[House Hearing, 111 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED
AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR 2011
_______________________________________________________________________
HEARINGS
BEFORE A
SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
________
SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES
JAMES P. MORAN, Virginia, Chairman
NORMAN D. DICKS, Washington MICHAEL K. SIMPSON, Idaho
ALAN B. MOLLOHAN, West Virginia KEN CALVERT, California
BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky STEVEN C. LaTOURETTE, Ohio
MAURICE D. HINCHEY, New York TOM COLE, Oklahoma
BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota
JOHN W. OLVER, Massachusetts
ED PASTOR, Arizona
NOTE: Under Committee Rules, Mr. Obey, as Chairman of the Full
Committee, and Mr. Lewis, as Ranking Minority Member of the Full
Committee, are authorized to sit as Members of all Subcommittees.
Delia Scott, Christopher Topik, Julie Falkner,
Jason Gray, and Brendan Lilly
Staff Assistants
________
PART 7
Page
Voices From Our Native American Communities...................... 1
Issues From the Field: Public Witnesses and Members.............. 235
Voices From Our Native American Communities...................... 365
Witnesses--Prepared Statements for the Record.................... 483
S
________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations
Part 7
Public
Witnesses
INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR 2011
INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED
AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR 2011
_______________________________________________________________________
HEARINGS
BEFORE A
SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
________
SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES
JAMES P. MORAN, Virginia, Chairman
NORMAN D. DICKS, Washington MICHAEL K. SIMPSON, Idaho
ALAN B. MOLLOHAN, West Virginia KEN CALVERT, California
BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky STEVEN C. LaTOURETTE, Ohio
MAURICE D. HINCHEY, New York TOM COLE, Oklahoma
BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota
JOHN W. OLVER, Massachusetts
ED PASTOR, Arizona
NOTE: Under Committee Rules, Mr. Obey, as Chairman of the Full
Committee, and Mr. Lewis, as Ranking Minority Member of the Full
Committee, are authorized to sit as Members of all Subcommittees.
Delia Scott, Christopher Topik, Julie Falkner,
Jason Gray, and Brendan Lilly
Staff Assistants
________
PART 7
Page
Voices From Our Native American Communities...................... 1
Issues From the Field: Public Witnesses and Members.............. 235
Voices From Our Native American Communities...................... 365
Witnesses--Prepared Statements for the Record.................... 483
S
________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations
________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
56-200 WASHINGTON : 2010
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
DAVID R. OBEY, Wisconsin, Chairman
NORMAN D. DICKS, Washington JERRY LEWIS, California
ALAN B. MOLLOHAN, West Virginia C. W. BILL YOUNG, Florida
MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio HAROLD ROGERS, Kentucky
PETER J. VISCLOSKY, Indiana FRANK R. WOLF, Virginia
NITA M. LOWEY, New York JACK KINGSTON, Georgia
JOSE E. SERRANO, New York RODNEY P. FRELINGHUYSEN, New
ROSA L. DeLAURO, Connecticut Jersey
JAMES P. MORAN, Virginia TODD TIAHRT, Kansas
JOHN W. OLVER, Massachusetts ZACH WAMP, Tennessee
ED PASTOR, Arizona TOM LATHAM, Iowa
DAVID E. PRICE, North Carolina ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama
CHET EDWARDS, Texas JO ANN EMERSON, Missouri
PATRICK J. KENNEDY, Rhode Island KAY GRANGER, Texas
MAURICE D. HINCHEY, New York MICHAEL K. SIMPSON, Idaho
LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD, California JOHN ABNEY CULBERSON, Texas
SAM FARR, California MARK STEVEN KIRK, Illinois
JESSE L. JACKSON, Jr., Illinois ANDER CRENSHAW, Florida
CAROLYN C. KILPATRICK, Michigan DENNIS R. REHBERG, Montana
ALLEN BOYD, Florida JOHN R. CARTER, Texas
CHAKA FATTAH, Pennsylvania RODNEY ALEXANDER, Louisiana
STEVEN R. ROTHMAN, New Jersey KEN CALVERT, California
SANFORD D. BISHOP, Jr., Georgia JO BONNER, Alabama
MARION BERRY, Arkansas STEVEN C. LaTOURETTE, Ohio
BARBARA LEE, California TOM COLE, Oklahoma
ADAM SCHIFF, California
MICHAEL HONDA, California
BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota
STEVE ISRAEL, New York
TIM RYAN, Ohio
C.A. ``DUTCH'' RUPPERSBERGER,
Maryland
BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky
DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Florida
CIRO RODRIGUEZ, Texas
LINCOLN DAVIS, Tennessee
JOHN T. SALAZAR, Colorado
PATRICK J. MURPHY, Pennsylvania
Beverly Pheto, Clerk and Staff Director
(ii)
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR
2011
----------
TESTIMONY OF INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
VOICES FROM OUR NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES
PUBLIC WITNESSES--REPRESENTATIVES FROM TRIBES AND NATIVE AMERICAN
ADVOCACY GROUPS
Mr. Moran. Good morning to everyone. Thank you for being
here. We are starting precisely at 9:30 and we want to welcome
you to the first public witness hearing of the year. This
morning and again this afternoon, we are going to hear from
many of our partners and friends in the Native American
community, and we want to especially welcome those of you who
traveled from long distances this morning, all the way from the
West Coast and many from Washington State. We do look forward
to your testimony.
I think that this quote from the constitution of the
Iroquois Nation sums up why many of you have traveled here
today and why the subcommittee believes your testimony is so
valuable, and I quote, ``Look and listen for the welfare of the
whole people and have always in view not only the present but
also the coming generations, even those whose faces are yet
beneath the surface of the earth.'' That is much of what we
want to talk about, what we are doing to look forward to future
generations.
As my colleagues on this Subcommittee know, there are
significant challenges facing the Native American community
today including the availability of health services, access to
quality education and combating crime in Indian Country. We
continue to take steps to address these challenges, and we are
proud that last year this Subcommittee under Chairman Norm
Dicks' leadership with support from Mr. Cole as well, so it was
bipartisan, provided $2.6 billion to the Bureau of Indian
Affairs. This was a historic 10 percent increase in funding
over the previous year's levels.
We were pleased to see a significant increase in the Indian
Health Service's budget request this year. The request is $4.4
billion. It is $350 million more than last year's levels.
Now for some important housekeeping items. We are going to
have to remind all witnesses that you only have 5 minutes total
to deliver your statement and to answer questions. We are going
to have to watch the timer closely to ensure that we hear from
everyone on the schedule. When the orange light comes on, you
have only 1 minute left and should then begin to wrap up. When
the red light comes on, your time has expired. We do not like
to do this, but it was either do it this way or only hear from
half the witnesses, and so we figured we are better off giving
everyone an opportunity to be heard even though it is going to
be in a very tight time frame. Now, of course, your entire
prepared statement will be included in the hearing record.
Mr. Moran. Before we get started, Mr. Cole or Mr. Simpson,
did you have any comments?
Mr. Cole. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
For those of you that are regulars at this Committee, you
know I do not normally sit in this seat. This is Mr. Simpson's
seat. I feel a little bit like getting in the car with my dad
right next to me, watching every move I make.
Mr. Moran. We will make sure he does not crash it.
Mr. Simpson. I am going to be in and out at other hearings,
so Mr. Cole is obviously the expert in this area.
Mr. Cole. That is not true. My good friend, Mr. Simpson,
knows at least as much about this as I do, and certainly Mr.
Moran and former Chairman Dicks are wonderful partners in this
work.
Greetings, Mr. Chairman, and thanks to all of you who have
come. This is an area of great interest and importance, I
think, certainly to the country but to me personally. So as a
Native American, as a tribal member, a lot of the problems that
I see in other parts of the country, the same kinds of problems
that exist in my area and certainly with the tribes that I am
privileged to represent, 11 different tribes actually in my
district. So I look forward to the testimony. This is actually
one of the highlights of the year for me, Mr. Chairman, to have
the opportunity to hear so many voices from Indian Country and
a lot of their concerns, their points of view, and frankly
enjoy their wisdom on this.
So it is a great privilege to be here. I look forward to a
productive hearing.
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Cole.
Mr. Simpson, did you have anything you----
Mr. Simpson. No, that is okay.
Mr. Moran. Very good. Mr. Dicks.
Mr. Dicks. Well, I just want to welcome all of my friends
from Washington State over here this morning, and today is a
historic day. We are going to sign the health care legislation
later this morning and so I will not be able to stay for all of
the testimony, but I am going to be here for most of it, and I
just want to say how glad I am that Mr. Moran has now assumed
the chairmanship. He and I have been friends for 40 years. I
hired him to work for Senator Magnuson. It just shows you what
good judgment I have. And also we have the best committee terms
of bipartisanship, and Mike Simpson and Tom Cole are just great
supporters and have worked with us on these issues, and this is
a committee that supports what the tribes are trying to do.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Dicks. You have left me with big
moccasins to fill. You have done wonderful work on behalf of
Native Americans and we really thank you, and we appreciate
your continued intense involvement in these issues. Our first
witness will be Henry Cagey, the chairman of the Lummi Indian
Nation. Chairman Cagey, welcome.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
LUMMI INDIAN NATION
WITNESS
HENRY CAGEY
Mr. Cagey. Good morning, Mr. Chairman. My name is Henry
Cagey, chairman of the Lummi Nation up in Washington State, and
again, I appreciate the time that you have given the tribe to
talk about our issues and some of our challenges.
You know, again, I heard you loud and clear that we will
summarize our testimony. For the record, Mr. Chairman, we are
the third largest tribe in Washington State and we have over
5,200 members in the tribe. We are a fishing tribe, and one of
the challenges that we have is that our salmon are gone. Mr.
Dicks has been working very hard in restoring our salmon and
bringing them back, but again, the challenge that we face as a
tribe is that we are still dependent on fishing. One of the
things that we have been asking the Committee to look at is the
hatchery line item, and again, the hatcheries are one of the
few ways that we can sustain our economy. Hatcheries are one of
the few ways that we can sustain our families and our fishing
lifestyle that we have become accustomed to, and again, that is
really challenging Mr. Dicks's theory on wild stock versus
hatchery stock. I understand that.
But again, the Lummi are still a fishing economy, and
again, our lifestyle has really changed in the last 10 to 20
years and it is really starting to show the effects of the drug
abuse, the high dropout rates with our kids. The parents that
we have are fishermen, and seeing that, we are working very
hard to change the dependency on the fishing, but again, that
is a hard corner to turn. We have a ways to go to address the
next generation of these kids that are coming behind the
current fishermen. So we are working with the Department of
Labor, we are working with Commerce and looking at ways to
sustain our fishing, but again, one of the things that we need
the Committee to look at is the hatchery line item, and again,
we support hatcheries. That is really one of the few areas
where we can do that.
The other areas that we want to hit on, Mr. Chairman, is
the Indian Health Service. Contract health services is a huge
need in the Northwest. Since we do not have hospitals, we are
dependent on contract health service.
The other thing that we are becoming aware of is HIV, HIV
meaning that we are seeing increases in AIDS in our community,
and starting to show some of the effects of that disease coming
at us.
The other part we would ask the Committee to look at is
getting the Bureau of Indian Affairs to recognize this commerce
declaration disaster. So again, this disaster that we are
talking about, Mr. Dicks's office is very familiar with the
disaster, but we want the Bureau of Indian Affairs to recognize
this declaration that was issued in 2008, and for the last 2 or
3 years now we have been punted back and forth between the
Administration and Congress and we need some better guidance on
what we need to do with this declaration that was issued in
2008.
The other area that we want to touch on, Mr. Chairman, is
the Lummi Nation Slater Road Project, and it was a big project
that we are in partnership with Whatcom County, and Whatcom
County is a road that we have come to agreement with to
basically take a look at the flooding area, and we have FEMA
money that has been provided to the project but we need $6
million more to finish the project, and that is something that
we want to get your support as well.
The other part we want to wrap up is the Indian Energy and
Economic Development Workforce Division within the Bureau that
we are working with Mr. Middleton and his folks, and they are
doing a very good job in at least taking some leadership in
economic development. So energy and economic development, Mr.
Middleton's office, has been very supportive of our welding
school and other things that we are creating through his shop.
So again, on behalf of the Lummi Nation, we want to thank
the Committee. We want to thank you for all your hard work you
did last Sunday with the health care bill. We really appreciate
everything that you guys do in supporting Indian issues.
[The statement of Henry Cagey follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Chairman Cagey, and right on the dot.
You did it within 5 minutes.
Does anyone want to make a comment or question?
Mr. Dicks. I would just say we are pleased that on the BIA
hatcheries we have been able to increase the funding by $5
million over the last 2 years. It still starts from a very
small number but we have tried to help increase the funding and
we will continue to look at that.
Mr. Moran. Very good. Thank you, Chairman Cagey.
Next we will hear from Douglas R. Nash, who is the director
of the Institute for Indian Estate Planning and Probate at the
Seattle University School of Law. Mr. Nash.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
INSTITUTE FOR INDIAN ESTATE PLANNING AND PROBATE AT SEATTLE UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF LAW
WITNESS
DOUGLAS R. NASH
Mr. Nash. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Vice Chairman,
members of the Committee. As noted, I am the director of the
Institute for Indian Estate Planning and Probate at Seattle
University School of Law. Our organization establishes projects
that provide estate-planning services to Indian people
nationwide. We provide direct services through those projects
to tribal member clients at no cost, and the statistics and the
results of our work are contained in my written statement. Our
work has proven that effective estate planning reduces the
issue of fractionation on Indian-owned trust lands and reduces
probates and consequently the cost of those probates. They are
done through the Office of Hearings and Appeals within the
Department of the Interior.
Last year I appeared before the Subcommittee to urge
funding for Indian estate planning projects. Last year the
conference committee's report urged the Bureau of Indian
Affairs to provide funding for Indian estate planning projects
through existing budget line items. We tried for months to find
out how that language would be implemented and met with no
success in that regard. This year we note that the Department
has submitted a request for five new positions to implement the
American Indian Probate Reform Act and they propose to do this
through researching cost-effective actions regarding Indian
estate planning and providing public information through the
use of brochures and the use of news media. While we appreciate
the Department's interest and their actions, those proposed
actions will not get wills done, they will not reduce
fractionation and they will not avoid Indian probates.
Consequently, they will not reduce the cost to the Federal
Government for the Bureau's administration of those
fractionated interest and the cost of the probates that
eventually come to pass regarding those fractionated interests.
Through our projects and our experience, we have used
almost every conceivable model to deliver estate-planning
services to Indian people. We funded attorney projects,
projects staffed by attorneys. We have utilized paralegals. We
have the first Indian estate-planning clinic at Seattle
University School of Law. We have stretched dollars so far as
to establish pro bono projects in which retired attorneys
provide estate-planning services at no cost. So we know the
cost-effective models and we know how to stretch available
dollars to provide the services.
We also agree that public information is essential. We have
utilized all of our projects to hold community outreach
meetings to provide information to Indian landowners, to tribal
leaders and to government officials as well. We have a website
that provides information on a regular basis based upon
interest. It is divided amongst attorneys, Indian landowners
and tribal leaders. Over the past 5 years we have reached over
14,000 Indian people with our community outreach efforts.
We have established that effective estate planning services
will reduce fractionation, will reduce probates and
consequently reduces the costs that are associated with those
activities. We would ask again that this Subcommittee look at
the prospect of funding those activities, which are built into
the American Indian Probate Reform Act as is the authorization
for appropriations and the direction of funds through contract
to nonprofits as well as tribes.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would be happy to answer any
questions that you might have for me.
[The statement of Douglas R. Nash follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much, Mr. Nash.
Any questions?
Mr. Dicks. So you are saying this is authorized so it does
not need an earmark, it could just be funded by the Committee?
Mr. Nash. That is correct, sir.
Mr. Dicks. What about a website? Do you have a website?
Mr. Nash. We do, sir, Indianwills.org.
Mr. Dicks. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Nash, I am just curious, do you have any assessment on
if Congress passed the Cobell settlement as negotiated, how
would that impact what you are doing, particularly in the
fractionated area? Would that be a big help dealing with some
of these problems?
Mr. Nash. The provision of funds for the land consolidation
effort would have a big impact. The land consolidation program,
as you know, was part of the American Indian Probate Reform
Act, and the Act was designed actually to have both fronts
active, estate planning and land consolidation activities, and
it has been our assessment for years that those activities, if
funded and active, would eventually reduce fractionation to the
point that it would not be a problem.
Mr. Cole. So I would assume on that ground alone you would
see that the passage of the enactment of the settlement by
Congress is a very good thing?
Mr. Nash. We would, sir.
Mr. Cole. Thank you very much.
Mr. Moran. Very good. I am glad you asked that question.
Thank you, Mr. Cole.
Mr. Simpson. Okay. Thank you very much, Mr. Nash.
Mr. Nash. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Next we will hear from Frances Charles, who is
the chairwoman of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
LOWER ELWHA KLALLAM TRIBE
WITNESS
FRANCES CHARLES
Ms. Charles. Good morning. I thank you for the opportunity
to testify on behalf of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, and I
would like to have it on record that we support the Affiliated
Tribes Northwest of Washington State, the Northwest Portland
Indian Health Board and also the Northwest Indian Fish
Commission testimonies that are going to be heard before you
today. Also, we support the budget request for the National
Congress of American Indians and the Native American Health
Board recommendations as well.
One of the reasons that I am here before you today, in 1992
Congress enacted the Elwha River Ecosystem and the Fishery
Restoration Act, Public Law 102-495. The law mandated the
removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams from the Elwha
River. The government committee itself addressed the public
health and safety environment and economic development issues
that we pertain. Dam removal will occur in 2011 and we thank
you for the continued support for the dam removal project
itself. The law states in section 7, ``Tribal land acquisition
and development. After the Secretary makes a determination to
remove the dams and actually acquires the projects and funds
are appropriated for such conveyance and removal, the Secretary
is authorized to acquire by purchase and hold in trust in
reservation status for their benefit of the Lower Klallam Tribe
lands in Klallam County, Washington, for housing, economy
development and moorage for the tribal commercial and fishing
fleets. (B) There is authorized to be appropriated amount not
to exceed $4 million to carry on land acquisition purposes for
this section.''
Congress authorized $4 million for land purchases for the
tribe to make amends for the damages of tribal fisheries. The
National Park Services acts as a lead agency for the federal
dam removal projects and the mandate did not include addressing
any appropriation for the tribe. It has been 18 years since the
Act was passed, and we are requesting for an additional amount
from the $4 million to $15 million due to the prices of the
economics and not only that, for the cost of the land bases of
the properties around the Klallam County area.
And again, before the dams are removed, we are requesting
some of the resources for the removal of the 200-year-old dams
that have taken away and rendered the impossibilities of our
tribal community who live on the fishing industry in the Port
Angeles area. Of the $15 million requested, the tribe would
immediately use $2 million to purchase and improve 12 acres
centrally located on Highway 101 on the east shore of Lake
Aldwell, therefore gaining a timely opportunity to develop the
land that is contiguous to the project land that the tribe also
seeks to acquire.
Improvements would facilitate conversion of the parcel from
private to public use including road access development,
wastewater treatment, parking, utilities, trail development and
facility upgrade. Acquisition and development on this site
provide the unique setting for a world-class interpretative
center to foster research in educational outreach and showcase
ecosystem restoration, which will follow with the dams itself.
So we ask for your continued support in that area.
Also, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe is requesting funds for
the tribal historic preservation in Port Angeles area that we
are enriched with the cultural resources of significant sites.
We have been involved in protecting and restoring the two
ancient village sites which we had remains of over 300 of our
Klallam ancestors, one of the largest single sites that have
been unearthed west of the Mississippi River. Other sites of
that area also include Ennis Creek, which is undergoing a
cleanup. We also have other areas of the Pish as well as the
dam, removal of sacred sites where we have ceremonial sacred
grounds that we have been entwined with our community members
and our elders have indicated a lot of the stories that are in
some of their books for the youth and for our community itself.
We are also asking for the need to continue with the
support for the National Historic Preservation and the Native
American Grave Protection Act itself in those areas, and we
really emphasize the importance, and we thank you for the
opportunity to testify and that you have passed the health
bill. We also encourage you to put some more money and
resources to the tribal programs. Thank you.
[The statement of Frances Charles follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Very good. Well done, Ms. Charles. Thank you.
Mr. Dicks, did you have anything?
Mr. Dicks. Well, I just want to say, this is going to be a
very exciting year with the contracts going out finally for the
dam removal, and it is a very large project but one that I
think is going to be very beneficial to the tribe.
Ms. Charles. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Mr. Cole. Mr. Simpson. Okay. Very good. Thank
you very much, Ms. Charles.
Ms. Charles. One other comment is, please support our
veterans that are out there. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. That is very good.
Mr. Dicks. We do.
Mr. Moran. Now we will hear from Mr. David Bean, who is a
council member of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. Mr. Bean,
please proceed.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
PUYALLUP TRIBE OF INDIANS
WITNESS
DAVID BEAN
Mr. Bean. Chairman Moran, Vice Chairman Dicks, members of
the committee, thank you for allowing us to be here today to
share our priorities for the fiscal year 2011 budget.
I am here on behalf of our chairman, Herman Dillon, Sr. The
Puyallup Tribe's top priority is addressing the public safety
needs of our community. For the last decade, the Puyallup
Reservation has been in the crossfire of over 30 identified
gangs. In the last 5 years, we have lost several members as a
result of gang violence. Our experience is that they are
targeting younger and younger people every year but also if we
do not stem this wave, we will lose a generation of Puyallup.
The violence and criminal activity has touched virtually every
family on our reservation, so our public safety needs are acute
in all areas from patrol officers, tribal court funding,
investigators and prosecutors.
We presently fund 95 percent of our public safety. The BIA
only funds 5 percent. What is more alarming is that the BIA's
amount of funding we have received in the last decade, we have
not received any increases in the last decade. We understand
that the increases in the BIA law enforcement accounts have
been largely kept within the BIA itself. We urge the Committee
to ensure that law enforcement funding is shared
proportionately between the BIA and tribal law enforcement
agencies.
In responding to growing public safety need, the Puyallup
Tribe fulfilled a vision in planning and development of a new
justice center, a place where we will not only be able to
properly house and rehabilitate offenders but also provide
justice in a holistic and comprehensive way. We are honored to
have received a DOJ ARRA grant for construction of the
detention center portion and will be breaking ground within the
next 90 days. However, we are fearful that the BIA will not be
able to honor its commitment to fund the operations of these
new detention facilities once they come online. We urge the
Committee to fund the operation of these new facilities and
closely monitor the BIA's process in this regard.
The tribe's second priority is the education of our
children. We are deeply disappointed in the BIA's budget for
education. There are no proposed programmatic increases for BIA
or tribally operated schools. Thus, our schools must now do the
same job of educating our children with less funds,
consequently, less staff. It is no wonder numerous tribal
schools are failing the No Child Left Behind standards.
Finally, within the BIA's account, the Puyallup Tribe takes
very seriously the responsibility to protect and manage our
treaty-protected rights and resources. Thus, we fully support
the President's $28 million funding for BIA rights and
protection. What we would ask is that Congress fund this
account to the full $30 million that was provided by Congress
in fiscal year 2010.
I end this testimony with again a statement of thanks for
the President's proposed 8 percent increase in the Indian
Health Service funding. However, the lines at our clinic and
the health status of my elders tell me that this is not enough.
Medical appointments are scheduled 3 months out, and in our
dental clinic, patients wait up to 18 months for a root canal.
Oftentimes they need a tooth extracted before it can be fixed.
The contract care allocation has been significantly inadequate
to meet the needs since 2004. At Puyallup alone, we face a $6
million shortfall. With no IHS hospitals in the Portland area,
all specialty and hospital services are paid for out of
contract health care. This means that children go without
access to optometry and our elders are denied access to
surgeries and specialty care. There is no access to after-hours
urgent care, mammography, colonoscopy or inpatient drug and
alcohol treatment. The tribe can fill some of this gap but we
cannot fill it all. We need your help.
And so in closing, I raise my hands to each and every one
of you and say to you, thank you all for being here today and
allowing us to share our priorities with you.
[The statement of David Bean follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much, David.
Mr. Dicks.
Mr. Dicks. Well, I want you to know that we are working
with the local law enforcement people and we want to work with
the tribe as well on this gang-related issue. This is a very
serious matter. We take it seriously and we want to work with
you on that and all the other issues that you presented.
Mr. Moran. Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. I have several questions. First, thank you for
your testimony. It is quite compelling. I am sorry I am not
familiar with a lot about your particular tribe, but can you
tell me what sources of income independent, if any, of the
Federal Government you have? Do you have any tribal businesses?
Mr. Bean. We do have tribal businesses. We have a tribal
casino. We are in the process of developing a port facility
that was developing several acres of land that was returned to
the Puyallup Tribe in 1988, the historic land claim settlement
agreement that Vice Chairman Dicks was so instrumental in
helping bring to life, so I want to say thank you for that, and
we have a tax base where tax on cigarette sales, fuel sales,
and exploring opportunities to diversify our economy.
Mr. Cole. I am particularly struck, again you mentioned
three areas and you started out with law enforcement, and
obviously that is a matter of concern to everyone and we do
obviously have a trust responsibility there, which I would
suspect we have not met. In terms of law enforcement, I saw a
little bit in your testimony, what is the size of your total
budget and what are the sorts of things you need from the BIA,
number one, and two, jurisdictionally, do you have some
problems, do you feel limitations in terms of the amount of
authority you get to exercise over your own land or people that
commit crimes in your own territory?
Mr. Bean. Yes, there are several limitations. We are
working with local law enforcement jurisdictions to cross-
deputize our officers but have met some obstacles in that
regard. Our public safety budget is about $5.7 million
annually, and again, we find 95 percent of that, and so I would
look for funding to increase our patrol officers. I would look
for funding to help expand our court system as well as
investigators, prosecutors.
Mr. Cole. Last question, just on your health care needs.
Again, what sort of percentage, if any, of that do you fund and
is it contract services? Do you operate your own clinics? How
does your health care structure work?
Mr. Bean. We do operate our own clinic. We contribute about
$6 million annually to our clinic. Its annual budget is about
$21 million. So we fill that gap as best we can but again we
fall short and appreciate any help you can give us towards that
end.
Mr. Cole. I will conclude with this. I just wanted to make
the point, Mr. Chairman, a lot of these tribes, whatever their
economic base, they turn around and invest very heavily back in
their own people, actually making up for the shortfall that we
legally are responsible for, and I suspect we are going to get
case after case after case like this where you have tribes
doing as much as they possibly can and really relieving the
burden of the Federal Government, and these are areas, we did
make a lot of progress last year. Chairman Dicks deserves
credit for that more than any other single individual, but
these are problems that are going to take sustained investment
over many years to really catch up with the backlog. Thank you
for your testimony.
Mr. Bean. Yes, sir.
Mr. Moran. Thanks, Mr. Cole.
Mr. Simpson.
Mr. Simpson. Did you say you were building, were planning
to build a justice center?
Mr. Bean. Yes, sir. We have been planning a justice center
for quite some time and again appreciate having been awarded
ARRA funding for our detention center.
Mr. Simpson. So it is in the planning stage?
Mr. Bean. Yes, sir, and we plan to break ground here in the
next 90 days.
Mr. Simpson. One of the things we put in the language of
the report last year is that the BIA should look at regional
facilities, and the reason I ask this is, Shoshone-Bannock
Tribe, Fort Hall Reservation, just opened a justice center. I
went to their opening in February. They actually built it and
their concern is the same as yours, operating these afterwards,
but the language we put in the report is that the BIA should
look at the possibility of regional facilities. Would this be a
regional facility? Would you be able to use it for that?
Mr. Bean. We could. We would have to expand it. Presently,
it is only 26 beds. There are 25,000 Native Americans within
our service area, and so we definitely--our needs are larger
than what we have presently for this facility.
Mr. Simpson. Do the other tribes in the same region have
the same issues with the justice--when I went out and looked at
the facilities, the buildings, they were, frankly, deplorable.
Do the other tribes have those same problems?
Mr. Bean. Yes. I recently visited. I was east of the
mountains in Spokane and saw a BIA facility, and it was just in
terrible condition, not very safe, as well as our own. I have
been to the Nisqually Tribe. They are developing a beautiful
facility, which is about 20 miles south of Puyallup.
Mr. Simpson. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Thanks, Mr. Simpson.
Thank you, Mr. Bean. Thank you very much.
We will now hear from Mr. Billy Frank, who is the chair of
the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. Mr. Frank.
Mr. Dicks. Welcome, Billy.
Mr. Moran. You can introduce the folks that you are
accompanied with.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
NORTHWEST INDIAN FISHERIES COMMISSION
WITNESSES
BILLY FRANK, JR.
BOB KELLY
MICHAEL GRIM
Mr. Frank. We are handing out our annual report. There is a
map in front there. That tells who we are, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you for having us here, and congratulations, Mr.
Dicks.
Mr. Moran. Mr. Dicks is now responsible for the country's
defense in addition to being responsible for its interior.
Mr. Dicks. Formerly.
Mr. Frank. That is good. I am Billy Frank, chairman of the
Northwest Indian Fish Commission. It is indeed a privilege for
me to be among the distinguished cadre of Northwest tribal
leaders, who are also here, and this is most all of our tribes
right here and the national tribes, you know, we are all here.
Mr. Moran. Would you introduce the gentlemen with you?
Mr. Frank. Yes. This is the new chairman of the Nootsack
Tribe, Bob Kelly, and this is my executive director of
Northwest Indian Fish Commission, Mike Grim, and they are going
to respond here in a minute. Their strong support and
encouragement gives our organization focus and direction and
helps make us successful in protecting and enhancing the treaty
rights.
Now, out of the United States versus Washington, we became
co-managers with the State of Washington in fishery management
and natural resources, and we sit on a 200-mile international
treaty Pacific Salmon Management Council from Mexico to Alaska.
We sit on the international treaty now and for the last 35, 40
years and we are fishery managers. The tribes are on every one
of these watersheds along the Pacific Coast and inside Puget
Sound, and the State of Washington, they are on course. They
are putting the watersheds back together. We work with the
Puget Sound Partnership. We work with the Federal Government
and co-management with the State of Washington, and we are
managers. Michael.
Mr. Grim. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As you will see from our
testimony, the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, the 20
tribes that make up the Commission make up Puget Sound as well
as the coast. If you look to your far left on the page, you
will see our coastal tribes as well as our Puget Sound tribes.
We have a number of Acts that all of our 20 tribes are in the
process of implementing. In many of those cases, we went
through the long process of planning for recovery on a number
of species and we are not into implementation. The main and
most important Act that we face is the Endangered Species Act,
and we have a number of listings. We have Puget Sound Chinook,
Lake Ozette sockeye and steelhead is not far away.
What we are starting to see as we move forward into
implementation with our 20 tribes is that we are running into
the harsh reality that there are two different standards that
we are addressing here as we look at achieving our goals and
objectives in the implementation of these plans that we have.
We have plans in every basis for our Chinook species. There is
a different stock relative to every river if you look at the
map. When we talk about the standards, the tribal standard that
we equate with the trust responsibility that the agencies and
the Federal Government have in terms of protecting and
restoring these treaty rights is somewhere up here. You have
got harvestable numbers versus a different standard with the
Act, which is something more attune to museum pieces, and we
have this large gap that we have identified.
Now, with every piece of funding that we can get our hands
on, our member tribes, we are collaborating as much as
possible. There are a couple of different ways we could go. We
could fight like hell through the courts or we could choose the
collaborative route and try to work with our local governments.
We have local governments in each one of these basins. We work
very closely with the state government and the agencies as well
as we try to implement these Acts but the main message as you
read through our testimony is that we have two different
standards that we are trying to achieve here and we need your
help in terms of helping us achieve the standard that means the
most for us, which is harvestable numbers and not museum
pieces.
Mr. Moran. Thank you. Very good.
Mr. Kelly.
Mr. Kelly. I see we are pretty short on time so just allow
me just a couple of seconds to wrap up. First of all, I just
wanted to recognize how important the actions of this Committee
were last year to address the needs that we identified in the
BIA rights protection. That was huge. One of our priorities
this year is to try to maintain those gains that you were able
to provide. The President's budget came up short. There was a
10 percent reduction, or 10 percent of those gains were not
included in the President's budget request for the western
Washington fish management and the Washington State timber,
fish and wildlife program and so we want to see those restored.
In addition, we also want to note that we continue to have more
needs than this Committee was able to address last year but I
do not want to diminish the significance of what you did do.
We also, as Mr. Dicks pointed out, we also have an interest
in continuing increase in fish hatchery maintenance. You have
done a tremendous job getting that up but again we have
additional maintenance needs.
Then lastly, EPA, I wanted to make note that we very much
support what we see in the President's budget there for the
Indian GAP program. This new multimedia tribal implementation
grant program is huge to us. That is going to go a long way to
addressing our partnership with EPA with tribal environmental
programs. And we support increasing the Puget Sound back to the
$50 million mark that this Committee was able to get in last
year.
Mr. Moran. Very good. Mr. Dicks.
Mr. Dicks. You were very good on that, and you also want to
see the Legacy Roads and Trails restored to its level too,
which will also help us on the habitat.
Mr. Moran. Mr. Frank.
Mr. Frank. Mr. Chairman, we have Ed Johnstone from the
Quinault tribe. He is our treasurer, so he just has to look
good.
[The statement of Billy Frank, Jr., follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. We will do what we can, particularly for the
salmon harvest. Thank you all very much.
Mr. Dicks. Thank you, Billy. Good job.
Mr. Moran. Mr. Cole, we are out of time so----
Mr. Cole. Just one quick question. I am always amazed at
the diversity of Indian Country, and I have learned more about
fisheries from Mr. Dicks. We do not have a lot of those in
Oklahoma for our tribes. That has never been a major source of
income or livelihood. I am just curious, could you tell me how
many Native Americans are involved in this industry amongst the
20 tribes that are in the Commission? How big an economic
impact is this activity?
Mr. Johnstone. The three tribes are the Lummi, the Makah
and the Quinault. Just using those as an example, we have
probably between 300 and 400 at Quinault and I would say the
other tribes also. I would say the Quinault and the Lummi--
Henry is here. He has probably got 400 to 500. We have 300 to
400 at Quinault, and I would say at Makah you would easily have
400 to 500.
Mr. Cole. So these are really substantial parts of the
local economy?
Mr. Johnstone. Definitely.
Mr. Grim. It supports not only their economy but also their
culture, and the local economy.
Mr. Dicks. And there is a lot of recreational fishing
associated with this too. I mean, there is both the commercial
side of this and the recreational, and a lot of the work that
we do helps both.
Mr. Cole. And I assume that under treaties that you have
got rights obviously that nobody else has in terms of the
amounts you are able to harvest, the season, what have you.
Mr. Frank. It is very unique, Mr. Cole. We are the only
treaty tribes along the Pacific Coast and throughout all of the
Nation, and I mean real comprehensive fishery management
programs, shellfish, hunting, all of that, gathering,
harvesters and gatherers.
Mr. Cole. I will not take the Committee's time, but I would
like to learn more about it sometime. It is very different than
the tribes I represent.
Mr. Moran. Thank you, and Chairman Cagey of the Lummi
Nation indicated it had been 700 fishers supporting 3,000
people, now it is down to 500 in just a decade, so there are
problems that are consistently felt across the board.
Our next speaker will be Ralph Forquera. He is the
executive director of the Seattle Indian Health Board. Mr.
Forquera.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
SEATTLE INDIAN HEALTH BOARD
WITNESS
RALPH FORQUERA
Mr. Forquera. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning. My name is Ralph Forquera. I am the executive
director of the Seattle Indian Health Board. The Seattle Indian
Health Board is an urban Indian health program located in
Seattle. We are celebrating our 40th anniversary this year, so
I think we are the oldest and probably one of the larger Indian
urban health programs in the country.
I would first like to thank the Committee for the generous
contribution that they made last year to the urban Indian
health program. An additional $5 million was added to our
budget, which meant that we received almost $7 million in
increase for the urban program, which is the largest single
increase in the history of the program, and I just wanted to
acknowledge the great work that you guys are able to do, and I
know that Mr. Dicks was very involved in that process and we
really appreciate it.
I have three items that I would like to speak to regarding
the urban Indian health programs. One is sexual violence
against women. In a meeting that the President held with the
tribes in November of last year, one of the items that was
brought up repeatedly is the fact that there seems to be an
epidemic of sexual violence against Indian women on
reservations. We recently looked at a study called the National
Study of Family Growth, which is a CDC-sanctioned study. It is
the first time that Indians have ever been looked at in this
particular database, and we found remarkable evidence of sexual
violence among Indian women living in cities also. So one of
the recommendations I would like to ask is that the Committee
consider additional funding to look more specifically at this
particular issue among the Indian population and hopefully
begin to build partnerships in order to be able to address that
particular issue.
The second item that I would like to mention is electronic
health records for the urban Indian health programs. Last year
the Congress appropriated $85 million to the Indian Health
Service for technology and electronic health records through
the ARRA fund. The urban Indian health programs were not
considered eligible for any of those dollars so we received no
financing for electronic health records from that particular
fund. This year, even with the increase that was provided for
the urban Indian health programs, the Indian Health Service
only set aside $95,000 to support technology, and that was
primarily to train people in their RPMS system, their
electronic health records system, that many of us do not
operate, primarily because of the kinds of operations that we
have. We have a need for a much broader array of technologies
than the Indian Health Service's system has available to it, so
I would like to request that the Committee consider about a $2
million appropriation for advances in the non-RPMS technology
for the urban Indian programs.
And finally, Mr. Moran, you mentioned earlier the
importance of looking at especially Indian youth. This is one
of the areas that we have been working on. I also direct the
Urban Indian Health Institute, which is a small research center
that we created back in 2000 to basically begin to look at
urban Indian health issues. The Indian Health Service has never
really spent a lot of time looking at urban Indians and so my
organization decided that we would try to address that
particular issue. One of the areas that we have been most
concerned about is the area of youth issues. We know that there
are a number of youth that are at high risk. We also know that
there are a number of urban Indian youth that have for a
variety of reasons succeeded very well, but we do not know what
are the causative factors of those youth. So we started working
with Dr. Robert Blum at the Johns Hopkins University, who has
done the last study on Indian youth back in 1988, so it is
quite old, and there were no urban Indians that were looked at
at the time. But working with Dr. Blum, we started talking
about trying to develop a study specifically to look at the
urban Indian communities, working through the network of urban
Indian programs around the country. We estimate that this will
be about a 3-year project. It will take somewhere around $1
million to $1.5 million to do based on what our estimates are
for that particular project. And we had been looking for
resources within the bureaucracy itself, within DHHS and the
Indian Health Service and have not really been able to pull
anything together, so I thought that this year I would try and
make a request of the Committee itself to see if there might be
some interest in doing that particular work.
We want to congratulate you on the passage of the health
reform bill and we think that that will have a profound effect
on the urban Indian programs over time, but we think it is
going to take time to get there, and what we are looking for is
some bridge opportunities in order to be able to build that
capacity. Thank you very much.
[The statement of Ralph Forquera follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much, Mr. Forquera.
Mr. Dicks. We appreciate your being here and your
leadership on these issues, and we are glad we were able to
keep this program alive a few years ago, and now it is back in
the President's budget, which is very positive. Thank you.
Mr. Forquera. It was very reassuring for us to get that
kind of an increase. I mean, it was just finally somebody kind
of patted us on the back for the work that we have been trying
to do for a long time.
Mr. Moran. Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. Yes, I have a couple questions. First, I wanted
to follow up on this violence to women off the reservation. We
normally attribute it on the reservation, a big part of it
obviously the absence of law enforcement. One would suspect
that would be less the case in urban centers that are outside
of reservations. Do you have any particular reason?
Mr. Forquera. We do not, and that is one of the reasons why
we want to look at this. We think some of it may be--you talked
about earlier the gang issue and especially young women being
affected by early gang involvement and gang activity in cities.
But we really do not know, and that is one of the things that
we need to look at. We were quite surprised at the extent of
the violence. It was a very small cohort so it was not a large
group, so you would not have expected the intensity of the
responses that we got on that particular issue, so it must be a
major issue and we would like to look more at what are some of
those causative factors and see if there are interventions that
we can effect.
Mr. Cole. A couple other quick questions. Just educate me,
how many--number one, are you comparable to--we have Indian
health facilities off reservations or outside areas of historic
jurisdiction, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, enormously important to
us. Is that basically the scope of your operations? Well, how
many patients do you see?
Mr. Forquera. It depends. We see about 7,000 or 8,000
Indian people a year in our program. It is quite a
comprehensive program because we have a fairly sizable clinic,
very similar to, actually probably closer to Tulsa than
Oklahoma City because Oklahoma City has a much larger program.
Our program is fairly similar to the Tulsa program. We have a
couple of unique characteristics. We have a family practice
residency program, for example, where we actually train Indian
docs on site, and then we have this research institution. We
also manage Thunderbird Treatment Center, which is a
residential drug and alcohol treatment program, and that is in
the process of a transition right now too because it was
primarily state funded in Washington State and the state has
really had some serious financial problems in the last couple
of years, so we are seeing some erosion in that area but it has
not quite impacted us as much as it has some of the other
communities.
Mr. Cole. I assume again, like Oklahoma City and Tulsa,
that any tribal members eligible to use the facility or
restricting certain tribes, or what have you?
Mr. Forquera. Yes, we actually serve members from about 250
Indian tribes from around the United States, plus we serve non-
federally recognized Indians also so state-recognized Indians
and Indians that are no longer affiliated with a tribe. So we
have a number of state-recognized tribal people representing
our service population as well as a lot of descendants of
people that were displaced as a result of the relocation
programs, a number of people that cannot link back to their
home reservations or their home tribes anymore but yet we can
follow their heritage by going back through linear kinds of
things. We work with the Mormon Church, we work with the census
and a whole variety of different places to try to get
information for people.
Mr. Cole. Well, thanks for what you do. This is a huge
problem, Mr. Chairman, that we have got a lot of natives a long
way away from their tribes, a long way away from their historic
areas. They still have frankly the same trust rights and same
negotiated privileges as those back on a reservation or in an
area of historic jurisdiction, so making these kinds of
services available in urban areas is absolutely critical.
Mr. Forquera. Thank you very much.
Mr. Cole. Thanks for the work you do.
Mr. Moran. Thank you. Would it not be fair to say that
nearly all of your clientele would have incomes below $44,000
for a single person, $88,000 for a family of four?
Mr. Forquera. About 86 percent of our clients are below 100
percent of poverty, so whatever the standard is for 100 percent
of poverty. So it is a very, very large----
Mr. Moran. So they would qualify for 100 percent subsidy?
Mr. Forquera. The majority of them would, yes.
Mr. Moran. And would not be paying anything for the health
care that will now be made available to them from the health
care bill that was signed Sunday.
Mr. Forquera. That is correct.
Mr. Moran. They can go to an insurance company, they can
get their insurance policy. The Federal Government will pay 100
percent for 86 percent of them. I suspect it will provide a
subsidy for 100 percent because the subsidy extends up to 400
percent of poverty.
Mr. Forquera. That should cover a significant number of our
population.
Mr. Moran. Virtually all the clientele that you serve, so
it will have a dramatic impact on the quality and accessibility
of health care.
Mr. Forquera. Absolutely, and I think over the course of
the next 4 or 5 years as all this gets rolled out, we will be
able to really see the impact of that as well as better define
the structures and the systems that we need to have in place
that we are going to be able to care for them.
Mr. Moran. Well, there will be financial incentive for
insurance companies to do that since the government will be
paying them directly. Thank you very much, Mr. Forquera.
Mr. Forquera. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Joseph Pavel, the vice chair of the Skokomish
Indian Tribe. Thank you for coming.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
SKOKOMISH INDIAN TRIBE
WITNESS
JOSEPH PAVEL
Mr. Pavel. Joseph Pavel, Skokomish Tribe. Thank you for
this opportunity. Chairman Moran, Congressman Dicks, good to
see you again, members of the committee. I am Joseph Pavel and
I am here on behalf of the Skokomish people, on behalf of our
community and the great needs that we have. Our community is
certainly at high risk, at great risk. Public safety is a big
issue for us. We are a small rural community, Hood Canal in
western Washington, not immune from any of the other problems
that you have heard spoken of this morning.
