facility and we can't get funding for our new facility, and we
are stuck operating out of the same tin can that they are doing
the best job they can in right now, the money that we are using
to help subsidize that, our third-party revenue is taken up.
So, now we have to pay for a new building and try to carry
the load of what we are already having problems with.
Mr. Calvert. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that.
Okay, Ms. McCollum.
Ms. McCollum. So your officers go 125 miles, then they have
to go back to court, right?
Mr. David Kills-A-Hundred. Yes.
Ms. McCollum. They could be in court all day before they
get on the stand, and so now you are down an officer with only
two officers. If you have one in court, you are down to one
officer for the whole reservation.
Mr. David Kills-A-Hundred. That is correct. And court does
not need to get involved. If there is an arrest and they have
to take them to Sisseton, one officer, that could take an
entire shift. And while he is gone, there can be another arrest
that requires the other officer to go to Sisseton as well.
Ms. McCollum. I know policies for States are different and
courts are different, but do you have video facilities where
one of your officers could be sworn in over video and testify
over video, or do they have to drive all the way in?
Mr. David Kills-A-Hundred. No, we do not. But the problem
is, is we have to bring them back. The offense happened in
Flandreau. So we have to drive up there, bring them back to our
court system, which again poses that manning problem. And if
they have to go back to jail, then you know, we take them back
up there.
So it is not that we are taking them that long, you know,
that many miles so they can be arrested, detained, and they go
to court there. We have to drag them all the way back to
Flandreau for court.
Ms. McCollum. I understand what you are saying, but you
don't have mutual agreements or anything between the courts?
Sometimes you can have cross jurisdiction, yes?
Mr. Ryan Kills-A-Hundred. Not amongst the courts, no. We
have our own tribal court system. So I mean, no, we don't have
that. That being said, we have assist agreements with local law
enforcement, but that is assist only during the problem. They
are not going to help cover our shortfalls.
Ms. McCollum. Sure.
Mr. Ryan Kills-A-Hundred. If they only assist when the
extra men----
Ms. McCollum. Yes, I know how mutual aid works. Okay. The
question that I have for you, Ms. Firethunder and your school
board: you have these three teachers, two from the Philippines
and one other?
Ms. Kitsopoulos. We will be bringing in five teachers,
three from the Philippines and--I guess four from the
Philippines and one from Saudi Arabia.
They are pre-certified.
Ms. McCollum. Got it. They are pre-certified by whom?
Ms. Kitsopoulos. By the teacher exchange out of Austin,
Texas. St. Francis School has used the program, and they are
already certified. Several of them have master's degrees, and
they come through, get a visa and come over here and work. They
can work up to 5 years.
Ms. McCollum. So they are certified by an international
exchange in Austin, Texas?
Ms. Kitsopoulos. Yes.
Ms. McCollum. And do they teach to subject? I don't have a
master's degree, but I taught social studies. If I had a
master's degree in social studies, you wouldn't want me for
your trig teacher.
Ms. Kitsopoulos. Yes. No, we brought them in by subject
that we needed. The BIE had taken basically social studies and
science out of our schools for about 6 years. Now that we are
building back up, we are finding that is a shortage. So I am
bringing in two social studies teachers, one science, and one
intermediate math, and one elementary, kindergarten teacher,
and they are all specialized in those areas.
Ms. McCollum. Okay. I am going to talk to you afterwards
for a few minutes because I am afraid my questioning is going
to sound not as supportive as I want to be on the teacher
licensing.
Ms. Kitsopoulos. Well, we started with Teach for America,
but it is such a cost to bring them in. By the second year,
they have got it, and then they are gone. And so when we do our
professional development, if we include them, we are figuring
maybe $5,000 for 2 years in professional development, then they
are gone.
Ms. McCollum. So who pays for this? You are paying these
teachers $9,000 a year. Are you providing housing?
Ms. Kitsopoulos. The ones that are coming over?
Ms. McCollum. Yes.
Ms. Kitsopoulos. They are on our salary scale, and yes, we
give quarters, the quarters that we have.
Ms. McCollum. That is why you were talking about you have
to sign up for your shower at 5:00 in the morning.