Just this last holiday season, we had two young men die of
drug abuse situations. This is something that our community is
not willing to tolerate anymore. They have directed us to
counsel the staff to take action, to take steps to remedy this
situation. This is something that the community has been very
sincere about for many, many years. When I was first on the
tribal council in the early 1980s, we had no capacity to
address these issues. We started out with basically hiring a
tough guy half time, gave him a shirt, walking up and down the
reservation half time. I think we were able to fund him out of
a domestic violence community outreach grant. And we have been
struggling to build our law enforcement, our judicial system by
cobbling together whatever we could. We do not receive any BIA
enforcement dollars. You know, we are a small tribe, formally a
280, which is a jurisdictional situation. We have since been
endorsed by the state and county or rescind jurisdiction back
to the tribe. The Department of Interior has not recognized
that as yet because we do not have the capacity to maintain law
enforcement and they refuse to provide that capacity to the
tribe.
So the Bureau of Indian Affairs within that culture, that
society is pervasive. I believe this was one of the original
roles, policing tribal people, tribal reservations. It is an
area of jurisdiction that they continue to hold tight-fisted to
their own selves. They need to be directed to allow for tribal
programs to develop, to be enhanced, to provide the capacity
for tribes to enforce their own laws and codes in our own
communities. We have been very successful at putting together
with whatever resources we could find our public safety
program. We have a very, I believe, appropriate set of codes
and ordinances. Certainly they need to be enhanced, continued
to work on. We are a member of an intertribal court system that
struggles to be funded. The Bureau of Indian Affairs does not
support them. They get nominal funding. They have received no
increases from any of the recent upgrades in the Bureau law
enforcement judicial appropriations. The Bureau needs to be
directed to be forthcoming with those dollars.
Our people are in a crisis. We are in the process of
developing a multi-pronged approach to deal with these issues.
Certainly prevention is huge on the list. I think a community
that feels safe and secure that they can be comfortable in
their own homes, not the victim of crime, not have to be
fearful. Every one of our folks is a victim, not only those
that are a direct victim of a crime or in this situation of
drug use and abuse or dealing it but every single one of our
members, every one of our families is immediately affected just
tremendously right to the core of our families, our community
and our culture, and this is something that we have been
directed to address and we are very sincere and we will work
diligently towards that effort. We ask for the Committee's
support in that. We ask that the Bureau be forthcoming with
providing that support capacity for tribes, Skokomish Tribe as
well, particularly who I am here to speak for but I am sure we
are not unique in that situation across the country, that we
need to get over this area of distrust, of turf. Tribal courts,
tribal law enforcement are often not very well trusted. I think
in our area, we have been able to address those issues. We have
support for the law enforcement community in our area and we
have a high standard.
[The statement of Joseph Pavel follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much, Vice Chair Pavel. I do see
that crime rate is five times the national average and half of
the members of the tribe have been victims of crime, many of
them violent crime. It is a very difficult situation and I am
glad you brought it to our attention.
Mr. Dicks.
Mr. Dicks. Has the BIA been out on the reservation?
Mr. Pavel. No.
Mr. Dicks. Have you invited them to come out there?
Mr. Pavel. No, we have not.
Mr. Dicks. Do you think that might be a useful idea to have
them come out?
Mr. Pavel. Certainly.
Mr. Dicks. We could ask somebody to come out. I would be
glad to be there myself to have a discussion. I think we need
to take some extraordinary steps here, so I would appreciate it
if you would get in contact with me so that we can figure out
what to do about this.
Mr. Moran. It sounds like they need to assign more BIA
officers.
Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. No questions.
Mr. Moran. Mr. Simpson.
Mr. Simpson. No questions.
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much, Mr. Pavel.
Our next speaker will be Ray Peters. He is the tribal
administrator of the Squaxin Island Tribe. Mr. Peters.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
SQUAXIN ISLAND TRIBE
WITNESSES
PETE KRUGER
RAY PETERS
Mr. Kruger. Good morning, distinguished members of the
Committee. I am Pete Kruger, secretary of the Squaxin Island
Tribe. Congratulations, Chairman Moran, on your recent
appointment. On behalf of Squaxin, I offer the support of our
people to assist you and your staff in anything that we can.
Mr. Moran. Thank you. What is the story with Mr. Peters?
Mr. Dicks. He is right here.
Mr. Moran. Oh, there we go. Okay. Good. So you are
accompanied by Mr. Peters?
Mr. Kruger. Yes.
Mr. Moran. Very good.
Mr. Kruger. Thank you for inviting the Squaxin Island Tribe
to provide testimony on our 2011 funding request. I would like
to introduce Mr. Ray Peters, executive director, also a tribal
member, who will present our request to you today. Thank you
very much.
Mr. Moran. Very good. Thank you, Mr. Kruger.
Mr. Peters. It is my honor on behalf of the Squaxin tribal
leadership and the tribal members to give this testimony to
you. I want to go on record by saying that the regional
requested recommendations of the Northwest Portland Area Indian
Health Board, Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians and
Northwest Indian Fish Commission that the Squaxin Island people
fully support their request.
The first request that I would like to talk about is a
request to the Northwest Indian Treatment center. It is a
regional facility. It is very effective. It is an accredited
facility through CARF. It is recognized. It is certified by the
State of Washington Department of Health. We have been a
treatment facility since 1993, and have served an average of
180 Native Americans per year. With the diminishing resources
at the state level and increasing access problems we will face,
this will decrease our funding for beds. This increase in the
base funding will be the first increase since the original 1993
Congressional set-aside. The co-occurring treatment addresses
the historic trauma, specifically post-traumatic stress
disorder, by increasing a grief process that takes into account
a historical context. Patients see their addictions and
problems in their community in a historical context, which in
itself can be healing and inspires the recovery to be active
participants in the healing back home. I have seen as a tribal
administrator firsthand a tribal member who has been affected
by these addictions, see people come out of the Northwest
Indian Treatment Residential Program and be active participants
in our community healing and go on to get educations, be an
inspiration to their children, be inspirations and become
leaders of the tribe. It is paramount that our base funding is
increased. Due to the funding that we seek and have leverage
from the State of Washington, it is important that we get some
increase in that area.
As well as you have heard from other tribes, public safety
is a big concern for the Squaxin people. Our reservation is
also on the mainland and our island in the waterways, our tree
rights, shellfish, we are the people of the water, and then our
hunting lands are nearly 3 hours away. That poses some
challenges. The lack of enforcement in officers, we have become
a target of those peddlers of poison and methamphetamine that
also affect our community.
We are one of the first tribes to start a tribal historic
preservation office and we appreciate the funding that we
received from the Federal Government, but as other tribes have
gotten their offices up and going, that funding has decreased
and so while it is good that other tribes are starting their
office, we will receive nearly 150 requests per year for land
projects within our lands that require our oversight and
research, and the funding does not even cover a part-time
archaeologist or an assistant to be able to handle the
administrative paperwork for that. We do appreciate the
increase that has been shown, but due to the number of offices
that are being started up, it actually has become a decrease in
our overall annual funding.
As well, we request that the final payment to the Puget
Sound regional shellfish settlement be fulfilled, and we are
responsible for co-managing that resource and want to enhance
those areas.
[The statement of Pete Kruger follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Peters, and thank you, Council
Member Kruger.
Mr. Dicks.
Mr. Dicks. Good to see you guys. We will certainly work
with you on these issues.
Mr. Cole. I have just a quick question if I may, again just
educational for me. I noticed just looking at your testimony
you are the largest employer in your local area. Can you tell
me what your economic base is, what your activity is, how you
generate your own income?
Mr. Peters. Yes. We have Sala Seafoods Company, where we
grow oysters, sell shellfish, which we buy from our tribal
harvesters, as well as salmon, and then we sell that, so we
have Sala Seafoods, and we have Little Creek Casino and Resort.
We also run two trading posts, convenience stores, and then
also run Skookum Creek Tobacco Company.
Mr. Cole. And roughly how many employees and what is the
breakdown between tribal and non-tribal?
Mr. Peters. In the government, we have about 150 full-time
employees. In the enterprise, Island Enterprise Inc., we have
just about 90, and then at the casino resort, which we have 200
rooms, as well we have just under 1,000.
Mr. Cole. And again, how many native, how many non-native?
Mr. Peters. We have about 30 percent of our tribal
population is employed and so the other 70 percent is residents
of Mason County.
Mr. Cole. So a pretty significant contributor obviously to
non-natives?
Mr. Peters. Yes.
Mr. Cole. So they are lucky to have you there.
Mr. Peters. Yes. Mason County is a very depressed county.
Mr. Cole. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Thanks, Mr. Cole. Mr. Simpson. Okay. Thanks very
much, both of you.
We will next hear from Michael Finley, the chair of the
Confederate Tribes of the Colville Reservation. Mr. Finley.
Thank you all very much for coming. Thanks for making the long
trip. We appreciate your testimony.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF COLVILLE RESERVATION
WITNESS
MICHAEL FINLEY
Mr. Finley. Chairman Moran, Ranking Member Simpson, it is
an honor to be here today. My name is Michael Finley. I am the
chairman of the Confederate Tribes of the Colville Reservation
in northeast Washington State. You have my written testimony,
and I wanted to highlight a few of those areas here today.
The challenges that Indian tribes face today in
constructing IHS facilities in Indian Country is difficult
because of the existing programs administered through IHS
presently. These issues are of great importance to us and my
tribe, and IHS facility dollars have not been traditionally
made available to tribes. Our tribe is a large tribe in a rural
area, as I stated, in northeast Washington State. We are 1.4
million acres. We have a large high-service population of
around 5,000. We have been operating out of dilapidated
buildings for quite a few years until about 5 years ago we had
new facilities constructed at three different locations on our
reservation. We had tried using the existing programs to fund
the construction of the Nespelem facility and we were on the
priority list for several years but for whatever reason we were
never pushed to the top of that list, and so we were forced to
deal with the situation by paying for a majority of the
construction with our own tribal dollars. And so presently we
have the largest community within the boundaries of our
reservation being Omak, Washington, where we are trying to look
at ways, funding options, funding sources to build a facility
in Omak. The problem with building our own facility is it does
not always come with adequate funds or staff to equip the
facility, so now we are faced with new buildings but we do not
have adequate staff or equipment to put in the buildings.
So the Omak area that I mentioned just a minute ago, we are
looking at the joint venture program to try to get a new
building constructed but unfortunately with the downturn in the
timber market, we have taken huge cuts on our tribal revenues.
Historically we have been a timber resources tribe and we were
forced to close two mills in the Omak district that employed
just under 500 people, and that is not counting the contractors
who brought the product to the mill, and so the actual impacts
are far more reaching than just the jobs at the mill
themselves.
So our recommendation is to include $40 million to the
Small Ambulatory Program for fiscal year 2011. We would also
like IHS to provide 50 percent of the staffing costs for
facilities in awarding grants as well as IHS to award up to $5
million for the construction portion of grants in instances
where a facility will serve an unusually high user population,
that being Omak since it is the largest community of our tribal
members within our boundaries and where unique circumstances
exist as well.
I appreciate the opportunity to be here today before you
and I stand for any questions you may have.
[The statement of Michael Finley follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thanks very much, Mr. Finley.
Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. Thank you. Just again educational for me, how
many tribal members, how many tribes, actually, collected
together and how many members?
Mr. Finley. We have just under 9,400 members. We have 12
aboriginal distinct tribes that make up our confederacy, and as
I stated, we have a land base of 1.4 million acres.
Mr. Cole. You mentioned the importance of timber obviously
and how much that has hurt given what has happened in that
industry. What are the other sources of income that the tribes
have? What are their enterprises they operate?
Mr. Finley. Well, we have several enterprises. We do have
casinos, and since we are one of the largest tribes in the
Pacific Northwest, we do have a rather generous compact with
the State of Washington, but at the same time we are off the
beaten path. We are in probably the most rural areas in
Washington.
Mr. Cole. It is a business where location is everything.
Mr. Finley. It is. We are not along a major corridor. We
are not along an interstate. We are along a state highway, but
again, you know, it is not a highway that is well traveled in
comparison to some of the other ones such as the I-5 corridor,
the I-90 in Washington State.
Mr. Cole. Do you have any sort of statistics on what the
unemployment rate would be?
Mr. Finley. It is over 50 percent.
Mr. Cole. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Moran. Thank you. Mr. Simpson.
I think for next year it might be helpful to have a map to
see where exactly the tribes are located.
Mr. Finley. It is up there, dead center of Washington
State. You see the largest tribe there in the middle? That is
us.
Mr. Moran. Thank you. That prior map that we had with the
inlets and the bay, that was helpful, and I appreciate it.
Thank you, Mr. Finley.
Next we will hear from Roger Trudell, who is the chair of
the Santee Sioux Tribe.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
SANTEE SIOUX TRIBE
WITNESSES
ROGER TRUDELL
PATRICIA MARKS
Mr. Trudell. Good morning, Chairman Moran and Committee
members. I would like to thank you for the opportunity to be
here and present, and this is Patty Marks, our attorney at
large and our right-hand person out here in this area. I am
chairman of the Santee Sioux Nation, which is located in
northeastern Nebraska. We are in northeast Nebraska as we were
removed from the State of Minnesota in the 1860s. Our tribe was
the recipient of the largest mass execution in this country's
history. Thirty-eight members of our tribe were hung in public
at Mankato, Minnesota, December 26, 1862. Later after that, two
more were kidnapped from Canada and hung publicly again, so 40
in all. We are currently located in Nebraska and we have made a
few stops before there. Our people were interred at Fort
Snelling, which is close to Minneapolis-St. Paul area, removed
to Crow Creek in South Dakota, then later relocated to
Nebraska, where our home is now.
We have approximately 4,000-some members on our roll
dispersed throughout the 50 states. How many total Santee Sioux
are there? Nobody knows. A lot of them were absorbed by other
tribes and currently in Canada.
Today I am specifically here to address the water needs on
our reservation. Our population far exceeds the ability to put
wells in anymore and the water that is available for drinking
is not really potable, as I call it. They have other levels in
here that Indian Health Service states the levels of our water
do not meet human consumption. The approximate cost of a
reservation-wide water system which would include all persons,
tribal and non-tribal residing within boundaries of our
reservation, approximately $21 million.
The majority of our people are below the poverty level. We
do employ through contracting of federal programs. We employ
somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 people. We also have some
private industry or private commercial activities that employ
probably another 50 people or more, probably greater. We have a
class II casino operation that employs 30-some people. They
have a C store which is located on the reservation. It is open
24 hours a day. That employs anywhere from two to three people
a shift. And we have a C store located in South Yankton, which
is across the bridge from Yankton, South Dakota, and that is
also a 24-hour operation that employs two to three people per
shift also. The majority of those people at Yankton are non-
tribal members. We do employ other tribal members that reside
in the town of Yankton and some non-Indian people at that
facility. We also have a business called Santee Financial
Services, which is a lending institution, and that is serviced
from the reservation.
Again, the water that we have, the studies have been going
on actually since the 1960s. I see 1997 and 2004 in here. They
have gone on longer than that. Indoor water was brought to our
reservation in the early 1960s. Many of the people did not even
have wells in the 1960s. Now the wells that we do have are all
going bad. A lot of this is created by the Pick-Sloan Act. We
are between the Fort Randall Dam and Gavins Point Dam, and we
do have some visual aids there to show the siltation that is
going on in the Missouri River caused by the Lewis and Clark
Dam on the Missouri River, and we are on the tail waters of
that. The siltation has caused a rising water table level and
through that process, although you would think it would enhance
our water sources, it is actually a detriment to it because it
creates a lot of nitrates and other chemicals that are used in
agriculture to filtrate into the
wells and into the water system. That would cost approximately
$21 million. We also have a request to assist people with
drinking water until that can be accomplished.
So I thank you for your time this morning.
[The statement of Roger Trudell follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thanks very much, Mr. Trudell. Who is your
Member of Congress? Who represents you in the Congress?
Mr. Trudell. Adrian Smith is my representative from our 3rd
district in Nebraska.
Mr. Moran. Adrian Smith.
Mr. Trudell. I do not know him either. I do not think
anybody in our part of Nebraska knows him.
Mr. Moran. Do you know him? Is there a--oh, you do?
Mr. Cole. As a matter of fact, it is a big district. That
is a 75,000-square-mile Congressional district.
Mr. Moran. I did not know he was a colleague. Now I am
embarrassed. I did not realize. Okay. I have not heard of him
before.
Mr. Cole, do you have questions?
Mr. Cole. Yes, just a couple quick questions. You mentioned
you had a class I facility. Is that all Nebraska allows? They
do not have class III gaming?
Mr. Trudell. Nebraska does not have class III gaming.
Mr. Cole. This is a pretty dramatic picture. The siltation
here is just amazing. Are there any state efforts for help?
Mr. Trudell. There are no state efforts. The state did come
in and assist us when the wells that were our primary source
for our main village of Santee were flooded. The state did come
in and assist us with rebuilding those wells and providing
drinking water for a period of time.
Mr. Cole. You mentioned you had 4,000 or so members. How
many actually reside on the reservation and what is the size of
the reservation?
Mr. Trudell. Well, our reservation is 12 by 17 miles. We
own approximately 27,000 of those acres in there. We provide
service. We have 2,300 active files in our health facility.
Mr. Cole. Are any of the neighboring communities, non-
tribal communities, affected with a water situation similar to
yours?
Mr. Trudell. Nibrara and Center and of course the
communities east of us are already on rural water systems.
Mr. Cole. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Cole.
Ms. Marks. May I make one----
Mr. Moran. Please.
Ms. Marks. We had a meeting with the Indian Health Service
2 weeks ago. One of the concerns is that this water clearly
does not meet level II of the Clean Drinking Water Act. Indian
Health Service says because they cannot monitor the tribal
system every day, they believe that on various occasions, more
numerous than we would like to talk about, it does not meet
level I. We have mothers mixing baby formula with water that
does not meet level I. We have people who literally cannot
afford to buy it so they are adding sugary mixes, Kool-Aid,
whatever we can, to kill the taste. This water smells. I cannot
get it from my mouth to my nose.
This has been a ping pong ball. The Bureau of Reclamation
sends us back to the Indian Health Service who sends us over to
Interior who sends us back over here. We have got to solve this
problem. We cannot have newborn infants drinking contaminated
water. That is why we put the request in for the $200,000 just
to buy water for those young mothers until we can get this
problem fixed. It is a serious mess.
Mr. Cole. May I ask an additional question, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Moran. Please, go ahead.
Mr. Cole. You know, when you talk to BIA, what do they tell
you in terms of what is available----
Ms. Marks. Go to Reclamation or Indian Health.
Mr. Cole. And what do they tell you?
Ms. Marks. Indian Health says we will try to get you on the
priority list. Reclamation says all of our monies come through
earmarked for specific projects.
Mr. Cole. Does anybody acknowledge that the Federal
Government has an obligation to provide you water on a
reservation?
Ms. Marks. That is why quite frankly I recommended to the
chairman that he come here and get you in the mix of people
being talked to about this issue because no one seems to want
to have this squarely within their box. Reclamation says well,
we build big huge water systems. Indian Health Service says we
build wells. Bureau of Indian Affairs says we do not deal with
water at all. It is one of those things where there is no
question the authorization exists but for someone to step up
and say this is our agency's responsibility and we will help
you is what we are missing.
Mr. Moran. Well, frankly, it is difficult to do much
without the person who represents you advocating for you
because there are members who advocate for tribes within their
district. Mr. Cole does that extremely well.
Ms. Marks. And Mr. Smith is publicly in support of this
project.
Mr. Moran. Does Senator Nelson get involved at all?
Ms. Marks. Senator Nelson is weighing in now. Senator
Johanns has been very upfront for a while. Part of the issue
was, we kept hoping, BOR started a study of this water back in
2004. They never finished it. The administration changed. Mr.
Osborne, who was a former member of this fine body, retired,
and since then no one is picking up the ball. We certainly are
going to encourage as much as we can with our delegation but I
would state for the record, it is my belief that this is a
trust responsibility area. It is squarely on Indian Health
Service's shoulders, and this Committee has oversight over
Indian Health Service.
Mr. Cole. You make a very good point. It is very clearly a
trust responsibility to provide water on a reservation.
Ms. Marks. You cannot drink it. You cannot bathe. You
cannot wash dishes. You cannot cook.
Mr. Cole. So that is a failure of the----
Ms. Marks. When you boil the water and it still comes up
unsafe, there is a problem here we have to figure an answer to.
Mr. Moran. Well, good for you for bringing it to our
attention. I am not sure what we are going to be able to do. I
wish Mr. Osborne was still here representing you.
Mr. Cole. Mr. Chairman, speaking for somebody that is an
ardent OU Sooner fan, we are glad he is back in Nebraska but we
do not wish him quite the success that he used to have.
Mr. Moran. It is troubling. The Sioux Nation was one of the
greatest, most heroic, tribes and that is basically why you
have suffered and been abused in such an extreme manner. I
would hope that we could do something about this situation.
This is not your land. You were put here and your land was
taken from you. For what it is worth, I wish that stories like
this could be told at the American Indian Museum just half a
block away. Unfortunately, as far as I am concerned, it is a
glorified craft store, but this is the history that should be
shown. I was not aware of the situation in Minnesota. I am glad
you brought it to our attention, but most importantly, I am
glad you described your current situation because it continues
to be one of deliberate abuse as far as the testimony you have
provided today. It needs to be rectified. I hope maybe Mr. Cole
and I can figure out something to do about it. Thank you very
much.
Ms. Marks. Chairman, congratulations, sir. We are very
pleased to have you as chairman.
Mr. Moran. Thank you. Thank you for saying that.
All right. The next testimony will come from Ron Suppah.
You are the chair of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm
Springs Reservation of Oregon?
Mr. Suppah. Yes, sir.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
THE CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE WARM SPRINGS RESERVATION OF OREGON
WITNESS
RON SUPPAH
Mr. Suppah. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the
Subcommittee. I am Ron Suppah, chairman of the Confederated
Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon.
Warm Springs is a forestry tribe. Timber is a principal
source of our revenue and jobs, and the health and good
management of our forest is very important for us.
Unfortunately, BIA has been starving its forestry programs for
years. It gets only about one-third of the per-acre funding of
the Forest Service, and since 2003 inflation has gone up 17
percent while BIA forestry has only gone up 5.3 percent. At
Warm Springs, this unfair treatment of BIA forestry funding has
seriously eroded our forestry staff. Eleven of our 27 full-time
positions are permanently unfunded. Our ability to plan and
manage our forest has been crippled.
Warm Springs believes the following steps are needed to
begin repairing this damage. First, reject the absorption of
BIA fixed costs. We are already way understaffed and this cut
will only eat further into forestry and other programs' limited
funds. Second, BIA forestry funding must be substantially
increased. The Intertribal Timber Council suggests increasing
forestry to $31.2 million just to keep up with increases given
other agencies in recent years. We believe it would be a start
and we support that. Third, in the BIA forestry project budget,
restore $1 million to the Timber Harvest Initiative Program and
add $5 million to forest development to reduce the national
thinning and replanting backlog of 900,000 acres. On Warm
Springs, our own backlog is approximately 60,000 acres.
Also related to our forestry is BIA Endangered Species Act
funding. Nationally, the ESA program needs at least $5 million
and $2.3 million needs to be directed for the northern spotted
owl on the Northwest reservations.
Mr. Chairman, for BIA law enforcement, Warm Springs asks
that the $19 million for FBI agents be kept at BIA to increase
the pay of tribal law enforcement personnel. Being able to
retain our tribal police will do more to improve day-to-day law
enforcement on the ground than hiring more FBI agents.
For BIA Johnson-O'Malley, Warm Springs urges it be funded
at $25 million. That is the only BIA elementary and secondary
support for the great majority of our tribes whose children are
in public schools and its decline must be reversed.
In the Indian Health Service, add $100 million to contract
health care. There are no IHS hospitals in the Northwest so
even with recent increases, when contract care money now runs
out around the middle of the year, our care is pushed back to
next year.
Finally, please instruct the IHS that 638 contract support
funding for new contracts must be spent on new contracts.
Currently, they use that money to help existing contracts and
will not fund new contracts such as ours.
Mr. Chairman, that concludes my remarks. Thank you.
[The statement of Ron Suppah follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you. That is a sophisticated analysis of
the budget. Good for you, Mr. Suppah.
Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. A couple questions just quickly. I am interested
in the idea of $19 million for FBI because you put your finger
on a difficult problem. We know we do not have enough tribal
law enforcement personnel but we also know they do not have the
same authority that an FBI agent does on Indian land, and one
of our big problems is tribal courts are so limited in the
kinds of penalties they can impose on non-Indians on Indian
land. They ought to have, in my mind, the same jurisdiction as
any local jurisdiction does. They ought to be able to impose
the same kind of penalties as would be imposed on me if I
committed a crime in Alexandria, Virginia, even though I am not
from Alexandria. But if you do not have this federal component,
do you have any concerns that you are not going to have people
with adequate jurisdiction because we know a lot of crimes do
not go punished appropriately because it is just a long time
before you get a federal investigator to deal with them.
Mr. Suppah. It is funny that you should bring that up as an
example because Warm Springs has recently had a tribal police
officer follow a non-tribal member off the reservation on a
state highway across the reservation line and cited the
individual and they were subsequently taken to court in
Jefferson County in Madras, which is an off-reservation
community, and the court there found them guilty, and basically
the non-member appealed that to the Oregon Supreme Court and
the Oregon Supreme Court overturned that decision by the
Jefferson County judge, and basically we run into that dilemma
of islands of no jurisdiction. That is what reservations are
now in Oregon and we are working with the state attorney
general's office to ask them to help us, and they said that
they will appeal to the Oregon Supreme Court to review that
case.
Mr. Cole. It is a huge problem. Our colleagues, Stephanie
Herseth-Sandlin and Senator Dorgan, actually have a pretty good
piece of legislation to try to enhance the authority of tribal
courts, but you are still going to have this disparity between
what literally a non-tribal judicial system right next door can
do, and it invites crime in. I mean, criminals are not stupid.
They go to places where there is not as much law enforcement
and the penalties that can be imposed are not nearly as great.
It makes sense then to prey on those communities as opposed to
somebody right next to them.
Let me ask you another question because you really hit on
something that is near and dear to my heart, which is Johnson-
O'Malley.
Mr. Suppah. Can I finish?
Mr. Cole. Please do.
Mr. Suppah. I think that a lot of the goal as tribal
members, we made a run for the line as kind of like a safety to
get back onto the reservation where we felt we were safe. That
was the tribal member doing that. Now it has been reversed to
where now the non-members are running for that line because
there is a jurisdictional void there.
Mr. Cole. I can assure you, you are exactly right.
You made a pretty strong pitch for Johnson-O'Malley money,
which I could not agree with you more since about 90 percent of
native kids are actually not in reservation schools, they are
someplace else, and that is something honestly we have not
really substantively increased since 1995. We actually froze
the population count as if there were no new native kids in
non-native school districts, and it is a very good but very,
very dramatically underfunded program. Do you have kids off
your reservation in non-tribal schools? Is that where your
interest comes from?
Mr. Suppah. Yes. Approximately 50 percent of the 509-J
school district where our children go to public schools is
comprised of tribal membership.
Mr. Cole. Is there any particular programs for them in
these non-tribal schools that help them deal with the
challenges they have or teach them about their own culture and
history?
Mr. Suppah. Well, I think that try as we may, the dropout
rate is severely high for our tribal membership and our
graduate rate is hurt also, so that is why it becomes more
critical for Johnson-O'Malley to come into play because you can
get tutor programs and other kinds of assistance for the tribal
members that go to school there.
Mr. Cole. Well, I do not know what the dropout rate is in
your tribe, but I know nationwide, you are talking only 49
percent of native kids finish high school compared to 75
percent national average, and about 10, 11, percent go to
college compared to almost a quarter of the non-native
population, so you really put your finger on a pretty critical
problem.
Anyway, I am sorry, Mr. Chairman, but it is very excellent
testimony. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Yes, very interesting. Thanks very much, Mr.
Cole. Thank you very much, Mr. Suppah.
Mr. Suppah. Thank you guys for the time.
Mr. Moran. Appreciate it. Thank you. Good for you.
Delores Pigsley is the next person, chair of the Tribal
Council of the Siletz Tribe in Oregon.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
SILETZ TRIBE
WITNESS
DELORES PIGSLEY
Ms. Pigsley. My name is Delores Pigsley and I am the
chairman of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon
and we are a small tribe on the Oregon coast. We have 4,700
tribal members who have a most tragic history. We negotiated
treaties. Seven of those treaties were ratified and one was
not. We were removed form our aboriginal homelands. We were
terminated in the 1950s and restored in the 1970s during the
Carter administration, and because of termination, we have been
subjected to many injustices.
We have a long list of needs. Many of them are basic needs
because we had no services for those years of termination.
Health care is our top priority, and I thank those of you who
supported the Indian Health Care Improvement Act because we
hope that it will benefit us. We are requesting $2.9 million to
address staffing and equipment needs for our clinic. From
restoration in 1977 until today, we have not had the
opportunity to have an IHS clinic funded on our reservation. We
would still find ourselves on the waiting list. We were
fortunate to get a grant, a loan and Congressional dollars for
startup equipment to build a small clinic in Siletz. The clinic
was funded as a demonstration project and it still bears that
title. Since the clinic was built in Siletz, it has been
expanded twice. The need for further expansion occurred about 3
years ago, and today we have built a new clinic that is going
to open in May and it is three times the size of our current
clinic to be able to support the services to our expanding
population and non-tribal members.
Our clinic services our membership as well as the community
at large and we are one of the few tribes in Oregon that accept
Medicare and Medicaid patients. People drive a long ways to
visit our clinic. The new clinic will be able to accommodate
many more patients and services and funds for additional
staffing and equipment will help to address the greater need of
the providing services.
Our tribe is totally dependent on contract health care as
are most of the tribes in the Northwest. All the services that
we get in hospitals, we pay out of contract health care, and
contract health care dollars until the last 2 years has not had
a sizable increase.
An example of critical needs--we have a long list of
deferred surgeries, surgeries that include carpal tunnel, knee
surgeries, stomach hernias, rotator cuff repair, gastric
bypass, MRIs for various things, dental surgery, hysterectomy.
None of those services get funded.
The second-highest priority is providing education benefit
scholarships for every tribal member that wants to go nts to go
to college. Back in the days when the tribe was restored, we
had zero dollars, and I was the secretary-treasurer in the
1970s, and $75 was the most money we ever had in our coffee
can. Today we provide services and scholarships to every
student or adult that wants to go to college. The higher
education funds have been stagnant since 1995. In 1995, we had
35 students in college. Today we have 161 students. The tribe
has had to make up the shortfall in funding to the tune of $3.5
million. For 2004 to 2009, we were funded $707,000. Our costs
were $4.2 million. We make these difficult funding decisions
because we view education and health as one of the best
investments that our tribe can make for its members, and we
fully support the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board's
budget request along with the National Congress of American
Indians. We fully support funding Indian boarding schools. The
Chemawa Indian School is a mile away from my home and they
never receive adequate funding for the students that they get
at the school and care for. Thank you.
[The statement of Delores Pigsley follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much, Ms. Pigsley.
Mr. Cole.
Ms. Pigsley. Any questions?
Mr. Cole. Just one quick one. I was curious, what are your
sources of income since you are obviously picking up a lot of
costs. What tribal enterprises or----
Ms. Pigsley. Well, in the beginning we had--we have timber
and we cut just a small, I think it is 2.5 million board feet a
year, very small timber base that would not support government.
Our largest source of funding comes from a casino that we built
on the coast. It is right on the beach in Lincoln City, and
since we built the casino, we purchased the hotel next door and
the golf course down the road and so it has been our--and we
the largest employer in the county. So it supported all of the
shortfalls that we have had across the board, and we are a
self-governance tribe.
Mr. Cole. Are you class III or class II?
Ms. Pigsley. Class III.
Mr. Cole. Well, that is good. Congratulations on not
waiting around for us to solve your problems.
Ms. Pigsley. We still need your help.
Mr. Cole. No, no, I am not trying to escape the obligation.
I just think it is really important to do what your tribe has
done, and you have to be well situated and a lot of things have
to work just right, but it shows an awful lot of initiative.
And Mr. Chairman, as I know you know, when tribes do this,
they almost always turn right around and invest all the money
right back where you are investing your money, in education, in
health care and what have you.
Ms. Pigsley. And all the casino money goes back to the
tribe, unlike other non-tribal casinos, and so it has been
tremendously successful for us.
Mr. Cole. Well, again, congratulations on the initiative,
again, not to let us off the hook, but I am glad you did not
wait for us either.
Ms. Pigsley. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Cole. It is an example of why I
do support Indian gaming.
But please do watch the development of the health care bill
very carefully. It does sound as though that can be of
assistance to you.
Ms. Pigsley. I was watching TV most of the day Saturday and
yesterday, heard all the commentaries and I am looking forward
to see how it can support tribes. Thank you
Mr. Moran. Thank you.
The next witness will be A.T. Stafne, the chair of the
Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
ASSINIBOINE AND SIOUX TRIBES OF THE FORT PECK RESERVATION
WITNESS
A.T. STAFNE
Mr. Stafne. Good morning, Chairman Moran, Congressman Cole.
Thank you for providing this opportunity for Native Americans
to come before you and having the patience to listen to all our
problems. I am thankful for this opportunity that you have
provided.
I am A.T. Stafne. I am the chairman of the Assiniboine and
Sioux people, who number about 12,000 members who live on the
Fort Peck Reservation, which is in northeastern Montana. The
size of our reservation is about 100 miles long by 50 miles
wide. It comprises over 2 million acres of land that we have
there. Of the 12,000 members, we have about 6,500 that live on
the reservation. The total population of the reservation is
about 11,000. The other 4,500 or so people on the reservation
comprise non-Indians and Indians from other tribes. So with
that, we are quite a large reservation.
But first, let me say congratulations for the enactment of
the health care bill. We watched that with much interest. We
listened to hear Native American people in that bill but I
never heard native people mentioned in that bill.
Mr. Moran. Let's clarify that. Native Americans are fully
qualified.
Mr. Cole. Actually, my chairman and I would have probably
have a difference on this because I think this legislation
should have been enacted separately, but basically the Indian
Health Care Reauthorization Act was folded in to the total
bill. So what has been a goal of ours for a very long time, it
is part of this large bill that I actually favor, was
reauthorization. We went since 1992 under both Republican and
Democratic Congresses, quite frankly, without getting it
reauthorized. So you will find full Indian health care
reauthorizations in there, so there are subsections that deal
specifically with the native population, and there is a good
increase in funding and authority there. It sort of got lost in
the larger discussion because, again, this is a trust
obligation that we have but it is there, and I think you will
find it very helpful going forward. Lots still to do but that
is a good step in the right direction.
Mr. Moran. First, I think it is just as well that it was
not discussed because the folks who were most adamantly opposed
probably would have found just one more reason to be opposed,
so it is just as well it snuck in, but it is a great
opportunity for all Native Americans to take advantage of it. I
hope you will. Excuse me for the interruption. Go ahead.
Mr. Stafne. And I hope since this is acted on, I hope we
will certainly discuss the Indian Health Service. Basically
more money is what is needed. I would like say 2 years ago when
I met then-Senator Obama when he came to Montana, I told him
our number one problem on Fort Peck Reservation was health. In
fact, Fort Peck Reservation Tribal Council has declared health
a crisis on Fort Peck Reservation. Number one was health.
Number two was law enforcement. That is still our situation
now. We are thankful for the increase in this year's IHS
funding. That is a step again in the right direction. We are
happy it is now the other way, a decrease.
At Fort Peck, when we have health problems, we go to our
IHS, which operates a clinic on the reservation. Now, most of
the time we do not even have doctors working at the clinic
because we have trouble attracting doctors to IHS. We see
nurses, but all they do is prescribe pills, pills for
inflammation and pills for pain, and that is causing many of
our people to become addicted to painkillers. We recently had a
drug bust, a raid made by our law enforcement department and
they arrested, I think it was approximately 37 people for drug
violations, selling pills illegally. So the reason for that is,
we do not have a hospital on Fort Peck IHS. We do have
hospitals for the city. The city has hospitals but we are not
referred up there by IHS. If we have a problem, we have to come
to a level 12 before they can send you out for contract health
care. Level 12 means you have to be in danger of losing a limb
or your life. When that happens, they call for an airplane,
which from Billings, Montana, is 300 miles from where we live.
The airplane comes and airlifts us out. Now, if you are in
danger of losing your life, sometimes that happens on the
airplane trip. And of course, that costs more money. If they
could diagnose these and have more preventive-type medications,
we would save a lot of money for that.
I am sorry. My time is up. Thank you.
[The statement of A.T. Stafne follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Well, good for you. Thank you. This is a large
reservation, and I am glad that President Obama is aware of it
and of your needs. I hope some of them will be met directly
from the new health care authorization, but clearly there are
others in the area of public safety and economic development.
Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. Yes, just for the record, so you know, the Indian
health care reauthorization was actually passed by the Senate
in the last session of Congress. We held it up here in the
House, and it had bipartisan support. It moved actually through
the Resources Committee very quickly, got hung up two sessions
ago actually, got hung up in E&C at the subcommittee level,
finally got through the Senate last time. Then frankly what
happened here is, we made a decision that we did not want to
have a debate over abortion before an election, and so we had
to start all over again. That is why this got put in this
particular vehicle. So again, just for the record, Mr.
Chairman, neither party has a whole lot to be proud of in the
way we have handled the Indian Health Service. I am certainly
willing to take my party's share of the blame. But the
important thing, and you made this point, is that it is done.
It moved through. It is a movement in the right direction. But
the basic problem has been, again, both parties historically
underfunding these services, which they are obligated to
provide by treaty. So we look forward to working with you
because I know the challenges in reservations this size and
population bases this small, and getting doctors to come is a
challenge. It is the same problem that you have in the inner
city, really. It is exactly the same thing. You have got a
relatively poor population. You do not have a lot of
opportunities for professionals in the financial sense. They
have to be awfully dedicated to go there. We probably do not
pay them enough, either, you know, from our end of this deal,
but the needs are very great. So anyway, thanks for what you
are doing.
Just by way of a question, I made a long statement here--
again, you are in a very sparsely populated area. What sorts of
economic activities do you have? Do you have the potential from
your standpoint to engage beyond timber? I think it is always
good to get in the record what the unemployment rate is in a
particular area because it really gives us a quick short on how
many challenges you face across the board.
Mr. Stafne. Well, the unemployment rate depends on what
report you read. I have seen it from 53, 57 percent to 70
percent.
Mr. Cole. Well, if 53 is the good number, I do not think
anybody on this panel will regard that as a good result.
Mr. Stafne. And our resources, this is mainly a cattle and
farming area and we have a farm and ranch and we also have
limited oil activity, so that is our income.
Mr. Cole. Thank you very much.
Mr. Stafne. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Stafne. Thank you very much.
Next we will hear from Patricia Whitefoot, the president of
the National Indian Education Association.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
NATIONAL INDIAN EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
WITNESS
PATRICIA L. WHITEFOOT
Ms. Whitefoot. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the
Committee. I am Patricia Whitefoot, a member of the Yakama
Nation from south central Washington, and I want to say I
appreciate the opportunity to submit testimony on behalf of the
National Indian Education Association.
The Association was founded in 1970, and NIEA is the
largest native education organization in the Nation with a
membership of over 3,000 individuals who are American Indian,
Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian educators, tribal leaders,
school administrators, teachers, elders, parents and students.
Since the release of the 1969 Senate Kennedy report
documenting the problems in Indian education, Indian
communities have realized greater participation and control of
programs in schools. However, in Indian education we still face
enormous challenges including severe underfunding. For too many
of our students in schools, we continue to experience abject
failure. A study released last month by the Civil Rights
Project at the University of California at Los Angeles Graduate
School of Education and Information Studies found that less
than 50 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native students
in 12 states graduate from high school.
Mr. Moran. Can you repeat that more slowly?
Ms. Whitefoot. Okay. I am sorry.
Mr. Moran. No, it is just I wanted everyone to hear that.
Ms. Whitefoot. Just this last month in February, UCLA's
Graduate School of Education and Information Studies found that
less than 50 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native
students in 12 states graduate from high school, a statistic
that sadly also applies on a national level and has held steady
over the past decade.
In addition, schools serving native students within the
Bureau of Indian Education System continue to struggle to meet
AYP with only 24.4 percent of BIE schools meeting AYP as
compared to almost 70 percent of schools nationally. These
statistics only serve to reaffirm the need for systemic reform
of education programs in schools serving native students.
NIEA is requesting $660.96 million for fiscal year 2011,
which includes new program funding and a modest 5 percent
increase for BIE's programs. This includes funding for the
elementary and secondary education programs, education
management, an increase of $25 million allocation for student
transportation, and a $5 million allocation to provide
technical assistance to schools to develop their own standards
and assessments. Schools currently have to use classroom
dollars to transport their students to make up for the
transportation funding shortfall. During the school year, BIE-
funded school buses will travel nearly 15 million miles, often
over gravel or dirt roads. The Little Wound School, located on
the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, runs 13 bus routes
each day during which the buses travel an average 1,600 miles
per school day totaling 268,000 miles annually for regular bus
runs, not including activity runs.
For Indian school construction and repair, NIEA requests
$263.4 million. In May of 2007, the Office of Inspector
General, Department of Interior, issued a flash report that
describes the conditions at BIE schools that require immediate
action to protect the health and safety of students and
faculty. In his conclusion, the Inspector General states that
the failure to mitigate these conditions will likely cause
injury or death to children and school employees. NIEA is also
requesting report language requiring the Department of the
Interior report on the status of the schools listed on the
BIE's construction list, the use of funding for Indian school
construction and a timeline for completion of projects
currently on the list.
NIEA is also requesting $24 million for the Johnson-
O'Malley program funded at Bureau of Indian Affairs. JOM grants
are the cornerstone for many Indian communities in meeting the
unique and specialized needs of native students, as you heard
previously.
Our tribal educational departments provide tribes with the
opportunity to become actively involved in the education of
their children. Despite an authorization under NCLB and several
other prior statutes, federal funds have never been
appropriated for tribal education departments. Therefore, NIEA
is requesting that the Department of the Interior fund tribal
education departments at $5 million.
In closing, Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, I would
like to just echo the expressions made by the tribal
leadership. I fully support all of the congratulations that
people provided for the Committee on the health care
legislation. However, we want to make certain that those needs
are also impacting students in our schools where we work from
preschool to higher education, attention is needed, and on
behalf of NIEA, I would like to thank the Committee for its
support on behalf of native communities. With your support, we
are hopeful we can begin to provide the funding for education
that native communities deserve. Thank you.
[The statement of Patricia L. Whitefoot follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much. I appreciate that, Ms.
Whitefoot.
Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a couple quick
questions. One, that, usually, when I deal with the impact aid,
it is in connection with a large military installation, but I,
you know, obviously, there is impact aid for----
Ms. Whitefoot. Exactly.
Mr. Cole. Tribal, too. Can you give me an idea of whether
or not we are anywhere close to adequate, in terms of impact
aid flowing to schools where there are significant native
populations?
Ms. Whitefoot. Right. I worked in a public school as a
teacher, educator, administrator. And in the school district
where I work, we have an Indian education program and, of
course, with our Indian education parent committees, we
participate in the policy recommendations for the school
district, to provide the necessary services in the community.
When we take a look at the funding, and I participate in the
impact aid conferences over the years, impact aid just
continues to be underfunded, as well. And I would say, for the
military community, too. I also have grandchildren that are in
the military community, and are directly impacted by the impact
aid funding, as well. That is not just those impact aid funds
that are available on reservations or, where federal
installations are.
Mr. Cole. And let me ask you this, too. I have never seen
the statistic on this, and I thought, given your background,
you might know. Is there any sort of estimate on what tribes
themselves, out of their own economic activities, invest back?
We have had a number of people testify about the number of
their children that they are giving scholarships to, you know,
how significant is this for tribes, in terms of when they have
got money, putting it right back in there?
Ms. Whitefoot. Well, I appreciate, Chairman Pigsley and the
work that she has done. And of course, being from the
Northwest, we all communicate with one another and learn from
one another about what tribes are doing, in terms of education,
and just comprehensive needs for children.
In our case, I am from the Yakima Nation in Washington, and
recently, our tribe has taken the casino funds, and put it back
into public education with our children. We serve 26 school
districts in South Central Washington, including along the
Oregon border, and currently, I am in conversations with our
tribe about making certain that those tribes reach the children
from preschool to higher education, and we are still in
deliberation right now on that, but that is to go directly back
to the students that are currently in education, from preschool
to higher education.
Mr. Cole. Last question. I am very curious about your
thoughts as an educator: We really have two subsets of kids
here, ones that are being educated at the BIE schools, and a
much larger group, obviously, that are in the normal, regular
public school system.
What is the best way to use funds that are available,
whether it is impact aid, Johnson-O'Malley, tribally directed
funds, to help kids, which is a great majority of Native
American children, that are going to non-native schools, do
better? I mean, what are the types of things, the ways in which
that money ought to be deployed?
Ms. Whitefoot. Well, the works that we do at NIEA, of
course, includes occupational and professional development
programs, administration programs to have native people working
in those school systems, and I think through programs like Head
Start, which I have managed over the years, when you work with
professionals that are coming from your community, you work
with those individuals so that they, one day, will become a
teacher, and then, come back into the public education system.
But I also think it is important that, at the local level,
that parents be involved in those decision-making processes, as
well as the tribal government, and that tribal control is
important, just like local control of public education.
And I think we need to take a look at the education system,
systemically from preschool, from birth to lifelong learning.
And the more that we could get the community involved and, as I
said, parents and volunteers in our community, and that we take
them through a career development program, I have witnessed and
experienced the benefits, that have been able to address some
of the issues and problems that were expressed here today.
Mr. Cole. Well, I know Secretary Salazar and Secretary Echo
Hawk are putting----
Ms. Whitefoot. Thank you. Thank you.
Mr. Cole. And I think appropriately so, a great deal of
emphasis on tribal empowerment.
Ms. Whitefoot. Both of them, right.
Mr. Cole. And it is so critical that tribes have a direct
say-so.
Ms. Whitefoot. Exactly.
Mr. Cole. In the education of their kids. I mean, it brings
the responsibility down to the local level. It pulls the
parents in.
Ms. Whitefoot. Exactly.
Mr. Cole. And it makes an enormous difference in the lives
of individual children.
Ms. Whitefoot. And I agree, and having met with Secretary
Salazar, and both he and Duncan and their staff people, I agree
with that. Thank you.
Mr. Cole. Thank you. And thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Cole. Thank you very much, Ms.
Whitefoot. Appreciate the testimony. Next, we will hear from
Joe Durglo, the President of the Intertribal Timber Council of
Oregon. Mr. Durglo.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
INTERTRIBAL TIMBER COUNCIL (OREGON)
WITNESS
JOE DURGLO
Mr. Durglo. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, and members of the
subcommittee. My name is Joe Durglo. I am the Vice Chairman of
the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes, and President of the
Intertribal Timber Council, an organization of 70 tribes that
collectively possess most of the 18 million acres that BIA
holds in trust.
I appreciate the opportunity to testify today, because the
BIA Forestry is in trouble, and needs this subcommittee's
attention. Over the past two years, ITC testified that 1993 and
2003 independent reports noted that BIA Forestry receives only
about one third the per-acre funding provided the U.S. Forest
Service, and that BIA Forestry needs $120 million increase to
achieve parity.
A review of the federal forestry budgets from Fiscal Year
2004 to Fiscal Year 2009 showed that Forest Service forest
products and BLM public domain forest management budgets
increase 26 percent, while at the same time, BIA tribal
priority allocation forestry budgets, which provides similar
services, increased only 3.8 percent. Inflation over the same
period went up 14.1 percent.
Such a disparate treatment of Indian forestry funding is
neither fair, nor does it comply with the federal trust
responsibility. It is hurting the health of our forests, the
economies of our communities, and our governments' abilities to
meet the basic needs of our people. To correct this, and put
BIA forestry on a path toward equality, with funding of other
federal forestry programs, the Intertribal Timber Council
requests the following.
First, as a general matter, reject the BIA's proposed
absorption of fixed cost increases. Then, increase BIA PPA
forestry to $31.2 million, which will be equal to those
increases for the U.S. Forest Services and the BLM from 2004 to
2009.
Second, BIA forestry projects funding has fallen from $18.5
million in Fiscal Year 2005 to $17.7 million proposed for
fiscal year 2011. Projects cover essential functions, like
management planning, woodlands, integrated resource management
plans, and forest development. An $8 million increase is
needed, with $5 million dedicated to reducing the forest
development, thinning, and planting backlog.
Third, on a considerably bolder note, with Indian
reservation unemployment at about 50 percent nationwide, we
urge $151 million for a two year tribal forest restoration
project, for 3,125 Native American green jobs, doing thinning
and planting on trust forestland to reduce the backlog by half.
These jobs can hire a great range of people, including entry-
level. They are quick to train. They will help the forests'
health, capture carbon, and help climate change adaptation, and
help the trust responsibility. We urge you to give this serious
consideration.
Fourth, for BIA endangered species, increase funding to
$4.7 million, so the BIA gets the same per-acre funding as BLM.
Fifth, we ask the committee to direct the BIA and the Forest
Service to draw up a plan, with tribes and the Intertribal
Timber Council, to preserve tribal forestry and mill
infrastructure. Sawmills are disappearing across America, and
tribal mills, because they are so important to tribal
communities, are among the last to close. Without them, timber
and other forest materials cannot be processed. Their retention
is essential. We ask that a federal tribal plan be developed
and be reported back to this committee in six months.
Finally, for interior wildland fire management, we ask that
preparedness be funded equal to the Forest Service. The
Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service fire
cost accounting be standardized, and that $44 million be
restored for field removal, and that for Indian trust land, it
be prioritized, and not prioritized to the Wildland Urban
Interfacte, and that fire 638 indirect costs come from the BIA
in the right cost pool.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The statement of Joe Durglo follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Good for you. Thank you, Mr. Durglo. Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. Thank you. I have to say, I am from Oklahoma. I
do not know much about trees, so this has been very educational
for me, Mr. Chairman. And nothing about the timber industry.
And I frankly did not realize it was important, as important as
it clearly is to the number of tribes that there are.
And I got to tell you, I am pretty stunned at the
differential between how we fund the U.S. Forestry Service and
how you are funded. Is this historically, has this gap always
been this wide, or----
Mr. Durglo. Yes, sir. We have been historically underfunded
in Indian forestry.
Mr. Cole. What is the justification for us doing one thing
on non-Indian lands, in terms of forests, and you know.
Mr. Durglo. That is a very good question. I cannot answer
that.
Mr. Moran. I have some suspicions.
Mr. Cole. Me too, Mr. Chairman. That is all I had. I just
thought those facts deserved being underlined.
Mr. Moran. Yes. Thank you very much, Mr. Cole. And thank
you, Mr. Durglo. Very good. I had no idea that your Council
manages the 90 percent of the millions of acres that we have
under management. Thank you. Next, we will hear from Robert
Benavides, the Governor of the Pueblo of Isleta.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
PUEBLO OF ISLETA (NM)
WITNESS
ROBERT BENAVIDES
Mr. Benavides. Good morning, Mr. Chairman. Good morning,
Mr. Cole. Members and staff. As you know, my name is Robert
Benavides. I am the Governor of the Isleta Pueblo. I live 13
miles south of Albuquerque on the Rio Grande Valley.
We have got a population of about 4,000 tribal members that
live on the reservation, and about another 3,000 that are not
members that also live on the reservation. We have a land base
of 200,000 acres. The age median is around 31 years of age,
with an income of less than $30,000 a year. Some of them are
unemployed, even though we do have enterprises such as a
casino, hotel, and some other facilities. We do employ close to
2,000 people on our reservation.
But just like the national economy, we too have felt the
crunch, and we are still feeling it. And I guess that is why I
am here. The reason why I am here is we have a bad water, we
need to replace our water main in the village. That water main
was installed in the late '40s, and probably the early '50s,
and they are asbestos concrete water mains, and as a result, we
have had poor health in our village.
We have had over 200 water leaks. We have a high rate of
cancer in our village. We have used our own money, and we have
had some assistance from the State of New Mexico. We are
replacing around 15,500 linear feet of water mains and lines.
The construction of the main water line has started on March
the 31st. We are identifying all the gas lines and whatever is
needed for the project to begin. That will take around a year
and a half to complete. I did take Congressman Teague to my
home. I have a home in the village. To show him the coloration
of the water, and the rusty color and smells. The people from
the pueblo will hardly drink that water, because it is really
in bad shape.
The project is in excess of $1.25 million. We are seeking
from federal funding about $500,000. You do have a copy of my
testimony with you. And we are seeking help, also, from the
State. We have been fortunate, but we need a lot more to
complete that project.
We are also working on an educational complex and long-term
elderly care. Some of our buildings are condemned, but we are
still using those buildings. There is mold and asbestos, and
the EPA has come in and condemned those buildings, but we have
no other buildings to work out of, so some of these employees
are still working there. And we are also asking for help in
that area.
The Early Elderly Care Center, we are also asking for
around $10--well, we spent $2.2 million of our own for that
project. We received funding of $75,000 from HUD in 2006,
$50,000 from the State of New Mexico, through capital outlay,
but we still need around $10 million in federal appropriations
to complete phase two of this project.
As you know, even though we are in the Albuquerque area,
there is no facilities that are really available, and some of
the elderly cannot afford some of these facilities to stay in.
So, that has been a hardship on most of the families that do
have someone to take care of.
[The statement of Robert Benavides follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Benavides. The time has expired,
and we are going to have to get back into session. Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. Just a quick question or two. Out of curiosity,
how close is the casino complex to the village, and----
Mr. Benavides. It is about 5 miles.
Mr. Cole. About 5 miles. What is their water source?
Mr. Benavides. Well, we have a new water source there, but
even though we do have a casino, we had a decline in our
profits by about 23 percent.
Mr. Cole. Oh. No, believe me, I am quite aware.
Mr. Benavides. Yeah.
Mr. Cole. That most of Indian country----
Mr. Benavides. We have wells for the casino.
Mr. Cole. Well, and of course, a significant portion of
that income goes back to the investors, and goes, I suspect to
the State of New Mexico who has a compact with you.
Mr. Benavides. Right. Right.
Mr. Cole. So, it is not like all that revenue flows to you.
Mr. Benavides. No. And I just hope you consider our
request. I did want to say one thing on law enforcement, as a
law enforcement officer. The funding is not $19,000. It was
$33,000. However, DoJ did take $20,000. Law enforcement in
Indian country received $10,000. $10 million, I am sorry. We
need all that money. We do not need 100,000 agents out in the
field. They are never there, so that is where we need the
money.
Mr. Cole. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Thanks very much, Mr. Benavides. We appreciate
it.
Elbridge Coochise. Chief Justice, Retired, of the
Independent Tribal Courts Review Team in Arizona. Judge.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
INDEPENDENT TRIBAL COURTS REVIEW TEAM
WITNESS
ELBRIDGE COOCHISE
Mr. Coochise. Thank you. Good morning, Chairman and
committee staff. Thank you for allowing me to come in.
I represent the Independent Tribal Courts Review Team. We
have been reviewing tribal and CFR courts for the past four
years, and we are here to make a request for at least $50
million for the 156 tribes that are provided funds through the
Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Up until Fiscal Year 2009, the Bureau only provided $11.9
million for the 156 tribes. And I do want to thank the
committee for the $5 million for Fiscal Year 2010, and then,
the Senate adding $5 million for a $10 million to Fiscal Year
2010.
And this is the first time that I have seen in all my years
that additional funding that will go into the base of tribal
courts. And again, the committee passed two years, '09 and '08,
provided $2.4 million for one time funding, and that was
distributed to about 24 and 22 tribes in those years, just for
one time.
But with the $11.9 and the current $10, that only brings us
up to about $21 for the whole, all 156 tribes. And we have been
charged with a responsibility to do a systemic operations
assessment of the tribal courts.
And to the Governor and chairwoman from Siletz, we just
recently did theirs, and they are in dire need. In fact, we
found the lowest, one court only gets $10,000 for their court
system. But the funding, we are finding, is needed drastically
at tribal courts. Understand, the tribes that are here have
other problems that are health-related, but we are requesting
an increase in the tribal court funding by 50 percent. And to
fund, authorize $58.4 million under the Indian Tribal Justice
Act that was passed in 1993, and it was reauthorized twice, and
we still have not seen any funding under that bill.
The reason for the increased funding need is the hiring and
training of court personnel, an increase in salaries for
judges, and a need for new technology. Most of the 60 courts
that we have reviewed are still on a manual data collection
system, and the few that have got grants from DoJ cost $60,000
to $80,000 a year. The problem is, for relicensing of court
clerks and others who use it, that is $5,000 a year that they
have to pay, that they do not have the funds for.
The security system really is nil within the tribal court
system. Chairman Stafne, we reviewed his court last year, and
while we were there, everybody, prisoners, people, court staff
and judges, are crossing in--there is no security in most of
these court systems, just because they do not have the funds.
Then, there is code development. Many of the tribes, we are
finding, are outdated in their codes, or they have been adopted
from state codes that do not fit within the reservation. And
so, we are requesting that additional funding be given to the
Bureau of Indian Affairs to fund the 156 tribes.
We have done 9 reviews this year, in Fiscal Year 2010. So,
we had a total, then, of 69. And one of the items that was
added in '09 was the speedy trial issue. Thus far, every court
that we have reviewed, there were no violations of speedy trial
issues, even though not all of them had a statute. Because most
trials, from arraignment to trials, were done within 4 weeks.
The only one that went beyond that was a federal CFR court,
but they only have court once a month, and they were 6 months
between arraignment and trials. So, the court systems are doing
fairly well in providing due process to the community members,
but they really need assistance.
In fact, the Governor's court systems is a condemned
building that has asbestos and other things. We were just there
a couple weeks ago, and two of my people got sick just being in
there for about an hour and a half. They need to be moved to a
better facility.
This is what we are finding, and in my report, or
testimony, the one in Montana, the house and a dormitory, it
leaks all over, and the walls are all marked up.
The courts do need assistance, and there are increases in
law enforcement, but unfortunately, when you make increases in
law enforcement, you bottleneck the system if you do not put
any more money into the court systems.
We are handling, in the tribal court systems, even now,
from gaming, that have state compacts. A lot of those cases,
the slip and fall, the contract, tort issues, are coming to
tribal court, because the compacts are not following through
with the outside jams, judges are supposed to handle those.
[The statement of Elbridge Coochise follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Judge. The time has expired.
Mr. Coochise. That is fine.
Mr. Moran. And we have got to get this in by noon time. Mr.
Cole.
Mr. Cole. Just a quick comment, maybe, and question. I know
we have been trying to work on this, Mr. Chairman, but we keep
seeing these law enforcement issues, obviously, and justice
issues. They come up in almost every discussion we have.
Mr. Moran. I know.
Mr. Cole. No matter what the point. It shows how central it
is. And I know we have talked in the past about having a joint
hearing with our colleagues in the Commerce, Justice, and
Science Committee, where frankly, a lot of this funding is also
at, because of the justice component.
I hope we can do that some time, so it would be
highlighted.
Mr. Coochise. Yeah. Like I said, we really want to thank
the committee for what you have done up to this point. I have
been retired 13 years, and spent 32 years on the bench, and we
are still not far down the road, as far as resources to run the
courts.
Mr. Moran. You make compelling testimony. We thank the
Chief Justice.
Mr. Coochise. Thank you very much, Chairman.
Mr. Moran. Next, we will hear from Patty Brown-
Schwalenberg, who is Executive Director of the Chugach Regional
Resources Commission. This is in Alaska.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
CHUGACH REGIONAL RESOURCES COMMISSION
WITNESS
PATTY BROWN-SCHWALENBERG
Ms. Brown-Schwalenberg. I have with me the chairman of our
board, Patrick Norman, who is also the First Chief of the
Native Village of Port Graham. I asked him to accompany me, and
after a lot of years, he has finally been able to pull away
from his work in the village.
Thank you for allowing us to testify before you. I know we
are on a short timeline here, so I will try to make it quick.
The Chugach Regional Resources Commission is requesting
that our funding of $350,000 be put into the base budget
through the Indian appropriations process. We were in the base
budget for, since 1992, under a 638 contract, and in about
2003, the Bureau of Indian Affairs took us out of the budget.
So, every year, we have been coming back to the Appropriations
Committee, asking to be put back in. And we have, up until
2006, our budget was severely reduced by the Bureau of Indian
Affairs. In 2007, we did not get any money. In 2008, we were
not sure we were going to get any money.
So, we started talking to the Assistant Secretary of Indian
Affairs, trying to resolve the matter. We knew the money was in
the budget, but it was not, there were no earmarks in 2007. And
we ended up having to file a lawsuit against the Secretary of
the Interior to get our funding, which we did, with contract
support, and according to the lawsuit, we are supposed to be
getting full funding every year, and then, every three year
contract has to be renewed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Despite this lawsuit, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has not
put us in the budget and so, every year, we are faced with
presenting our proposal, and then, they come back with a letter
saying gee, we do not have any money for you. So----
Mr. Moran. What is their rationale, beyond the fact that
they do not have the money?
Ms. Brown-Schwalenberg. I am not exactly sure. There were
other organizations, including Circle of Light, that were taken
out of the budget at the same time we were. They have been put
back in. We have not, so we have been meeting with the Bureau
of Indian Affairs on a regular basis, and I have no idea why we
have not been included, but when we do go back, like we had to
come back here last November, and pound on some doors and
tables. We did get our funding for Financial Year 2010. So, the
money is somewhere. I am just not exactly sure where.
So, rather than us taking money from other tribal programs,
and we have heard a lot of issues here today, just as we were
sitting there. You know, economic depression and the
community's health, law enforcement, clean water, education,
elder care. It is all important stuff, and I would hate to
have, you know, those programs suffer because the Bureau of
Indian Affairs has not put this money in the budget, as
required under the 638 contract law.
But our organization works with the Seven Villages in
Prince William Sound and Laura Cook on natural resource and
environmental issues. So, it is, to me, the basis or the
foundation to address all those problems in a culturally
appropriate manner. Law enforcement, clean water, education,
all that depends upon the resources, and make sure that they
are all there.
So that is what we work on. The second part of our request
is $150,000 in additional funding for our Alutiiq Pride
Shellfish Hatchery. It is the only shellfish hatchery in the
state. And it not only serves the villages, in providing them
with shellfish seed for replenishing the seed, but it is near
the villages. It is also an economic project that sells various
kinds of shellfish seeds to industry.
We are doing a lot of research right now. We are doing
research on blue king crab and red king crab, with Western
Alaska, as well as Kodiak Island, and working with the state
and the university and NOAA to, actually, maybe enhance the
crab population, since there has not been a commercial crab
industry in, I am sorry, around Kodiak in about 20 years.
So, we are doing a lot of things with very little money,
but this issue with our recurrent funding has been a problem.
So, we would respectfully request assistance with that.
[The statement of Patty Brown-Schwalenberg follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you. What are shellfish seeds?
Ms. Brown-Schwalenberg. In layman's terms, they are like
baby clams.
Mr. Moran. That is what I figured.
Ms. Brown-Schwalenberg. They are about that big, you know,
clams, geoducks.
Mr. Moran. Sure.
Ms. Brown-Schwalenberg. Scallops.
Mr. Moran. They are bought in large quantity, and then,
you----
Ms. Brown-Schwalenberg. We, well, we buy, we have the
adults, and then, we spawn them out, raise up the seed, and
then, they are planted in the sea beds.
Mr. Moran. Yeah.
Ms. Brown-Schwalenberg. In the substrate. Near the
villages, and----
Mr. Moran. Well, we should find out why BIA is not
including you in its budget. I have been to the Chugach, on the
way to Denali, and thank you for your hospitality several years
ago. Although it was July 4, and you had a festival, and my son
won the pie eating contest, and we went up to the national
wildlife refuge there, where of course, they do not have any
sanitation facilities, and he had the runs for a week and a
half. But I will not forget the Chugach Village. We had a great
time. Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. I am not going to try and top that, Mr. Chairman.
Just I want to echo your point you made. It does amaze me when
the BIA loses a legal case. That ought to kind of tell them,
you know, why do we want to come back down this road again? So,
thank you for bringing it to our attention. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
Mr. Moran. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Cole. And thank you, Ms.
Brown-Schwalenberg. And we appreciate the fact that you were
able, for your colleague here, that I know it is a long ways to
travel, but we appreciate you making your presence known before
the subcommittee.
Ms. Brown-Schwalenberg. Well, we feel it is important, and
we appreciate the opportunity. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Very good. Good for you. Thank you very much.
What we will do is to recess until two o'clock this afternoon.
----------
Mr. Moran. Welcome. Mr. Young, would you like to take your
seat up here at the----
Mr. Young. Thank you. And then I have to leave. We are
going to have votes as soon as we get done with it.
Mr. Moran. Yeah.
Mr. Young. Oh, you gave me the nice chair, too.
Mr. Moran. Let me mention to the witnesses first of all, we
have only 5 minutes total for your statement and to answer
questions. We do that because we have so many people who have
asked to testify that we want to hear from all. We will watch
the timer closely so that you are aware when the yellow light
comes on and then when the red light comes on, then we are
going to have to shut it off.
Your entire prepared statement, though, will be inserted in
the final hearing record.
And at this point, I would like to call on the former
Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee and a very
prominent member of the Congress and leader for many years and
a terrific representative for his constituents in Alaska,
Congressman Don Young.
Mr. Young. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Again, I want to
congratulate you on becoming Chairman of this committee. This
committee is very important to the State of Alaska, as you
know, and you play a major role in Alaska and invite you up to
not only enjoy the scenery but the great people of Alaska.
It is my honor today to introduce two people, Andy Teuber
and Katherine Gottlieb. Both of these individuals have been
very important. Andy has been a KANA board member, becoming
President and CEO and Corporate Vice President in Kodiak, a
for-profit Native corporation in the Kodiak region. He has
served on the Boards of Alaska Federation of Natives, the
Alutiiq Heritage Foundation, and the State Chamber of Commerce.
He served as the Gulf of Alaska Coastal Communities Coalition,
and he has done many, many things. He has worked on the
Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, and actually, the Alaskan
Journal of Commerce recently named him as Alaska's top 40 under
40. He is a commercial fixed-wing and helicopter pilot, and he
was born and raised in Kodiak and has three children with his
spouse, Natasha. Katherine----
Mr. Moran. Well, let's get them up here so we can--Yeah,
where are they?
Mr. Moran [continuing]. See who you are talking about.
Mr. Young. As I was introducing him I thought--this is the
young man. I am sorry. I apologize.
Mr. Moran. Very good.
Mr. Welcome, Mr. Teuber.
Mr. Young. And Katherine is an MBA, serves as President and
CEO of the Southcentral Foundation. It is a customer-owned
healthcare system that works together with Alaska native people
to achieve wellness in the entire community. Under her
direction and guidance, the SCF has become a leader in
healthcare, receiving national and international recognition.
SCF's unique and creative programs draw upon the Alaska native
culture to address healthcare challenges, substance abuse,
women's health issues, and family wellness. She was a recipient
of the 2004 MacArthur Genius Award. She holds a Bachelor of
Arts degree, a Master's in Business Administration and Honorary
Doctorate from Alaska Pacific University. She serves on
numerous boards. She remains active on the national level of
Native American policy issues and serves as a primary
representative of the Indian Health Services National Tribal
Advisory Committee on Behavioral Health. She is a daughter of
an Aleut mother and a Philippine father. She is the mother of
six children and grandmother of 23 grandchildren. And may I
say, Mr. Chairman, she runs a tremendous healthcare facility. I
have had the privilege of not only visiting but having my wife
participate in the unit, and it is really an example. I
actually submitted the model of that hospital to the writers of
the new health bill and asked them to look at this model to see
whether it would work correctly. They did adopt some things but
not everything as they should have. These are good Alaskan
young people that understand the healthcare needs of the State
of Alaska.
It is my honor to have them both at the table. And I do
apologize. Usually I am down there when I do this. I got all
confused. But thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much. Those were tremendous
introductions. Unfortunately, they exhausted all of your time.
Mr. Young. I was watching the time.
Mr. Moran. I am kidding. No, come on back. I am kidding. We
also have Mr. Cole, a very valuable member of the committee who
has taken a particular interest in Native American affairs. He
is of Native American heritage himself, and it is wonderful to
have someone that cares as much as he does, as does Mr. Young.
At this point, perhaps we can hear from you, Mr. Teuber.
And they called a vote, so we have got at least 10 minutes. So
we will get both witnesses in before we go to the vote.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
KODIAK AREA NATIVE ASSOCIATION, ALASKA
WITNESS
ANDY TEUBER
Mr. Teuber. Thank you so much, and thank you for that
wonderful introduction, Congressman Young.
Good afternoon Chairman Moran and Ranking Member Cole,
members of the committee. My name is Andy Teuber, and I serve
as the Chairman and President of the Alaska Native Tribal
Health Consortium and also as the President and CEO of the
Kodiak Area Native Association. On behalf of those we serve,
which includes each of Alaska's 229 tribes and over 135,000
American Indian and Alaska natives, I thank you and extend an
invitation to the members to visit Alaska and see first-hand
some of the unique challenges that nature creates, but more so
many of the successes we have had been able to achieve in
providing quality health services with what are oftentimes very
limited resources.
While the Nation debates the provisions in the recently
passed health reform bill, I believe we can nearly all agree
that the inclusion of the Indian Healthcare Improvement Act
reauthorization is a long-overdue step in the right direction
to modernize and improve the Indian health system.
On behalf of Alaska's native community, thank you for your
commitment to improving the health status of our native people.
In recent years, the IHS budget has been funded at about 60
percent of identified need, but we are now beginning to see
meaningful increases thanks to your efforts. My written
testimony addresses four key areas of resource deficiency in
the 2011 IHS budget, and accordingly, we are requesting
increases of $15 million for dental health, $81 million in
contract support costs, $83 million for facility operational
needs, and $10 million for a child abuse and neglect prevention
initiative.
By design, IHS budget line items work together to achieve
the best possible results in the delivery of healthcare.
Clearly increases in the clinical and preventive services
funded by the IHS budget are necessary, but their full value
cannot be realized if other portions of the budget that provide
essential support for those services are not adequately funded.
Frequently we find it necessary to compromise one essential
program to support another. While I cannot emphasize enough the
value the fully funded contract support costs would have, I am
committing the balance of my time to bring attention to the
need for resources in child abuse and neglect prevention
initiatives and in dental health.
An issue that often lurks in the darkness and in secrecy is
the issue of child abuse and neglect. I do not believe there is
another issue that affects the long-term health and well-being
of native people as significantly as child abuse. Ironically,
it is also an area that is glaringly devoid of resources to
address the problem. A recent CDC study found a strong
relationship between childhood trauma and risk factors for many
of the leading causes of death in adults, including tobacco
use, alcohol and substance abuse, obesity, diabetes, heart
disease, and cancer. People who experience childhood trauma
were found to be 12 times more likely to have increased health
risks for alcoholism, drug abuse, depression and attempted
suicides, 2 to 4 times more likely to smoke, 2 to 4 times more
likely to contract a sexually transmitted disease and 1.4 to
1.6 times more likely to be physically inactive or severely
obese. Alaska unfortunately has the highest reported
substantiated incidence per capita of child abuse and neglect
in the United States.
The domestic violence prevention initiative in 2009 funded
at $7.5 million and $10 million in 2010 is a great step toward
addressing our domestic violence prevention needs. We could use
a similar program to address the equally important need for the
prevention of child abuse and neglect and request that $10
million be provided for such an initiative.
Next, American Indians and Alaska natives, especially
children, continue to experience oral health disparities such
as children ages 2 to 4 suffering tooth decay at five times the
national average and that 79 percent of native children ages 2
to 5 have tooth decay, 60 percent of which is considered
severe. This year in Alaska we have children who are graduating
from high school with a full set of dentures.
Each year over 1,200 children need oral surgery in Alaska
due to the extent of their tooth decay, and the cost of one
operating room dental case for a child with early childhood
dental care can be as much as $7,000 because of the unique
geography.
Mr. Moran. Mr. Teuber, I hate to interrupt you, but I am
serious on this one at this time. You are still on the first
part of your testimony. We are almost up to 5 minutes, and we
are going to have to leave. And I do want to get Katherine in
if possible. So if you could somewhat summarize and we could go
to questions.
Mr. Teuber. I appreciate that. On behalf of ANTHC and KANA,
I thank you for providing the opportunity to testify today and
allowing me to highlight what I believe to be among the most
urgent of needs for our native population. I appreciate your
consideration of our recommendations and particularly for
giving consideration to addressing the tragedy of child abuse
and dental health disparities as both clearly are root causes
for some of the challenges our native people confront. We need
your help to deliver our children into adulthood without the
burden and trauma of abuse and neglect and with improved dental
health. Thank you.
[The statement of Andy Teuber follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you. A very important statement, and thank
you for making the committee aware that almost four out of five
Indian children between the ages of 2 to 4, Alaska native
children, have tooth decay and 1/3 miss school because of that.
It is understandable when dental care costs up to $7,000
because of the travel. I did not know that Alaska had the
highest rate of child abuse. It is very disturbing, but we do
appreciate you bringing it to our attention. Mr. Young?
Mr. Young. That is fine. Let's hear from Katherine.
Mr. Moran. Mr. Cole, do you want to--okay, very good. We
now will hear from Katherine Gottlieb who is the President and
CEO of the Southcentral Foundation in Alaska.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
SOUTHCENTRAL FOUNDATION, ALASKA
WITNESS
KATHERINE GOTTLIEB
Ms. Gottlieb. Thank you, Chairman Moran, Ranking Member,
Mr. Cole and Congressman Young, and committee members for
hearing my testimony today.
My name is Kathy Gottlieb and I am the President and CEO of
Southcentral Foundation for the last 17 years, and we have
carried out various programs under compact from the Secretary
of Health and Human Services for the last 25 years and under
tribal leadership, Southcentral Foundation's Nuka Model of
Care, of healthcare, redesigned the way Indian Health Service
provides services, and people from across the world have come
to see what we have done in the redesign of our health system.
SCF's Nuka model includes primary care services to 50,000
Alaskan Native American Indians in Alaska, and it covers
Anchorage, Matsu Valley and 55 villages throughout Alaska, and
it is an area covering about 100,000 square miles.
SCF employs more than 1,400 employees, and we also jointly
own and manage the Alaskan Native Medical Center with the
Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Andy Teuber is the
chair.
For many years, I have been an advocate for an increase in
contract support costs, funding for tribes, and I want to pause
just for a moment, even if it takes 2 minutes or so of my time,
and the reason I want to pause is to thank this committee and
this Congress for the increase that we have had, this historic
increase in contract support costs for 2010. And for this, I am
truly grateful as a President, CEO and tribal leader of Alaska.
We have the hope and we have the belief of this committee
and this Congress that we may finally have full funding for
contract support costs in fiscal year 2011, and that is my
prioritized request. In our world, we are addressing the
highest disparities, cancer, obesity, child sex abuse, domestic
violence, child neglect. And these are our top health issues.
Without these funds, we are unable to do this.
I am going to summarize my testimony because of your time,
and I strongly urge this committee and Congress to fully fund
tribal contract support costs. The majority of SCF's contract
support costs are comprised of fixed overhead costs that are
determined by indirect rates, and the remainder of the contract
support cost is set directly by the IHS through negotiations.
Together there are fixed costs that Southcentral Foundation
occurs every single year.
And I strongly emphasize that the contract costs cover
critical infrastructure. They cover federally mandated costs
such as annual independent audits, liabilities, property
insurance, worker compensation payroll systems, purchase
supplies, costs that track property and equipment. And if
contract support costs appropriations are not provided, we will
have to do what we have been doing for several years and that
is we have no choice but to make up the difference through
staffing and service reductions. And what that means is a
shortfall, and it is a direct impact on our healthcare and it
is also a direct impact on jobs. And our request specifically
is this. We are asking that Congress increase the President's
fiscal year 2011 budget request for contract support costs from
$45 million to $150 million. If this is not possible, then a
total increase to $80 million next year and a like increase of
$35 million every year for the following 2 years would
eliminate that contract support cost shortfall in 3 years. And
what this means is it is critically needed. It is a side
benefit. One hundred percent of these funds would go to the
creation of good jobs at a time of severe stress in the
Nation's economy, thereby increasing employment in some of the
depressed parts of the United States.
The bottom line is this. Contract support costs means jobs.
Southcentral Foundation is anxious to fill as many vacancies as
possible, those that we have been unable to fill because of the
shortfall. If as we project, SCF alone would create 100 jobs
from that funding and the associated increase in third-party
revenues that SCF would collect from these positions.
The IHS needs your help like you have already done in this
last year. We ask that they would be able to honor the agency's
obligation to all the tribes across the Nation. We have taken
on this responsibility. We have shouldered this shortfall way
too long. It really costs us.
And thank you again for granting me the opportunity to
testify on this critical issue on behalf of SCF and the tribes
across the Nation.
[The statement of Katherine Gottlieb follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thanks very much, Ms. Gottlieb, and Mr. Teuber.
Mr. Young, did you have any questions?
Mr. Young. One question, Katherine. On the contracting, you
negotiate with the Indian Healthcare Service?
Ms. Gottlieb. Yes, we do.
Mr. Young. Separately?
Ms. Gottlieb. Yes, we do.
Mr. Young. If this committee appropriates the money, what
assurance do we have that they negotiate in good faith?
Mr. Young. They will negotiate in good faith. They have in
the past. We have a methodology. Once the money is allocated to
Indian Health Service, we will receive those contracts----
Mr. Young. Okay, because you will not be caught in a
shortfall then by them not paying because you have to do it up
front?
Ms. Gottlieb. Right. Well, we have been caught short in the
shortfall only because the money has not been allocated, and
IHS will allocate those monies to the Indian tribes.
Mr. Moran. Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. Just number one, thank you very much, and thank
you for the tremendous work you do. I sort of have a sense you
are both on the wrong side of this table, but we need to keep
Mr. Young as long as we can.
Mr. Young. Thank you.
Mr. Cole. Let me ask you this, Doctor. It is really maybe
not directly about your clinic, but I am very interested in the
contracting process whereby you manage your own healthcare
outcomes because my experience has been, certainly in my tribe,
that once we were able to take over those services ourselves
and contract for ourselves, and frankly eight other tribes in
our area, healthcare got a whole lot better just because you
really had a direct tribal involvement in the management of the
delivery, and even with the resources and challenges that we
all have in this area, that fundamental change and moving
tribes forward as quickly as they can being able to manage
their own healthcare was a good thing. I would love to hear
your perspective and experience to see if it is----
Mr. Moran. Mr. Cole, I am terribly sorry to do this, but we
had several minutes remaining 1 minute ago.
Mr. Cole. Mr. Chairman, I understand.
Mr. Moran. We still have some members who have not voted,
but they are all going down to vote now and if you have a quick
response, maybe we could get that in and then I think we are
going to have to go.
Ms. Gottlieb. I have a very quick response for Mr. Cole. I
would say that if all tribes would assume the management from
the Indian Health Service and take responsibility for their own
healthcare, they will drive health disparities down.
Mr. Moran. Perfect.
Mr. Cole. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. That is a perfect way to end. And Mr. Teuber,
thank you. That was excellent testimony, and thanks for the
emphasis on dental and particularly child abuse. It was very
good. We really appreciate you being here.
[Recess.]
Mr. Moran. Again, some housekeeping here. As compelling as
all this testimony is going to be, we are going to have to get
stricter because of the delay attributable to the votes. We
have got to end this at 4:00, so we are going to have to go
through in almost lightning fashion. So the more concise the
statement, the more appreciated probably the more persuasive,
perhaps.
We will next hear from John Mousseau who is the Councilman
of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. Nice to have you
with us.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE, SOUTH DAKOTA
WITNESS
HERMES ``JOHN'' MOUSSEAU
Mr. Mousseau. Thank you, sir. Good morning, Mr. Chairman,
committee members. My name is Hermes John Mousseau. I am a
member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe Judiciary Committee. I am also
a former police officer. I am here representing the Oglala
Sioux Tribe. President Two Bulls regrets that she cannot be
here to present this herself.
Our Pine Ridge reservation is roughly the size of Rhode
Island, making us the second-largest reservation in the United
States. Our population is upwards between 50,000 and 20,000
coming on and off yearly. Our per-capita for a family of four
is roughly $7,500 a year, and we also have an 80 percent
unemployment rate.
Now, our law enforcement, our 911 system, receives 77,000
calls for police service a year. All of those calls are
answered by 50 police officers. That means we average around 15
police officers per shift, provided none are injured, sick or
on regular scheduled days off.
And while the BIA's own studies say we need 110 police
officers, we only have 50 police officers so we are currently
way under-funded as far as our needs of the population base.
This is true even though our salaries are far lower than what
the BIA police officers receive. Our police officers are only
making an average of $31,000 a year with no medical, retirement
or healthcare benefits. And the BIA under the 638 contract, our
police officers are supposed to be guaranteed a wage or a
salary that is comparable to a BIA law enforcement officer
which we are far below. And yet, our officers still choose to
work on our reservation and provide services.
Not only is our response time ridiculously slow in Pine
Ridge, our shortage of officers means that each one of them has
to work alone with backup at least 30 minutes away. On a
reservation with as much violence, alcoholism, drugs and gangs
as ours, this is an extremely dangerous situation, and a number
of officers are injured on the job every year. I myself was
shot in the line of duty, and the officers who responded to my
calls for assistance took 30 minutes to arrive. Now, can you
imagine being in a situation where you are wounded in the line
of duty and waiting for 30 minutes for assistance?
Mr. Chairman, while we appreciate the increases that this
subcommittee has provided to law enforcement programs over the
past few years, I respectfully say that they are simply not
enough. And like I emphasized before, studies show where we
need 110 officers just based on our old 2000 population which--
go up. So we do need more time, more officers. And back home we
were shocked and quite a bit angered when we had learned that
the BIA was ready to give $19 million of the BIA budget to the
FBI.
While we are first to agree that we need more arrests and
prosecutions of violent crime in Indian country, we also know
that because the FBI is at least 1\1/2\ hours away from our
reservation, our police officers are going to be the ones who
respond, transport the victims, secure the crime scene. To
reward the FBI for failing to perform what is already their
authorized responsibility and to pay the reward with our
precious tribal funds is just plain wrong. While the DoJ
programs that the tribes compete for do provide a great source
of income, purchasing certain unique equipment and for funding
certain specialized training, I must state emphatically that
they must not be seen as a replacement for, or a supplement to,
BIA-based law enforcement because as you know, DoJ does now
have indirect funding, they are competitive and they are
unreliable from year to year.
For these reasons, I respectfully request that you do
everything in your power to increase the BIA-based law
enforcement funding by at least 50 percent each year for the
next 3 years, and without this increase crime on the
reservation will not decrease.
Now to tribal court funding. Given the fact that your
tribal court is severely understaffed and underfunded and our
backlog is over a year, we were shocked to see that the
Administration is proposing a cut in tribal court funding, and
you know, law enforcement alone is not going to combat these
crimes. We also need a sound, well-trained, well-equipped, and
well-funded judicial system to put those arrested in jail. How
can you stop crime when you cannot afford to hire judges and
prosecutors?
So we are requesting an increase of the court's funding for
30 percent, and we also would appreciate this assistance for
the Pine Ridge Justice Facility. Let me bring your attention to
the Medicine Root Facility. When the BIA came in for the Pine
Ridge Justice Facility to ask us which one of our two jails we
wanted to replace, we chose Pine Ridge because of the larger
population. But our Kyle Facility was granted $3 million by
this subcommittee for repairs, and our own estimate of $11.9
million for repairs just to fix it, to bring it up to code. But
we still need the $93 million to keep the building open, but we
are asking, simply asking, instead of putting a Band-Aid
approach on this, we want a new building that would be up to
code.
[The statement of Hermes John Mousseau follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Councilman Mousseau. This was
important testimony. It is unbelievable that you have half the
officers that you had a decade ago, and you have got five times
the crime. It needs to be addressed, and it is amazing that
your officers are getting paid so much less than BIA officers
and do not even get health insurance. It needs to be addressed.
I appreciate it. We could talk about just Pine Ridge
Reservation alone all afternoon. Unfortunately we do not have
that time, but I much appreciate your coming to testify. Thank
you very much. And I am sorry, we just have to do this in such
an expedient manner, but I appreciate it.
Mr. Mousseau. Thank you for the opportunity, and we would
be pleased if you gentlemen would come to the Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation and show you first hand what we are talking about.
Mr. Moran. I do want to go to Pine Ridge, and I am sure Mr.
Cole does as well. But more importantly, we would like to get
you some resources. More than getting us out to the
reservation, we need to get some money to you. But thank you
very much. We appreciate it very much, Councilman Mousseau.
Mr. Mousseau. Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Thank you. Very good. Tom I am going to move on
because we have to catch up on time due to the votes.
Next we have Mr. Zorn, Jim Zorn, the Executive Director of
the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
GREAT LAKES INDIAN FISH AND WILDLIFE COMMISSION
WITNESS
JAMES ZORN
Mr. Zorn. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Cole. Congratulations, Mr.
Chairman. A picture is worth 1,000 words as they say, so as a
lawyer, here is a picture to help remind the committee of who
we are. My name is James Zorn. I am the Executive Administrator
of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission. On
behalf of our 11-member tribal nations and their 38,000 members
in the 60,000-square-miles service area that we cover, we thank
you for what you did last year to help us solidify the Rights
Protection Implementation programs. And we are here again today
to remind you. Many times I follow Billy Frank, and so I get to
say, ditto. So I am sure you remember what he testified to this
morning, so I will not repeat in the interest of time. But just
so you know, we face a similar situation out in the Great
Lakes. We have increasing demand for services. We have many
unmet needs at a time when states and others are doing less,
and when our communities are at important crossroads,
especially in these economic times and with youth trying to
figure out what they should do and getting them connected back
to a key, back to mother earth, and understanding their roots
and the life ways that the ancestors reserved for them in these
treaties is a very important job.
And so the money that was restored last year was greatly
appreciated, and we seek to get at least that much restored
again this year because as I am sure you have heard, that goes
a long way but there are certainly other unmet needs.
And so we just point out that restoration last year, we are
down almost $.5 to $1 million from that simply because of
proposed cuts in the base program, the contract support
shortfalls, as well as the absorption of the fixed costs.
And so for Right Protection Implementation, the important
point to remember is that if we are out to restore, let's not
get back to where we were in a relatively short period of time.
Now, on the EPA, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, we
have a challenge for the committee to help us think through. As
you know, the Administration this year is proposing $300
million for that program. Last year $475 million was
appropriated, $375 million, you know, pick a figure somewhere
in between there will probably work. Our focus is on how to get
tribes at the table there. What we would like to see is to
figure out a way to get some of that money devoted to tribes
and get to them directly under self-determination. That has
proven to be accountable, efficient and the best way--I
believe, Mr. Cole, you talked about healthcare services in the
hands of tribes. Get this money in the hands of tribes and you
will get the type of results that we all want in restoring and
preserving. Why should you have to destroy something before you
get the funds necessary to keep it there in the first place?
And so we would like to figure out a way to work together.
We are happy to talk to EPA. We have been talking to OMB and
the Administration about that, how to get some of these dollars
for these regional initiatives through whether it is BIA or
some other way, I mean, clearly, for that intended purpose, but
then more direct into the hands of the tribes where we can get
them out to the field much more quickly without all the
administrative overhead that you have.