Ms. Kitsopoulos. That has been going on since they changed
the water power out. We needed a lift station at each one of
the houses and the apartment complex, and it was approved 2
years ago. But nobody ever sent the money.
Ms. McCollum. You basically have to live on the reservation
close to the school to teach there?
Ms. Kitsopoulos. Yes, yes.
Ms. McCollum. So that is another hardship, right?
Ms. Kitsopoulos. Yes, yes. They have to live there because
when the weather gets bad, and we are kind of down in a canyon
and we get a lot of snow. So we basically make our staff that
do not have homes there in the county live right there at the
school.
Ms. McCollum. And do you have any telecommunications? I
know some of the schools are working with doing some distance
learning. Do you have that available to you with a broadband
hookup?
Ms. Kitsopoulos. We are on a BIE server, and we are working
with the other schools. The one thing that all of our schools
now, all six of us are using the Common Core standards, and we
are allowed to infuse at 15 percent with our language and our
culture. So that is what we are using, and our curriculums are
all scientific-based research. And my specialty is a reading
specialist, and basically, we are all six schools are using the
same foundations for reading.
Some of use different math programs, but they all, you
know, meet the Common Core standards.
Ms. McCollum. Well, I know you are trying really hard, all
of you, and I live in the cities, but coming from Minnesota, I
understand the rural community. I understand a grandfather
driving a grandmother 2 hours to get to dialysis, to get to
Williston and all that. And I know you are trying your level
best, and we are going to try to do what we can to support you.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Kitsopoulos. One of the things is I had two tours in
D.C.--one at the Surgeon General's office, one at Fort Belvoir.
And we used to care for the prisoners from Lorton. They would
bring them up from Fort Belvoir, and their facilities are nicer
than my teachers'.
Ms. Firethunder. I would like to just make a real quick
comment on what we are working collectively to get our students
to prepare for a future to be a teacher. So we have got these
programs going to really encourage our young people to consider
being a teacher.
A second thing we are doing is based on the healthcare
provider shortage area for not only Pine Ridge, but the whole
State of South Dakota, we started health careers club so we can
start getting our young people to take a look at a career once
they get out of high school. So it is strengthens our science
and math capabilities, and it starts getting them hands on,
taking them to Rapid City to radiology, wherever so they can
get a real sense of a career and they start preparing for it.
So out of high school, they could go right into training as
our solution, one of our solutions to fulfilling the health
career shortage area.
Mr. Calvert. Yes. The last point I was going to make. In
the rural States like South Dakota, North Dakota, Alaska, they
have a problem statewide in getting specialists. I mean, they
can't keep them in the State.
They come out to California. They go to Texas, you know,
the large urban population where they can make money, and so it
is a real challenge to get docs to, especially specialists, to
stay in those areas. That is a problem we have nationwide.
So, anyway, I appreciate your testimony, appreciate your
attendance. This will conclude 2 days of hearings on American
Indian and Alaska Native programs on the trust responsibility
that all Members of Congress share. Talk to all your Members of
Congress, you know, not just this committee.
Thank you so much for being here today.
This hearing is adjourned.