So those are our two main focuses today. We know that both
of the committee members here today understand these programs.
We know you understand the needs, and anything we can do to
give you the ammunition you need to help out, just let us know.
[The statement of James Zorn follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much, Mr. Zorn. In terms of the
amount available for actual outlay, there will not be a
reduction, will there, even if we do not maintain at the $475
million, it is still a substantial money in the pipeline.
Mr. Zorn. There is a lot of money out on the table that has
not been contracted, and that is why I think from our
perspective, we are more focused on the tribal share than the
overall. We tend to see federal agency's budget grow, and then
the tribes do not necessarily get their share.
Mr. Moran. So let's be cognizant of that.
Mr. Zorn. That would be great. Thank you so much.
Mr. Moran. If it is something that could be done without
adding to the bill, that would be fair. Good. Thank you very
much, Mr. Zorn. Thank you. Nice job.
Mr. Zorn. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much. Next we are going to hear
from Buford Rolin, Vice-Chair, National Indian Health Board and
Chairman of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
NATIONAL INDIAN HEALTH BOARD
WITNESS
BUFORD ROLIN
Mr. Rolin. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, thank
you very much for having me here today to provide testimony on
the National Indian Health Board's views on the fiscal year
2011 IHS budget. But first I would like to thank the House for
its work on passing healthcare reform which included the
permanent reauthorization of the Indian Healthcare Improvement
Act. Indian country has labored over the reauthorization of the
Indian Healthcare Improvement Act for over 10 years now, and
after Sunday's vote, this important law is finally
reauthorized. And I want to thank you. It was so good to hear
from the President this morning of his support. And I attended
the healthcare meeting, and he was certainly supportive of that
issue.
Our work is not done, though. Indian country needs to be a
partner in designing and implementing the new authorities
offered in the Indian Healthcare Improvement Act. In addition,
we need your assistance in making sure that the new programs
receive resources and that the IHS receives the funding
increases as proposed in the fiscal year 2011 budget.
NIHB was very pleased to learn that for the fiscal year
2011 IHS budget, the Obama Administration is proposing a $354
million increase over the fiscal year 2010 appropriations. This
is an 8.7 percent increase, and this is certainly noteworthy.
Despite the Federal Government's trust responsibility to
provide healthcare to American Indians and Alaskan natives, IHS
funding remains a discretionary line and is susceptible to
cuts. IHS' budget also remains far from adequate funding. We
need the help of the Appropriations Committee to make adequate
funding a reality. The trust obligation to provide healthcare
is paramount, and it is upon this foundation that the IHS
Tribal Budget Formulation Work Group formed its recommendation
for the fiscal year 2011 IHS budget. The work group's proposal
centers on a 10-year phase-in to eventually achieve full
funding for IHS. As a first step, the work group recommended an
increase in the IHS budget totaling $2.1 billion over the
fiscal year 2010 funding levels. These recommendations focus on
two types of needed increases. First, the work group
recommended an increase of $947 million in current services.
Current services increases are those budget increments needed
to enable the Indian Health System to continue operating at its
current level of service. This category contains such items as
pay cost increases, inflation, contract support costs, funding
for population growth, and for facilities construction and
staffing. Without these increases to base funding, the Indian
health system would experience a decrease in its ability to
care for current populations.
Second, the work group recommended $1.14 billion be added
to identify programs and facilities accounts. Programs services
increases refer to the recommended increases in HHS budget
accounts to enable our program to improve and expand the
services they provide to Indian patients. As you know, the IHS
has long been plagued by woefully inadequate funding in the
program areas.
On behalf of all tribes, please move toward funding all of
the IHS budget. On behalf of the National Indian Health Board,
thank you for the opportunity to address the Subcommittee on
these important matters, and I will be happy to answer your
questions.
[The statement of Buford Rolin follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Very well done. Thank you, Mr. Rolin.
Mr. Rolin. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much. Good testimony. We will now
hear from Mickey Peercy who is the Tribal Executive Director of
the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
CHOCTAW NATION OF OKLAHOMA
WITNESS
MICKEY PEERCY
Mr. Peercy. I want to thank the committee and Subcommittee
for having Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma here. We have been here
over the last 4 years to--and this is not in my written
testimony--but we have been here in the last 4 years to think
about Jones Academy, and I think that is working. That program
is working. It is working through the BIA, and so the only
thing I wanted to say is that I appreciate the interest in the
movement from the Subcommittee to move the issue with Jones
Academy forward.
Chief Pyle sends his regards and wishes he could be here,
but he is in Shreveport for a community meeting tonight.
Mr. Cole. If I could just interrupt real quickly.
Mr. Peercy. Yes, Congressman.
Mr. Cole. Our friend, Congressman Boren and I share
representation of the Choctaw Nation, and Dan did a great job
working with Chairman Dicks in making sure that Jones Academy
thing got done.
Mr. Peercy. Thank you.
Mr. Cole. So I just wanted to make sure that that was in
the record.
Mr. Peercy. Thank you, and we certainly appreciate that.
I am here today to talk--there are about five issues that I
have got in my written testimony that revolve around Indian
Health Service contract support costs, contract health service,
sanitation facilities construction, mandatories, and additional
money back into the self-governance line item.
The two, the mandatories and the self-governance line item,
again, they are in the written testimony. We ask that you pay
close attention to that.
In terms of contract support costs, in the written
testimony you have with you describes the stance of the Tribal
Self Governance Advisory Committee and how they stand on
contract support costs. We certainly support that stance, and
we will support--I know Lloyd Miller will speak later about
contract support costs, and we are part of his coalition.
Just for an instance, I know we did a joint venture in
Idabel, Congressman, about 6 or 7 years ago. It took until this
year to get contract support costs on that addition to our
program, so there is a real program. Our goal eventually is to
make sure the shortfall is done away with, and I think Mr.
Miller will describe how that can be done.
Secondly, with contract health service, I do not know how
familiar you folks are with contract health service, probably
the most complex service provided in health service. It is
those payments to outside doctors, vendors, hospitals, those
things that we cannot provide in-house. I spoke about 6 or 8
weeks ago to a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs about that
issue, and the problem with the 800-pound gorilla is we do not
know how much it is going to cost to fully fund that. Dr.
Roubideaux within the health service has taken some steps
forward to put a committee together to start taking a look at
that. But again, we do not know how much it is going to cost. I
know Senator Dorgan asked, ``what is it going to cost to fully
fund it?'' We do not know. It is not the money we spend. It is
not the deferreds and denials, it is those three, plus we know
in our systems, Chickasaw, Choctaw systems, doctors do not make
those referrals because they know it is not going to get paid.
So there is an 800-pound gorilla out there waiting on us.
The one thing I wanted to really talk about is you do not
hear much about sanitation facilities construction. Choctaw
Nation's southeast corner of Oklahoma is the size of Vermont.
In Oklahoma, we have mountains, you know. We have hard to
access communities and hard to access homes. Sanitation
facilities construction is about putting those water systems
in, those sewer systems in, that reaches those homes and those
communities. It is a lot like on the BIA side, it is a lot like
the roads program because we deal with communities, we deal
with municipalities, we deal with rural water districts going
into joint partnerships to try to use our money and their
money, because in Oklahoma, we are not a reservation state. So
our tribal folks live among everyone else.
In Oklahoma there is an unmet need of $77 million. So we
would ask that as we look into the Indian Health Service
budget, that sanitation facilities really get looked at. It
does not get looked at when you are talking about the
difference in cancer, heart disease, diabetes, those things
that we look at, but it is a preventative service that is
necessary to keep the health of our people. Nine seconds.
[The statement of Mickey Peercy follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much, Mr. Peercy. Mr. Cole, since
it is Oklahoma.
Mr. Cole. Thank you because there are actually a couple of
points I want to make, and Mr. Peercy made one of them right
off the bat. This is not a reservation tribe at all. What is
the size of the Choctaw Nation?
Mr. Peercy. It is the size of Vermont.
Mr. Cole. Yeah, but what is the number of people, I should
say.
Mr. Peercy. Choctaw Nation totals 200,000 people. There are
probably 65,000, 70,000 of those living in the ten counties.
Mr. Cole. And what is the size of your tribal budget,
roughly?
Mr. Peercy. Total?
Mr. Cole. Yes.
Mr. Peercy. Health system or total?
Mr. Cole. Total.
Mr. Peercy. A billion.
Mr. Cole. And there is no per-capita income distribution,
correct?
Mr. Peercy. No, sir. None at all. Services are provided.
Mr. Cole. Right. So what you do is end up--everything you
make, gaming, every other enterprise you have and there are
multiple enterprises, Mr. Chairman--turn back and get invested
in healthcare----
Mr. Peercy. Yes, sir.
Mr. Cole [continuing]. Education services----
Mr. Peercy. Yes, sir.
Mr. Cole [continuing]. Cooperative arrangements with local
governments?
Mr. Peercy. Yes, sir. Pretty unbelievable exercise and very
different from what most people understand tribes to be, and
that is the common situation in Oklahoma. This is one of the
largest tribes in the country. They do an unbelievably good
job.
Mr. Cole. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Thank you for pointing that out. Thank you, Mr.
Cole.
Mr. Moran. Mr. Olver from Western Massachusetts has joined
us, also the Chair of the Housing and Roads Appropriations
Committee.
Mr. Olver. May I make a comment?
Mr. Moran. Yes.
Mr. Olver. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Since you had
introduced me, I would just like to say for people who are here
to testify today that Mr. Moran and I did not particularly plan
this this way, it turns out that tomorrow I am holding in my
Subcommittee, which covers transportation and housing and urban
development, which does the road building on reservations, and
HUD of course deals with Indian housing on the reservations and
the construction and such. We are going to be doing that in
Room 2358 at 10:00. I think it is 10:00 tomorrow. And for
anybody who is still around, that makes it almost a two-fer for
those who would have an interest or who are involved in the
reservations and would want to know something about this
oversight hearing on the building----
Mr. Cole. Would the gentleman yield?
Mr. Olver [continuing]. And housing programs.
Mr. Cole. Would the gentleman yield for just a question on
point? Some of that money I think went to your community. I am
not even sure, but there is tribal road building money. It does
not just go to reservations. These folks are in partnership
with county governments and everything from bridges to things
that county governments cannot afford, particularly where they
have got either concentrations of their tribal members which
then helps everybody, or where they have got the tribal
enterprises. They become partners with some of that money that
you make available to other people around them.
So a lot of that, quote, reservation road money is not
always spent on reservations. But it is spent through tribes.
Mr. Moran. Good. A very important point. If any of you are
going to be around, that would be a worthwhile hearing to
observe tomorrow under Mr. Olver's committee.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Peercy. Thank you for your time.
Mr. Moran. Thank you. All right. Next we will hear from
Donald Rodgers, the Chief of the Catawba Indian Nation, South
Carolina.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
CATAWBA INDIAN NATION, SOUTH CAROLINA
WITNESS
DONALD RODGERS
Mr. Rodgers. Good afternoon. Thank you very much on behalf
of the Catawba Indian Nation for allowing us this opportunity
to testify before the House Interior Appropriations
Subcommittee.
First and foremost, I think that a lot of times Congress
folks do not hear enough appreciation, and I want to personally
thank you on behalf of the Catawba Tribe who received support
from the committee this past year. As we had some budget and
audit issues that I had to address when I took office about
2\1/2\ years ago, but with the support of Chairman Moran,
Ranking Member Simpson, Congressman Cole, and the committee as
a whole, the Bureau of Indian Affairs did take action and
allowed the Catawba Indian Nation to receive several million
dollars in funds that were allocated to it, and we would not
have been able to do so without you all's support, and I deeply
appreciate that, sir, from the Catawba Indian Nation. Thank you
so much.
Mr. Moran. I think Mr. Spratt was also instrumental in
that.
Mr. Rodgers. Yes, sir.
Mr. Moran. Not think, I know that, and he is a good friend
and a good friend of the Catawba----
Mr. Rodgers. Yes, sir.
Mr. Moran [continuing]. To his credit as well.
Mr. Rodgers. Well, thank you very much. I am here today to
urge the Subcommittee to invest federal dollars in programs
that support economic development for smaller tribes that have
limited resources but like the Catawba are committed to
achieving economic self-sufficiency. The Catawba Indian Nation
is one of a handful of federally recognized tribes that do not
enjoy the range of full sovereign powers possessed by most
federally recognized Indian nations.
Under the terms of our settlement agreement, we possess
what I would term second-class tribal sovereignty. For example,
in the area of gaming, we are not authorized to establish
gaming operations pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
Instead, we are limited to small bingo halls, and let me
explain a couple of things here.
During the Revolutionary War, the Catawba Indian Nation
stood with the American Colonists in their struggle for
independence from the doctoral mandates of King George III.
Catawba scouts accompanied then General George Washington on
many of his campaigns through the South. Ever since, the
Catawbas have always answered the call of country, living up to
their half of the tribe's government relationship with the
United States, and we will continue to do that.
It is our hope that when we come back to Congress and ask
for amendments to our settlement act to restore some of our
lost sovereignty and free up our economic potential that
Congress will respond to our call just as enthusiastically as
we have responded to the call of America as a whole.
In the 2000 census, the Catawba Indian Nation had a per-
capita income of just $11,000. The estimated current
unemployment rate among the Catawba is more than double that of
the State, which is very high itself now. I think it is at 26
percent overall, and so about half of our folks are unemployed
now. The tribe currently has no economic development venture,
so what we have come to ask for is that we want the same rights
as other tribes but we want to also have the opportunity to
have funding that comes to our tribe on behalf of small
economic ventures. We are working on a Catawba market to create
jobs that improve services to our tribal members but also gives
them an opportunity to work. Also, a major road extension that
would provide decent, safe access to our reservation but also
allows emergency services to come to the reservation.
A ride share program to get our members to jobs located
throughout the area, and the summer youth program that will
allow our children and young people to become engaged in
education and prevention activities for them.
I thank you for this opportunity to talk about the needs of
the Catawba Indian Nation. Your support for our people and
indeed for all the native people in America is greatly
appreciated and truly in the best traditions of the government,
the government relationship. Again, I thank you for the time
that we have been able to spend here.
[The statement of Donald Rodgers follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. I thank you very much, Mr. Rodgers. Is there any
more money that needs to be settled with regard to the claim on
the Catawba Nation?
Mr. Rodgers. Well, what happened with that is the
Department of Interior worked with the Department of Treasury
to suspend collection on the debt, but we are working on that.
I do not know if Congressman Sprat has asked you to seek an
appropriation to settle that debt and if that could take place,
that would be a blessing for us dearly.
Mr. Moran. Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Cole. Quickly, and I will try and be quick, Chairman. I
just wanted to really reemphasize a point you made, Chief
Rodgers, which all states may be equal but all tribes are not,
and we have dispensed recognition in many cases and stripped
tribes of the ability to pursue their own economic interests.
We have done it as recently as the last Congress. It is totally
the wrong thing to do. It actually turns the tribe into a
permanent ward of the state and does not allow them to pursue
the opportunities they ought to be able to pursue. And you are
a perfect example of a tribe that has been handicapped in this
way for a long time.
The second, just a quick question to you. I know you were
working with Secretary Echohawk, and he probably ought to get a
plug here, too, because I understand he has been working really
hard.
Mr. Rodgers. Yes, he has. He has worked extremely hard for
us and on our behalf, and we do offer him plugs quite a bit and
thank him for that. I do appreciate his hard work for us on our
behalf because he did step to the plate and it was an emotional
day for us that day because it freed up about $3 million of
funds that came to us immediately.
Mr. Cole. He would not tell me what he was going to tell
you, but he told you you were going to be a lot happier when
you left than when you saw him.
Mr. Rodgers. We were extremely happy.
Mr. Cole. I thought it was going to happen.
Mr. Rodgers. Thank you all for your help.
Mr. Cole. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman.
Mr. Moran. Once in a while good things happen to deserving
people. Okay. Thank you very much. Good job, Mr. Rodgers. Now
we will hear from Geoffrey Roth, the Executive Director of the
International Council of Urban Indian Health.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF URBAN INDIAN HEALTH
WITNESS
GEOFFREY ROTH
Mr. Roth. I will be as brief as possible, and I thank you
guys very much.
My name is Geoff Roth. I am the Director of the National
Council of Urban Indian Health and a descendant of the Standing
Rock Sioux Nation. I sit here and represent 36 of our member
organizations and 150,000 American Indians and Alaska natives
that our programs serve every year.
I would like to thank Chairman Moran for this opportunity
to talk about the fiscal year 2011 budget.
Like everyone else has done, I would really like to come
and say thank you first, thank you for healthcare reform. Thank
you for the Indian Healthcare Improvement Act, and thank you
for the increased budget in fiscal year 2010. However, our work
is not done. In order to fulfill the promises of the Indian
Healthcare Improvement Act, we must work toward ensuring that
the new programs and projects under IHCIA receive the necessary
funding for implementation. We ask the Subcommittee to sit down
and be our partner implementing these new authorities.
I have got three main budget recommendations. First, we
fully support the National Indian Health Board's tribal budget
formulation process and $2.1 billion above the fiscal year 2010
funding level. We are grateful that the President's budget
freeze did not include the Indian Health Services Budget. That
is great.
Second, NCU strongly advocates for a $4 million increase to
the Urban Indian Health line item. We believe this is a modest
increase request in light of the incredible need within the
urban Indian communities and in order to meet rising needs, we
definitely need that.
Last, NCU would like to encourage the Subcommittee to
discuss the additional funding needed created by the passage of
the Indian Healthcare Improvement Act, and we would be happy to
sit down and talk with you about that.
While we recognize that this year's budget is very
difficult to deal with, and we understand that there is an
economic downturn in the country, we really feel that
investment in Indian programs is extremely important.
I want to thank you again. I would like to sit down with
your staff and talk some more about the individual line items
and again, $4 million to the Urban Indian line item.
[The statement of Geoffrey Roth follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Very good. Nice going. Thank you, Mr. Roth. Mr.
Cole?
Mr. Cole. Yes. Quick point again. Given the constituency
which you serve, which is located primarily as your name
implies, in urban areas, if you are not funded, where do your
patients go?
Mr. Roth. Back to the tribes.
Mr. Cole. Either back to the tribes, which can be a long
way away----
Mr. Roth. Or the emergency room.
Mr. Cole [continuing]. Or they become indigent care in the
next hospital over that gets uncompensated for. So it is sort
of penny-wise and pound-foolish. You are not funded. I promise
you, they are going someplace else because they do not have the
wherewithal to do it. And again, you do not have the
concentration of skill sets that you get a lot of these claims
that are used to dealing with Indian people. They know the
special healthcare challenges that population has. So you guys
do great work.
Mr. Roth. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Mr. Olver. May I just ask, as information, you are not
eligible to get care at a community health center? Many of the
urgent centers do have community health care center systems.
Mr. Roth. Eight of our programs are dual-funded Urban
Indian Health programs and community health center programs. A
lot of our population will not go to the community health
center programs that are not native-specific. Our patients have
a hard time going there without the doctors and people that
know how to care specifically for the Indian population.
Mr. Olver. I have heard that other years, yes, and I really
do not entirely understand that other than----
Mr. Roth. Well, there are different issues like amount of
time that they are able to spend with patients to deal with the
specific issues. There are long issues that our population has,
medical disparities that our population has that require longer
times sitting down and talking and, you know, being culturally
sensitive. The community health centers do not necessarily do
that.
Mr. Moran. But they are allowed to?
Mr. Roth. They are allowed to, yes.
Mr. Moran. And we would encourage Native Americans to take
advantage of that if that is what is most accessible because we
are putting more money into those community health centers.
Mr. Cole. I could not agree more. Those are great
investments. But it is also a population that is different,
literally, genetically than the rest of the population to some
degree, and it has certain susceptibilities to certain
diseases. And you just will not get the expertise unless you
are dealing with a large enough concentration of that
population to get it there.
Mr. Roth. Yeah.
Mr. Moran. On the other hand, if more Native Americans did
use the community health centers, they might beef up and become
more sensitive. Any way, good point.
Mr. Olver. On the other hand, if there are eight of them
that you do actually have arrangements with and are being
sensitive to the kinds of issues that you raised, there is no
reason why there cannot be 18.
Mr. Roth. Yes, and I got to say, Dr. Wakefield, the
administration--is really working to increase those and we want
to work with them on it.
Mr. Moran. That is what we want to see. Excellent. Thank
you very much, Mr. Roth.
Mr. Roth. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Next we will hear from Larry Wawronowicz who is
the National Resources Director, Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake
Superior Chippewa Indian Tribe from Wisconsin.
Mr. Wawronowicz. Yes, how are you doing?
Mr. Moran. Fine.
Mr. Wawronowicz. Congratulations on your appointment.
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Wawronowicz.
Mr. Wawronowicz. When Jim Zorn indicated that pictures are
worth 1,000 words, there is about a million words in there. If
you want to share that, it gives you a little bit of an----
Mr. Moran. Oh, pictures, yeah.
Mr. Wawronowicz [continuing]. Opportunity to talk about Lac
du Flambeau. It is located in the northern part of Wisconsin. I
do have two Lac du Flambeau tribal members that are located in
the audience, and one is named Eric Chapman. He is our----
Mr. Moran. In fact, if they would like to sit beside you,
that is fine while you give testimony, if they would like to.
Mr. Wawronowicz. He is newly elected and tribal council
member in October, and I have Patty Brown-Schwalenberg in the
back that gave a presentation earlier.
Mr. Moran. Yes. We heard from her. She did a good job.
Mr. Wawronowicz. Yeah.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
LAC DU FLAMBEAU BAND OF LAKE SUPERIOR CHIPPEWA INDIAN TRIBE, WISCONSIN
WITNESS
LARRY WAWRONOWICZ
Mr. Wawronowicz. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee,
I am Larry Wawronowicz, and I am the Natural Resources Director
for the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians.
I am going to be brief today because we have a written document
that gives you a lot of detail on what we support within the
President's budget, as well as what our concerns are. And I
respectfully submit this testimony on behalf of the tribal
membership of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior
Chippewa Indians. This is what we are doing it for. We are
doing it for the members.
The Lac du Flambeau Band supports the inclusion of the
Circle of Flight program as the BIA's base program at the
amount of $600,000. This is a very important program for us in
terms of protecting our wetland resources within the Great
Lakes Region as well as enhancing waterfowl, and you know how
important waterfowl is in terms of providing the opportunity
for tribal members to hunt for subsistence as well as it
supports a good hunting program within the Great Lakes Region.
The Band also supports the $8.5 million for GAP, and the
$30 million for multi-media grant programs. But we are a little
bit concerned about the $93 million reduction in the Clean
Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. But the set-
aside for tribal programs has increased, and we appreciate that
support for you to keep that in there.
The Great Lakes Restoration initiative of $475 million at
the fiscal year 2010 level, I wish we can maintain that in the
fiscal year 2011 budget.
The tribe appreciates the increase in indirect costs for
the BIA programs, but we do not understand why there was a $9.4
million absorption of fixed costs such as salary and fringe
within the President's budget. We would like to request this
committee to restore that funding.
Eric Chapman is our chief conservation law enforcement
officer as well as a very important component of our Tribal
Natural Resource Department. We have a very comprehensive
program and conservation laws. This is one of the programs.
This program is totally funded by tribal funds. There is no BIA
funding whatsoever that is going into our program, and that is
around a $248,000 budget. Because of the economic downturn, we
reduced our conservation law enforcement officers from four
individual officers to two. And it is costing us about $100,000
per officer to put them in patrol vehicles and taking care of
business within the boundaries of the reservation.
So we are asking Congress to maybe direct some funding
through the Bureau of Indian Affairs to support our
conservation law enforcement programs. We have two officers
that are basically patrolling a 144-square-mile reservation,
and it is not very safe just having two people on board.
While we support the Administration and the Congress'
support on trying to increase public safety in Indian country,
we feel that some of the funds in the proposed budget are
misdirected. An earlier presenter indicated that the $19
million the BIA is going to give the FBI or the Department of
Justice for 45 I believe FBI agents, we feel that is
misdirected and maybe not the best use of the dollars, and we
would like to see that money go to conservation law enforcement
officers so we can protect our resources within the Lac du
Flambeau Indian Reservation. Conservation law enforcements are
always our first line of defense to illegal activities
occurring on the reservation.
The Lac du Flambeau Band supports the $3.6 million and $2.8
million for tribal fish hatchery operations. We would like to
see BIA forestry monies increase. I think there is a decrease
of $156,000 which is in this year's budget which is not a lot
but has totally been underfunded since 1991. And any decrease
is going to have a negative impact on our ability to do
business. It has economic development potential, helps us fight
things like climate change because, you know, sequestering
carbon and things like that.
Historic preservation, we also need funding there. $120,000
I guess is being requested to support tribal historic
preservation offices. That is about $12 million because they
anticipate THPOs across the country.
And lastly, higher education is becoming so important for
us at Lac du Flambeau because we are getting more and more
people that are graduating from high school and going onto
college and graduate work.
So we support the budget of $2.1 million, but we are
concerned that this particular budget is remaining flat over
the few years, and maybe it is something that we can take care
of in this budget but just make it something that we could red-
flag for the future.
So again, thank you very much for your time. I really
appreciate it, and again, congratulations on your appointment,
sir.
[The statement of Larry Wawronowicz follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much. Thanks for
the testimony. I appreciate it and all the explanatory material
as well.
Mr. Wawronowicz. Yeah, there is a good video on there, so
if you do not have anything else to do----
Mr. Cole. Mr. Chairman, if I could ask one question?
Mr. Moran. Yes, Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. This might be more appropriate to staff because I
do not know if you would know, Mr. Roth. But this $19 million
to the 45 FBI agents has come up several times in testimony, a
lot of concern. Nobody is hollering, yeah, this is a great
idea. Do you know if those agents would be stationed
specifically on reservation land?
Mr. Wawronowicz. No, the way I understand it there are 565
federally recognized tribes in the United States. I think it is
going to have an impact on 200 tribes. So there would be about
365 tribes that may or may not be affected. It does not really
put a lot of boots on the ground as far as I am concerned
within Indian country. You know, if the $19 million goes to
blue force, I call it, or brown force, conservation law
enforcement, I think it would be a better, efficient use of the
money.
Mr. Cole. I may be wrong. Maybe again we can direct these
questions to the Secretary, but you know, I think the argument
behind it is, look, they have got jurisdictional authority that
obviously, unfortunately, tribal law enforcement does not have
and this sort of beefs it up and speeds it up. So there is an
argument either way, but I would just like to know a little bit
more about it.
Mr. Wawronowicz. Well, if we could help in some way, you
know, please give us a call.
Mr. Cole. You already have.
Mr. Wawronowicz. Contact information----
Mr. Cole. Because just waving the red flag helps a lot.
Mr. Moran. Yeah, it is something we should look at. It may
very well not be the optimal use of funds.
Mr. Wawronowicz. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Cole. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Mr. Olver. May I make----
Mr. Moran. Yeah, Mr. Olver.
Mr. Olver [continuing]. A very strict comment?
Mr. Moran. Yeah.
Mr. Olver. I am reminded that the hearing that I was
talking about is at 2:00 in the afternoon rather than at 10:00
in the morning. So if anybody was inclined to visit with that
subcommittee as we talk about housing and road building on the
reservations, then it is 2:00 at 2358 Rayburn Building.
Mr. Moran. So that means you can stay up late, celebrate
tonight, sleep late in the morning and come back at 2358
Rayburn for Mr. Olver's hearing on housing and transportation.
Mr. Wawronowicz. Thanks again.
Mr. Moran. Thank you. Next we will hear from Tracy Ching
King, the President of the Fort Belknap Indian Community in
Montana.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
FORT BELKNAP INDIAN COMMUNITY, MONTANA
WITNESS
TRACY CHING KING
Mr. King. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I really do not have any
pictures, just requesting a picture perfect budget.
Again, my name is Tracy Ching King. I serve as the
President of the Fort Belknap Indian Community Council, home of
the Assiniboine and Gros Ventre Nations. North Central Montana
where winter is still there, and we are requesting some help
with issues. Just like everyone else, we have our issues
regarding 638 contracts. It seems like we are treated like
prisoners and we are on probation sometimes, and to me that is
not the way to treat us. I feel that the BIA should be working
with us, not against us.
A good example is: once we 638 contracted our law
enforcement and our detention, the FTEs were 55,000 and that
was cut to 27,000 now. So we have half the funding that we
should have, but once the BIA will take over, usually it goes
to 100 percent funding.
A lot of issues were talked about regarding different
budgets. We are working on programs to try to deal with a lot
of different abuses. Myself, I do not believe in locking up
people. I believe in helping them. I have worked with kids that
were ready to be locked up, and one of the things that happened
with a grant through the Department of Justice about 10 years
ago, many of them were ready to be locked up. Today a lot of
them come back from Iraq, serve their country. I come from a
family of veterans, historically, and my daughter served in
Iraq in the satellite imagery capturing insurgents, and the DA
and sometimes IHS, they treat our veterans as if they were the
tennis ball of the Williams sisters competing against one
another.
[The statement of Tracy Ching King follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. That is inexcusable, and I appreciate you
bringing it to our attention.
I have to bring to the attention of everyone here, though,
we have just been informed we are going to have votes about
3:45. They are going to take us to about 4:30. At 4:30, I have
a hearing that I have got to attend with the Chair of the Chief
of Staff of the Army, actually, on army funding. So we are
going to run out of time, unless Mr. Olver is able to come
back, I do not know whether you are going to be able to about
4:30, John.
Mr. Olver. Oh, at 4:30?
Mr. Moran. Yeah. Well, if that being the case, we have got
nine more. You are the 10th, Mr. King. I do not see how else we
are going to have this hearing. I do not think it is fair to
bring people back another day, so let us try to move through as
many people as we can out of consideration for everyone. I hate
to do this.
Mr. King. I am finished, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Moran. The staff warned me that this could happen, and
I thought that we could move forward anyway.
Mr. King. Okay.
Mr. Moran. But we have all of your testimony for the
record.
Mr. King. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Mr. Pomeroy is here. Mr. Pomeroy, did you want
to say anything quickly with regard to Fort Belknap?
Mr. Pomeroy. Thank you. Let me just say a couple words for
the record. You will hear either in oral or written form from
David Gipp, the President of the United Tribes Technical
College in Bismarck, North Dakota. This is one of two multi-
tribal colleges that was founded 41 years ago, offers 17
vocational and technical programs, 11 1-year certificates and a
4-year degree to elementary education, 81 percent retention
rate, and an extraordinary placement rate of 94 percent, Mr.
Chairman.
Mr. Moran. Mr. Gipp, did you want to come up? We are going
to have to move through this very quickly, unfortunately, but--
--
Mr. Pomeroy. Let me just say, this outfit is the best. What
they do is remarkable. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Pomeroy. Very quickly. Mr. King
was in the middle of some very good testimony, and I am sorry,
Mr. King, it is very embarrassing that this kind of thing
happens.
Please, very quickly, Mr. Gipp, but we do want to hear from
you.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
UNITED TRIBES TECHNICAL COLLEGE, NORTH DAKOTA
WITNESS
DAVID GIPP
Mr. Gipp. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and members of the
Subcommittee. I will make it very quickly here within the next
1 or 2 minutes.
We do have five major points within our testimony that we
would like the committee to consider. One is our general
operating funds for United Tribes which is at about 6.4 percent
in the request. We are also working very heavily with the
Bureau of Indian Affairs and with the new Administration
relative to law enforcement and police training. We are
requesting $4.3 million to fund a Northern Plains Indian Police
Academy of which we have pretty unanimous support from all of
our tribes in our region, and we are also working on a science
and technology building that is for $3 million. Another $3
million for an expansion on our south campuses. You know we
have been operating for over 41 years now, and we are also
supporting the $23 million request for the Bureau of Indian
Education for elementary and secondary schools.
And that would summarize basically our testimony. We have
about 1,100 adults and about 400 children on our campus with a
K through 8 elementary school. Thank you so much.
[The statement of David Gipp follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much, President Gipp. And again,
President King, thank you very much. So sorry to have had to
interrupt your testimony. I feel very badly about that. You did
not deserve that.
Next, Mr. Begay who is the General Manager of the Dine
Power Authority in the Navajo Nation of Arizona. Mr. Begay.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
DINE POWER AUTHORITY, NAVAJO NATION, ARIZONA
WITNESS
STEVE BEGAY
Mr. Begay. Thank you, Chairman Moran, Ranking Member
Simpson, and members of the House Interior Appropriations----
Mr. Moran. Thank you, President King, President Gipp. Thank
you both.
Mr. Begay [continuing]. Subcommittee. This is Tim Goodlet,
the Chairman of our board and also a member of the Navajo
Nation Council. I am the general counsel for Dine Power
Authority, the energy development enterprise of Navajo Nation,
and we have a project, the largest Indian project that we know
of in Indian country. It is a 1500 megawatt desert rock energy
project. It has modern emissions systems. It will generate jobs
over a 5-year construction period, 200 permanent jobs in the
plant, 200 permanent jobs in the mining for a 40- to 60-year
period. Navajo has 50 percent unemployment, but this project
will bring in over $50 million over the term of the project.
The agencies and the Federal Government have been slow in
the DREP permitting process. We received the air permit from
the EPA, and it has been withdrawn and now we are a little bit
frustrated that things are moving forward slowly. It has been
twice extended for public review and comment process, and still
we do not have a permit today. It is notable that coal projects
in Illinois and Colorado, which were at the same stage of
permitting in 2004, are now under construction.
Why is the project located on Indian lands put at such an
incredible regulatory disadvantage to other projects? Navajo
nation is similarly frustrated by the continued delays in the
federal environmental impact statement process.
We have been actively engaged in both the EPA and the
Department of Interior in an effort to bring these regulatory
processes to closure in a reasonable timeframe. DPA urges this
committee to include in the fiscal year 2011 Interior
Appropriations bill sufficient funds to ensure that the EPA and
the Interior are adequately resourced to complete the DREP
regulatory processes and report language tasking them to move
these processes forward in a quick way.
[The statement of Steve Begay follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. I think we should put report language in. Maybe
if the staff feels that a letter asking that they accelerate
the process of it, it is at a pace comparable to non-Indian
lands, that might be a constructive thing to do. We appreciate
you bringing it to our attention. Thank you very much.
Mr. Begay. Thank you very much.
Mr. Moran. Thank you. We greatly appreciate that. Faye
BlueEyes. Thank you very much, Mr. Begay.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
DZILTH-NA-O-DITH-HLE COMMUNITY GRANT SCHOOL BOARD, NEW MEXICO
WITNESS
FAYE BLUEEYES
Ms. BlueEyes. Good afternoon. I am Faye BlueEyes. I am the
program director at Dzilth-Na-O-Dith-Hle Community School. Our
school is part of the Bureau of Indian Education School System
and is operated by an all-Navajo school board with a grant from
BIE. The main thing I would like to point out is that--schools
get the same tribal grant support cost as BIA non-school
contractor. We are only going to get 66 percent while the non-
school contractors will get 94 percent. But yet we both do the
same thing, so we feel that is very unfair and it is not good
policy and the disparity is just not right.
And then I urge you to please read my written testimony.
[The statement of Faye BlueEyes follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you, and thanks for being so brief. Maybe
working with Mr. Cole and other members of the Committee we can
rectify some of the--it does not seem that it should be so
disparate. That disparate treatment is something we should be
able to do without having to devote a lot of resources, but
maybe we can focus a little attention to it.
Mr. Crouch, James Crouch, Executive Director of the
California Rural Indian Health Board.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
CALIFORNIA RURAL INDIAN HEALTH BOARD
WITNESS
JAMES CROUCH
Mr. Crouch. Thank you for having me here. I will be
extremely brief.
CRIHB, in association with Tribally Operated Health
Programs in California supports the President's request for the
appropriations for fiscal year 2011. We would like to inform
you about the fact that there are only two areas in the IHS
that have no IHS hospitals so that all of our inpatient and
specialty care is provided through the contract healthcare
system. The President's request does include a significant,
although never sufficient, amount of funds, new funds, program
improvement funds, for contract healthcare.
You may hear, and I would draw your attention to the last
page of my testimony, that the current formula or the new
change formula overly advantages those of us that have no
access to IHS funded inpatient and specialty care. The graph
shows actually over 10 years distributing the same $46 million
every year going forward, after about a billion dollars,
basically, the programs that have no hospitals, have not
overlapped or exceeded in fact the relative distribution among
the 12 areas stays the same. The curve has been bent up, and we
appreciate the support.
[The statement of James Crouch follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Okay. Thank you very much. I see what you are
telling us in this chart. Thank you very much, Mr. Crouch. Well
done.
Next we will hear from Harold Dustybull who is Vice
President of the National Johnson-O'Malley Association
headquartered in Oklahoma.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
NATIONAL JOHNSON-O'MALLEY ASSOCIATION, OKLAHOMA
WITNESS
HAROLD DUSTYBULL
Mr. Dustybull. Congressman Moran, Congressman Cole,
Congressman Olver, I just have a couple of things, and I will
make it real brief. We want our funds restored to $24 million
which was a fiscal year 2006 enacted level. That is the main
thing that we have been pushing for for years.
We also want a position in the Department of Interior to
oversee the JOM program. Those are two things that we have had
and were taken away from us, and we want them back. And we ask
for your folks' help in putting this back in place for us.
And the rest of it is in my testimony, and I thank you very
much.
[The statement of Harold Dustybull follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. The testimony is very good testimony, and I am
just reading it through here. I know Mr. Cole has a particular
interest in Johnson-O'Malley Act, and I think as he explains it
as you do, he gets some support there as well. Did you have
anything you wanted to say, Tom?
Mr. Cole. Thank you for those comments, Mr. Chairman. I
look forward to working with you on it, and as you know, it is
a great program. We need to restore it.
Mr. Dustybull. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Thank you. Very well done. Thank you very much,
Mr. Dustybull.
Joseph Brings Plenty, Chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux
Tribe in South Dakota.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
CHEYENNE RIVER SIOUX TRIBE, SOUTH DAKOTA
WITNESS
JOSEPH BRINGS PLENTY
Mr. Brings Plenty. My name is Joseph Brings Plenty. I am
tribal Chairman, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.
I am not going to be able to do any justice as far as what
I have written down here. I have come a long ways, and I know
you are pressed for time. So what we have here are our
priorities, and I have traveled in representation from my
nation to come here to express our concerns. I know that each
and every other tribe out there has great concerns, and each
one of them are unique in their ways, but everything is down in
the testimony here. I hope you read it and take our priorities
into consideration. Thank you.
[The statement of Joseph Brings Plenty follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Do not leave yet. Tell us for a couple more
minutes about your priorities. The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
is the fourth largest tribe in the United States. We should be
able to afford you more than a minute-and-a-half. Go ahead.
Mr. Brings Plenty. Okay. Let me go ahead and read through
my testimony.
Mr. Moran. No, you do not have to read through it. Just
tell us from your heart what you want us to be doing. What
would you be doing if you were on this side of the table?
Mr. Brings Plenty. One thing for sure is that our greatest
priority is our water and infrastructure, and we had an
appropriation through WRDA in 2007. It had survived basically a
veto by the President then. But it was one of the unfunded
mandates that so many people have heard of.
This past January we had dealt with a winter ice storm
which knocked out over 3,000 poles throughout our reservation.
We had 10,000 tribal members without electricity, without heat,
without water.
Mr. Moran. How long did they go without power?
Mr. Brings Plenty. I would say half of the tribe went
without power for about a week, and the rest of the tribe for
about 2 weeks. And there were some rural areas that went
without electricity for 19 days.
I guess one thing that you have to understand, too, as soon
as the electricity went off the following day, there was 40-
below wind chill factors with 40-miles-per-hour winds that had
hit the reservation area on the Great Plains.
Mr. Cole. Did you get a FEMA disaster declaration for that?
Mr. Brings Plenty. Yeah, we did. It was recently approved,
and we are going through the application process this week back
home.
Mr. Cole. I would like to know how you come out on that
because actually we had a similar situation in my area, in a
rural area, and FEMA was actually quite good about helping.
Those poles are $2,000 a piece to put up. So just do the math.
At least that is what they are in our area. They may be more in
yours. But that is a huge drain on tribal resources if you do
not get it back up, and you should be eligible for FEMA help on
something like that.
Mr. Brings Plenty. Yeah, the FEMA was approved. We are
going through the process. The utility company actually is not
owned by the tribe. Our part of it, of course, with the water
infrastructure, when that went down, that posed--we had to send
our dialysis patients off the reservation, actually to our
sister tribe. The Oglala Sioux Tribe had assisted us greatly
during that time. We had about 40 or 39 people get sent off the
reservation. But our water infrastructure is most important. We
cannot build. We have three or four families living in one
home. Unless we get the water infrastructure of course with--
and HUD you cannot build a new home unless you know, you have
to have the infrastructure there for it before those dollars
are spent. Probably about 5, 6 days into it, when the
electricity came on, we had numerous assaults. A lot of people
were pretty tired of each other, so law enforcement, which we
have about 10 officers for 2.8 million acres there, trying to
police the area were just overwhelmed. We had extra BIA
personnel come on to assist, thank God nobody had perished
during the storm.
Mr. Cole. Just to underline the need, do you happen to know
roughly what the unemployment figure on this reservation would
be and what the per-capita income is?
Mr. Brings Plenty. Eighty-six percent unemployment rate,
and I would say maybe, for some families, I know that they are
living off about $500, $300----
Mr. Cole. So clearly not a lot of resources available to
meet these kind of needs when you are talking infrastructure
law enforcement all across the board. They are not there to be
locally generated at this point.
Mr. Brings Plenty. Yes, exactly.
Mr. Moran. Some of us saw this on television and wished we
could have done something about it.
Mr. Olver, do you have any ideas, Chairing the House----
Mr. Olver. Oh, do I have ideas. I am not sure that it is
possible to cover them as quickly since--have the votes been
called? I am not sure.
Mr. Moran. They have not been called quite yet.
Mr. Olver. I would like to ask a couple questions if I may.
Mr. Moran. Okay.
Mr. Olver. I note, Joseph, that you are also the Vice
Chairman of the United Sioux Tribes Development Corporation.
What sort of a budget does your development corporation have
per year?
Mr. Brings Plenty. Well, right now it has not--before it
was in the President's budget. Since then before Bush's terms,
it had been surviving on earmarks basically, and the
corporation, of course, it involves all the tribes that are
involved with the treaty of 1868. Right now I could not give
you an exact estimate, but they are not functioning off very
much money.
Mr. Olver. And what kind of things come under the
development? Do you build housing? Are you trying to create
jobs?
Mr. Brings Plenty. Yes----
Mr. Olver. Are you developing social services in the
development corporation?
Mr. Brings Plenty. It takes care of some of the social
needs on a public level as far as some individuals, and it had
been done in the past as far as relocating from the reservation
off, but what the primary function of the corporation is to
create opportunity. And he had stated possible development in a
business. That is----
Mr. Olver. Job opportunities?
Mr. Brings Plenty. Yes, exactly. And one thing, if you read
in there toward the end of it, as per my request is funding for
a database which is I think for just about every tribe out
there would be very useful. We do not have a database system to
where we could collect all our information. That would be one
function of the United Sioux Tribes Corporation, to be able to
be a hub for all of the tribes.
Mr. Olver. And you are United Sioux Tribes, the
corporation, the development corporation, that covers all the
Sioux bands from North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska?
Mr. Brings Plenty. Nebraska, yeah. The ones that are on----
Mr. Olver. How many bands would there be? How many bands
would you----
Mr. Brings Plenty. Nine.
Mr. Olver. Nine?
Mr. Moran. So we will move on at this point, but Mr. Olver,
let me just say, he is a very good guy, and he does chair the
Housing and Transportation Appropriations Committee. It might
be useful to contact his staff. I do not know whether he can
help you out at all, but he is having a hearing on Indian
housing tomorrow afternoon, and you know, he allocates his
money according to need.
Mr. Olver. But we do not have enough for all the needs----
Mr. Moran. No, that is for sure.
Mr. Olver [continuing]. On the reservations to say nothing
of the needs elsewhere.