I N D E X
----------
Members' Hearing Day
February 28, 2017
Witnesses--Members of Congress
Page
Adams, Hon. Alma S............................................... 88
Chaffetz, Hon. Jason............................................. 6
Cleaver, Hon. Emanuel............................................ 63
Gosar, Hon. Paul................................................. 69
Griffith, Hon. Morgan............................................ 50
Higgins, Hon. Brian.............................................. 19
Jackson Lee, Hon. Sheila......................................... 56
LaMalfa, Hon. Doug............................................... 44
Panetta, Hon. Jimmy.............................................. 82
Plaskett, Hon. Stacey............................................ 96
Posey, Hon. Bill................................................. 2
Price, Hon. David................................................ 76
Radewagen, Hon. Aumua Amata Coleman.............................. 30
Rooney, Hon. Francis............................................. 24
Sewell, Hon. Terri............................................... 38
Slaughter, Hon. Louise........................................... 102
Thompson, Hon. Glenn ``GT''...................................... 34
Westerman, Hon. Bruce............................................ 13
Written Testimony--Members of Congress
Brownley, Hon. Julia............................................. 109
Cicilline, Hon. David N.......................................... 112
Comer, Hon. James................................................ 114
Engel, Hon. Eliot L.............................................. 116
Goodlatte, Hon. Bob.............................................. 118
Grijalva, Hon. Raul M............................................ 120
Lance, Hon. Leonard.............................................. 124
Sablan, Hon. Gregoria Kilili Camacho............................. 127
Torres, Hon. Norma............................................... 128
Velazquez, Hon. Nydia............................................ 130
American Indian/Alaska Native Public Witnesses
Day One--May 16, 2017
ORGANIZATIONS
Page
AK-Chin Indian Community......................................... 242
American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC).............. 151
California Rural Indian Health Board............................. 184
Cherokee Nation.................................................. 191
Chickasaw Nation and Oklahoma Humanities Council................. 211
Chugach Regional Resources Commission (CRRC)..................... 407
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission...................... 336
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians............................ 376
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation.................. 383
Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon....... 396
Fond du lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa....................... 233
Indian Health Center of Santa Clara Valley and California
Consortium for Urban Indian Health............................. 172
Intertribal Timber Council....................................... 401
Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe........................................ 343
Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Port Angeles School District.......... 361
Metlakatla Indian Community...................................... 421
Muscogee (Creek) Nation.......................................... 197
National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)..................... 302
National Council of Urban Indian Health.......................... 166
National Indian Child Welfare Association........................ 254
National Indian Education Association (NIEA)..................... 141
National Indian Health Board..................................... 134
National Tribal Contract Support Cost Coalition.................. 260
Native Village of Eyak........................................... 413
Navajo Nation.................................................... 323
Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission............................ 330
Norton Sound Health Corporation.................................. 440
Oneida Nation of Wisconsin....................................... 249
Osage Minerals Council........................................... 203
Puyallup Tribe of Washington State............................... 356
Quinault Nation.................................................. 296
Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians................................ 226
Riverside--San Bernardino County Indian Health, Inc.............. 178
Seattle Indian Health Board...................................... 308
Shoalwater Bay Tribe............................................. 368
Squaxin Island Tribe............................................. 350
Tanana Chiefs Conference......................................... 434
The Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations (IHS Youth Regional
Treatment Center).............................................. 313
Tribal Education Departments National Assembly (TEDNA)........... 157
University of Oklahoma--Spoken Creek Documentation Project....... 218
Upper Columbia United Tribes..................................... 389
Yakutat Tlingit Tribe............................................ 427
WITNESSES
Page
Baker, Bill John................................................. 191
Bill, Leland..................................................... 336
Billy, Carrie L.................................................. 151
Bolton, Christopher.............................................. 440
Boone, Cynthia................................................... 203
Brown-Schwalenberg, Patty........................................ 407
Bryan, Annette M................................................. 356
Charles, Frances................................................. 343
Demmert, Victoria................................................ 427
Dupuis, Kevin R.................................................. 233
Elgin, Lisa...................................................... 184
Evans, Yatibaey.................................................. 141
Floyd, James R................................................... 197
Hawley, Vinton................................................... 134
Hoover, Mark..................................................... 413
Hudson, Audrey................................................... 421
Jensen, Mark..................................................... 178
Johnson, Jennifer L.............................................. 218
Johnstone, Edward................................................ 330
Joseph, Victor................................................... 434
Leno, Reynold L.................................................. 396
Lucero, Esther................................................... 308
Martin, Aurene................................................... 254
Michel, Donald R................................................. 389
Miguel, Robert................................................... 242
Miller, Lloyd B.................................................. 260
Nelson, Charlene................................................. 368
Nez, Jonathan.................................................... 323
Payment, Aaron................................................... 302
Penney, Samuel................................................... 313