Mr. Brings Plenty. And real quick, too, without the
upgraded water infrastructure, we cannot--if we build a house
here and add on a line, then somebody loses water pressure
here. So we cannot build houses or we cannot build business. We
cannot build anything. Right now, we have a moratorium on our
reservation stating that we cannot build because of the water
pressure.
Mr. Moran. And what can you do about the water pressure?
Mr. Brings Plenty. We have done just about everything that
we could. We put up water towers, we put up reserves,
everything that we could, and we have been very efficient but,
you know, at this point, we----
Mr. Moran. The water is not there.
Mr. Brings Plenty. This has been an issue since 1993.
Mr. Cole. What would be the largest job-creators--if you
can just tell me a couple of them that are done by your
development corporation?
Mr. Brings Plenty. It has been helpful in the past with
some of the tribes to create business within their
reservations. But like I said it has not been very effective
for some years now because of the funding. It was in the
President's budget before. It is not now. So what we will do is
come together and bring our ideas and push forward with a
resolution from the Great Sioux Nation. What I could do, Mr.
Olver, is send you a list of what United Sioux Tribes has done
in the past to give you an idea of how it could be useful and
what a good tool it could be.
Mr. Olver. From my point of view, one needs to understand
exactly all that--land or much of it North and South Dakota and
a couple of places in Nebraska would be your bands. Some of
them have their own tribal housing authorities----
Mr. Brings Plenty. Yes.
Mr. Olver [continuing]. Which would do housing.
Mr. Brings Plenty. Yes.
Mr. Olver. One by one. And whether each of the separate
bands has mechanisms to do economic development, which is what
you are talking about. HUD begins to talk about doing economic
development which is what urban development is the other part
of the title, not just housing and urban development, and not
that you are urban particularly but in your communities.
Certainly you need community development.
Mr. Moran. So the more you can collaborate or you can show
that it is generating jobs, the more consistent it is with the
Federal Government's priorities, and Mr. Olver is a good
contact to have and we appreciate your testimony. Thank you
very much.
Mr. Brings Plenty. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.
Mr. Moran. Thank you. Brian Patterson, President of the
United South and Eastern Tribes of Tennessee.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
UNITED SOUTH AND EASTERN TRIBES, INC., TENNESSEE
WITNESS
BRIAN PATTERSON
Mr. Patterson. Good morning or good afternoon as it may be.
Chairman Brings Plenty, while America turned to Haiti with its
heart in its wallet, the eyes of Indian country looked at your
reservation with our thoughts and prayers and put our minds
together and came up with ways that we could assist your
people. So thank you for your leadership.
And just as a point of interest as we sit here and we
center our issues around self-determination and self-governance
and self-sufficiency to become a self-determining people, I
would just like to point out in point of the hardships on
chairman's reservation facing his people, I spoke with Gail
Kingman, the Executive Director of Great Plains Association,
and we are going to spear a movement that would rally Indian
country to put an emergency respondedness plan of action and
develop some strategies that we could reach out and support
Indian country in times of need such as this. Just as Katrina
devastated some of my tribes in the South, in many of our USET
member tribes, our family responded. We want to put into place
the same type of strategy to respond within Indian country and
help them out.
Mr. Moran. Nice going, Mr. President. Thank you. Excellent.
Mr. Patterson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I expressed my
heart-felt gratitude to you chairing this committee in taking
on and shouldering that responsibility. So from my heart, I
express my heart-felt gratitude.
Mr. Cole, I would just like to acknowledge your years as a
tireless warrior and advocate for Indian country. Many thank
yous.
Mr. Olver, same with you. Thank you for, with heartfelt
gratitude for serving in your capacity.
I have served my people for nearly 20 years as Bear Clan
representative of the Oneida Indian Nation of New York. I am in
my second term as USET President of the United South and East
Tribes. We are very diverse, not only in geography but in where
we are in development. I represent tribes from Texas to Florida
up to Maine, 25 federally recognized tribes, and we are
grateful for this opportunity to present.
Most of the USET in the BIA and BIE budget priorities are
in line with identified national tribal priorities. However,
there are several areas of concern that are specific to the
tribes of the eastern region. While USET believes that all
Indian programs are vital to creating strong tribal governments
and that Congress should protect and improve current base
funding levels for all programs, the USET priority programs are
tribal priority allocations, contract support, tribal courts
and scholarships. Education is the key to our survival as a
people as well as the other priorities listed in advancing the
best, bright future for our children.
Thank you for your time, sir.
[The statement of Brian Patterson follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much. Good, concise, to-the-point
testimony, and I appreciate it very much, Mr. Patterson. As you
probably know, members, but far more importantly, the staff is
going to review all of these statements and hopefully we will
be able to reflect them in our markup. So thank you very much.
Mr. Patterson. If we can be of any further service, please
do not hesitate to call on us. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. And thank you for responding for the Cheyenne
River Sioux situation. That was horrible what they encountered
through a natural disaster, and it is great to hear your
response. Thank you, Mr. Patterson. Excellent.
Lloyd Miller, who is a partner in Sonosky Chambers Sachse
Miller & Munson, and Counsel to the National Tribal Contract
Support Cost Coalition.
----------
Tuesday, March 23, 2010.
NATIONAL TRIBAL CONTRACT SUPPORT COST COALITION
WITNESS
LLOYD MILLER
Mr. Miller. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The coalition is
comprised of 16 tribes in 10 states administering over $400
million in Indian health service grants and contracts and self-
governance agreements.
I can say two things today without fear of contradiction.
One is that the most important piece of Indian legislation to
pass in the last 35 years is the Indian Self-Determination Act.
It has produced enormous improvement for Indian communities by
the communities themselves through contracts, compacts, self-
governance agreements. Mr. Cole's district in particular is
stellar across the country as well as in Alaska.
I can also say without fear of contradiction and as the
Senate has said and the House has said that the single greatest
impediment to the success of self-determination has been the
underpayment of contract support costs.
The committee has heard a lot this morning and this
afternoon about contract support costs, and they sound like a
very obscure issue. Contract support costs are the fixed costs
that are set by the Federal Government through indirect cost
rates that must be incurred which are audited every year and
re-audited after they are incurred. They are fixed costs. They
are costs of insurance, for instance, workers' compensation
insurance. They are fixed. When they are not paid by the
agency, they come out of the program. As a result, tribes are
penalized such as the Cherokee nation, over $10 million. The
Choctaw Nation, also a member of the coalition's like sum,
several $10 million shortfalls across the country. Every $10
million is 243 positions lost in healthcare both as a result of
the money that comes out of the program and then the Medicare
and Medicaid third-party revenues that cannot be generated.
So it is an enormous drain on jobs in very depressed areas
that provide healthcare, law enforcement, grazing, land
programs, all of the programs that you have heard about today.
Our concern is that when the budget is balanced on the contract
support costs line item, instead of some other line item such
as law enforcement, it is terrible to balance it on anything.
But it balances it on the line item where only tribes
participate, then it is balancing a budget disproportionately
on the tribes. If it is balanced, for instance, on the hospital
and clinic's budget, half of which, 60 percent of which is run
by the tribes and 40 percent by IHS, there is a certain parity.
But if it is balanced only on the contract support cost line,
100 percent of the cut is borne by the tribes.
So we would ask this committee to give some consideration.
Wonderful of the committee the work that you did last year to
increase an already wonderful budget request from the President
to $116 million and to find funding for the BIA contract
support cost increase. Spectacular, unprecedented in 20 years,
that increase, but unfortunately, we are still only at 80
percent funding on both sides in 2011 at the President's
figures. I must correct the budget justification from the BIA.
The BIA took the amount of the budget request and divided by
the 2007 need, and that calculated out to 94 percent of need
which a colleague earlier just mentioned. In fact, if they
divided it by the 2011, it would be about 80 percent.
So there is a long way to go. The testimony explains how we
might close the gap in a three-year period, $30 million
increases from IHS, $21 million increases per year for the BIA.
These are enormous numbers, and the pressure is on the
committee. You are formidable. I thank the committee for
working on this issue so much over the years and offer any
assistance I can to help in the future. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
[The statement of Lloyd Miller follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you. Thank you very much, sir. I
appreciate, Mr. Miller, what you are doing on behalf of Native
Americans.
If we cut it tight on this vote, we could have almost 5
minutes left, and what we could do, we have got two or three
members that we cut short. If there are comments that you feel
should have been made that have not gotten into the--thank you,
Mr. Miller. You can offer comments, too, but if you feel there
are comments that should have been made, we are open to them.
We want to maximize our time in this hearing because we do not
get enough time to listen to the Native American communities,
and we want to get as much on the record as possible.
Are there any comments that you wanted to make that, you
know, having taken your seat subsequently that you thought,
gee, I wish I had said so-and-so. Go ahead.
Mr. Roth. I just wanted to----
Mr. Moran. You need to repeat your name again for the
record.
Mr. Roth. My name is Geoffrey Roth, and I am the Executive
Director of the National Council of Urban Indian Health.
I did mention or was in my testimony that urban Indian
health programs did not receive any money from the ARRA funding
at all. Indian tribes community health centers and other
programs that serve Indian populations received ARRA funding.
Our programs did not receive any of that.
So in consideration of additional funding or to increase
services to the Indian population, I just wanted to make sure
that that was understood.
Mr. Moran. But there was money for Native American programs
in ARRA.
Mr. Roth. Oh, yes, there was quite a bit of money for
Indian programs, but nothing for urban Indian health programs.
Mr. Moran. I see. All right.
Mr. Roth. And there was quite a bit of money for IHS-funded
programs, and when the Finance Committee realized that they
left us out, the staffers had already released the numbers at
that point of how much was going to be in, and they said that
they would carve money out of the tribal appropriations for
urban Indian health programs, and I said no, do not do that. I
am not going to take from the tribal programs.
Mr. Moran. Yes, we do not want you to do that. But what we
would like for you to do is to do an analysis of how this
health reform plan, assuming it gets through the Senate this
week, affects urban Indian health.
Mr. Roth. Yes.
Mr. Moran. And if there was a way through outreach or
whatever to make it more effective, how you could do that. I
think that would be very helpful for us to fully understand the
maximum impact that this bill that we passed on Sunday might
have, because I do think it could be a tremendous opportunity
for many families to get some, really, to get 100 percent
subsidy of insurance.
Mr. Roth. We will definitely do that, and Dr. Roubideaux
has just committed to do a national needs assessment on urban
Indians as well.
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Roth.
Mr. Roth. Thank you.
Mr. Olver. May I comment on that?
Mr. Moran. Please.
Mr. Olver. In my subcommittee we did--well, it was not out
of the subcommittee because ARRA is coming out of the general
programs of the Appropriations Committee. But there was $.5
billion for Indian housing, and that has been largely
committed, largely allocated, and obligated I think by this
time. But what happens with that is for the 2011 budget, the
recommendation out of OMB has been to reduce what had been the
yearly allotment for that program because it takes a while, a
period of time to use up what we did. Of course, what we
intended to happen was that we would be providing a mechanism
to do some of the replacement of the really serious housing
deficiencies. These of course are only on the tribal areas, on
the reservation areas.
Mr. Moran. If I could, Mr. Olver, Chairman Brings Plenty,
did you get any of that $.5 billion for the Cheyenne River
Reservation, for housing that was made available in the
economic Recovery Act?
Mr. Olver. They should have gotten it tribe by tribe,
whichever ones have housing authorities. Some of that----
Mr. Moran. This is a large tribe. This is----
Mr. Olver [continuing]. Was--do not apply for it.
Mr. Moran. Sir, do you want to add anything before leaving?
Mr. Brings Plenty. Sure. Of course there were requirements
that came out or conditions that came out with the ARRA
funding, and unfortunately if you were not a participant the
year before, then you were not going to be eligible for that
specific ARRA funding. So we were not----
Mr. Olver. Well, why? There are 500 recognized tribes. Some
do not have reservations of any significance, and some do not
have housing authorities per se.
Mr. Moran. True, but this is the fourth-largest tribe on a
reservation.
Mr. Olver. Well, when he says his tribal group, the
combined bands are the fourth-largest tribe of the tribes.
Several of those bands have housing authorities, and some of
them must have gotten--I am going to have to ask questions
tomorrow about that.
Mr. Moran. And it would be useful if you could get back to
us.
Mr. Brings Plenty. Most definitely. Real quick, too, our
relative here who had mentioned the emergency response. I am
also the President of the large land-based tribes. Now, the
thing is, what we are going to introduce in our next meeting is
that we come up with basically the idea of what our relative
has said on getting our own emergency response to be able to
come out because this was completely, a really frustrating
process for us, and we understand it is in place through the
Stanford Act as far as how to request it and the mechanisms are
set up, and I am worn down and emotionally exhausted from
having to deal with all of that. But that is one thing that
large land-based tribes are going to pursue.
Mr. Moran. When there is money available, it has got to go
to the people most in need, and you are certainly one of them.
I hope you will continue in communication with us.
Mr. Brings Plenty. I will.
Mr. Moran. And Mr. Olver is a real resource because he is
on both committees.
Mr. Cole, did you have a final comment? Was there anything
further that you wanted to add?
Mr. Zorn. Very quickly. Jim Zorn, Great Lakes Indian Fish
and Wildlife Commission.
It is great to hear all the talk about health programs, and
for natural resource-based tribes, it is important to remember
the importance of the natives' foods diets. And so when you
help the healthy communities in the front end, you help save
costs in the back end. And one small comment about Self-
Determination Act funding, if you can get that to the tribes,
they can use that as matching funds to leverage other funds
like Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies that are very
good programs. And like with Circle of Flight, we have proven
that for every dollar that you get to a tribal program like
that, you can leverage up to three others. So there is
efficiencies that way as well. So thank you.
Mr. Moran. Very important. Thank you for that. Sir.
Mr. Begay. Just real quick, we are building a large
transmission project for renewable energy as well, and also we
are in the Energy Act to receive grants and other assistance.
Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Good. Thank you. Yes.
Mr. Noka. Excuse me, I do not want to breech protocol.
Randy Noka, Tribal Council from the Narragansett Tribe, and
also Vice President for UCET that the President spoke about.
There is always a desire to get additional monies, and my
tribe is certainly in that vein and this is the protocol I
speak of. If there is any opportunity, I know it was before the
House Resource Committee, but at the--we certainly need that in
Indian country. So any consideration by the committee members
would be appreciated.
Mr. Cole. We have a bill to that effect. Senator Dorgan has
a bill to that effect, and Congressman Kildee has a bill, and
it really needs to get done because there are billions of
dollars worth of investments in Indian lands that are at risk,
and this is a tribe that is a very old tribe. I mean, it is
ridiculous that you are not considered recognized. So I am
certainly doing everything on my end to help.
Mr. Moran. I totally agree with Mr. Cole and you. I am glad
you made that point, and it will be the last word in this
hearing. Thank you all very much.
Thursday, March 25, 2010.
ISSUES FROM THE FIELD: PUBLIC WITNESSES AND MEMBERS
ORGANIZATIONS AND MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
Mr. Moran. Good morning to all of our witnesses and guests
for our second public witness hearing of this week. This
morning we are going to hear from Members of Congress and a
number of witnesses representing a variety of environmental,
recreational, memorial and arts organizations. I want to
especially welcome those of you who have traveled long
distances to be here today, so that does not include the
Members as much as it is nice to hear from them. You did not
have to make the effort that some folks had to make. But we
look forward to everyone's testimony.
At Mr. Simpson's urging, I try to cite someone that I know
we find inspiration from mutually, and the great John Muir
advocated passionately for the environment. He helped to
inspire President Theodore Roosevelt's conservation initiatives
and encouraged Congress to found the extensive national park
system. He reminds us that we should never underestimate the
importance of public citizens advocating before their
government when they see opportunities for improvement, and we
think that perhaps this quote from John Muir sums up why many
of you traveled here today, why this subcommittee believes your
testimony is so valuable no matter what the subject. Here is
the quote: ``Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to
play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to
body and soul.''
Now for some important housekeeping items. We have to
remind all witnesses that there is only 5 minutes total to
deliver your statement and to answer questions. Invariably we
get votes and all and there are other hearings going on so we
found that we just have to be disciplined about that, so we are
going to watch the timer closely. When the orange light comes
on, you have 1 minute left, and should you not wrap up within
that 1 minute, the red light comes on and that is when the time
is expired. But everyone's entire prepared statement will be
put into the final hearing record.
Mr. Moran. Before we get started, Mr. Simpson, would you
like to make any comments?
Mr. Simpson. I am just meditating, and let's go on. Thank
you all for coming.
Mr. Moran. Our first witness is Representative Dean Heller
from the great State of Nevada, and Mr. Heller, welcome.
Thursday, March 25, 2010.
NV-02
WITNESS
HON. DEAN HELLER
Mr. Heller. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Well, I appreciate you allowing me a few minutes of your
time to discuss some of these issues. These are critical issues
for the State of Nevada, and if you are out West--and Mike and
I were looking at that map up there at the amount of land that
is owned by the Forest Service and the Federal Government
through BLM, and I think the issues that we are going to
discuss today are just absolutely critical for some of these
western states, especially the State of Nevada. So Mr.
Chairman, thank you for allowing me to come in front of you,
and Ranking Member, I appreciate your time also.
I mentioned taking a look at that map. Eighty-five percent
of Nevada is controlled by the Federal Government, 85 percent.
I do not see any yellow in Virginia there, Mr. Chairman. So it
causes some very distinct differences and issues, and I want to
bring a couple of those issues up.
The health of our rangelands under federal jurisdiction
greatly impacts the health of the local communities in Nevada.
Nevada's rangelands are in serious need of restoration and
rehabilitation.
As I am sure both of you are aware, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service recently announced that the sage grouse is a
candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act, and in
some areas in Nevada we expect listing to occur within just the
next few years. Sage grouse habitat consists of large portions
of Nevada as well as portions across many of the western
states. To say that an official listing of the sage grouse as
an endangered species will have impact on the Western states is
very much an understatement.
Wildfires, invasive weeds and the overpopulation of non-
native wild horses have led to severe damage of our range and
wildlife populations. Some of the native wildlife such as sage
grouse relies heavily on healthy sagebrush ecosystem to
maintain healthy populations. So in light of these problems, I
would like to voice my support for making rangeland restoration
a greater priority. The two top causes for the decline of the
sage grouse population in Nevada are wildfires and invasive
weeds. While I continue to strongly support wildfire
suppression as a priority, I also believe greater efforts
should be made to curb the infestation of invasive weeds and
elevate rangeland restoration to a higher priority.
The second issue I would like to bring to the committee's
attention would be the removal of the geothermal royalties to
local governments. As you know, the fiscal year 2010 Interior
appropriations legislation contained a provision that stripped
counties of the geothermal energy revenue sharing that was
enacted as part of the energy policy back in 2005. This
provision robs counties of their 25 percent share, which they
count on to provide services and infrastructure in part made
necessary by geothermal development and production in their
communities. We have one particular county, Churchill County,
that their 25 percent was literally millions of dollars to
them. When that 25 percent was eliminated, it clearly had an
impact on their ability to provide services. Some of our
western communities have as little as 2 percent taxable land
base. The geothermal revenue sharing provides a funding stream
that allows the counties to fund services such as law
enforcement, schools, health care and other critical
infrastructure.
I have introduced bipartisan legislation with
Representative Thompson out of California to restore the
counties' share of these revenues. While I believe these
revenues should be returned to the local governments this year,
I am here to advocate for the removal of this provision for the
next fiscal year. At a time when Nevada counties are struggling
to address falling revenues, action by Congress suddenly cut a
significant portion of their local county budgets. Nevada has
been hit with high foreclosure rates. Counties in my district
are grappling with increased unemployment. In fact, there was
an article that came out today in one of the local papers
saying that four out of 10 people in Las Vegas desire to move
out. So Las Vegas is going to lose 40 percent, and if it comes
to fruition that that is the case, you can understand the
impact that that is going to have throughout the whole State of
Nevada. Local governments in Nevada are struggling to provide
essential services, and these revenues are critical, these
geothermal revenues.
Nevada is a geothermal state. I think we have more
geothermal activity in the state of Nevada than any other state
in the country, and clearly the revenues that come from this,
which offset the fact that we have very small taxable lands in
the State of Nevada, getting hit twice, not being able to have
a larger tax base through the lands and also eliminating the
geothermal tax revenue has really been rough on the local
governments throughout the State of Nevada. So we are looking
to eliminate that particular provision when it comes to
geothermal revenues and looking for some real solid help from
this committee on rangeland management.
I guess my point is, if you take the sage grouse and you
put them under the Endangered Species Act, it is going to have
huge impacts on our farmers and ranchers throughout the State
of Nevada, so rangeland restoration is a critical issue in
making sure that we have good sage grouse habitat so that we
can alleviate some of those problems that would come with
listing that.
[The statement of Dean Heller follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Heller. With regard to sage
grouse, we have had some discussion in this subcommittee and
with the Interior Department. The population has been reduced
from millions down to a few thousand, so they felt that they
are going to have to do something but their decision was to put
it on a low priority so basically it is on a list but it is at
the bottom of a long list and there is no intended action in
the near term and probably for years. It will be years before
they get to it. What they are going to try to do is to figure
out other ways to build the sage grouse population back up so
there are no punitive measures applied that would have economic
problems for the areas where the sage grouse is indigenously
located.
I know that you had a problem last year on the construction
of a fire facility in Carson, Nevada. That was all taken care
of. That was moved away, moved out of Carson City?
Mr. Heller. On that fire station? You know, I do not know
what the current status of that is. I believe it went forward.
I think it went forward and they are going to----
Mr. Moran. In Carson City?
Mr. Heller. In Carson City.
Mr. Moran. I thought--because we were informed that BLM and
Forest Service decided the facility would be built someplace
else out of town.
Mr. Heller. I knew that there was a variety of locations
that they were considering for this particular fire station but
I have not been told yet what that location is going to be.
Mr. Moran. Well, what was indicated to us was that they
were trying to reach a decision that you would find acceptable.
Mr. Heller. Good, and I look forward to working with them.
Mr. Moran. Our staff will inform you as to what we----
Mr. Heller. That is good.
Mr. Moran. I think it will show a responsiveness on the
BLM/Forest Service part.
And lastly, Senator Reid did add that provision on the
revenue sharing from geothermal revenue onto the Senate-passed
tax extended package.
Mr. Heller. That is my understanding also.
Mr. Moran. But the state did not lose revenue, right? Is
the issue not that the state gets half the revenue instead of
splitting it with the counties? So the state could choose to
share it with the counties and there would not be any problem.
Mr. Heller. Well, right now the issue that we have in the
State of Nevada, it is in dire condition as most states are
right now, very, very difficult for them. They just got out of
a special session. I think they had to cut another billion
dollars out of their budget and they are----
Mr. Moran. They are telling you they want to just keep all
the money. Okay. So it is not quite so much the Federal
Government as the fact that the state wants to keep all of it,
but I understand what happened in terms of the accounting for
the energy----
Mr. Heller. I do support Senator Reid's amendment to the
extenders bill and putting that provision back in.
Mr. Moran. Mr. Simpson.
Mr. Simpson. Thanks for your testimony. I could not have
said it better. What affects Idaho is the same thing that
affects Nevada. Have you guys done any of the cooperative
conservation agreements with BLM on sage grouse habitat there?
Has your state been doing that, or regions of your state?
Mr. Heller. We have, and we will continue to work with
them. You know, the point of my testimony, as you are well
aware, is that we continue to burn. When I was on the Resource
Committee, we burn about the State of Rhode Island every year,
and that is a lot of sage grouse habitat, and what grows back
is not sagebrush, it is the cheek grass. And so yes, there are
a lot of agreements and working with cooperative agreements
with the Federal Government trying to figure out how to keep
this cheek grass--maybe working with the cattle ranchers and
the sheep ranchers in the area so that we can eliminate this
cheek grass so we can get the sage to grow back, but it is
these wildfires that are causing the concerns and the problems.
Mr. Simpson. And it is important to point out when we did
talk to BLM and the Fish and Wildlife Service that contrary to
some people's popular belief, it is not grazing that causes the
decrease in the sage grouse habitat, it is, as you mentioned,
invasive species and the wildfires that are causing the
decrease in the habitat.
Mr. Heller. Correct.
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Heller.
Mr. Heller. Thank you very much.
[The following is written testimony submitted by
Congressman Silvestre Reyes:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Our next witness will be Gordon Felt, who is the
president of Families of Flight 93. Mr. Felt.
----------
Thursday, March 25, 2010.
FAMILIES OF FLIGHT 93
WITNESS
GORDON FELT
Mr. Felt. Chairman Moran, Ranking Member Simpson, my name
is Gordon Felt and I am the president of the Families of Flight
93. The Families is a nonprofit organization dedicated to
honoring our loved ones' actions including those of my brother,
Edward Porter Felt, that prevented an attack on our Nation's
capital at the cost of their lives.
Attending this hearing with me today are two family
members, our vice president, Patrick White, and our treasurer,
Deborah Borza. Deborah's daughter, Deora Bodley, and Patrick's
cousin, Louis J. Nacke II, were two other heroes onboard Flight
93.
I appreciate the honor to appear before you today to
provide the subcommittee with a progress report on the Flight
93 National Memorial as well as to request the subcommittee's
continued support in providing funding for the Memorial.
However, before I begin, I want to voice my sincere
appreciation to former Chairman Dicks for all he has done on
behalf of the families of Flight 93 and our memorial.
To keep the promise that this Nation and Congress made to
appropriately honor the heroes' memories, it is critical that
the first phase of the Flight 93 National Memorial be dedicated
by the 10th anniversary of September 11th. Almost immediately
following the crash of Flight 93, local officials and
volunteers created a temporary memorial on a hilltop
overlooking the crash site. Since September 11, 2001, more than
1 million visitors have come to this temporary memorial driven
by a desire to ensure the valiant efforts of the passengers and
crew of Flight 93 were never forgotten.
Senator Arlen Specter and the late Congressman John Murtha
introduced legislation establishing the Flight 93 National
Memorial. In 2002, Congress passed and the President signed the
Flight 93 National Memorial Act which established the creation
of the Flight 93 National Memorial. The memorial will serve to
honor the courage and enduring sacrifice of the 40 heroes of
Flight 93. It will be a place for individuals to learn about
the events of September 11th and to find meaning and
inspiration from their experience.
The Flight 93 National Memorial's general management plan
proposes to construct a memorial, visitors center, roads,
parking facilities and associated infrastructure to accommodate
approximately 250,000 annual visitors. The effort is expected
to create nearly 1,200 new jobs in Somerset County,
Pennsylvania, and the surrounding region including 670
positions in construction and related fields over a 4-year
period. The balance would be permanent employment resulting
from increased tourism and related businesses. The boundaries
of the Memorial are approximately 2,200 acres including 1,000
acres that will be privately held but protected though
easements or partnership agreements.
The design for the Memorial was announced on September 9,
2005, amid overwhelming support from the families of Flight 93
and our partner organizations including the Flight 93 Memorial
Task Force, the Flight 93 Federal Advisory Commission, the
National Park Service and the National Park Foundation. A
solemn groundbreaking ceremony was held on November 7, 2009,
and a construction contract for phase 1 was awarded, and on
February 1, 2010, a construction motion-to-proceed order was
issued by the National Park Service.
The budget estimate for the design and construction of the
Memorial's first phase is $58.4 million. A cost estimate was
prepared to reflect 2010 construction dollars anticipated to be
the midpoint of construction. The budget, phasing plan and
strategy to deal with increased costs of construction were
presented to the National Park Service development advisory
board in March 2008 and were approved.
Securing the funds for the design and construction of the
Memorial is a public-private partnership between the Federal
Government, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the American
people. Under the partnership agreement, the Federal Government
is responsible for providing $18.4 million, and the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania would provide $10 million and
private donors would be responsible for raising $30 million.
More than 57,000 donors have raised over $17 million for the
Memorial, and we are on target to reach our $30 million goal.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has exceeded its original
commitment of $10 million, providing approximately $18.5
million to the project. Since fiscal year 2005, Congress has
appropriated $10.371 million toward the design and construction
of the Memorial from the Department of the Interior and
Department of Transportation funding bills. The bipartisan
support by the House and Senate to ensure the necessary funds
are available to complete the Memorial's first phase by the
10th anniversary of September 11th is truly appreciated.
For 2011, the Families of Flight 93 have requested $3
million in funding from Interior, Environment, and Related
Agencies bill for the Memorial's phase 1-B water and sewage
infrastructure as provided by the project's general management
plan. I ask you and your committee for their individual
attention and collective support for this funding request.
Before I conclude my remarks, I would like to bring to the
subcommittee's attention the Families of Flight 93's concern
regarding the recently enacted Republican Conference rule
change on earmarks and its impact on our ability to request
federal funding for the Memorial's completion. The Memorial is
a congressionally authorized project whose federal funding in
the past has been provided through congressionally directed
spending, primarily sponsored by Congressman Bill Shuster. With
Congressman Shuster now unable to request funding for the
Memorial, valid questions have been raised about whether the
Federal Government's financial commitment to the Memorial will
be realized. Mr. Chairman, the Families of Flight 93 have
submitted the appropriations application to your office. We
respectfully request that you personally support our efforts
this year to ensure the needed funds are secured. Thank you.
[The statement of Gordon Felt follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Well, thank you very much. It was very good
testimony, but the last paragraph was the more important. I was
trying to figure out what it was that you particularly wanted.
I can see that. It is an earmark. I happen to agree with you in
terms of earmarks. I think they are a proper reflection of
Congressional intent individually and collectively, and they
served our country for better than 200 years they have been in
effect. But perhaps we would like to hear from Mr. Simpson at
this point.
Mr. Simpson. I agree with you.
Mr. Moran. Okay.
Mr. Felt. Mr. Chair, if I may, we look at the Memorial as a
legislated memorial. I mean, it was enacted. So we like to look
at the funding not necessarily as an earmark.
Mr. Simpson. You are right. It ought to be a program.
Mr. Felt. Exactly.
Mr. Simpson. And I think the committee will be very
supportive of it, is my guess.
Mr. Felt. Well, we certainly appreciate your support.
Mr. Moran. The only problem--and I agree with Mr. Simpson,
but the issue is that normally it needs an authorization, and
we are going to have to figure out how to do this. I also would
like to build it into the budget but there is a reason why Mr.
Shuster had to specifically designate it each time. So we are
going to have to work with the staff and do the best we can. I
do not think there is much disagreement over the objective but
the process of getting there we will just have to try to figure
out.
Mr. Simpson. Also, Mr. Chairman, the Administration has
said that if--this is their attack on earmarks. Of course, no
Administration likes earmarks. They do not like Congress
telling them how to spend money. But they have said that if
something starts as an earmark, then they will not request it
in their budget next year, you are going to have to continue it
on by earmarks, so they do not request those kind of things
that were started with earmarks, which is a problem. But that
does not mean that this committee cannot direct what things are
funded and are not funded whether you want to call them
earmarks or anything else. I agree with your testimony. We need
to get this done.
Mr. Moran. It is the right thing to do. It is also 1,200
jobs in an area that is desperately in need of jobs, and there
are some sustainable jobs. I know people will be working at the
Memorial. So we get what you are telling us, both Mr. Simpson
and I, and we are just going to have to work with the staff to
see what we can do.
Mr. Felt. Well, we greatly appreciate your leadership and
your continued support. Thank you.
Mr. Simpson. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. The next witness will be Gary Werner, who is the
executive director of the Partnership for the National Trails
System.
Thursday, March 25, 2010.
PARTNERSHIP FOR NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM
WITNESS
GARY WERNER
Mr. Werner. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and Mr. Simpson. I
thank you for the opportunity to testify this morning. I am
Gary Werner, here from Wisconsin representing the 30 nonprofit
organizations with over 75,000 members throughout the country
who are your partners in helping to sustain the 19 national
historic trails and 11 national scenic trails that Congress has
authorized to thank you for the support that you have given
over the last decade or so of consistent funding for the
trails. As you know, these 30 national scenic and historic
trails span more than 50,000 miles through 49 of the 50 states.
I am happy to say and remind you that our commitment as true
partners remains firm.
In 2009, we inspired and organized over 907,000 hours of
volunteer labor contributed by citizens valued at about $18.6
million and contributed another $11.9 million of direct
financial assistance, about $30.5 million to these trails.
Congress, you appropriated in 2010 about $29 million to the
National Park Service, the Forest Service and the Bureau of
Land Management to sustain the trails. We continue to be your
good partners.
What I do want to say, however, is that there is a lot of
work yet to do. There are miles to build on these trails. There
are invasive species to remove. There are sites to interpret,
so we are asking you to increase funding to the three agencies
in 2011, specifically about $16.5 million to the National Park
Service for the 23 trails that it administers, about $8 million
to the Bureau of Land Management for the three trails it
administers and the 10 trails that it manages significant
portions of, and about $11.3 million to the Forest Service for
six trails that it administers and the 16 trails that it
manages in part throughout the country.
We are also asking you to appropriate $1.5 million of
funding for a special youth stewardship or internship
development program which would fund 50 student interns to work
with national scenic, historic and recreation trail
organizations throughout the country to help get more young
people engaged and involved with the trails.
There are also significant gaps in most of the scenic
trails and there are many important sites on the historic
trails yet to be protected, so we enthusiastically support the
Administration's goal of ultimately getting to the full $900
million annual funding authorized for the Land and Water
Conservation Fund and to that end we ask you to appropriate
$425 million in 2011 for federal program projects, $175 million
to the states for the various projects that they can do and
$150 million to the companion Forest Legacy program, and then
specifically from the federal portion of land and water, to
appropriate to the National Park Service $13.9 million for
projects along the Ice Age, North Country and Appalachian
national scenic trails, $5.3 million to the Bureau of Land
Management for projects along the Oregon Trail in Idaho and in
Oregon, the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, the
Pacific Crest, Continental Divide and Pacific Northwest
national scenic trails and to the Forest Service $41.7 million
for projects along the Florida, Pacific Crest national scenic
trails, Old Spanish National Historic Trail, Appalachian Trail
and the North Country Trail, and also $3.375 million from the
Forest Legacy Program for Continental Divide in New Mexico, and
parenthetically, as you know, I guess those are all considered
earmarks, but again, like the previous, these are federal
programs and this is the way you direct the money to be spent.
Mr. Simpson. No earmarks, just congressionally directed
spending.
Mr. Werner. Great. That is what we want.
Secondly, last year at our request you directed the Bureau
of Land Management to provide a sub-activity account for trails
in the National Landscape Conservation System. We understand
that the Office of Management and Budget told the Bureau not to
follow your direction. This leaves the Bureau at a significant
disadvantage in working with the Park Service and the Forest
Service on these trails that cross various jurisdictional
boundaries. So we ask you to once again direct the Bureau to
provide a sub-activity account for the national scenic and
historic trails and the wild and scenic rivers in their
National Landscape Conservation System to be commensurate with
the wilderness areas and the monuments.
Lastly, the Challenge Cost Share programs were eliminated
for the Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management and Fish
and Wildlife Service. These are the programs that specifically
are meant to foster the kind of volunteerism that I reported on
and we ask you to please reinstate those programs. I think they
are a total of $19 million across the three agencies and
specifically we would ask for $4.5 million for the Park
Service, and as you have in the past 15 years, direct the Park
Service to provide one-third of that for the national trail
system.
I thank you for the opportunity to testify.
[The statement of Gary Werner follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. You have got a lot to ask there.
Mr. Werner. Yes, I know.
Mr. Moran. But we are very sympathetic. Let me just ask one
thing. When you clear these trails, one of the problems is that
the first thing to grow back is poison ivy. I mean, if an area
is not disturbed you do not get the poison ivy, but as soon as
you disturb it you get the poison ivy and some trails just get
overwhelmed with those poison ivy. Have you figured out how
to--I mean, it sounds like a strange thing but it does
discourage people if they think that the trail is just full of
poison ivy. Have you thought about how you are going to address
that?
Mr. Werner. Actually, yes, and it is not just poison ivy. I
mean, in some areas of the country, it is poison ivy, it is
poison oak. In the Midwest where I am from, we have wild
parsnip, which have an equally bad effect. And we are actively
working to control those invasive and noxious species like
that, but again, one of the reasons we are asking for more
money is, we need more assistance to do that. We need to
recruit more volunteers, and there is no substitute for
actually going out and doing something on the ground.
Mr. Moran. We are very sympathetic. We like trails.
Mr. Werner. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. They are an opportunity. They do not do any
damage to the environment and they are an opportunity for
people to enjoy that environment. The more trails, the better,
as far as I am concerned, so we will do what we can.
Mr. Werner. And they are a tremendous opportunity to get
young people out and involved.
Mr. Moran. In physical exercise.
Mr. Werner. This is a report that we put together of a lot
of the kinds of projects that we have underway along the
trails.
Mr. Moran. Now, where did you say you were going to put the
Mike Simpson Memorial Trail in Idaho?
Mr. Simpson. Blackwood.
Mr. Werner. There are several that go through Idaho.
Mr. Moran. Mr. Hinchey.
Mr. Hinchey. Well, thanks very much, and sorry I did not
get here for the beginning of your statement but I very much
appreciate what you are doing. I understand how important it
is, and I also understand how a lot of these issues have not
been paid appropriate attention to for a long time and so there
are a lot of things that are pending there. One of the things
that we are having in New York, just curiously, is a lot of
closing of state parks and there are a lot of state parks in
New York. The issues there are that the Federal Government has
provided a substantial amount of money for those parks and we
are trying to keep them open on a number of bases including the
contribution of the Federal Government to those state parks. So
I just appreciate what you are doing and I understand how
important it is, and I am sure that this committee will do
everything it can to strengthen things up.
Mr. Werner. Thank you.
Mr. Simpson. Just one quick question.
Mr. Moran. Sure.
Mr. Simpson. The recommendation that they put a separate
line item for trails, was that in report language?
Mr. Werner. Yes. If you can put it into bill language, I
understand it makes it much stronger.
Mr. Simpson. Sometimes that is a better way to get your
point across.
Mr. Werner. And I just need to emphasize what you all have
mentioned. It has been the efforts of your committee in adding
money to what the agencies have requested over the years that
has enabled us to increase the work that we are doing for the
trails so we cannot thank you enough for that and encourage you
to keep doing it. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much, Mr. Werner.
Mr. Arthur Cerullo, who is the speaker for the American
Lung Association Nationwide Assembly.
----------
Thursday, March 25, 2010.
AMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION NATIONWIDE ASSEMBLY
WITNESS
ARTHUR CERULLO
Mr. Cerullo. Chairman Moran, Ranking Member Simpson, Mr.
Hinchey, I am Arthur Cerullo, the speaker of the American Lung
Association Nationwide Assembly. I am honored to testify in
support of the Environmental Protection Agency's program to
improve the Nation's air. I have been a volunteer for the
American Lung Association for more than 20 years. I am an
attorney in private practice in Portland, Maine, and prior to
that I was a chemical engineer for a number of years.
The American Lung Association was founded in 1904 to fight
tuberculosis and today our mission is to save lives by
improving lung health and preventing lung disease. We welcome
the increases in the President's budget for EPA for Healthier
Outdoor Air to $811.3 million and for Healthier Indoor Air to
$47.1 million. Cleaner, healthier air will protect the public
and especially those with lung disease from air pollution. As a
former engineer, I know that aggressive implementation and
enforcement of the Clean Air Act will drive innovation and
improve our Nation's environmental performance while at the
same time grow the economy. We urge this committee to ensure
that the Clean Air Act's promise of clean, healthy air for all
Americans is kept.
I am from Maine, and if you have ever visited our beautiful
state, you know why we treasure the outdoors: majestic
mountains, crystal lakes, bracing coastal waters. Our summers
are short, however, and we hate to miss a single chance to be
outdoors but too often we miss our clear blue sky because of
smog. Acadia National Park, one of the most beautiful parks in
the country, is plagued by poor air quality much of the summer.
Too often, smog from both local and distant sources obscures
the view of the first light of day in the United States at the
top of Cadillac Mountain. Unhealthy, polluted air robs of us
the ability to enjoy the outdoors for fear of wheezing, an
asthma attack or even death.
In my written statement, I detail the magnitude of lung
disease in the United States, the enormity of the Nation's air
pollution problem and delineate specific support for sections
of EPA's budget. In brief, more than 35 million Americans
suffer from chronic lung disease and air pollution exacerbates
nearly all lung diseases. The Clean Air Act has proven to be a
powerful tool to improve the quality of our Nation's air. Since
1990, when Congress strengthened the Clean Air Act, air
pollution has been cut significantly. However, much remains to
be done. Millions of Americans live in counties that have
dangerously unhealthy air.
I will briefly highlight some of the key programs that we
support. First, the health-based National Ambient Air Quality
Standards are the cornerstone of the Clean Air Act. They set
the health goals and drive the pollution cleanup. We applaud
EPA's renewed commitment and urge the committee to support
EPA's work to complete the reviews of these standards in a
timely manner based in the science and in compliance with the
law.
Second, we strongly support EPA's clean air research
programs that help provide the sound science to inform these
decisions.
Third, EPA must also complete major rulemaking to reduce
pollution. EPA must complete the rules to clean up power
plants, known as the Clean Air Interstate Rule and Utility
Maximum Achievable Control Technology Rule to reduce hazardous
air pollution.
Fourth, we support EPA's efforts to further reduce tailpipe
emissions from cars and trucks known as tier 3. These rules are
needed to mitigate any adverse air quality impacts that may
result from increased use of renewable fuels and could include
tighter particulate and nitrogen oxide standards as well as
lower sulfur gasoline to enable advanced control pollution
technology.
Fifth, we strongly support increased funding for those on
the front lines in the efforts to improve air quality, our
state and local air agencies.
We would like to highlight the President's request for a
$15 million increase for air pollution monitoring, which will
help improve the understanding of the levels and sources of
pollution in our communities. Funding monitors must be a high
priority for the committee.
Finally, cleaning up the existing fleet of diesel vehicles
is vital. Diesel pollution kills. Research shows increased
health risks associated with living or working in close
proximity to busy roadways. Children are especially vulnerable.
We urge the committee to increase the diesel retrofit funding
to at least $100 million.
Further, we thank the committee for its support of the
Healthier Indoor Air program at EPA. EPA has provided great
leadership in addressing radon, the second leading cause of
lung cancer. We also are pleased to support increased funding
for the Healthy Schools Initiative. The Indoor Air program
raises awareness about asthma and reduce children's exposure to
indoor asthma triggers. The American Lung Association is proud
to partner with EPA in this important work.
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to present the
recommendations of the American Lung Association. Every day we
are fighting for air, clean, healthy air for all Americans to
breathe. Our robust Environmental Protection Agency air
pollution program is vital to that success and our success.
[The statement of Arthur Cerullo follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Good for you. Good, solid testimony. You got it
in, in the 5 minutes. Unless there are some critical questions
that are asked, we probably have to move along, but I do not
want to preclude you.
Mr. Hinchey. Just briefly.
Mr. Moran. Go ahead.
Mr. Hinchey. I just want to express, as the chairman did,
my appreciation of what you said and how important it is. I
mean, there is a whole lung situation that really needs to be
dealt with more and more effectively, and as time goes on, it
is getting worse and worse because of all the other activities
going on.
I wonder if there has been any focus of attention on this
frac drilling circumstance and the potential for contaminating
air quality in that regard?
Mr. Cerullo. I cannot say offhand I have any information
about that but certainly we will get back to you in the next
day or two. I will ask some of our experts back at the office.
I mean, our neck of the woods, radon is the real problem for us
and because we are at the end of the tailpipe where we are
from, these changes are what we need to implement as soon as
possible. But I will get back to you on that issue. Anything
else?
Mr. Moran. No. Thank you very much for your testimony.
Mike Garner and Bradley ``Butch'' Lambert. Mr. Garner, you
are the chief of the Abandoned Mine Land Section of the
Maryland Bureau of Mines, and Deputy Director, Virginia
Department of Mines and Minerals and Energy is Mr. Lambert. And
you are here on behalf of Interstate Mining Compact Commission,
so please proceed.
----------
Thursday, March 25, 2010.
INTERSTATE MINING COMPACT COMMISSION
WITNESSES
MIKE GARNER
BRADLEY LAMBERT
Mr. Lambert. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members. Thank
you for this opportunity to appear before you this morning.
Again, my name is Butch Lambert. I am the deputy director for
the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy. I am
appearing today on behalf of the Interstate Mining Compact
Commission to present the views of the Compact member states
concerning the fiscal year 2011 budget request of the Office of
Surface Mining.
In its proposed budget, OSM is requesting $60.3 million to
fund Title V grants to states and Indian tribes for the
implementation of the regulatory programs which will be a
reduction of $11 million, or 15 percent for the fiscal year
2011 enacted level. Last year, Congress appropriated an
additional $5.8 million to increase for state Title V grants
over the fiscal year 2009 enacted level for a total of $71.3
million. For the first time in many years, the amount
appropriated for these regulatory grants aligned with the
demonstrated needs for the states and tribes and thereby
eliminated the ever-widening gap between what the states
request and what they receive. In fiscal year 2011, OSM has
unilaterally and drastically reversed course and essentially
unraveled and undermined the progress made by Congress in
supporting state programs. This comes at precisely the wrong
time. The states are in the process of putting the recent
improvements in funding to work in the programs for the filling
of vacant positions and the purchase of much-needed equipment.
We trust the recent increases approved by Congress will remain
the new base on which we build our programs into the future.
This is particularly important as the state agencies work hard
to convince our state legislators and our budget officers to
support the regulatory programs through matching state funds,
particularly given the difficult fiscal climate the states are
facing.
In this regard, it should be kept in mind that a 15 percent
cut in the federal funding translates to a 30 percent cut for
the overall program funding for many states since these states
can only match what they receive in federal money. For
instance, in Virginia, should OSM's reductions prevail, we
would be looking at a $1.2 million cut to our state program.
OSM's solution to drastic cuts to state regulatory programs
comes in the way of an unrealistic assumption that the states
can simply increase user fees in an effort to reduce the level
of federal funding required to regulate and to an extent
subsidize the coal industry. OSM's proposal is completely out
of touch the realities associated with establishing or
enhancing user fees. IMCC's recent polling of its member states
confirmed it would be difficult, it not impossible, for most
states to accomplish this feat, let alone in less than 1 year.
We strongly urge the subcommittee to reject this approach and
approve not less than $71 million for the state in Title V
regulatory grants.
At this time I will ask that my colleague, Mike Garner,
talk about the Title IV funding.
Mr. Moran. Mr. Garner.
Mr. Garner. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for allowing me to
testify. I am here representing the 30 state and tribal members
of the National Association of Abandoned Mine Land Programs
that operate abandoned mine land programs authorized under
Title IV SMCRA. Based on SMCRA fee collections, the fiscal year
2011 mandatory appropriation for state and tribal AML grants
should be $413.2 million. Instead, the Office of Surface Mining
is only budgeted $259.5 million. This would eliminate funding
to states and tribes that have been successful and able to
certify completion of their highest-priority coal reclamation
sites.
From the beginning of SMCRA in 1977 to the latest
amendments in 2006, Congress has promised that at least half of
the money generated from fees collected within state or tribal
boundaries, referred to as state share, would be returned for
the uses described in the Act. For certified states, the state
share funds can be used for environmental stewardship, cleaning
up abandoned coal and hardrock mines, sustainable development,
infrastructure improvements and alternative energy projects all
stimulating the economy, protecting public health and safety,
creating green jobs and improving the environment, many of the
goals described in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Breaking the promise of state share funding will upset 10 years
of negotiation that resulted in the balance and compromise
achieved in the 2006 amendments. We therefore respectfully ask
the committee to continue funding for certified states.
The proposed budget would also eliminate $20 million for
federal AML emergency program. Section 410 of the emergency
powers was unchanged in the 2006 amendments and requires OSM to
fund the emergency AML program, and likewise, the Act does not
allow states and tribes to fund the emergency program. Instead,
it requires strict compliance with the non-emergency funding
priorities. OSM has not developed legislation, regulations,
procedures, directives nor has OSM received a solicitor's
opinion regarding the legality of this transfer. For these
reasons and many others, we urge the committee to restore the
$20 million for the AML emergency program. Thank you, sir.
[The information follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you. Do you have anything to say, Mr.
Simpson?
Mr. Simpson. No. We probably need to go on because you are
running us behind.
Mr. Hinchey. I think it is very clear. I appreciate it.
Thank you.
Mr. Moran. The mines that generated the revenue are not the
ones necessarily that pay the fee, are they? I mean, excuse me,
the mines that generated the abandoned mine situation are not
the ones that pay the fee. There is a disconnect there.
Mr. Lambert. Correct.
Mr. Moran. Thank you.
Maria Hinojosa and Gretchen Long, who are the commissioners
of the National Parks Century Commission, nice to have you with
us.
Mr. Moran. Thank you.
----------
Thursday, March 25, 2010.
NATIONAL PARKS SECOND CENTURY COMMISSION
WITNESSES
MARIA HINOJOSA
GRETCHEN LONG
Ms. Hinojosa. Chairman, Ranking Member and Representative,
it is good to be here. My name is Maria Hinojosa. Thank you for
allowing Gretchen Long and myself to represent the National
Parks Second Century Commission, an independent commission that
last fall released our 21st century vision for our treasured
national parks. Now, when I was first asked to be on this
commission, I thought, why me? You know, I went to my first
park, Yosemite, when I was about 26 years old. But then I
thought wait a second, I am an American, I am an immigrant, I
am a journalist, I am a mom. I know what these parks mean when
people see this as a beacon, and serving on the Commission, we
all understood that the parks should not only survive, they
need to thrive.
You all know that going to a national park can change you.
It strengthens education. It reduces the impact of climate
change. It provides meaningful opportunities for our young
people. When you leave a park, when you leave a site, whether
it is Yosemite or the Statue of Liberty or the African burial
ground, you as an American are changed.
But despite the tremendous power of the parks, our
commission found that current funding is fundamentally
inadequate. Our financial commitment to the parks matches
neither their importance to society nor the enormous franchise
they have with the American people. Our Commission came to
greatly admire the bipartisan commitment that Congress and two
Presidents have shown over the last 3 years to attack the
operations funding shortfall of the national park system and we
believe that adequate operations funding to be fundamental to
the parks' success for the future. So we are hoping that the
subcommittee will do as much as it can to continue the effort
to increase funding for the National Park Service by at least
$100 million over fixed cost inflation each year until the
shortfall is eliminated. I see this as a park stimulus myself.
We know that in order to keep the parks thriving, we have
to engage non-traditional park visitors and we have to provide
strong educational programming. It is not enough to just make
people feel equally at home in the parks, we really have to put
our efforts out there to bring the parks up to our modern
society. We know that if people do not visit these parks, if
they do not feel committed to the parks, connected to the
parks, they will not thrive. So we would like to see you spend
a tremendous amount of money, or effort, rather, to keep those
$100 million coming to the parks, and let me just say that is a
wonderful thing to have a park there but we do not want the
tourists to say well, that was a really nice park but gee, it
needed to be spruced up and why was that museum exhibit so
retro. We can do better than that.
[The statement of Maria Hinojosa follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Well, that is pretty impressive testimony there,
Ms. Hinojosa. It is nice to have your professional
communicative ability.
Ms. Long. Maria has basically said all that I would say but
perhaps I will add a few more points. I am Gretchen Long. I am
also a member of the Second Century Commission, which was a
wonderful experience under the leadership of Senator Howard
Baker and Senator Bennett Johnston; 25 people from various
parts of the geography and expertise and knowledge came
together and all left with a profound sense that our national
parks are indeed the best idea America has ever had. They are
our treasured landscapes. They are our identity as Americans,
as Flight 93 Memorial just was discussed and indicated, and
they are our economic engines for the surrounding communities.
The Second Century looked at what it hopes will be the role
of the parks in the next century but it was a visionary yet
practical outlook, particularly making recommendations that
will position the parks by its 100th anniversary in 2016. The
major recommendations of that Commission in my judgment were to
increase the educational aspects of the National Park Service,
to reach out far more effectively to all Americans and engage
them, and thirdly, to realize that national parks alone cannot
protect natural resources. They are part of larger areas and
must be part of a larger landscape level conservation effort
and in fact play, as national parks can uniquely do, the
leadership and convening role in a larger agenda of landscape
preservation.
These are all good recommendations but over and above the
existing needs of the Park Service, they like every other
worthy request that has been made here today, we think ours of
course is most worthy. They need to receive more funds. Your
subcommittee has been particularly effective since 2008 in
decreasing the shortfall in operating funds from $800 million
to $580 million, and that is great but it is still a shortfall,
and it is a shortfall within the context that there is still $9
billion in maintenance backlog and $2 million in unacquired
inholdings requirements worthy all to be purchased.
So the Park Service is actually woefully underfunded for
the high regard it holds with the American people. Particularly
troubling is this year's operating budget, and we would ask, as
Maria did, that you continue to work to try to realize full
increase of $100 million plus fixed costs. It is a very
difficult year. We understand that. If you can come up with
something better than it is now, even if not $100 million, it
would make a tremendous difference for the Park Service not to
really be behind the curve in terms of its fixed costs.
Secondly, we support fully the Land and Water Conservation
Fund, and thirdly, and perhaps interestingly for your future
consideration, and lastly, the Commission recommended that as
the parks were set up in perpetuity, so should they have
permanent and sustainable funding and there is a
recommendation, which I believe will be followed through in the
next couple of years, to develop an endowment with a national
campaign looking for philanthropic and government support
dollars. That is a new recommendation and I think you will see
it coming before you in the next period of time.
Thank you very much for listening to us.
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Ms. Long. Ms. Hinojosa, thank you
very much. You neglected to mention all the benefit that the
restoration of Indian Creek has meant to Caldwell, Idaho.
Ms. Long. I did, but you have that in your written
testimony. When I looked at that testimony, I did wonder if
that would be the pivotal point.
Mr. Moran. Nice going. I was thinking for Mr. Simpson, not
as much for me.
Mr. Simpson. I have been there.
Mr. Moran. I am sure you have.
Thank you. Very good testimony. We appreciate it. Thank
you.
We are going to now hear from Mr. Calvelli, Ms. Moffatt,
and then we are going to put in Congressman Brad Sherman, who
has just arrived to join us. Mr. Calvelli. Mr. Calvelli is the
executive vice president of the Wildlife Conservation Society.
----------
Thursday, March 25, 2010.
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY
WITNESS
JOHN CALVELLI
Mr. Calvelli. Good morning, and I am also a recovering Hill
staffer. I was on Capitol Hill for 12 years as Congressman
Elliot Engel's chief of staff, so it is a pleasure to be back
here in the Rayburn Building.
In its 114-year history, the Wildlife Conservation Society
has maintained a constant commitment to save wildlife and wild
places around the world. Our conservation operations have
expanded to 65 countries today and our curatorial science in
five living institutions in New York City help make WCS one of
the world's most comprehensive conservation organizations. We
currently manage more than 200 million acres of land with a
commitment to protect 25 percent of the earth's biodiversity.
We also have an annual economic impact of $414 million,
employing more than 4,000 staff globally including 200 PhDs and
welcoming nearly 4 million visitors to our urban wildlife parks
each year.
I request that my previously submitted written testimony,
which unfortunately did not have that great headline that the
previous people spoke of, detailing WCS's conservation
investments in fiscal year 2011 Interior appropriations
recommendations be entered into the official record.
This morning I will describe the invaluable contribution of
the U.S. government to both domestic and international
conservation, explain the need for greater investment and make
recommendations to further strengthen U.S. government
leadership and environmental stewardship and conservation.
Having been born in the south Bronx, I have been all too
familiar with busy streets and concrete. Amidst this, the 265-
acre Bronx Zoo headquarters of the Wildlife Conservation
Society has for over 100 years provided a source of
inspiration, stewardship and a real connection to global
conservation to working-class families and neighborhoods across
the region and beyond. The first-ever Urban Assembly School for
Wildlife Conservation located in one of the poorest
Congressional districts in the United States represented by
Congressman Jose Serrano is an investment in changing the way
we communicate our interactions with nature to our next
generation. Students take regular classes at the Bronx Zoo,
where our living exhibits provide extended classrooms for
students to learn about and participate in local, national and
global efforts to conserve the natural world. To this end, I
applaud Secretary Salazar's commitment to engaging youth,
particularly those from underserved areas, as a pillar of the
Great Outdoors Initiative and recommend that the Department of
the Interior develop great partnerships with zoos and aquariums
to build a conservation ethic among the next generation of
youth.
One such challenge facing not just our youth but our nation
and indeed the world is that of climate change, which poses an
unparalleled threat to wildlife and the environments on which
they depend. WCS conservationists work across the globe to
combat climate change impacts including shifts in wildlife
habitat and ranges. In the United States, WCS is encouraged by
Interior's stated goal for its Climate Change Adaptation
Initiative of identifying areas and species most vulnerable to
climate change and implementing adaptation strategies in these
areas. We support this laudable goal and recognize that the
overall funding request of $171.3 million for this initiative
is a good start to building resilient ecosystems.
As part of this investment, landscape conservation
cooperatives will continue to be developed and the scope of
U.S. Geological Survey's National Climate Change and Wildlife
Center will expand through the establishment of eight Climate
Science Centers. Through these investments, WCS would like to
see increased coordination with other agencies and external
partners to develop a further understanding of climate impacts
across entire landscapes coupled with demonstration projects
that could provide resource managers the tools necessary to
address the specific needs in that landscape. These interagency
landscape level approaches are key to addressing not only
climate change impacts but other issues such as sprawl and
energy development as well.
Recently, the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service
and the National Wildlife Refuge System pledged to work
together to support the protection of the migration corridor of
pronghorn antelope known as the Path of the Pronghorn across
the broad greater Yellowstone ecosystem. While further
protections are needed, WCS applauds this cooperative action
demonstrating that by working together, we can find solutions
to preserve our Nation's wildlife history and heritage.
From world-renowned WCS conservationist George Schaller's
first studies of mountain gorillas in 1959 to our 2008
discovery of more than 125,000 western lowland gorillas in
Congo, WCS has been committed to saving all four subspecies of
gorilla. In recent years, our conservation successes would not
be possible without the support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service among other U.S. government agencies. Since 1991, the
multinational species funds administered by the Fish and
Wildlife Service has provided the world's only source of
dedicated funding for Asian and African elephants, rhinos,
tigers, great apes and sea turtles, and WCS recommends that
Congress fund this program at $5 million for Rhino-Tiger Fund
and $2.5 million for each of the remaining species funds.
I see that we are running quickly out of time.
Mr. Moran. We are out of time.
Mr. Calvelli. And I want to just end with one thought, this
idea that Ken Burns and the greatest idea that we had with
parks. You will see in my testimony that we have many examples
of that, and I apologize, I did not recognize the ranking
member and Mr. Hinchey. Thank you for being here and giving us
an opportunity.
[The statement of John Calvelli follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much for that testimony, Mr.
Calvelli. It is interesting, the newest exhibit at the National
Museum of Natural History shows the closeness of the great apes
and the chimpanzees and many of the species that you are trying
to protect to mankind itself, so----
Mr. Calvelli. One of the things, Mr. Chairman, that we have
not done well as a conservation community is explain the impact
of saving these tropical forests just in terms of even
medicinals that are found there, and we need to be doing that
and the Forest Service has done a good job in that.
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much, Mr. Calvelli.
Mr. Hinchey. John, I just want to say I appreciate what you
are doing, always have, and I look forward to continuing
working with you. Thank you very much.
Mr. Calvelli. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Moran. Now we will hear from Laurie Norton Moffatt, who
is the director of the Norman Rockwell--oh, we can do Mr.
Sherman. I am sorry, Ms. Moffatt. We are going to do Mr.
Sherman, then we will bring you up. I was going by the schedule
here. Congressman Brad Sherman.
----------
Thursday, March 25, 2010.
CA-27
WITNESS
HON. BRAD SHERMAN
Mr. Sherman. Mr. Chairman, thank you for taking me out of
order. I come here as I have so many years on behalf of the
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Over 33
million visitors a year visit the beaches and parks and
mountains of this unit of the national park system, which
stretches across the Santa Monica Mountains and transverses
Zuma and Trancas Canyons. It is the most visited unit of the
National Park Service. To date, the National Park Service has
acquired 22,000 acres of park land using Land and Water
Conservation funds totaling $163 million.
The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area has one
of the largest backlogs of acquisition needs. Approximately
20,000 acres remain to be acquired to complete the land
protection plan and eventually to complete that plan it will
cost an estimated $57 million. I am not here to ask for $57
million. I am instead here to focus on the highest priority of
the National Park Service in the Santa Monica Mountains, the
Zuma/Trancas Canyons. The Department of Interior fiscal year
2011 budget provides $3.75 million to acquire 16 tracts in
those canyons. I strongly support what is already in the
Administration budget and ask that you plus that amount up to
$6 million so that all of the parcels in those two canyons can
be acquired.
The National Park Service ranks Zuma/Trancas Canyon
watersheds and coastal estuaries as their top priority for land
acquisition. The Park Service has identified 484 acres in the
watershed for acquisition. This includes some 28 parcels. The
estimated value of those parcels is $6 million. The owners have
indicated a willingness to sell. There are no takings involved
in the request that I am making.
[The statement of Brad Sherman follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. So the problem is that they are building high-
end housing on the private inholdings, which I suppose the
value is enhanced because it is protected federal land around
it, so you are suggesting that at this time the real estate
value is depressed and so it is a good time to pick it up and
preserve the overall quality of the entire area?
Mr. Sherman. It is a buyer's market. We need to take
advantage of this buyer's market, and at some point if these
owners instead use their legal entitlements to put up mansions,
we will never be able to restore the view shed. We will never
really be able to preserve this land.
Now we will hear from Ms. Moffatt, Laurie Norton Moffatt,
who is the director of the Norman Rockwell Museum on behalf of
the Association of Art Museum Directors and American
Association of Museums.
----------
Thursday, March 25, 2010.
ASSOCIATION OF ART MUSEUM DIRECTORS AND THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF
MUSEUMS
WITNESS
LAURIE NORTON MOFFATT
Ms. Moffatt. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Congressmen
Simpson and Hinchey. Thank you for this opportunity to testify.
Following on the heels of the millions of acres of preservation
of the national parks, I have two very small stories to tell
but I am speaking on behalf of millions of visitors and
billions of museum artifacts our Nation preserves. I am here
today to testify about the 2011 appropriations for the National
Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the
Humanities, and I am speaking on behalf of Norman Rockwell
Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where I am executive
director, as well as for the American Association of Museums
and the Association of Art Museum Directors.
We are respectfully requesting Congress to approve funding
increases for both agencies this year. At a time when
individual, corporate and foundation giving is under
unprecedented pressure and demand for the services of our
museums in the Nation is at an all-time high as a result of the
recession. These agencies are offering lifelines, helping us to
preserve programming, collections and educational services for
the public, not to mention millions of jobs of our staff and
the vendors to our businesses.
To provide a context for this request, I would like to
speak about specific grants that the Norman Rockwell Museum and
the Association of Art Museum Directors have received from the
NEA and the NEH. Norman Rockwell Museum stewards the world's
largest, most significant collection of the art and archives of
American artist Norman Rockwell. Our exhibits attract 150,000
visitors to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in the rural western
part of our state annually but we also serve 300,000 additional
visitors through our exhibitions that travel around the
country. Last year alone, we had nine exhibits traveling and
being seen in 10 different states. Therefore, we are serving
about half a million people a year from our small museum.
Caring for this world-class collection is a formidable task
for our small-size museum with a very tiny endowment. Let me
just show you the impact of two NEA and NEH grants on one
collection project that we have been doing. In 2003, we
launched a comprehensive 10-year preservation digitization and
public access initiative for the Norman Rockwell Archive, which
has gained broad public support. For our efforts, our
professional efforts, in 2008 the museum received the National
Humanities Medal, the first and only museum in the Nation to
have received this recognition for the studying and honoring of
the life work and ideals of an icon in American art and for
being the careful curator of the archives illustrations and
benevolent spirit of Norman Rockwell that he bequeathed to the
Nation. I can tell you that none of this would have been
possible without funding we received from the NEA and the NEH
and we leveraged this funding with more than $1 million in
private foundation grants on top of the public grants.
Mr. Moran. Well, it probably would have been NEH, would it
not have been, more than NEA?
Ms. Moffatt. It was both, actually, because of the ideals,
the humanity ideals represented in Norman Rockwell's art, and
NEH supports many, many exhibits that are seen around the
country, so we do benefit from both agencies.
A $25,000 NEA grant and a $300,000 Save America's Treasures
grant preserve 18,000 fragile acetate negatives that were being
lost and this collection of pictures, American Life in the 20th
Century. And American Masterpiece's program has supported a
national traveling exhibition of our collection to 12 venues
around the country and is being seen in the states of Arkansas,
California, Florida, Kansas, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio,
Virginia and Washington State. It will be seen by an estimated
5 million visitors by the time it concludes in 2012. And an
additional NEH grant has supported the arrangement and
description of the Rockwell Archive and this vast collection of
200,000 items that we care for and has created exhibitions,
online digital access, book projects and educational
programming for schools.
To put this in context, our budget is less than $4 million
annually and our endowment is equally small, also below $4
million. The NEA and NEH support has made it possible for us to
steward this national collection, which would not have been
possible to do just from our visitors. The field at large has
made recent grants to the Association of Art Museum Directors
to help do a mapping project which has shown the regions of the
Nation that our art museums are serving and demonstrating that
many underserved and poor school districts are being served by
the school programs in our country.
So we respectfully request as a last request that the
Congress reject a budget request by the Executive Office to
eliminate Save America's Treasures. This program was
established by First Lady Hillary Clinton and strongly
supported by First Lady Laura Bush and it has helped rescue
sites and collections of national and even world significance.
So together with the National Park Service and the art museums
and all museums in the Nation, we request that you support the
NEA and NEH funding and restore America's treasures.
[The statement of Laurie Norton Moffatt follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Your testimony is meeting sympathetic ears.
Mr. Hinchey. The Norman Rockwell Museum is very impressive,
and I think a lot of people are very grateful to you for what
you continue to do there.
Mr. Moran. Have you seen that, Mr. Hinchey?
Mr. Hinchey. I have, yes. It is a great place.
Ms. Moffatt. Thank you very much.
Mr. Moran. Very good. Good testimony, and we happen to
agree, and Save America's Treasures will be saved. Trust us.
Thank you.
Next we are going to hear from Peter Evans, the director of
the Interstate Council on Water Policy. Mr. Evans.
----------
Thursday, March 25, 2010.
INTERSTATE COUNCIL ON WATER POLICY
WITNESS
PETER EVANS
Mr. Evans. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, thank you, Ranking
Member Simpson, Congressmen Hinchey. We have met previously
with you. You will recall from last year's briefings that you
are well aware of the America stream gauge programs at the U.S.
Geological Survey. I know that time is short so we are going to
get straight to the point.
We brought you a letter in December showing the broad
support, the wide level of concern about the continuing loss of
stream gauges. For the record, sorry, I am Peter Evans. I am
the executive director of the Interstate Council on Water
Policy, and we appreciate this opportunity to testify this
year, especially because the President's budget request
includes a decrease in funding for two vital water science
programs at USGS and we believe that this subcommittee needs to
take action to correct that mistake.
The last time we brought a letter to you, we brought 56
organization endorsements along with the endorsement from 26
state officials indicating their reliance on these programs and
the detriment that they suffer as USGS continues to lose stream
gauges.
The stream gauges and groundwater monitoring wells operated
by USGS serve as the stethoscope on America's rivers and water
supplies. The members of the Interstate Council depend heavily
on USGS stream gauging for the interpretative science essential
in the development and implementation of sound water plans and
in the operation of water projects. The Council was established
in 1959 as a way for state officials to get together on a
regular basis to learn from each other, to build their
capabilities, also to speak as a group on important issues of
federal policy and the assistance that we need. What our
members have in common is the responsibility for developing and
managing programs and implementing projects that reduce flood
risk and drought risk and balance the needs of human
communities with the protection of water quality, wetlands and
riparian areas as well as the species that depend on them.
As you know better than many of the other subcommittees in
the Appropriations Committee, America faces many water-related
challenges, and the President's budget includes new funding to
address much of the infrastructure improvement and
environmental restoration across the country. Without
detracting from the worthiness of those initiatives, we find it
unreasonable to invest so much in new support in those programs
and projects without first investing in the water data and
science needed for their design and implementation. Full
implementation for these programs has never been requested.
Both of these programs, the National Streamflow Information
Program and the Cooperative Water Program, are national
programs that have been authorized by Congress, funded for many
years, but the Department has never requested full
implementation.
USGS estimated last year, at your request, that completing
the installation of the Cooperative Water Program would cost an
additional $121 million if they could do that over the next 5
years and that annual operation and maintenance will cost $114
million. If the National Streamflow Information Program were
fully implemented, it would take a considerable burden off the
co-op program, which is a cost-share program in which as the
USGS lacks capacity states and local governments, tribal
agencies have had to pick up the slack. They are now carrying
on average across the country 70 percent of the share instead
of the traditional 50/50 cost share.
USGS also estimated last year, again at your request, that
they would need an additional $100 million for the Cooperative
Water Program in order to stop losing stream gauges and restore
the ability to match local governments and state agencies on a
50/50 basis. In response to your question, Congressman Simpson,
I recall that the acting director for the U.S. Geological
Survey told you last year that they had a plan to fully
implement these programs over the next 5 years, and the
information that they provided after their hearing last year
showed the budget that they need. So it was a surprise to us to
see that the President's request for this year includes a cut
for both programs, and we realize that the budget is tight but
we have made repeated efforts over the last 5 years to persuade
the Department that this is a national problem that they need
to attend to with the concurrence of lots of other
organizations. We have written many letters over the past 5
years to Secretary Salazar and his predecessors. They say that
they are sympathetic and yet we see budget cuts. The data from
these programs are essential in planning and managing the
metropolitan water supply for Washington, D.C., the Everglades,
the Chesapeake, the Long Island Sound, the Grand Canyon, the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta, all of these crucial water
programs, all of which are vital to different parts of the
country and depend on the data. The data is needed for the
Water Smart Program, the water census that the Department is
proposing and so we ask that you support us.
[The statement of Peter Evans follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Evans. You raise a very important
issue to our attention and we certainly agree on the need.
Thank you, Mr. Evans.
Dr. Craig Schiffries, who is the director for Geoscience
Policy at the Geological Society of America. Dr. Schiffries.
----------
Thursday, March 25, 2010.
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA, GEOSCIENCE POLICY
WITNESS
CRAIG SCHIFFRIES
Dr. Schiffries. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and
members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to
testify today on behalf of the Geological Society of America,
and I also serve as co-chair of the USGS Coalition. The
Geological Society of America was founded in 1888 as a
scientific society with over 22,000 members from academia,
government and industry in all 50 states and more than 90
countries.
The Geological Society joins with the USGS Coalition and
other organizations in recommending an appropriation of at
least $1.3 billion for the USGS in fiscal year 2011. This
budget would enable the USGS to address a growing backlog of
science needs, accelerate the timetable for deploying critical
monitoring systems and launch science initiatives that address
new challenges. Despite the growing need for USGS science and
information, funding for the USGS has stagnated in real dollars
for more than a decade.
The USGS is one of the Nation's premier science agencies
that addresses many of society's most pressing challenges
including energy resources, water resources, climate change and
natural hazards. The devastating earthquake in Haiti on January
12th that killed more than 200,000 people and the enormous
earthquake in Chile on February 27th emphatically demonstrate
the value of robust natural-hazards monitoring and warning
systems and the need for increased investments in the USGS. The
USGS has a unique combination of biological, geographical,
geological and hydrological programs that enable it to address
interdisciplinary research challenges that are beyond the
capabilities of most other organizations. Quite simply, the
USGS benefits every American every day.
As shown in figure 1, the USGS budget fell in real dollars
for 7 consecutive years from 2001 to 2008. Despite budget
increases in 2009 and 2010, the USGS budget request for 2011
remains below the USGS budget for 2001 in real dollars. The
decline in funding for the USGS during this time period would
have been much greater if Congress had not repeatedly restored
proposed budget cuts. Federal funding for non-defense R&D
increased significantly while funding for the USGS has
stagnated for more than a decade. From 1996 to 2009, federal
funding for the USGS fell by 1 percent constant dollars. During
that same period, federal funding for non-defense R&D increased
by 45 percent and funding for defense R&D increased by 66
percent in constant dollars.
Let me mention two examples of USGS science. In the 30
years since the cataclysmic eruption of Mount St. Helens in
1980, scientific and technological advances have enabled the
U.S. Geological Survey to make reliable forecasts of expected
volcanic activity a reality. Until now, these technologies and
methods have been applied mainly on an ad hoc basis to
volcanoes showing signs of activity. At present, almost half of
the most threatening U.S. volcanoes are monitored only at a
basic level with real-time sensors and only a few are well
monitored with a suite of modern instruments and methods.
However, monitoring capabilities at many hazardous volcanoes
are known to be sparse and antiquated and some hazardous
volcanoes have no ground-based monitoring whatsoever. The
National Volcano Early Warning System is a proposed national-
scale effort by the USGS and its partners to ensure that
volcanoes are monitored at a level commensurate with the
threats they pose.
I want to turn to earthquakes for a moment. In the minutes
after an earthquake strikes, as recent events in Haiti have
demonstrated, knowing where the shaking was most intense can
save lives by providing emergency responders with situational
awareness they need to concentrate their efforts where they
matter most. In the United States, earthquakes are a national
challenge with 75 million people in 39 states living in
moderate to high earthquake hazard areas. The USGS has
developed models for the location and expected severity of
earthquakes shaking nationwide within specified time periods.
These models are used to generate maps that are incorporated
into seismic safety standards for model building codes and
other purposes. Even if seismologists are unable to issue
precise earthquake predictions, they can still issue warnings
after an earthquake occurs. They can do this by sending warning
signals that outrun seismic waves just as lightning outruns
thunder. Earthquake waves travel roughly at the speed of sound
and rock, and once an earthquake is detected, seismologists can
send warning signals that travel at the speed of light. These
warnings can be used to stop trains on the tracks before they
derail, to shut down nuclear power plants before they are
damaged, and to stop surgical procedures before a patient is
injured. The United States has the technology but not the
funding to fully implement this type of warning system.
Let me make some other comparisons with federal funding for
research and development. As I mentioned earlier, federal
funding for the USGS fell 1 percent while non-defense R&D
increased by 45 percent from 1996 to 2009. The USGS would
continue to lose ground to other science agencies under
President Obama's budget request for 2011 because non-defense
R&D would increase overall by 5.9 percent while USGS R&D would
increase by only 2.9 percent. Under President Obama's budget
request to Congress, the increase in NASA's R&D budget is
greater than the entire budget for the United States Geological
Survey. According to the White House Office of Science and
Technology Policy, the President's budget would increase R&D at
NASA by $1.7 billion, or 18.3 percent, in fiscal year 2011. The
$1.7 billion increase for NASA's R&D is far greater than the
entire budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, which is $1.1
billion.
[The statement of Craig Schiffries follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Dr. Schiffries, I am going to interrupt you.
That is all interesting. We are not opposed to the R&D in those
areas, and do feel that there ought to be more devoted to USGS.
You need to be making this case to the science guys in the
White House to build it into the budget because we are very
limited in how much we can do, the add-ons and subtractions and
so on. We do not like to subtract but it would have been a lot
easier if they had built in more, particularly for a warning
system, which would seem to have even national security
implications, but you have to talk to the people in the White
House as well. That is very good testimony. Thank you, Dr.
Schiffries.
Dr. Schiffries. Thank you very much.
Dr. Robert Gropp, the co-chair of the U.S. Geological
Survey Coalition. Dr. Gropp.
----------
Thursday, March 25, 2010.
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY COALITION
WITNESS
ROBERT GROPP
Dr. Gropp. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the
committee. I appreciate the opportunity to testify today, again
sort of continuing to talk about the USGS. I am director of
policy for the American Institute of Biological Sciences in
addition to serving as co-chair of the Coalition.
First of all, we would like to thank all the members of the
committee and past members of the committee for your long
support of the USGS. We truly appreciate what you all have done
in a bipartisan fashion over the years to restore cuts, and so
we sincerely thank you all for your efforts on that front. As
Craig just mentioned, one of the Coalition's longstanding now,
couple year request is that we think that the USGS would
benefit from a $1.3 billion budget. We recognize your
constraints but that remains our recommendation for the Survey
for this coming year.
The USGS Coalition is actually an alliance of over 70
scientific societies, data consumers and associated
stakeholders of the USGS. The group was founded to highlight
and promote the continued vitality of the crosscut of unique
biological, geological, hydrological and mapping programs that
are found within the USGS and the unique opportunities
scientifically that arise from that.
With respect to the USGS, as you all well know, it is the
Department of Interior's science agency but importantly, it is
also an internationally recognized natural-resource agency that
has benefits to every citizen domestically and internationally
on a daily basis. Also importantly, as Craig was mentioning, it
is a science agency and we are working to try to highlight that
among the Administration and other federal agencies and
appreciate any support you all can offer us with doing that. As
you know, science is important in terms of reigniting the
economy, solving problems, and in the case of USGS, it is also
a beneficial investment in terms of reducing costs through
making wise management decisions, cost-effective conservation
decisions and so forth.
Mr. Moran. It was a $20 million increase provided over last
year's budget. What is the total? Do you recall the total for
USGS versus the $1.3 billion?
Dr. Gropp. It is about $1.1 billion.
Mr. Moran. So you are looking for a $200 million increase?
Dr. Gropp. Right.
Mr. Moran. About 10 times what we did last year.
Dr. Gropp. No, we recognize your constraints.
As I am sure you are well aware, within that $20 million
increase that is included, and I think this is a problem across
Interior, is that $13.5 million is not accounted for in terms
of fixed cost increases, and that is becoming a growing concern
for us when we look at USGS as they continue to have to absorb
these costs year over year. So if you take that off the $21
million proposed increase, you are down to $8 million, which
largely goes to important new programs--climate change,
environment, ecosystems--but as was mentioned, there is about
$11 million in cuts to water programs, bio programs and
enterprise infrastructure. So it is a tight environment.
[The statement of Robert Gropp follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. As you know, the Department of Interior elected
to make every program absorb those fixed costs, but it is a
fair point and an important one to bear in mind. Thank you, Dr.
Gropp. Your testimony and the prior testimony were important,
and we do understand USGS is very strong. In fact, I have made
a point of trying to increase money for USGS and we will try to
continue to, and while there are a lot of priorities, these are
very good scientists that do good, important work.
Mr. Hinchey.
Mr. Hinchey. Well, I just agree. What you are talking about
is very important, and I am sure we will do the best we can.
Mr. Gropp. Again, thank you very much.
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Dr. Gropp, very much.
The next speaker will be Sara Fain, who is the co-chair of
the Everglades Coalition. Good morning, Ms. Fain.
----------
Thursday, March 25, 2010.
EVERGLADES COALITION
WITNESS
SARA FAIN
Ms. Fain. Mr. Chairman, members of the subcommittee, thank
you for the opportunity to be here today. My name is Sara Fain
and I am here as the national co-chair of the Everglades
Coalition. The Everglades Coalition represents 53 environmental
and conservation organizations and collectively we represent
over 6 million members nationwide, and we have been working for
over 25 years to work for the full restoration of the
Everglades ecosystem.
So first I want to take this opportunity to thank you for
your visionary leadership over the last 17 years in guiding
Everglades restoration. We are undertaking something really,
really special down in south Florida. This is the most
ambitious ecological restoration plan that has ever been
undertaken in the history of the world, and we are setting the
standard for restoration initiatives nationwide from Puget
Sound to Chesapeake Bay, and it is largely because of your
example that we are setting the high standard that we have, and
I am excited to be able to come here today and talk about a
wonderful year that we have had. It has been a momentous year
where a lot has been accomplished. The year 2009 brought the
highest levels of federal funding ever for the Everglades. We
have finally broken ground on the modified water deliveries
project, which is building a mile-long bridge along the
northern border of Everglades National Park across Tamiami
Trail and this will allow water to once again flow back into
this park, helping restore critical habitat upon which our
unique and biodiverse wildlife depends, and it was this
committee that because of your actions has helped to move that
forward, so on behalf of the Coalition, I thank you.
We have also celebrated two other groundbreakings. We have
broken ground on the C-111 spreader canal western project and
the Picayune strand project, and with support in the fiscal
year 2011 budget, we hope to break ground on three more
projects: Indian River Lagoon, Biscayne Bay coastal wetlands
and site one impoundments. And all these projects, let's
remember, are not just critical pieces of the restoration plan
but they are also creating on-the-ground construction jobs in
this new restoration economy.
Another great thing that has happened this year is the
National Park Service at your direction has been developing a
plan for additional bridging along Tamiami Trail, which this
will be the ultimate goal in actually fully restoring water
flow into one of our Nation's most iconic parks, so it really
has been a momentous year and it is largely because of your
commitment and leadership that I can come here today and be so
optimistic about the future. I hope that we can continue on
this momentum. People down in south Florida and nationwide are
really, really excited about what is happening in the
Everglades and so I would like to ask that you support the
Administration's budget for Everglades restoration while also
increasing funding for the modified water deliveries project to
$15 million. That would be half of what remains in order to
finish building the mile-long bridge along Tamiami Trail and
would go a long way to actually start getting some flow back
into the park.
I also ask that you provide for the National Park Service's
planning efforts in additional bridging along Tamiami Trail and
let's just keep setting the bar high for America's Everglades.
We continue to set the example for restoration initiatives
everywhere.
In closing, it was the foremost protector of the
Everglades, Marjorie Stoman Douglas, who said, ``There are no
other Everglades in the world.'' And so I hope that we can
continue on this path to not only make sure that Everglades is
a sanctuary for our wildlife but is also an economic driver, is
a source of fresh water for people and that we leave a legacy
for our children to be proud of.
[The statement of Sara Fain follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thanks very much, Ms. Fain. I was disturbed at
the deal that had been worked out with the State of Florida,
Governor Crist and the sugar producer appears to be
compromised. For one thing, Florida has run out of money and
they signed the deal when real estate values were at their
highest level ever, and of course, the sugar producers will not
budge an inch. And so what was heralded as major progress has
seen something of a setback, and I am not sure what we can do
about that but it is troubling.
Ms. Fain. Well, the good news is that the deal is not
completed yet. The deal is still on the table and I think that
there are opportunities for negotiations in the price. I think
that the important thing is that we have known that the 2000
plan that Congress adopted, the comprehensive Everglades
restoration plan, was fundamentally flawed in that it did not
provide enough land for storing and cleaning water. We have a
willing seller for the first time in a generation who will
provide us that opportunity. So I hope that we can find a way
within the economic constraints to make this happen.
Mr. Moran. Well, if they are not willing to show some
flexibility, we need to see if we cannot come up with some
creative approaches to dealing with them.
Mr. Simpson.
Mr. Simpson. Creative approaches.
Mr. Moran. Well, I am thinking about it. I am not sure what
we can do.
Mr. Simpson. It scares me when you say ``creative
approaches.''
Mr. Moran. That is right. Well, I mean that. I did not say
it was illegal. I just think that it is a terribly important
issue and there ought to be some help given to people when an
enormous amount of money has been made off that area down
there.
Ms. Fain. And I can bring back your comments to the State
of Florida. I think that they recognize that there are
potentially opportunities to make sure that this is a deal that
is good for the people in South Florida.
Mr. Moran. I do not think Governor Crist is the problem. It
is not the government in Florida that is the problem.
Mr. Hinchey.
Mr. Hinchey. Well, I just want to thank you for what you
are doing, and what you said is so true. I mean, this committee
has been very, very devoted to this for a number of years and
we have done a lot of things to help it get better advanced,
and the optimism that you express is very encouraging to us,
and I agree with what our chairman has just said. There are a
lot of things we have to pay very close attention to, and this
project is very, very important, and thank you for everything
you are doing.
Ms. Fain. Well, thank you, too.
Mr. Moran. Thank you for everything you are doing. Thank
you very much.
Tom Partin, president of the American Forest Resource
Council on behalf of the Federal Forest Resource Coalition. Mr.
Partin.
Thursday, March 25, 2010.
FEDERAL FOREST RESOURCE COALITION
WITNESS
TOM PARTIN
Mr. Partin. Thank you. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Ranking
Member Simpson, members of the subcommittee. My name is Tom
Partin. I am president of the American Forest Resource Council
located in Portland, Oregon. I am testifying here today on
behalf of the Federal Forest Resource Coalition. The Federal
Forest Resource Coalition is kind of an informal group
representing many forest industry trade associations including
Intermountain Forestry Association, which Mr. Simpson, I am
sure you are very aware of.
Collectively, our members represent every segment of the
forestry and wood products industry, and we employ more than 1
million people directly and rank among the top 10 manufacturing
employers in 48 states, so we are pretty proud of our record.
Our companies depend on the federal forest to provide a
consistent and sustainable flow of raw materials to remain in
operation. Our members are often located in smaller rural
communities and the jobs they provide are the lifeblood for
these rural economies. With this in mind, it is easy to
recognize that as the Forest Service budget and timber outputs
go, so go the health of our forests, our forest products
industry and many of America's rural communities.
I am here today to discuss the President's fiscal year 2011
Forest Service budget request. First, let me say that we are
very pleased that the President recognizes the importance of
the Forest Service and gave the Forest Service an increase. We
are very much appreciative of that. However, we have some
concerns with the budget. First, we have significant issues
with merging the forest products, vegetation and watershed
management and wildlife and fisheries habitat line items into a
single integrated resources restoration account. The only
target for this new account are acres treated, and we fear that
the agency will lose the accountability for the timber targets
that our industry so desperately needs. Our plants do not
operate on acres treated. We need predictability and certainty
in the form of timber output targets to be able to plan
operations and investments. We strongly urge you to keep timber
targets at both the regional and national forest level to
ensure the flow of materials we need to survive.
Our second concern is the timber management output target
for the 2011 budget is actually down from 2.5 billion board
feet in fiscal year 2010 to 2.4 billion in fiscal year 2011.
This reduction is contrary to the strong Congressional support
in many letters that came to the Administration for increasing
timber sales, particularly as they relate to forest health and
industry needs. We have recommended an increase from our group
of $57 million to the forest products line item which would
bring the 2011 target up to 3 billion board feet. This level of
funding would provide a much-needed boost to rural America and
speed the restoration of our federal forests which, as you
know, are burning millions of acres each year.
A very conservative estimate of jobs created per million
board feet of timber harvested is 11.4 new direct and indirect
jobs with an average wage of $42,300. Therefore, increasing the
forest products line item by $57 million would increase the
timber harvest to 3 billion board feet and create 6,600 new
jobs nationwide. Quite frankly, we find it very difficult to
understand at a time when we need to provide jobs to rural
America, you propose reducing timber harvests, thus reducing
jobs in our industry. Obviously we are missing 100 million
board feet nationwide with this President's budget that came
out and we are very concerned about that.
A closer look at the integrated resource restoration line
item shows an actual $26 million increase. However, $30 million
of that would be set aside to implement the Forest Landscape
Restoration Act and $50 million for priority watershed
improvement projects. This means a $54 million actual reduction
to the combined budgetary pool, and we fear this could greatly
impact forest health projects and the timber outputs again that
we do desperately need.
Switching to the hazardous fuels line item, this area would
receive a $9.2 million increase under the budget. In light of
the heavy fuels buildup, we feel this is appropriate. However,
we think we should take a new direction with this line item,
and our group recommends that Congress should integrate
hazardous fuels dollars with national forest system dollars for
fuels work in some of the higher condition class areas. This
integration could also fund the $80 million for the landscape
restoration and watershed programs.
We are also concerned about the language that directs a
higher percentage of the work to be focused on wildland-urban
interface area. Now, I will not disagree that the WUI areas are
really important. However, a higher percentage of the class 2
and class 3 forests where the big fires really start are
located in the general forested areas away from the wildland-
urban interface. We need to put more focus and more of our
dollars and efforts towards these extreme forest class
condition areas.