Peters, Jim...................................................... 350
Pigsley, Dee..................................................... 376
Rigdon, Phil..................................................... 401
Seki, Darrell.................................................... 226
Sharp, Fawn...................................................... 296
Tehassi Hill, Ron................................................ 249
Tetnowski, Sonya................................................. 172
Tonasket, Mel.................................................... 383
Tuomi, Ashley.................................................... 166
Valadez, Jamie................................................... 361
Walters, Valorie................................................. 211
Whitlow, Carrie F................................................ 157
American Indian/Alaska Native Public Witnesses
Day Two--May 17, 2017
ORGANIZATIONS
Page
All Pueblo Council of Governors.................................. 481
American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association................ 472
Association of Community Tribal Schools (ACTS)................... 559
Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Tribe................... 635
Catawba Indian Nation............................................ 451
Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority (CORA)........................ 620
Dine BiOlta School Board Association............................. 540
Dine Grant School Association.................................... 547
Duckwater Shoshone Tribe......................................... 601
Dzilth-Na-O-Dith-Hle Community Grant School (DCGS)............... 533
Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe..................................... 694
Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildife Commission (GLIFWC).......... 651
Lac du Flambeau Tribe............................................ 642
National Alliance to Save Native Languages....................... 570
National Native American AIDS Prevention Center (NNAAPC)......... 625
Native American Grant School Association, Shonto Preparatory
School......................................................... 553
Navajo Hopi Land Commission...................................... 514
Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee............................. 595
Oglala Sioux Tribe............................................... 681
Oglala Sioux Tribe, Oglala Lakota Nation Education Coalition..... 687
Pascua Yaqui Tribe............................................... 501
Penobscot Nation................................................. 465
Pueblo of Laguna................................................. 493
Pueblo of Santa Clara............................................ 487
Ramah Navajo Chapter............................................. 521
Ramah Navajo School Board for the Pine Hill School (RNSB)........ 528
Rosebud Sioux Tribe.............................................. 659
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, Fort Hall Business Council.............. 587
Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation............ 607
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe........................................ 666
Tohono O'odham Nation............................................ 508
United South and Eastern Tribes Sovereignty Protection Fund (USET
SPF)........................................................... 458
United Tribes Technical College.................................. 564
Ute Tribe of Utah................................................ 614
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska...................................... 576
Yankton Sioux Tribe.............................................. 675
WITNESSES
Page
Blanchard, Robert................................................ 635
BlueEyes, Faye................................................... 533
Carrick, Levi D., Sr............................................. 620
Chavarria, J. Michael............................................ 487
Chavez, Jerry.................................................... 547
Dunn, James...................................................... 666
Ferguson, Camille................................................ 472
Firethunder, Cecilia............................................. 687
Flying Hawk, Robert.............................................. 675
Francis, Kirk.................................................... 458
Harris, William.................................................. 451
Henio, Jamie..................................................... 521
Howard, Ted...................................................... 607
Isham, Michael................................................... 651
Jackson, Genevieve............................................... 540
Kills-A-Hundred, David........................................... 694
Kitcheyan, Victoria.............................................. 576
Lee, Royd........................................................ 553
Manuel, Edward................................................... 508
Martinez, Marlene................................................ 528
McDonald, Leander................................................ 564
Mike, Rodney..................................................... 601
Miles, Mary Jane................................................. 595
Miller, Tom...................................................... 559
Phelps, Walter................................................... 514
Roberts, Patrick................................................. 625
Shay, Darrell.................................................... 587
Siow, Virgil..................................................... 493
Small, Tony...................................................... 614
Smith, Maulian................................................... 465
Thompson, George................................................. 642
Torres, E. Paul.................................................. 481
Valencia, Robert................................................. 501
Weston, Troy..................................................... 681
White Pipe, Lisa................................................. 659
Wilson, Ryan..................................................... 570
Written Testimony from Individuals and Organizations
1854 Treaty Authority............................................ 704
Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mining, Land
and Water...................................................... 706
American Alliance of Museums (AAM)............................... 710
American Forests................................................. 714
American Geophysical Union....................................... 719
American Geosciences Institute (AGI)............................. 722
American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS)................. 726
Americans for the Arts........................................... 730
Animal Welfare Institute......................................... 733
Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC).................................. 737
Association of Air Pollution Control Agencies.................... 739
Association of Art Museum Directors.............................. 742
Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) Board on
Natural Resources (BNR)........................................ 746
Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA)....... 750