Finally, we disagree with the $118 million proposed cut to
the capital improvement and maintenance budget. The elimination
of all new road construction and reconstruction will undercut
the agency's ability to sell many timber sales that are already
through the NEPA process and ready to go and it will prevent
maintaining a roads infrastructure already located out there in
the forest that many of our public besides just the
manufacturers really depend on.
In short, again, the health of our forests, our forest
products industry and our rural communities are based on the
Forest Service budget. We really would request that you
increase the forest products line item by $57 million to get
our harvest up to 3 billion board feet and put 6,600 people
back to work. Thank you for taking my testimony.
[The statement of Tom Partin follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Partin. Thank you very much.
Brian Moore is the legislative director of the Audubon
Society.
----------
Thursday, March 25, 2010.
AUDUBON SOCIETY
WITNESS
BRIAN MOORE
Mr. Moore. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Simpson, Mr.
Hinchey, and Mr. Chairman, congratulations on your new
assignment as chairman of the subcommittee. We are very
supportive of it, and the Audubon Society has a long
relationship with you and the subcommittee, and we are glad to
be here to be able to present our views on a few parts of the
Department of Interior budget as well as the Environmental
Protection Agency.
Our main focus for the National Audubon Society is
protecting and establishing habitat for birds and wildlife and
so there is certain programs within both agencies that we
particularly like to focus on.
Mr. Moran. You begin by making recommendations for fiscal
year 2012. Did you want to focus on 2012?
Mr. Moore. No, sir, I did not. I have a revised testimony.
That was a typographical error. I apologize for that and I have
a new copy for you.
Mr. Moran. I was giving you credit for a visionary
approach.
Mr. Moore. I apologize for that.
Mr. Moran. You decided there is not much you can do about
this year but let's try in 2012 to do a better job.
Mr. Moore. I think we can do a lot this year, and even more
in 2012.
Mr. Moran. Sorry for the interruption.
Mr. Moore. No, no. It is your committee. You interrupt as
you please.
The first thing that I would like to talk about is the
restoration of the Everglades, and I know you have already
heard about the Everglades. It is also a key priority for the
National Audubon Society. We think last year was a monumental
year for the Everglades, especially with the groundbreaking on
the Tamiami Trail and other groundbreakings as well, and one
funding recommendation we would give this year and also for
2012 would be $15 million in 2011 and then $15 million in 2012
for the modified water delivery program. We think that would
complete that program, which would then free up the Park
Service and this committee to begin to work on new projects
within Everglades and create an ever greater restoration
amongst that ecosystem. There are also other recommendations in
that but I think you have heard them from the Everglades
groups.
Our second priority of course is the Land and Water
Conservation Fund. We agree with many other groups that that
fund should be increased to about $425 million with $175
million of it going to the stateside program. We have many
priorities with the LWCF. They are not limited to, but they
include many refuges that have received funding in the past.
They are the Silvio Conte National Wildlife Refuge, the Stewart
McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, the Cash River National
Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas, and of course the James River
National Wildlife Refuge in your State of Virginia.
We focus heavily on the national wildlife refuge system
because we believe it is one of the federal units of land that
provide the greatest habitat for birds, wildlife, migratory
species and recreation for all Americans and so we call on this
committee to continue your good work to increase the funding
for the national wildlife refuge system to about $578 million.
We think that is a fair number to increase the operations and
maintenance of that agency as well as to maybe add some
increased capacity to it.
We are also very encouraged by the Administration's
proposal that within that request they would move around $5
million to the wildlife refuges within the Louisiana-
Mississippi coastline to help restore some of the damage
created by Hurricane Rita, Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Ike.
Those are still ongoing issues and those communities are still
recovering and so are those refuges. So we are pleased with
that and we encourage both full funding for the refuge system
as well as some dedicated funding or funding towards America's
coastline.
Of course, we are the Audubon Society and birds are very
important to us. One program this committee has always shown
great support for is the Neotropical Migratory Bird
Conservation Act. We support a funding level this year of $6.5
million for that program. It requires a three to one match to
the Federal Government on that program, but in reality, it
receives about a four to one match. We think this is an
important year for that program because it is up for
reauthorization, so proving to not only this committee but to
the Administration that these funds are spent well and that the
Congress and the authorizing committees can look at it as a
success. It is important for the reauthorization of that
program to show continued success for it and their ability to
successfully spend the dollars that they received. The program
is also very important to the Audubon Society.
And finally, we of course have many other priorities but
one more is the restoration of Long Island Sound, and we
greatly commend this subcommittee. You nearly doubled the
funding, or I think you more than doubled the funding for that
program from the previous fiscal year to the one we are in now,
and we would like increased funding for that program. We think
that that office has shown the ability to effectively spend
that money, and the same way with the Neotropical Migratory
Bird Conservation Act, that program is up for reauthorization
this year. I believe many of the efforts to reauthorize it
coincide with the way this committee has spent money for it,
meaning there were two authorized programs. This committee has
wisely chosen to fund it as one line item and that is the way
the reauthorization legislation is moving this year. So to have
those things coincide we believe helps the reauthorization of
that important program because it is an ecosystem that is often
overlooked and it is important to us and it is important to the
fifth of the population, I believe, that lives within that
watershed.
So those are our recommendations, and they are short, and
there are many more in the written testimony, and I do
appreciate your time.
[The statement of Brian Moore follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you. It is comprehensive testimony. Thank
you very much, Mr. Moore.
Mr. Simpson. Let me ask one question.
Mr. Moran. Please, Mr. Simpson.
Mr. Simpson.1 Does the Audubon Society support the Fish and
Wildlife Service's land conservation cooperatives?
Mr. Moore. I am not sure we have created an opinion on
that, Mr. Simpson. I will have to get back to you on that.
Mr. Simpson. I appreciate it. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Mr. Moore, thank you very much.
Dr. Bruce Stein, associate director of the Wildlife
Conservation and Global Warming, National Wildlife Federation.
Dr. Stein.
----------
Thursday, March 25, 2010.
NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION
WITNESS
BRUCE STEIN
Dr. Stein. Thank you very much, Chairman Moran, Mr.
Simpson, Mr. Hinchey. On behalf of the National Wildlife
Federation, which is the Nation's largest conservation advocacy
and education organization, we have got more than 4 million
members and supporters, we thank you for the opportunity to
provide testimony on the fiscal year 2011 budget.
Our written testimony covers a wide range of agencies and
issues commensurate with the wide range of our organizational
interests, but today I want to focus on just four issues:
climate change adaptation, state wildlife grants, renewable
energy siting and the U.S. Forest Service's proposed budget
reorganization.
Regarding climate change adaptation, the National Wildlife
Federation is strongly supportive of the $35 million increase
in Department of Interior activities relating to preparing for
and coping with the effects of climate change on our natural
resources, and this does include the implementation expansion
of the network of landscape conservation cooperatives, so Mr.
Simpson, we are very supportive of that effort. We do
recognize, however, as we mention in our written testimony,
that there are and will be growing pains in any such program of
that sort and there is a need for increased cooperation and
communication among the federal agencies and with the states
but we see the focus on landscape-scale conservation and
bringing good science to bear on identifying what is going to
be needed in the face of climate change to be absolutely
essential. We are also supportive, by the way, of the U.S.
Geological Survey's Wildlife and Climate Change Science Center
which this committee has been so supportive of, again bringing
to bear very important scientific expertise on how we address
this central challenge of our time.
Turning to state and tribal wildlife grants, this is a
program that is really one of the Nation's core efforts to
ensure that wildlife populations remain healthy across the
country and do not become endangered. The National Wildlife
Federation has been working with quite a number of states to
help them make these plans climate-smart, to incorporate the
necessary science and on-the-ground conservation activities
that will be needed to ensure that this wildlife survives in an
era of rapid climate change, and we would specifically
recommend $100 million in funding in fiscal year 2011 for this
program, which is a $10 million increase over what the
President has requested.
Transitioning to a clean energy economy is really one of
the greatest challenges facing the Nation and we are very
supportive of the President's New Energy Frontier Initiative in
the Department of Interior, which would invest $73 million in
new renewable energy programs, and although the program does
recognize that not all lands with renewable potential are
appropriate for development, we are concerned that the
Department does not yet have the necessary policy guidance to
avoid significant impacts on wildlife in their habitats through
renewable and transmission siting, so this is something that we
think really needs to be attended to. We are, however, very
supportive of the Department's commonsense budget proposals for
reducing extravagant subsidies to the oil and gas industries
including a new fee on non-producing wells.
And finally, just wanted to discuss the Forest Service's
proposed integrated resource restoration budget line item. This
proposal combines forest products, wildlife and fisheries and
vegetation management into a single $694 million budget item,
and although we are generally supportive of the intent of this,
which is to get the Forest Service doing more large landscape
and watershed restoration, integrated restoration, we are
concerned that by doing this, the wildlife component of the
budget is at risk of declining due to lack of budget
transparency. We have seen similar things happen in the past
when endangered species, for instance, no longer are a separate
budget line item and the investment and their management and
Forest Service activities has appeared to decline, although it
is difficult to tell for sure. And so if this budget
realignment is put in place, we would encourage the development
of robust program monitoring and oversight to ensure the
continued commitment to the delivery on wildlife and fisheries
objectives.
So Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity to appear.
[The statement of Bruce Stein follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Good. Thanks very much. We appreciate that, Dr.
Stein. Thank you for the testimony.
We will move on at this point to Mary Sullivan Douglas, who
is the senior staff associate of the National Association of
Clean Air Agencies.
----------
Thursday, March 25, 2010.
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CLEAN AIR AGENCIES
WITNESS
MARY SULLIVAN DOUGLAS
Ms. Douglas. Good morning. As you said, I am Mary Sullivan
Douglas with the National Association of Clean Air Agencies.
The members of NACAA are the state and local air pollution
control officials in 53 states and territories and over 165
metropolitan areas across the country. We thank you for this
opportunity to testify on EPA's fiscal year 2011 budget for
state and local air pollution control grants.
NACAA supports the President's request for $309.1 million
in federal grants for state and local air pollution control
agencies. This amount represents an increase of $82.5 million
above last year. Air pollution is one of the most pressing
public health problems facing our Nation and probably causes
more deaths than any other issue under this subcommittee's
jurisdiction. In the United States, exposure to polluted air
results in the premature deaths of tens of thousands of people
every year and causes many serious health problems. According
to EPA data, about 127 million people lived in counties that
exceeded at least one of the health-based air quality standards
in 2008. In addition, EPA estimates that nearly everyone in the
United States has an increased cancer risk from air pollution
of greater than 10 in 1 million where 1 in 1 million is
generally considered acceptable.
State and local air quality agencies have struggled with
insufficient resources for many years. The Clean Air Act
authorizes the Federal Government to provide grants for up to
60 percent of the cost of state and local air programs while
states and localities must provide a 40 percent match. In
reality, however, state and local air agencies provide 77
percent of their budgets while federal grants constitute only
23 percent. Clearly, state and local agencies are providing far
more than their fair share, which is especially difficult now
when their budgets are severely strained by the economy. To
make matters worse, federal grants have remained stagnant and
their purchasing power has actually decreased from inflation by
nearly 10 percent over the last 10 years. Last year we surveyed
state and local air pollution control agencies and learned that
there is an annual shortfall of $550 million in federal grants
for air programs. During all this, state and local
responsibilities have increased dramatically. These agencies
cannot carry out their programs effectively with such enormous
deficits.
While the President's proposed increase does not fully
address all of our funding needs, we are grateful for it and we
support it because it will be very helpful as we continue our
efforts to obtain and maintain healthful air quality for our
Nation. The proposed budget calls for increases in three
primary areas. The first is for core activities. While new and
innovative efforts are necessary, the day-to-day activities
that are the foundation of our programs are essential. The
additional funds will support continuing responsibilities and
the increasing workload that results as EPA updates its health-
based air quality standards. These include planning, emission
inventories, sophisticated modeling, expanded monitoring
networks, and adoption and enforcement of regulations.
The second area identified for additional grants is
increasing capacity for greenhouse gas permitting. State and
local agencies need to expand their capacity with respect to
greenhouse gases so that they are able to transition to
whatever greenhouse gas program EPA develops and are prepared
to issue permits to affected sources. The increase would be
used for planning and analysis, source identification, staff
development and training, outreach to industry, and responding
to the public.
The third area identified for increases is air pollution
monitoring. State and local agencies must significantly
increase their monitoring activities to address the new and
revised health-based standards related to ozone, lead, nitrogen
dioxide and sulfur dioxide, which will require the purchase of
additional ambient air monitoring equipment.
All three of these areas are of critical importance to
state and local efforts to improve air quality and protect
public health and are worthy of additional federal resources.
In conclusion, NACAA recommends that Congress appropriate
$309.1 million in federal grants to state and local air quality
agencies under sections 103 and 105 of the Clean Air Act as the
President requested.
We thank you for this opportunity to testify, and we thank
you for your support of clean air programs in the past.
[The statement of Mary Sullivan Douglas follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Ms. Douglas. Thank you very much.
Mr. Hinchey. Thank you very much.
Mr. Moran. The next witness will be Tom Cassidy, director
of Federal Land programs for the Nature Conservancy. Mr.
Cassidy, nice to see you again.
Mr. Cassidy. Good to see you, sir.
Mr. Moran. Thank you.
----------
Thursday, March 25, 2010.
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY
WITNESS
TOM CASSIDY
Mr. Cassidy. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Hinchey, I
appreciate this opportunity to present the Nature Conservancy's
recommendations for fiscal year 2011 appropriations. My name is
Tom Cassidy and I am director of federal land programs. I
suspect at this point in the hearing, as Moe Udall said,
everything has been said but not everybody has said it. My oral
testimony will highlight six of the key program areas described
in my written testimony.
First, thank you, Mr. Chairman and also for Chairman Dicks'
leadership in restoring critically important funding for the
Land and Water Conservation Fund. We are gratified by the
President's commitment to fully fund LWCF and look forward to
working with Secretary Salazar and the Congress to secure the
funding necessary to protect America's great outdoors.
As a member of the Land and Water Conservation Coalition,
we recommend a funding level of $425 million for the federal
side of LWCF. This year the Conservancy is specifically
recommending 33 biologically rich land acquisition projects
including the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife
Refuge, Washington's Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, and
continuing large-scale projects in New England's Silvio Conte
National Fish Wildlife Refuge, and the Montana Legacy Project.
We also support a large multi-partner request in Wisconsin's
Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.
Second, we support a forest legacy funding level of $150
million and are specifically proposing six projects totaling
$20 million. We hope this year to complete the phased
acquisition of the Northern Cumberlands project, the largest
conservation project in Tennessee since the creation of Great
Smoky Mountains National Park. Other priorities include the
second phase of projects in New York's Follensby Pond and also
in Texas.
Third, the Conservancy welcomes the President's commitment
to address the global climate challenge and supports the
Administration's fiscal year 2011 proposed increases for
climate-specific programs and activities. We appreciate this
committee's leadership in highlighting climate change
adaptation and science funding including the National Climate
Change and Wildlife Science Center.
Fourth, in wildfire management, we appreciate the
committee's continued attention to high-cost wildfire and
proactive management to reduce fuels and protect communities
from damaging fire. We have several recommendations including
an increase for hazardous fuels reduction by 10 percent over
enacted as a necessary investment to reduce threats to
communities and abate the cost of future wildfire and full
funding of fire suppression needs through a combination of the
fire suppression budget, the FLAME Fund and the Contingent
Reserve Fund.
Fifth, the Conservancy strongly supports the President's
proposal for the Forest Service's integrated resource
restoration budget. We recommend full funding for the
Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program and the
Priority Watershed and Job Stabilization Initiative. We also
support creation of the integrated resource restoration budget
by combining formerly separate programs. We trust this new
budget structure will better enable the Forest Service to
provide important ecosystem and public services such as clean
and abundant water, renewable energy from biomass, restored
wildlife and fish habitat, carbon sequestration and healthy
forests and grasslands.
Finally, we support an increase for the Cooperative
Endangered Species Conservation Fund to $100 million. We and
our partners including multiple state, county governments and
private landowners have used the habitat conservation plan and
recovery land acquisition programs to secure key habitats for
numerous threatened, endangered and at-risk species including
through conservation easements on high-priority private lands
such as Northern Idaho's Kootenai Valley.
Thank you for the opportunity to present our testimony.
[The statement of Tom Cassidy follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Good. Thanks. Fully comprehensive.
Mr. Hinchey. Thank you for a very good statement.
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Cassidy. Nice to see you.
Patrick Natale is the final speaker, the executive director
of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
----------
Thursday, March 25, 2010.
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS
WITNESS
PATRICK J. NATALE
Mr. Natale. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Simpson and
members of the subcommittee. Good morning. I am Patrick Natale,
executive director of the American Society of Civil Engineers,
and I am very pleased to be here to speak to the subcommittee
on behalf of the American Society of Civil Engineers but also
the proposed budgets for the Environmental Protection Agency
and the U.S. Geological Survey for 2011.
First, ASCE recommends that appropriations of $3 billion
for the Clean Water Act State Revolving Loan Fund for 2011. The
President has requested $2 billion for clean water state
revolving loans, and we support that. Although this reflects
the President's desire to deal forcefully with the needs of
America's aging infrastructure that serves our water needs,
ASCE believes that the 20-year wastewater investment has a gap
of approximately $400 billion, which requires a greater annual
commitment. Our report card that we produce every several years
talks about the importance of the grades on infrastructure.
This has a barely passing grade of a D minus. Aging wastewater
plants discharge billions of gallons of untreated wastewater
into U.S. surface waters each year. In 2008, EPA reported a
total investment need of America's publicly owned treatment
works as of January 1, 2004, were at $202.5 billion. This
reflects an increase of $16.1 billion, or 8.6 percent over the
EPA's plan or review from 4 years earlier.
Many of our systems have reached the end of their useful
life. Older systems are plagued with chronic overflows during
major rainstorms, heavy snow melts. Either intentionally or
not, this brings the discharge of raw sewage into our water
systems. EPA estimates that in August of 2004, the volume of
combined sewage overflows discharge nationwide is 850 billion
gallons per year. Sanitary-sewer overflows caused by blocked or
broken pipes result in the release of as much as 10 billion
gallons of raw sewage yearly into our systems, according to
EPA.
Future investments must be focused on updating, replacing
existing systems as well as building new ones to meet the
increasing demand. Improved operation processes include ongoing
oversight, evaluation, asset management on a system-wide basis,
and the watershed approach is to look more broadly at water
resources and coordination with a systematic approach.
Second, ASCE recommends the appropriation of $2 billion for
the Safe Drinking Water Act State Revolving Fund for 2011. Like
wastewater systems, America's drinking-water systems also had a
near-failing grade of a D minus in our report card of 2009.
America's drinking-water systems face annual shortfalls as much
as $11 billion to replace aging facilities and they are near
the end of their useful lives. This does not account for the
growth and demand for drinking water over the next 20 years.
Leaking pipes are estimated to lose 7 billion gallons of clean
drinking water every day. Federal assistance has not kept pace
with the demand. Between 1997 and 2010, Congress provided $11
billion for the drinking-water state revolving fund through an
annual appropriation. This total approximates the annual
requirement to meet the needs according to an EPA study of
2002. Although drinking-water-treatment operators are often
able to provide work-arounds during disruptions, the Nation's
drinking-water systems are not highly resistant or resilient
and present capabilities and failures. They make it up but it
is not the way to do business.
Third and finally, ASCE recommends the appropriation of
$1.3 billion for the USGS in the 2011 fiscal year budget. There
is a bit of good news here, Mr. Chairman. In a time of fiscal
constraint, the USGS budget proposal for 2011 represents a 4
percent increase over the current fiscal year. The 2011 USGS
budget request totals of $1.1 billion or $21.6 million above
the enacted level of 2010. But we believe the agency's request
falls short in several areas of being able to meet the needs
for basic science in America.
The President has asked for increases in the programs for
renewable energy, climate change, water availability and use,
natural hazards and Landsat. This is all good. But water
resources investigations activity is funded at $228.8 million
in 2011, which is $3.5 million below 2010 enacted levels. The
tight budget led the Department to request budget reductions
for the Cooperative Water Program, a reduction of $1.9 million
from the 2010 levels, and the National Streamflow Information
Program was reduced by almost $600,000 during this time frame.
On a positive note, program increases were requested for
the National Water Availability and Use Assessment including
$1.1 million for groundwater resource programs and $6.4 million
for the hydrological networks and analysis but the Cooperative
Water Program is funded at $63.6 million, $2 million below the
2010 levels. The program builds on the efforts of leveraging
state, local and tribal funds to support the majority of
national hydrologic data networks, stream gauges, wells and
monitoring sites. The Water Research Act Program is funded at
$6.5 million to promote state, regional and national
coordination of the Water Resources Institute to facilitate
research coordination, information and technology transfer. In
the agency's own words, USGS is a multidisciplinary science
organization focused on biology, geographic geology, geospatial
information and water. We believe that this type of science
effort deserves the strongest fiscal support from Congress.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my remarks.
[The statement of Patrick J. Natale follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thanks very much, sir. I appreciate your being
willing to testify, Dr. Natale. I guess you are not a doctor
but you are executive director of American Society of Civil
Engineers.
Mr. Natale. That is correct.
Mr. Moran. It is troubling that we are providing 5 percent
of the need for clean drinking water and our sanitary-sewer
overflows is one of the most pressing municipal infrastructure
problems facing this country.
Mr. Natale. I appreciate you understanding that, especially
since you are my representative.
Mr. Moran. Thank you for being here today. Thank you for
your testimony.
That will conclude the testimony. I want to thank all the
witnesses.
Thursday, April 15, 2010.
VOICES FROM OUR NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES
Mr. Moran. We want to say good afternoon to everyone to
welcome all of our guests for today's public witness hearing.
We are going to hear from our partners and our friends in the
Native American community this afternoon, and we want to
especially welcome those who traveled very long distances to be
here. We do appreciate and respect that. I think I speak for
Mr. Cole as well, though, we are kind of embarrassed that we
cannot spend more time with you but because we have so many
witnesses, we are going to have to restrict the time we are
able to hear from you.
Before we begin I would like to acknowledge the passing of
a great American leader, the leader of the Cherokee Nation,
Chief Wilma Mankiller. She passed away on April 6 of this year
at her home in rural Adair County, Oklahoma. She often spoke of
the need for Native Americans to speak out, and I think it
would be appropriate today to honor her with the following
quote.
She said, ``I think the most important issue we have as a
people is to begin to trust our own thinking again, to
articulate our own vision of the future, and work to make that
vision a reality.''
She once said, ``I want to be remembered as the person who
helped all of us to restore faith in ourselves,'' and so shall
she be remembered.
In March we held our first Native American witness day. The
challenges these witnesses brought before us were absolutely
daunting. Among other issues we heard about the need for better
access to quality healthcare, the need for clean drinking water
on any number of reservations, and in several situations the
residents could not even use the water after it had been boiled
and screened, and still it was not safe to drink, even to boil
food with. We also heard about the challenges posed by a
shortage of law enforcement officers on tribal lands.
This subcommittee was affected, and we are proud of that.
In this current year the response to Native American issues
that were brought before the subcommittee caused us to provide
what was an historic increase, it was a 10 percent increase in
the Bureau of the Indian Affairs budget. We funded the Bureau
at $2.6 billion.
This year the Administration has recognized the need for
increased funding, particularly for health services. It is an
issue that is continually raised and appropriately so. So this
year's Indian Health Services Budget Request from the Obama
Administration includes a substantial increase. The request is
for $4.4 billion. It is a $350 million increase over this
current year's levels, and that is in a freeze budget. So
almost every other program either got what they got last year
or less, but the Indian Health Service stands out as a very
substantial increase.
Now, we would, and I mean, we cannot make you stay,
obviously, but we would strongly urge you, certainly invite all
of you, to stay for the Indian Health Service hearing that is
going to follow right on the heels of this. Immediately after
this series of hearings we are going to hear from Dr. Yvette
Roubideaux, who is the Director of the Indian Health Service,
and I think it is going to be a very important hearing.
A couple of housekeeping things. Everyone is going to be
restricted to 5 minutes. It is the only fair way we can do it
so we treat everybody equally. If you finish before 5 minutes,
there is a better chance of us being able to get in a question
or two. We are going to have to watch the timer closely. When
the orange light comes on, you have only 1 minute left and
should begin to wrap up, and then when the red light comes on,
the time is expired. The entire statement will be put into the
record; and before we get started, Mr. Cole, would you have any
comments you would like to share with us?
Mr. Cole. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I love these
hearings because this room glitters with turquoise when we have
these, and it makes me feel at home.
But I want to first begin by following your lead and
acknowledge the passing of our good friend, Chief Mankiller. I
had the privilege of knowing her personally, working with her
for many years. I was very proud that the House of
Representatives passed a resolution honoring her remarkable
life and achievements yesterday, and I do not have the exact
quote, Mr. Chairman, but she was very famous in Indian Country
for speaking truth to power, and I cannot recall the number of
occasions when I heard her introduce herself as Wilma
Mankiller, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. If the
United States Government had its way, I would not be chief, and
there would not be a Cherokee Nation. That is a pretty good
thing to think about, because that has been historically the
policy of the country. It has oscillated between,
``assimilation and accommodation and compromise and recognition
of tribal sovereignty.'' Nobody was a more articulate and more
ferocious defender of tribal sovereignty than Chief Mankiller
was, and I know wherever she is at, she is watching, and
frankly, would be pleased at this assembly.
I also want to follow your lead in acknowledging the work
of our former Chairman and last year's historic increases in
our budget. It came in large part because of his hard work and
his bipartisanship in this area. It was a pleasure for me to
get to work with him and our current Chairman, Mr. Moran. The
Administration has kept its commitments to Indian Country and
has taken them very, very seriously. The Administration
continues to do so in this budget, which, again, I concur with
the Chairman, I am exceptionally pleased with the increases we
have seen in Native American and Indian healthcare services.
It is tried but true but the first Americans are the last
Americans in a variety of ways. This is particularly obvious in
statistics like lifespan, health and illness rates. This is a
commitment that is long overdue in terms of being fulfilled,
and we are going to work very hard with you, Mr. Chairman, and
obviously with our friends on both sides of the aisle and with
the Administration to make sure we continue to build on the
progress that was made last year. Frankly, we cannot solve
these problems in a single year. We all know that. They are
decades really, even longer in duration, but the fact that we
started and made significant steps in this direction is
something I think this committee can be proud of on a
bipartisan basis.
But, again, I particularly want to single out my friend and
our senior member on this committee, Congressman Dicks,
Chairman Dicks. He has gone on to other responsibilities. The
fact that he is here still tells you how focused he continues
to be on this community. So thank you for your efforts, and
again, thank all of you for traveling this distance. I know
sometimes you wonder if it matters. Believe me, it does. You
have been speaking for a long time. I think the points you have
made are finally being listened to and attended to in a
systematic fashion.
So I appreciate that, and Mr. Chairman, appreciate your
leadership and look forward to the hearing.
Mr. Moran. Thanks very much, Mr. Cole. As Tom has said, Mr.
Dicks has arrived. Mr. Dicks is now the Chair of the Defense
Appropriations Committee, but he left a legacy of substantial
increase, particularly for Indian programs and the Native
Americans throughout the country have benefited from his
priority. And so everyone should know the impact that he has
had, and we will be lucky if we can continue simply in that
tradition that he has established. He really set a standard of
responsiveness.
Norm, did you have anything you wanted to say?
Mr. Dicks. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank you for
yielding, and I want to congratulate you for continuing to have
this hearing, which is very important, and I think our
committee has worked on a very bipartisan basis on Indian
health, on contract support costs, and on urban health clinics.
Yourself and Mr. Cole and all the other members have been very
supportive of this. I look forward to hearing from the
witnesses, I appreciate your leadership, and I wish you well as
the new Chairman of the subcommittee.
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much, Mr. Dicks, and of course,
Mr. Cole, thank you very much for your comments and very
appropriately giving Mr. Dicks the recognition that he clearly
deserves.
Our first witness will be Clarence Skye, the Executive
Director of the United Sioux Tribes Development Corporation.
Mr. Skye, welcome.
----------
Thursday, April 15, 2010.
UNITED SIOUX TRIBES DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
WITNESS
CLARENCE SKYE
Mr. Skye. Good afternoon, Chairman James Moran and
Representative Cole and Representative Norm Dicks we first met
back in 1984. So I am a little old.
Appreciate testifying before the House of Representatives
Committee on Appropriations and Subcommittee on Interior,
Environmental, and Related Agencies. The United Sioux tribes is
made up of Sioux tribes in North Dakota, South Dakota,
Nebraska, and they were once the Great Sioux Nation, and with
the Great Sioux Nation they had treaties, and they were very
sovereign people and proud people back in the early days.
And like the gentleman said, what Wilma Mankiller said, we
are not the Great Sioux Nation yet today, but we will be as
long as we get the things we need and the appropriation. We
have a dialect, which is the Lakota, Nakota and Dakota Sioux
tribes, and they are in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska,
Minnesota, and Montana.
What we are asking for in the agency programs, and the
funding request, is to appropriate $1.2 million for the Indian
Jobs Placement Program through the United Sioux Tribes
Development Corporation under CFDA number 15.061, otherwise
listed as United Sioux Tribes Fund Assistance Program. That is
a very important program because what we do is we create jobs.
We go out and work with the employers, we work with different
companies, and we ask them to find employment for our Indian
people. The Indian person--or tribal members I should say--come
into our office, and they either come from the Oglala
Reservation, the Rosebud Reservation, the Cheyenne River
Reservation, the Standing Rock Reservation, which I am from,
the Lower Brule or the Crow Creek and the Santee Reservation
and the Yankton Reservation.
They come in from their reservation, and there is no work.
The other day we had a lady, a single parent with six kids, all
the way down to 3 years old. They had runny noses, and the
clothes were not in good shape, and they were real poor, and I
dealt with them. We went and found them a place to live, and we
found them food stamps, and we went to the state and got after
them because under state's rights the states are cannibalizing
federal programs. They are getting a lot of federal programs,
and we are not privy to them, and we hope that with what I just
said that it will make a difference when state officials
testify before you on whether the people are participating in
those programs. They send the money back to the Federal
Government and say, no participation, no activity. And so, you
know, we do not get to be a part of that.
I will get over my emotionalism here. The other program
that we are working on is to authorize $1.2 million for a
National Tribal Cultural Resource Database, and we are working
with U.S. Geological Survey, and we have a memorandum of
understanding with them, and right now we are redoing that
because what they do is satellite photographing of the land,
and we are starting with the demonstration project with two
reservations. We would like two under the appropriation.
And what it does is like, when you go to a hospital, you
get an MRI. Well, with the satellite photographing, they do an
MRI of the land. With all the pipelines and gas lines and oil
lines moving into the country, we want to be sure that we have
those areas mapped; the sacred sites, the funeral remains, and
artifacts, so that they do not get destroyed.
Right now we have the state level signing off and approving
the progress of the Keystone Pipeline. We want to have this
program, and we want to work with the Harvard University to
help us do some of the research. We are trying to get more of
our Indian students into the science and math area with the
tribal colleges, and so that is one of the purposes of working
with the U.S. Geological Survey. Rosebud Sioux Tribe, the
college, Sinte Gleska University, already has an agreement with
USGS, and they are making their attempts, but we want to do
this overall.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to end my testimony by saying
that I appreciate and congratulate Congressman Norm Dicks. He
has been very helpful over the years, and it is hard to see
somebody go, but changes got to be made. Thank you.
[The statement of Mr. Skye follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Skye. We are going to do
everything we can to see that Native American people are not
disadvantaged by the fact that Norm is no longer Chair, and he
is the Vice-Chair of the committee, and we have a very strong
advocate particularly in Mr. Cole.
The folks, the communities that you pull together that were
in such desperate poverty, how long ago was that?
Mr. Skye. Mr. Chairman, we did that way back there in 1969.
Mr. Moran. Yes.
Mr. Skye. And we had done a lot of work to be sanctioned,
the organization was sanctioned by all the Tribal Councils. It
was voted on by resolution, and our main purpose was to do
economic development, but then as the Indian people became more
aware of the organization, they demanded more things of me, so
I had to----
Mr. Moran. Right. Yes.
Mr. Skye [continuing]. Do education and everything else.
Mr. Moran. I just wanted to fully understand that fact.
Well, I am sure you have made a very positive difference, and
we appreciate you caring as much as you do.
Mr. Skye. Thank you very much.
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Skye. Were there any questions?
Mr. Cole. Quick comment, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Moran. Yes. Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. I just wanted to thank you for two things. First
in your testimony, I really appreciate the fact you mentioned
the roles of President Nixon, Ford, and Reagan played in
reestablishing self-determination and frankly how much better
that has made things, because we deal with folks much better if
we are dealing with Tribal Governments than trying to deal with
isolated individuals.
Second, I really want to echo the point that you made about
the mapping program and the archeological work. Mr. Chairman, I
had occasion last week when we were on break to visit the
Oklahoma Archeological Site at the University of Oklahoma, and
of course, my fellow Chickasaw, Lieutenant Governor Keel is
here, we are newcomers to Oklahoma. We have only been there
since 1830, but they have identified 25,000 archeological sites
in Oklahoma that they have catalogued and some of them going
back 11,000 years to buffalo-kill sites in the western part of
the state.
So getting that identified is important. We all mentioned
something about Chief Mankiller. She used to have a wonderful
saying, ``You do not know who you are until you know who you
were.'' That is a very farsighted emphasis on your part, I
think, to help us uncover and preserve what is a long, deep,
rich history in this continent.
Mr. Skye. Thanks very much.
Mr. Moran. Thanks very much, Mr. Cole.
We have also been joined by Mr. Simpson. Thanks for joining
us.
Very good. Thank you, Mr. Skye.
Mr. Skye. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Thank you. Next we will hear from Andy Joseph,
who is the Chairperson of the Northwest Portland Area Indian
Health Board, Oregon. Mr. Joseph.
Thursday, April 15, 2010.
NORTHWEST PORTLAND AREA INDIAN HEALTH BOARD
WITNESS
ANDY JOSEPH
Mr. Joseph. Good morning, Chairman Moran, Ranking Member
Simpson, and Mr. Cole and Honorable Mr. Norm Dicks. I am Andy
Joseph, Jr. I chair the Portland Area Indian Health Board in
the Health and Human Services Committee for the confederated
tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation. For 21 years our
organization has conducted a detailed analysis of the IHS
budget. It is used by Congress and the Administration, the
Indian Health Advocate nationally. I am here today to provide
our recommendations for IHS fiscal year 2011 budget.
I want to begin by underscoring the significant health
disparities that Indian people face and the progress we have
made to address them over the last 30 years since IHS was
established in 1954, has reduced maternal mortality by 64
percent, reduced cervical cancer by 76 percent, reduced
tuberculosis mortality by 80 percent. The average death rate
has lowered by 29 percent.
Despite these improvements, Indian people continue to have
the highest disparities in the United States; 400 percent more
likely to die of tuberculosis, 91 percent more likely to die of
suicide, 300 percent more likely to die of diabetes
complication, 67 percent more likely to die of pneumonia or
influenza. Because of these health disparities, the funding
recommendations this committee makes to the Appropriations
Committee are critical to improving the health status of our
people.
The fundamental budget principle of the Northwest Tribes is
that you must maintain the basic health program. To do this
Congress must provide adequate funding to cover pay increases,
inflation, population growth, and contract support costs. If
these costs are not funded, tribes have no alternative but to
cut health services to absorb these mandatory costs.
We recommend for fiscal year 2011 that at least $469
million increase be provided to the Indian Health Service as
follows. We urge the committee to take into consideration
actual medical inflation. The IHS Congressional justification
uses a 3.3 percent inflation rate to calculate need in fiscal
year 2011. Comparatively, the CPI inflation rates for hospital
services is over 7 percent and for hospital outpatient services
is over 8 percent.
We recommend the committee provide $268 million to fund
medical inflation for IHS Programs and at least $80 million of
this to provide for CHS Program. The Senate Committee on Indian
Affairs reports unmet need in the CHS Program to be at least $1
billion, and an $80 million increase is reasonable.
We recommend that at least $60 million be provided to fund
population growth in the Portland area. Our user population
last year grew by 2.4 percent, and unless funding is provided
for population growth, services will have to be cut.
We recommend a $146 million increase to contract support
costs for funding ongoing CSC needs. Funds to support past
years shortfalls owed to tribes who have assumed programs on
behalf of the IHS.
Health reform holds great potential for Indian people, and
we encourage the subcommittee to begin thinking about how it
can assist tribes to implement and benefit from health reform.
The IHS system does not have the same capacity to provide
comparable healthcare services across its system. Because of
this, not all Indian people will benefit on an equal basis in
health reform. This is a result in the varying levels of IHS
funding.
Facilities, infrastructure, staffing packages, and third
party collections used to provide healthcare. To address these
we recommend two things. First, funding provided for the Indian
Healthcare Improvement Fund and through CHS Program must be
carefully evaluated to consider the unique needs and
circumstances of CHS-dependent areas. We further recommend that
the subcommittee monitor the IHS to make sure that the
resources are allocated carefully and fairly in the Indian
Healthcare Improvement Fund and in the CHS Program. Otherwise
it will continue to perpetuate the inequities in the level of
care provided across the system.
Second, we recommend that the committee encourage the IHS
to explore alternative, innovative ideas for facilities'
construction that will allow tribes to develop additional
infrastructure, staffing capacities to provide health services
that will be expanded under health reform. Examples of this
includes adding staffing packages to the Small Ambulatory
Constriction Program and develop regional referral specialty
care centers to maximize CHS funding.
I thank you, and I am happy to take any questions you might
have.
[The statement of Mr. Joseph follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Joseph. You know, one time I had breakfast with Norm
Dicks, and----
Mr. Moran. And you still remember it? That must have been
quite a breakfast.
Mr. Joseph. He asked me where I was from, and I told him
from the Colville Indian Reservation, and he said, do you know
Lucy Covington? I said, yeah, that is my grand aunt. He says,
well, she never used to ask us for anything. She would tell us
what we were going to do for you. So as a tribal leader,
government to government, I ask you to or I tell you to--this
is what I want you to do for us.
But thank you, Norm Dicks, for all your time that you have
helped us.
Mr. Dicks. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Good for you. Thank you very much, Mr. Joseph.
Very good. Well done. You could have actually just made that
statement, and it would have sufficed on the written testimony.
Next we will hear from Fawn Sharp, who is the President of
the Quinault Indian Nation in Washington State. Ms. Sharp.
Mr. Dicks. Welcome, Fawn.
----------
Thursday, April 15, 2010.
QUINAULT INDIAN NATION
WITNESS
FAWN SHARP
Ms. Sharp. Thank you, Chairman. First of all, I would like
to congratulate you on this new post, and I would also like to
congratulate the committee as a whole for the amazing
accomplishments and success of the work of this committee over
the last year and especially to our representative, Congressman
Norm Dicks. Norm, thank you for your dedication and effort to
Indian Country.
I have three basic initiatives, priorities I would like to
mention for and on behalf of the Quinault people, but before I
do that I would like to first of all draw your attention to the
first page of our testimony. We have laid out our
recommendations in support of the affiliated tribes to the
Northwest Indians, the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health
Board, and the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. We have
also identified a number of national and self-governance
requests and recommendations that we would like to lend the
support of the Quinault Indian Nation to.
The first item that we would like to provide testimony on
relates to the Quinault River Blueback Restoration Project. For
those of you that are not familiar with that project, two years
ago the Quinault Indian Nation looked at the Upper Quinault,
and we saw widespread decimation of the flood plain. We saw
houses being pulled into the river, we saw infrastructure being
destroyed. For the last century the Upper Quinault has been
wildly shifting from the north to the south.
Now, we do have our own vision for what we would like to
see in the Upper Quinault. It is about an 80-year vision. This
is what we call a legacy plan that the Quinault Nation is
putting together. We would like to see a mature, stable forest
in place, large carbon sinks. It is an opportunity that we not
only stabilize and secure local communities and infrastructure
but to provide restoration to our sacred Blueback salmon.
Along the way this project is going to create 20 to 30 jobs
for construction. It is going to provide a sustainable economy
for well over 100 commercial fishermen and 25 sport fishing
guides. So it is a project that we have enlisted the local
community, the state, the Army Corps of Engineers, and it is
going to take 80 years to see this vision come to fruition, but
in the last two years we have taken our very first step. We
have constructed 12 engineered log jams and are proving to be
effective. The river has shifted to the north, and that entire
bank has been secure. So in a short period of time we have seen
immediate success, and we plan to do that through fiscal year
2019. Maybe when I am 86 years I will see mature forests in the
flood plain. I will be 40 next month, Norm.
Mr. Dicks. Too long to wait.
Ms. Sharp. The next item that I would like to speak to you
about is a request that we have for resource protection and
enforcement. The Quinault Nation is comprised of over 200,000
acres of forest and lands. There are 22 points of entry into
the interior of our reservation from Lake Quinault to the
Queets community. We have seen widespread natural resource
looting, a destruction of our sacred materials that we use for
basketry. We also would like to step up enforcement and provide
six additional enforcement officers for our fishery, wildlife,
and securing our treaty-based resources.
So we want to provide a comprehensive approach to ensuring
those that are recklessly disregarding our laws that we have in
place to ensure that our resources are sustained into the
future are brought to justice.
The last item that I would like to speak to you about is
our Comprehensive Substance Abuse Strategy. The Quinault Nation
is seeking $500,000 to step up our Substance Abuse
Comprehensive Strategy to seek, not only treatment, but
prevention, after we have seen widespread and prolific increase
to prescription pain medication, as well as the continued
threat of methamphetamine within our communities.
Our Comprehensive Strategy is seeking to leverage
participation throughout the community. We have encouraged
collaborative relationships with governmental departments,
health authorities, medical professionals, community members,
churches, and families. We see and recognize that to address
drugs in our community it is going to take a comprehensive,
widespread approach throughout the entire Nation and our local
community.
So with that I would like to thank this committee. It has
been a pleasure, and I do thank you for your time.
[The statement of Ms. Sharp follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Ms. Sharp. Thank you very much.
Mr. Dicks.
Mr. Dicks. I just want to say to Fawn that we are glad you
are here, and we know this Blueback salmon issue is serious,
and we appreciated your supplies that were sent to the event
last week, and we thank you very much.
Ms. Sharp. Excellent.
Mr. Dicks. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Ms. Sharp.
All right. Next we will hear from Jefferson Keel, the
President of the National Congress of American Indians. Nice to
see you, Mr. Keel.
Thursday, April 15, 2010.
NATIONAL CONGRESS OF AMERICAN INDIANS
WITNESS
JEFFERSON KEEL
Mr. Keel. Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Moran. Good afternoon.
Mr. Keel. Congressman Cole, Congressman Dicks, Mr. Simpson.
Thank you for allowing us this opportunity to bring to you some
items of interest in Indian Country.
The first area I will address is public safety and justice.
In Interior, the Administration has proposed an Empowering
Tribal Nations, Protecting Indian Country Initiative that
provides an additional $20 million in program funding over the
fiscal year 2010, enacted level. The Department of the Interior
is to collaborate with Justice for additional FBI agents
dedicated to protecting Indian lands.
NCAI has concerns about the proposed transfer of law
enforcement funds from Interior to the FBI. In the 1980s the
Reagan Administration transferred the entire BIA budget for
investigations to the FBI. Even though these funds are now
built into the FBI budget, the FBI has sometimes lost sight of
its mission to provide these services to Indian Country.
In addition, tribal leaders have consistently stated that
the highest need is to provide more funding and more consistent
funding for regular policing budgets. From 2005, to 2010,
funding for BIA law enforcement has risen by 68.4 percent, from
$180 million to $303 million. The major purpose of this
increase was to put more cops on the street to combat violent
crime, which is what tribal leaders have called for.