Association of State Floodplain Managers......................... 754
Bardin, David Jonas.............................................. 756
Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation.............................. 760
Central Arizona Water Conservation District (CAWCD).............. 764
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma....................................... 767
City Parks Alliance.............................................. 771
City University of New York (CUNY), Department of Modern
Languages...................................................... 773
Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum...................... 776
Colorado River Board of California............................... 779
Consortium of Aquatic Scientific Societies (CASS)................ 782
Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement...................... 784
Dance USA........................................................ 788
Defenders of Wildlife............................................ 792
Ecological Society of America
ENERGY STAR Participants......................................... 800
Entomological Society of America (ESA)........................... 804
Federation of State Humanities Councils.......................... 808
Friends of Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge.................... 812
Friends of Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.................. 813
Friends of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge...................... 815
Friends of Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge................ 817
Friends of the Front Range Wildlife Refuges...................... 820
Friends of the Savannah Coastal Wildlife Refuges, Inc............ 822
Friends of the Tampa Bay National Wildlife Refuges, Inc.......... 826
Friends of the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge........... 830
Geological Society of America (GSA).............................. 832
Gila River Indian Community...................................... 835
Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)....................... 838
Institute of Makers of Explosives (IME).......................... 842
Interstate Mining Compact Commission............................. 845
Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe........................................ 849
League of American Orchestras.................................... 853
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians.............................. 857
Mescalero Apache Tribe........................................... 861
National Assembly of State Arts Agencies......................... 865
National Association of Chemical Distributors.................... 867
National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA)............... 869
National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA)............. 873
National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO)........... 876
National Association of State Foresters (NASF)................... 879
National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers
(NCSHPO)....................................................... 883
National Ground Water Association (NGWA)......................... 887
National Humanities Alliance..................................... 891
National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA)................... 895
National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE)................ 899
National Trust for Historic Preservation......................... 901
National Wildlife Refuge Association............................. 905
Native Alliance Initiative....................................... 909
Natural Science Collections Alliance............................. 913
Navajo County Board of Supervisors............................... 916
Officers of the Environmental Council of the States.............. 917
OPERA America.................................................... 921
Oregon Water Resources Congress (OWRC)
Outdoors Alliance for Kids....................................... 933
Partnership for the National Trails System....................... 937
Pennsylvania, Department of English, Paul Henderickson........... 941
Performing Arts Alliance (PAA)................................... 942
Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe...................................... 946
Pueblo of Acoma.................................................. 950
Pueblo of Picuris................................................ 954
Recording Academy................................................ 958
Regional Air Pollution Control Agency............................ 960
Restore America's Estuaries...................................... 962
Sac & Fox Nation................................................. 966
Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe......................................... 970
San Juan County Commission....................................... 974
Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe....................................... 976
Self-Governance Communication & Education Tribal Consortium
(SGCETC)....................................................... 980
Skokomish Tribe of Washington.................................... 984
Society of American Foresters (SAF).............................. 988
Southcentral Foundation.......................................... 992
State Fire Assistance and Volunteer Fire Assistance Organization. 996
Supporters of Land and Water Conservation Fund State Assistance
Programs....................................................... 998
Supporters of the Colorado River Basin........................... 1000
Sustainable Urban Forest Coalition............................... 1005
The American Institute of Architects............................. 1009
The Corps Network................................................ 1012
The Federal Forest Resource Coalition............................ 1016
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California........... 1020
The National Institutes for Water Resources...................... 1023
The Nature Conservancy........................................... 1027
The Nature Conservancy; USDA Forest Service...................... 1030
The Trust for Public Land (TPL).................................. 1034
The Wilderness Land Trust........................................ 1038
The Wilderness Society (TWS)..................................... 1042
The Wildlife Society............................................. 1046
Theatre Communications Group (TCG)............................... 1050
Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership...................... 1053
U.S. Section of the Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC).............. 1057
University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Comparative
Literature..................................................... 1060
University of California, Riverside, College of Humanities, Arts,
and Social Sciences............................................ 1062
USGS Coalition................................................... 1064
West Virginia Commission on the Arts............................. 1068
Western Governors' Association................................... 1069
White Earth Band of Chippewa..................................... 1073
Wildlife Conservation Society.................................... 1076
Yurok Tribe...................................................... 1080