Upon review of the Law Enforcement Spending Plan for fiscal
years 2005 to 2009, the greatest percentage of increases went
to the BIA Central Office, BIA District Commands, and the BIA
Direct Service Operations. The smallest increases went to 638
and self-governance tribes. We would urge the subcommittee to
ensure that substantial law enforcement funding increases make
it down to the tribal level and provide the needed boots on the
ground.
Next is Energy and Natural Resource Programs. The
President's fiscal year 2011, budget request for EPA would
establish a new focused, multi-media Tribal Implementation
Grants Program to support on-the-ground implementation of
environmental protection on tribal lands. These grants for
which $30 million is requested are tailored to address an
individual tribe's most serious environmental needs. We support
this initiative, and we also support the $8.5 million increase
for the General Assistance Program and the proposed percentage
increase from 1.5 percent to 2 percent for the tribal set-
asides under both the Clean Water and Drinking Water State
Revolving Funds.
The 2011 budget request includes $2.5 million for energy
projects given the potential for development of both
conventional and renewable energy resources on tribal lands and
the drastic impacts that climate change have in Indian and
Alaskan native communities. NCAI supports these requested
increases with hope that such funding could be sustained and
increased in future years.
We also support the requested increases in the Water
Management Planning and Pre-Development, especially given level
funding over a number of years for the BIA Natural Resources
Programs.
The 2011 budget proposes an increase of $28 million in
Tribal Priority Allocations, TPA, which is 3.4 percent above
the fiscal year 2010 enacted level. TPA funds the core
governmental services that tribes provide to their citizens. We
would like to request a general increase to TPA and BIA in
general that takes into account inflation, pay costs, and
population growth. As with other federal agencies, calculating
mandatory cost increases is essential to maintaining the
current level of services. These mandatories are unavoidable
costs and include inflation, pay costs, and population growth
as stated.
If these mandatory requirements are not funded, tribes have
no choice but to cut services, which further reduces the
quantity and quality of core governmental services available to
our Native people.
To put this in context, over the last eight years of the
largest six Interior agencies, BIA received the smallest
percentage increase of 11.3 percent, while the Fish and
Wildlife Service budget expanded by 26 percent, and the
National Park Service grew by 21 percent. NCAI and tribes
understand your subcommittee must weigh many needs and
priorities, but we hope that we can work with you to ensure
trust responsibility to tribes is honored in the budget
process.
Again, thank you for the opportunity to testify this
afternoon.
[The statement of Mr. Keel follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. Thank you very much. First of all, I have got to
point out just for the committee, Mr. Keel wears two hats. He
is also the Lieutenant Governor of my tribe, Chickasaw Nation,
and we are very proud of that and frankly, very proud of the
fact that before he was involved in tribal government, he was
busy defending the United States of America for most of his
career as a professional solider. So thank you for that.
I do have one question. It really does not relate to your
testimony because I know you are here from NCAI, but one of the
things I would like the committee to be aware of and I am sure
we will talk about in the next session, is the Joint Venture
Opportunity in Healthcare that the Chickasaws have undertaken
with the BIA, because I think this is a way forward,
particularly for tribes that are able to generate economic
activity.
In my district, Mr. Chairman, currently the Chickasaws are
building a $170 million hospital, there was no federal money
involved in the construction activity, but obviously there will
be federal support in an ongoing basis in terms of the
operation. So talking about that as an alternative or an
additional model I think is very important for this committee
to understand what the range of possibilities there might be
for all tribes.
Mr. Moran. Very good.
Mr. Keel. Absolutely. The opportunity there, and as
Congressman Cole just mentioned, there are some tribes that
have the ability to enter into these joint venture arrangements
with the Federal Government, and that is that the tribe can
construct a hospital, in our case we are constructing a
hospital, and we simply asked the Indian Health Service to
staff it, and we already have a hospital, but we are asking for
a little bit of an increase in the staffing to raise the level
and quality of services that are provided to Indian people.
In Southern Oklahoma we currently have a hospital that was
built in 1980, to serve about 50,000 outpatient visits per
year. For the last 7 years we have been over 350,000 visits per
year. So, you know, we outgrew the need for that. We outgrew it
15 years ago, and so it is time for us to be able to meet the
needs of the Indian people, and this hospital will go a long
way in ensuring that.
We think it is a great model and something that Indian
Country could model in the future.
Mr. Moran. Sounds like it is.
Mr. Cole. It is. It is amazing.
Mr. Moran. I wish we could duplicate that all over the
country on reservations but good. Thank you.
Mr. Simpson. Mr. Chairman. You mentioned something that I
think bothers this committee a little bit, and that is the
concern that you expressed that we express also, transferring
the law enforcement funds from Interior to BIA.
As I understand it, one of the problems that the FBI has
when they prosecute crimes on a reservation is that they go
there, and oftentimes at the crime scene, the first officer
that is going to be there is your local tribal officer and
oftentimes they do not have the training and so forth to secure
a crime scene, and so when the evidence gets disturbed, they
have difficulty prosecuting a crime.
Would not we be better off in pushing those funds down to
train the tribal officers in securing crime scenes and those
types of things rather than giving it to the FBI?
Mr. Keel. Absolutely. That is exactly our point, that we
believe that if we had adequate funding, we could train our
local police forces in exactly that, in treating crime scenes,
making the appropriate arrests when time is of the essence, and
prosecuting crimes on Indian Country.
Mr. Simpson. Well, Mr. Chairman, as we have talked about in
prior hearings, I still think it would be a good idea when we
have our hearing schedule over the whole joint hearing with
Commerce, justill, Science, about this issue and talk to them
about it and maybe a little joint hearing.
Mr. Moran. Absolutely. Thank you, Mr. Simpson.
Mr. Keel. Thank you very much.
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much. Good testimony, Mr. Keel.
Now we will hear from Nate Tyler, who is the Vice-Chair of
the Makah Tribal Council in Washington State.
----------
Thursday, April 15, 2010.
MAKAH TRIBAL COUNCIL
WITNESS
NATE TYLER
Mr. Tyler. Good afternoon. First and foremost I would like
to congratulate you on your Chairmanship. Also, I would like to
thank Mr. Norm Dicks for everything you have done for all
tribes, your commitment, your dedication. We appreciate that.
Mr. Dicks. Thank you.
Mr. Tyler. Especially the Makah Tribe.
Mr. Dicks. Thank you.
Mr. Tyler. My name is Chelup. My family name means warrior.
I was given the name Chelup after the Gulf War and Somalia. I
am joined by T. J. Greene, Makah Tribal Council Treasurer. We
have four priority issues: assistance for our decrepit jail,
increased contract support costs for our Indian Health Service,
which we compacted in '06, assistance from CERCLA or the
Defense Department for helping us close the Warmhouse Beach
Dump on the Makah Reservation, and we are asking for the
National Park Service to consult with the tribes on their
expansion plans in the Lake Ozette area.
The current public safety correctional facility is totally
inadequate in size, capacity, and design for our community's
needs. BIA did an audit in 2001, and found it in non-compliance
with almost all of the BIA's detention facility standards, and
it has gotten worse since then. Our tribe wants to repair the
current facility by the most cost-effective means possible to
meet minimum standards. We believe the best way to do that is
purchase a modular unit that can be attached to the existing
facility. It will be able to house inmates, as well as making
improvements to the existing building for administrative uses
and to the adjoining grounds.
We seek Congress's support for our modest Byrne
Discretionary Grant request of $105,200 to cover 80 percent of
the cost of improvements to the existing building and grounds,
remodeling the kitchen and laundry, providing new water and
sewer connections, repairing or replacing the HVAC system, new
vents and new security camera and better lighting. This request
will help us provide a correctional facility that meets the
public safety and public health needs of our community.
Contract support costs. In 2006, we compacted with the
Indian Health Service. For 3 years we did not see an increase.
We were stuck at 14 percent contract support costs, and you
know, we spent a lot of effort coming back and forth between
the Pacific Northwest and Washington, DC, and Maryland and
Portland. A lot of effort was put into that, and once again, we
do thank, Mr. Dicks and this subcommittee, on what they have
done as far as contract support costs go.
Mr. Moran. I think the average is about 12 percent.
Mr. Dicks. No. It is much higher. They went to 12 percent--
--
Mr. Moran. Average is probably about----
Mr. Tyler. We are currently sitting at about 88 percent.
Mr. Dicks. What would it be across the board for most
tribes?
Mr. Moran. Of the total project the cost for support costs,
that ratio is about 12 percent across the board, I believe. In
other words, the overhead. It is about 12 percent for contract
support costs.
Mr. Tyler. We urge this subcommittee to continue in the
efforts of trying to close that gap and fund it at 100 percent.
The Warmhouse Beach Dump. The Makah Tribe has taken
aggressive steps, we have been for the last 3 years to address
this serious environmental issue and the health risks posed by
the Open Beach Dump. It is a decade-old landfill started by the
DOD and used by the DOD and other federal agencies. It is
leaking harmful chemicals into nearby streams which flows into
the pristine waters of the Straits of Juan de Fuca, a
traditional shell fishing location for the Makah people.
We have initiated processes that could lead to the listing
of the dump on EPA's list of Superfund sites. We will begin
construction soon of a transfer station that would handle all
the on-reservation garbage needs.
As a result of the legacy of waste disposed by federal
agencies on tribal land, Federal Government bears substantial
responsibility for cleaning up the dump. The tribe has served a
demand letter on the Defense Department seeking federal
monetary contribution to the tribe's clean-up effort, which is
projected to cost between $6 and $10 million.
We have waited many years and tried many different avenues
to close this dump. We believe that our latest actions are a
necessary last resort to protect the health of our citizens and
would appreciate the subcommittee's support of our efforts.
Olympic National Park. The Olympic National Park is talking
about expanding up to 12,000 acres in our traditional UNA. They
are looking at currently an expansion of 240 acres. Friday was
the first time we actually made government-to-government
contact with the Park Service. The Superintendent did come out
to the Makah Reservation.
We filed comments on the proposal, which focused on the
needs from the National Park Service to engage in government-
to-government consultation with the Makah Tribe regarding this
proposed boundary expansion in order to ensure that it does not
impair the treaty hunting and gathering rights of the Makah
Tribe in this area. Our tribe reserved the right to hunt and
gather on ``open and unclaimed lands'' in the 1855 Treaty of
Neah Bay. This land falls within the ceded territory that would
give them up.
So we request Congressional legislation to implement this
boundary expansion to include a treaty savings clause, to
ensure that our tribe's existing treaty rights on these lands
are preserved. In the meantime we have started that discussion
with the Park Service, and that happened this last Friday.
We appreciate your time, and we do thank you guys for
everything you have done this past year.
[The statement of Mr. Tyler follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much, sir. We appreciate your
testimony, Mr. Tyler.
Mr. Simpson. Just one question.
Mr. Moran. Mr. Simpson.
Mr. Simpson. You mentioned the jail facility you have. I
never realized before until we started having all the
testimony, that there are many tribes in the Pacific Northwest
in the Puget Sound area, and I suspect a lot of them have the
same issue with jail facilities and so forth.
Have you ever looked at regional facilities? Several tribes
getting together and building a regional facility to address
those needs?
Mr. Tyler. You know, we are at the beginning of the world.
You know, we are probably a good hour and 40 minutes to the
closest city, the closest reservation to us that would----
Mr. Dicks. They are right at the northwest corner. You have
the Pacific Ocean, and the Straits of Juan de Fuca.
Mr. Tyler. Yeah.
Mr. Dicks. Makah is right there at the northwest corner of
the lower 48. So they are pretty isolated.
Mr. Simpson. Okay.
Mr. Dicks. The Quinaults are a couple of hours south and--
--
Mr. Tyler. Three hours south.
Mr. Dicks [continuing]. The Elwas are in Port Angeles,
which is at least an hour and a half or two.
Mr. Tyler. Yes.
Mr. Dicks. So that is a ways away.
Mr. Simpson. But conceptually it is a good idea.
Mr. Dicks. It is a good idea.
Mr. Simpson. Yeah.
Mr. Greene. Congressman, if I can real quick just respond
to that a little bit, I am T. J. Greene. I am the Treasurer for
the Makah Tribe. I am the former chief of police for the Makah
Tribe also.
We did look at regionalization, talked with other tribes on
it, and one of the issues with it, with doing a regionalization
plan is because of our remote locations, the costs of staffing,
transportation, and all those types of overhead costs go up
dramatically when you do that, so it creates an extra burden
for the tribes in our region when we do those sort of things.
And those are not quite addressed through that regionalization
planning when we do that.
And if I can real quick also speak in support of something
President Keel touched on, on the funding coming down to the
officer level. You know, that makes a great difference. When I
was the chief of police, I focused hard on training, and we had
a serious incident that occurred on our reservation involving a
non-member, an assault rifle, and while the FBI and local
sheriff were trying to sort out jurisdictional issues, our
officers were the ones processing the crime scene, did it from
beginning to end, and turned the case over to the FBI. The FBI
had no problems at all with that case. They were impressed with
the level of training, the level of the skill that was provided
by our officers, so that makes a real difference when that sort
of thing can happen.
Mr. Moran. Thanks very much. Appreciate it, Mr. Greene.
Thank you.
Mr. Dicks. I need to ask one question. Is your dad Dan
Greene?
Mr. Greene. That is my brother.
Mr. Dicks. Your brother. Wonderful.
Mr. Greene. Thank you.
Mr. Dicks. We fished a lot together up there.
Mr. Moran. All right. The next witness will be Sam Penney.
He is actually the Chairman of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive
Committee from Idaho. So this is going to be Mr. Simpson's fan
club, and we just apparently heard from Mr. Dicks' fan club.
Well deserved.
Mr. Dicks. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Mr. Penney.
----------
Thursday, April 15, 2010.
NEZ PERCE TRIBAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
WITNESS
SAM PENNEY
Mr. Penney. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the
committee, and I would like to congratulate as well Congressman
Dicks from the Northwest and Mike Simpson from Idaho's second
district.
I have submitted my testimony for the record, and I would
just like to say a few things briefly.
As with any government the Nez Perce Tribe provides a wide
variety of services, not only to our tribe members, but also to
the community at large. The Nez Perce Tribe operates a health
clinic with a satellite office and a tribal police force of 16
officers. We have a social service department, a comprehensive
natural resource program that does work in forestry, wildlife
management, land services, and land management, habitat
restoration, air quality, smoke management, water quality and
sewer service. We also have one of the largest fisheries
department of any tribe in the country. We have a fishery's
office in Lapwai, Idaho, Orofino, Idaho, McCall, Idaho, and one
office in Joseph, Oregon, and we do a lot of work on the
restoration of listed species under the ESA.
I will speak briefly on several related agencies as well,
Mr. Chairman. The tribe supports the President's 8.7 increase
in spending for the Indian Health Service. As I mentioned, the
Nez Perce Tribe operates two clinics. For example, under
Nimiipuu Health, we served approximately 3,800 patients in
2009, with a contract health service expenditure of $4.5
million in 2009, but had an appropriation of only $3.3 million,
which is a huge shortfall. Many times you hear about the
deferred services for tribe members, and often we hear here in
Washington the term, health rationing, and that is actually
what it is. It ends up to health rationing of our tribal
members' health.
Let us speak briefly about BIA. The Nez Perce Tribe
supports President Obama's budget request regarding increased
spending for the BIA with an increased emphasis on law
enforcement and trust land management. I think we are all
familiar with the Cobell case and all the related issues
regarding records, land titles, surveys, just a number of
things that go along with Cobell.
The Nez Perce Tribe also supports increased funding for law
enforcement. The Nez Perce Tribe currently, because of the
shortfall in our contract, contributed about $600,000 a year to
law enforcement. That currently comes out of our fuels taxes to
make up that shortfall.
The tribe also supports increased funding for the law
enforcement and public safety in the Protecting Indian Country
Initiative. The Nez Perce Reservation covers about 1,200 square
miles and covers five counties and has a mixture of tribal and
non-tribal residents. Since I testified here last March there
have been two incidents where a tribal member was shot fatally.
Both of these incidents have created a sense of unease on the
reservation. Proper funding for the federal authorities, in
conjunction with passage of the Tribal Law and Order Act, is
needed.
What was apparent to me, Mr. Chairman, during the two
shootings I referred to was the coordination that is needed
between the U.S. Attorney General's Office, the FBI, and the
Office of Law Enforcement Services under the BIA.
I will speak a little bit about the Snake River Basin
Adjudication. In 2004, the Snake River Basin Water Act was
enacted. A component of that agreement was a transfer of 11,000
acres of BLM land within the reservation to the Nez Perce
Tribe. The lands were supposed to be surveyed as part of the
transfer, but funding for those surveys has not been made to
this date. The current budget calls for $695,000 for this year
to begin that process. Although this will not cover the full
cost of the surveys, it will be a great start to getting that
project done.
Also, Mr. Chairman, I will speak briefly about EPA. The
tribe was pleased that Administrator Lisa Jackson proposed a
$1.3 billion for state and tribal partnerships when she
testified before this committee. In addition to the Air Quality
Program, the tribe is currently in facilitation discussions
with the State of Idaho that are being funded through grants
from EPA. The facilitated discretion involves the tribe
adopting water quality standards to improve water quality on
the Nez Perce Reservation, and we look forward to continued
funding to continue that process.
Under the U.S. Forest Service the tribe also supports
increased funding for the U.S. Forest Service in the protection
of treaty reserved rights. Under our treaty of 1855, the
treaty-reserved hunting, fishing, gathering rights are very
important to the Nez Perce people. Our areas are rich in
natural resources. We have had a good working relationship with
the Forest Service. We have a forest agreement where the forest
supervisors come to meet with us to discuss issues of
importance to the Nez Perce Tribe.
Also, we have issues with bighorn sheep, and I am just
using this as an example of the partnerships we have with the
Forest Service and other federal entities over the years. We
are currently working on a bighorn sheep restoration in the
State of Idaho where scientists believe diseases are
transmitted by domestic sheep to wild bighorn sheep. So we are
working hard to try to address that concern and also help to
reduce the impacts to the domestic sheep industry.
We are also working on a bison issue over in the
Yellowstone area. The tribe is looking for a funding solution
to help the bison hunt in the Gallatin National Forest near
Yellowstone Park. More funding for the work to assist the
Forest Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National
Park Service to help meet the hunting rights of the Nez Perce
Tribe is needed.
And I will conclude, Mr. Chairman, in my brief statement
just to summarize what I stated about the importance of
partnerships, you know, with the various federal agencies. I
think we found with especially a lot of the ESA work that we
have done on fisheries that without the partnerships between
the Forest Service, the Nez Perce Tribe, some local entities,
Bonneville Power Administration, that it seems at times that,
you know, not one entity has enough funds to do, you know, one
project, but when we can work in partnership, there are a lot
of things that we have been able to do, especially regarding
endangered species, listed fish.
So, Mr. Chairman, I thank you for this time.
[The statement of Mr. Penney follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Penney. Mr. Simpson.
Mr. Simpson. Mr. Chairman, let me just say thanks to Sam
for hosting me and my Deputy Chief of Staff last August when we
came up and spent a day. He took us all around the reservation,
showed us what was going on, and if Norm would have been with
us, he would still be at the fish hatchery trying to figure out
how to get those salmon. I know that. But, thank you. I enjoyed
it very much and learned a lot.
Mr. Penney. Thank you.
Mr. Cole. Mr. Chairman, I just have one----
Mr. Moran. Yes. Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. This comes up over and over, but Chairman, you
have got extensive experience in all ranges of tribal
operations, and you have touched on law enforcement and the
challenges that you face there. Thank you very much for the
plug for Representative Herseth Sandlin's very good effort to
streamline, overhaul, and beef up enforcement. That is an
important piece of legislation that needs to move.
I would like to get your opinion. One of the problems I
have seen across Indian Country is, again, the relative
weakness, honestly, of tribal jurisdiction, the inability to
enforce your own laws on non-Native populations and to have
anywhere near the range of criminal options. You know, if I
went to a small town in Virginia or Washington and committed a
crime, I would be subject to the full force of the law in the
local jurisdiction. That is not true if you are a non-Indian
coming onto Indian Country.
What difference do you think it would make to law
enforcement if you had comparable abilities to a local
government in terms of both arrests and penalties?
Mr. Penney. Well, I think first of all our tribal officers,
their first concern is public safety, no matter who the officer
is, to try to secure whatever the situation is until the
appropriate law enforcement arrives, and just recently the
Corlain Tribe in which I testified at the Idaho State
Legislature, had some cross deputation agreements with the
local counties, and one of the local sheriffs refused to enter
into an agreement, the Corlain Tribe proposed HB-500, which
would provide a mechanism for them to enter into such an
agreement.
But what takes place normally, in the Corlain case in
particular, was say if there was a crime committed that they
could be detained, but they would have to call for a local
sheriff or Idaho State Police or someone else to arrive at the
scene, and during that testimony many times they said that they
never responded so that the person was just let go. So it does
create a void in the safety of, not only tribe members, but all
people within the reservation boundary.
Mr. Cole. Yeah. Mr. Chairman, I would just like to echo the
point that Mr. Simpson said. I mean, this really is an
appropriate topic for a joint hearing between our subcommittee
and CSI, not just on the funding and the FBI issue, but the
whole problem of, frankly, the relative, you know, what do we
do to make sure that the law enforcement that is the first-line
responder and the justice system that is there, has the
appropriate range of authority to make sure that its citizens
and other citizens that come into this territory are protected.
I just think this is an enduring, ongoing problem in Indian
Country.
Mr. Penney. If I may, Mr. Chairman, just one final
statement about law enforcement. I think for many tribes,
including our tribe, we believe our officers are well trained.
They go to the Federal Academy, many of them go to the State
Post Academy, and some in our case go to Advanced Idaho State
Police Academy. So, you know, we believe hopefully we can
provide the necessary training, but a lot of it is left up to
the local sheriff, whether they want to enter into an agreement
or not. If they do not, then there is no mechanism to do that.
Mr. Moran. Well, you have some language for the report you
may want to suggest to Mr. Cole in that area. There seems to be
some agreement on that issue, and thank you very much, Mr.
Penney.
Mr. Penney. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Dr. Roger Bordeaux is the Executive Director of
the Association of Community Tribal Schools in California.
----------
Thursday, April 15, 2010.
ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY TRIBAL SCHOOLS
WITNESS
DR. ROGER BORDEAUX
Mr. Bordeaux. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, thank
you for allowing me a few minutes to talk to you about the
appropriations of Interior, and I specifically want to talk
about the inequities that exist in the Bureau of Indian
Education in regards to the distribution of their
appropriations.
Over the last five or six years their education management
budget has increased by 288 percent from $8 million to $25
million, and that did not even include an additional $10
million that they get from the Department of Education and then
over that same time period they have been increasing their
Program Adjustment Funds and what they call Program Enhancement
Funds, which are small pockets of money here and there that
they use to dictate to schools what kind of programs they are
to have and how much they are to have. So collectively, they
have increased their total amount by well over 250 percent,
from close to $10 or $15 million, five or six years ago to over
$55 million right now.
The inequity exists when you go and look at the five
programs that are funded by the schools that actually get down
to the school level, in the school, in the classrooms. The
Indian School Equalization Program, the Facilities Management
money, the Facilities Operations money, the Transportation
money, and the Tribal Grant Cost Support funds. All of those
have either had zero increases over the last five or six years
or small increases, and I put charts in all of the testimony to
identify all of that, and it is real glaring to us that it is
almost like the Bureau of Indian Education is making a
conscious effort to manage from 1,000 or 2,000 miles away all
of the schools that they fund, even though they are tribally
operated.
So what we are asking is that you take a look at that and
possibly use some of that funding to decrease those amounts for
management and get that money down to the schools where it is
necessary. The Bureau has a process for all five of those
programs that I talked about, either through a formula that is
required by legislation or required by regulations to develop a
formula that says this is the need in each one of those cases.
There is a formula for the Indian School Equalization Program
need, the Facilities Maintenance and Facilities Operation
monies are both driven by a formula, and those programs are
both constrained right now anywhere from 56 percent up to 98
percent or something like that. The transportation costs also
can be done through a formula system, and the contract support
costs also can identify the need.
So they know what the need is. I mean, the total need right
now, if they fully funded, is about an additional $171 million
for all of the programs. But we realize it is kind of
unrealistic to ask for $171 million in this time period, but I
think we could come up with $20 to $40 million that was already
within the budgets to transfer from Education Program
Management, and a lot of these other things, and into the
school systems.
We have some recommendations on the last page of our
appropriations of what we think should happen. The last thing I
think that we would also like to talk about is in the
appropriation language since 1995, there is some language that
restricts existing schools from having program changes or
expanding their school system. So if they have a K to 8 program
and they want to go to high school, they cannot do it at
existing schools, and then there is also more or less a
moratorium on new school starts. So if another tribal
government wanted to try to get a contract school started or
grant school started, they could not do that because of the
restriction that has existed in the appropriation language
since 1985.
We have been talking to a number of people that have an
interest in possibly running their own school system at the
tribal level but because of that language they cannot do it. So
we ask you to consider lifting it and possibly putting a
process in to help new schools start and program expansions,
but still not attacking the current dollar pie that we have for
the 185 schools that are funded right now.
So in a nutshell, that is what is in the testimony, and we
would also be more than willing to provide additional
information if you need it to show you what our concerns are.
Thank you for your time.
[The statement of Mr. Bordeaux follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Very good, Dr. Bordeaux. Thank you.
Mr. Cole.
Mr. Cole. I think you make a really important point,
because this committee has actually done, I think, a very good
job, certainly in the last couple of years, to put additional
money where it is needed. I do not know that we track it as
well as we would like to but sort of push it through the
bureaucracy down to local levels. It is exactly the same
problem Mr. Simpson was pointing out with law enforcement.
There are significant increases, but are they really going to
where the rubber meets the road, and this is a perfect example.
I particularly appreciate your emphasis on local management
of the schools. You know, it is pretty tough if somebody making
the decisions is 2,000 miles away. It is a lot different if
people making the decisions are right where parents are at and
where students are at. They not only know more, frankly, they
are subject to more scrutiny and at least. As one parent put it
to me, I would just like to be able to get my hands around the
neck of the person that is making this decision. They are too
far away right now, and I think that is a good thing. Local
management meets local responsibility, so I hope, Mr. Chairman,
we really look seriously at this as a way of pushing some of
this money down to very hard-pressed schools and students. I
think it would be very well used.
Mr. Bordeaux. We will do whatever we can to help you guys
with the information you need. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Thanks, Dr. Bordeaux. Thank you very much.
Marvin Yellowhair is the president of the Black Mesa
Community School Board on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona.
----------
Thursday, April 15, 2010.
BLACK MESA COMMUNITY SCHOOL BOARD (NAVAJO RESERVATION)
WITNESS
MARVIN YELLOWHAIR
Mr. Yellowhair. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of
the subcommittee. My name is Marvin Yellowhair. I am a School
Board President of Black Mesa Community School, a K through 8
school located on 6,700 feet elevation. One of the most remote
parts of the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. I also teach Navajo
history and Navajo language at Rough Rock High School. I just
want to tell you about the challenges of operating a very small
school in an isolated area.
As a small school we are not able to generate much funding
from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, from the Base Education
Program, and we ask for your help in increasing funding for
several BIA schools.
I will start with school transportation. Isolation with
high transportation costs. That is certainly true of Black Mesa
Community School. Neither of the two roads leading into Black
Mesa are paved. To get on or off the mesa, we must travel 16
miles of direct road to Rough Rock and also to Pinon; it is a
26-mile trip. From either location it is yet another hour's
drive to our closest town in Chinle. During periods of snow or
heavy rain, both dirt roads in our community are impassible.
Many of our school children routinely travel four hours per day
when the roads are in good condition and up to eight hours in
bad conditions.
Here are pictures if you are interested, pictures of the
road condition there in the last two winters. Many of our
school children routinely travel four hours a day to school. I
wish you could see our roads in February when the snow is
melting.
A few consequences of impassible roads are at one time this
past winter we had to cancel school for 20 days and after our
freezer broke down we lost a whole month's food for the school
cafeteria. Another consequence is the high cost for delivery of
foods and services due to length of time for our vendors,
service providers, and others who reach our school. Due to the
frequent breakdowns of the General Service Administration
buses, GSA refuses to give us new buses, so they usually give
us used buses that might break down easily.
So, therefore, we had to purchase our own service truck and
a back hoe. Every time we had to pull out a bus due to muddy
conditions we use this equipment. We also purchased our own
buses, some decent buses, which were approximately $80,000 a
piece.
So we recommend $70 million for a transportation account in
order to meet more closely national school transportation
standards for all BIE schools.
TGSC, Tribal Grant Support Costs, laws require that
tribally-operated schools receive at least $200,000 each year
for its administrative and direct costs. Black Mesa should
qualify for the small school minimum, but we routinely receive
less than that because Congress never supplies a full account
required by the law. Last year we received only $172,800 in
Travel Grant Support Cost funding. Overall, BIE paid TGSC at
only 61 percent of the amount the law requires.
Even though ours is a small school, we must perform all of
the fundamental administrative tasks required of a school
board. Because we cannot afford to employ business and human
resource managers, all these functions must be performed by an
office technician and the school principal who is also
responsible for directing the education program and supervision
of the teaching staff. In other words, we have one person
essentially performing three jobs, and a large portion of our
TGSC funds must be reserved for audit, which costs $40,000, and
that is close to a fourth of what we receive.
The Administration proposal of $46 million would fund only
60 percent of needs. We ask Congress to appropriate at least
$70 million for the Tribal Grant Support Cost Account.
Our facilities operation also falls short of the amount we
need to maintain our buildings and communications systems. Even
though the BIE has a formula for calculating facility operation
funding needs, we and other BIE schools routinely receive less
than one-half of the amount the formula produces. When our
equipment malfunctions, it often means several days or several
weeks for a technician or a repair person to come to our school
to provide the services.
We recommend $109 million for facilities operation to fully
fund the formula for all BIE schools.
As far as education program, ISEF, budget, for the current
school year we received $338,300 under the ISEF formula for our
education program. These funds must support teaching personnel
to staff seven classrooms and a special education program, and
the low salaries we offer makes recruitment and retention of
certified personnel very difficult, and we have a high turnover
of our teachers due to the isolation.
We recommend $431 million for the ISEF account for all BIE
schools. All of us connected with Black Mesa School work very
hard each day to keep our school operating, and if we fail in
this mission the children of our community being in an isolated
area would not have access to education. The United States made
a commitment to the Indian children enrolled in 183 BIE
schools, including the Indian children at Black Mesa. We need
to fulfill this commitment by providing us with the resources
we need to make their path toward equality education easier to
navigate.
And by the way, being in an isolated school, our school
made AYP this year, and would not use external excuses to not
make AYP, but we made AYP. And thank you for believing in us
and believing in our Navajo children.
If you have any questions.
[The statement of Mr. Yellowhair follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Well, I mean, it is astounding you are spending
$8,000 per year per student just on transportation. There must
be a better way, whether it is, you know, computers at home or
linkups. With that kind of money you could afford a screen in
the home with a computer linkup so you could have
videoconferencing for the school. But I do not know enough
about it to really be able to ask appropriate questions, but it
seems an enormous undertaking to be transporting children for
four hours a day at the cost of $8,000 per student just for
transportation.
Okay. Any questions? Okay.
Mr. Simpson. That would be rural America, but Mr. Cole and
I will come and visit your school at 6,700 feet if you will
provide the oxygen. That is a little high.
Mr. Yellowhair. I have seen people coming from Oklahoma and
gasping for air up there in that elevation.
Mr. Simpson. I bet.
Mr. Moran. All right. Thanks very much, Mr. Yellowhair.
Mr. Yellowhair. Okay. Thank you very much.
Mr. Moran. Thank you. Next up will be Nathan Small, who is
the Vice-Chair of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall
Reservation in Idaho.
----------
Thursday, April 15, 2010.
SHOSHONE-BANNOCK TRIBES OF THE FORT HALL RESERVATION
WITNESS
NATHAN SMALL
Mr. Small. Good afternoon, everybody, and thank you for the
honor of being here today. Our Chairman is unavailable to make
it for today's hearing or for today's testimony, so I am here
today, and our testimony is going to focus on three priorities:
public safety, road maintenance, and Indian Health Service
needs.
First, I would like to thank our Ranking Member Simpson for
his tremendous support for our new Justice Center. We have
endured the long struggles to provide adequate law enforcement,
and we greatly appreciate his efforts to help us open up the
new facility.
Mr. Simpson has had the opportunity to come to our
reservation. He just lives next door. He finally came in, and
he had a chance to look at our facility that we have that we
are currently in right now, and his words were that it was
deplorable conditions, and these need to be changed. So with
his help we have made those changes.
But in order to make a lot of those changes, the Shoshone-
Bannock Tribes had to do something that the Bureau of Indian
Affairs and, I guess, you the Congressional people, did not do
for our tribe for about 20 to 30 years and that was to build us
something that was adequate. We were not asking for something
that was extravagant but adequate.
Currently our courthouse that we have that is housing our
court personnel is from a building that was built in 1895. Our
police and jails were condemned 20 years ago and we are still
using it up to this year. We were unable to house juveniles
because we lacked a juvenile detention facility.
Due to the lack of resources to provide deterrents and lack
of public safety, many of our people over the past few
generations have turned to gangs, drugs, crime, alcohol, all of
the social ills that can affect the community in the worst way.
Further, many of our tribal members have dropped out of
school and have no vocational skills for jobs. They typically
turn to a life of crime, without programs in place to help
them.
With our new justice center we are hoping to turn things
around. Our tribe finally was able to secure a loan, even in
these tough economic times, to build our own justice center. We
are about ready to move into that new justice center, and,
again, Mr. Simpson was there for our opening. It was not a
grand opening, but it was more of an open house for our people
to come and look at it, and it was the most beautiful thing
that I have ever seen as far as court systems go, as far as a
detention facility goes. They are state of the art.
However, I have heard of other places that have opened up
new jail systems, new detention centers, only to see them
unused because of lack of funding. I hope that this would not
include our tribe. Through grants and our own funds we were
able to kind of complete this justice center this year. It will
house our police department and our prosecutors, our courts,
our adult and juvenile detention centers. Our staff are moving
into the center as we speak today.
We hope that the new facility can serve as a regional
detention center for adults and juveniles. We built the center
with sufficient bed space for this purpose, and we have already
received support from nearby tribes to house their detainees.
We ask for your continued support for use of our facility as a
regional detention center as I heard a little earlier that that
could be an idea in helping. We are at that phase real soon
here.
We have entered into contracts with the BIA to carry out
programs in the new facilities. While we have received
increased funding, it is still only a portion of the cost,
forcing us to pay for many of those costs ourselves.
Corrections, especially for juveniles, require a comprehensive
approach. We do not want to simply lock up our juveniles but to
educate them, provide treatment, rehabilitation, and help them
become productive citizens. Our new facility has classrooms,
treatment rooms, however, the BIA seems to lack funding for
these programs.
We urge the Appropriations Subcommittee to work together to
force agencies to pool resources to address the health,
educational treatment, and justice needs of tribal detention
facilities in a comprehensive way. Right now the agencies are
doing their own thing and do not affect the way we assist
tribes when they can all pull their resources together to help.
[The statement of Mr. Small follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mr. Small.
Mr. Small. Yeah.
Mr. Moran. Any questions?
Mr. Simpson. Not any questions. I just want to thank you,
Nathan, for being here today to give your testimony and give me
part of the credit for the justice center, but it was the tribe
who did this. I was just fortunate enough to be there when they
opened, and I will tell you that if anybody wants to see a
modern facility that really incorporates the police department,
the court system, and the detention facilities together, this
is really a model, and we said in our report language last
year, that we hope this can serve as a model for other regional
sort of detention facilities.
One of the things and Nathan mentioned it, is these guys
went out on their own and got a loan to do this, to build this.
The concern that they have and continue to have is, you know,
now that it is built, there is operating costs that are
involved, and we have got a memorandum of understanding with
the Department to help that for at least the first year I
guess.
Mr. Small. Correct.
Mr. Moran. Well, that is the way it should be done. Thank
you very much, Mr. Small.
Mr. Small. All right. Thank you. I am sorry I am not a fast
speaker, but I did have some stuff on road maintenance and
healthcare but----
Mr. Moran. Your entire statement will be put into the
record.
Mr. Small. All right. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Very good. Thank you, sir.
Next we will hear from Nancy Martine-Alonzo, Trustee
President of the Ramah Navajo School Board in New Mexico.
----------
Thursday, April 15, 2010.
RAMAH NAVAJO SCHOOL BOARD, INC.
WITNESS
NANCY MARTINE-ALONZO
Ms. Martine-Alonzo. Good afternoon, Chair and members of
the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to make this
presentation before you. Up front with me is also my fellow
colleague, Martha Garcia.
I want to first start out by saying that we are extremely
grateful to the Congressional funding we received 40 years ago
to start our own Ramah Navajo Pine Hill School, and we are
celebrating that 40th year this year, and over the years we
have graduated over 700 students of our own children in our
community, and many of them have gone on to be very successful,
and we have graduated from colleges, medical doctors and
lawyers and engineers, and we are just proud of that effort,
and it all began through the Congressional funding that we
received. So you and us stand to be congratulated today. We
thank you very much for that.
Testifying before you on five issues, four of them have to
do with the operation of the Pine Hill Schools and to echo some
of the same testimony that various members have come before you
regarding the administration and operation of the BIE-funded
schools, and the first area we want to focus on is the
administrative costs, and while the Indian Health Services and
some other contractual programs have received some modest
increases in the last couple of years to bring them up to
parity, you are talking about 80 to 90 percent of their
indirect costs, the education side, the BIE education side is
still at about 60, 65 percent. And so we are requesting more
effort to bring that level up to the 100 percent that the law
requires, and so that is something that we, too, want to go on
record to request.
And then in addition to that, our Indian Student
Equalization Formula, you also heard testimony on that
previously, about the need to increase that funding because we
are struggling with trying to meet the adequate yearly
progress. Our school is a K-12 school, and so in order to meet
adequate yearly progress, all the scope of K through 12 must
make that percent and meet that percent, and we are making
progress every year, but we are struggling.
And then in the area of transportation, when we do not
receive adequate funding, we have to take funds from
instruction and learning and use that to bring the children to
school in order to provide the instruction, and so that is
really a critical need that we would like to see increases in
those areas.
And the fourth item is scholarships for our Indian
children. The new ESEA blueprint when you are going to revise a
No Child Left Behind under the U.S. Department of Education,
one of the criteria they are looking at is asking that by 2020,
schools will be able to graduate students that can go into
college or into the workforce without remediation, that they
will really be able to raise their level of skill to that
level. And so we need to increase the scholarship fund. We do
send a lot of our students on but there are a lot that have to
look to other areas for funding their college level education.
So we urge you to consider that as well.
And then the fifth and last item that I would like to talk
about is the funding for about $1 million to address the
telemedicine component. We operate a very small clinic on the
Ramah Navajo Band and Tribe Reservation, and we are very
remote, and the nearest hospital is 45 miles away, and we share
that hospital with Zuni Tribe. We need to bring all of our
capabilities up to par so that we can be able to get
specialized services. If you take an X-ray in our clinic and
you send it through the slow snail mail, it is going to take a
week for that to go out and for a radiologist to read that X-
ray and to give you a diagnosis and send it back to you, and by
that time maybe 2 or 3 weeks have passed. And if the diagnosis
is cancer, you have deprived a patient of about a month's worth
of treatment, and sometimes these are critical times that you
have to respond.
And so if we had the telemedicine capability and the data
capability to be able to work with our partnerships in other
areas that have this specialization, we can do this in 30
minutes to an hour in sending our X-rays and get them read and
receive that prognosis. So that is kind of the difference of
what we are talking about here.
And so we know that that is also a goal of the Indian
Health Services, and so that is our last request, and we just
thank you very much for this opportunity.
[The statement of Ms. Martine-Alonzo follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much, ma'am. We appreciate that.
Thank you. I have got to share some bad news with the committee
here, so we appreciate your testimony, but we are going to have
to accelerate the witnesses' testimony here.
Coming up momentarily we are going to have the Flight
Privilege Resolution. It is a 15-minute vote, which means it
will probably be a good 20 minutes. Then the Shea-Porter
amendment on sea level change. That is another 15 minutes,
which is probably 20. Then 10 minutes of debate on a
recommittal motion, 15 minute recommittal vote, final passage
of the Clean Estuaries Act, and then another resolution.
So we have got almost 2 hours of votes. I am not sure how
we are going to handle this. They are going to start very
quickly. I think we are going to have to do kind of a tag team
here. Mr. Olver, if you could help, we could go back and forth.
The problem is that more than likely you are only going to get
one member of the committee, so we are going to have to
accelerate this. We will try to get as many in as possible
right now while the members are still here. We can probably
take another 10 minutes before we have to run over to vote.
But thank you very much for your testimony.
Ms. Martine-Alonzo. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Ms. Martine-Alonzo.
Jerome Jainga, who is representing the Tribal Education
Departments National Assembly. The acronym is TEDNA in
Colorado.
And if you could accelerate it, sir, we would very much
appreciate it.
----------
Thursday, April 15, 2010.
TRIBAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENTS NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
WITNESS
JEROME JAINGA
Mr. Jainga. You bet. It is Jerome Jainga for the record,
and good afternoon, Chairman Moran, Ranking Member Simpson,
members of the subcommittee. Thanks for this opportunity for
TEDNA to come and speak before you about Tribal Education
Departments.
I have worked as the Tribal Ed Director in the State of
Washington for the Suquamish Tribe, who is one of the founding
members of TEDNA, and we are very thankful to member Norm Dicks
as well.
TEDNA is a national member-based advocacy organization that
is representing Tribal Education Departments and Tribal
Education Agencies, TEDs or TEAs. Over 200 tribes have TEDs
that serve almost 700,000 tribal students in public, Bureau of
Indian Education, and charter schools located on or off tribal
geographic territories.
Today we are here to ask the subcommittee for the support
of $2 million for TED. This money would become available to all
the TEDs through a grant process in the Department of the
Interior.
In the Elementary and Secondary Act funding for TEDs
through the Department of Interior has been authorized since
1988. In the authorization Congress envisioned TEDs
facilitating tribal control over education at the local level
by coordinating education programs, developing and enforcing
tribal education codes, policies and standards, and providing
support services and technical assistance to schools and
programs.
In NCLB it was retained that TED appropriations of $2
million, even though this needed, yet inadequate, Federal
Appropriation Authorization would support the important work of
TEDs to this date it has never been funded. Lack of federal
support for TEDs harms tribal students and the statistics prove
it, and again, it has yet to be funded.
In some states high school dropout rates is well over 50
percent. In 2008, approximately 23,000 tribal students between
the ages of 16 and 19 dropped out of high school. That is
roughly 5,750 tribal students a year throughout all classes,
and it shows and represents about $221.6 million in lost wages
for these families per year.
Further, tribal students have a high rate of absenteeism,
suspension, expulsion. Eighth graders are shown in the tribal
student population to be 18 percent more likely to read or
perform in mathematics at a below-basic level than their peers.
TEDs are uniquely equipped to improve these statistics, because
they are aware of the cultural, social, and the economic
conditions that affect these tribal students. And this point is
supported by the universal support in Indian Country and how
they have shown their support for the TED and TEA
appropriations.
This year TEDNA has secured resolutions in support of these
appropriations in the fiscal year 2011, budget from the
National Congress of American Indian, National Indian Education
Association, the United Southern Eastern Tribes, the Great
Plains Tribal Chairman Association, and the Affiliated Tribes
of the Northwest Indian.
Further, several tribes have submitted appropriation
request forms for TED and TEA program funding authorized in the
NCLB to their Congressional offices, including tribes in
Montana, Oklahoma, Washington, California, and Wisconsin.
In addition, the National Congress of American Indians and
the National Indian Education Association has made this funding
a top priority. Indian Country is united in its support for TED
and TEA appropriations, and we have worked to secure support
from many Congressional offices, and we are grateful to that,
and they are submitting support letters to the subcommittee.
Without this federal financial support, TEDs for the most
part do not have the ability to do what Congress had envisioned
and to help students. It is a great investment in tribal
students to put this funding forward so that tribal education
codes, policies, and standards that have not been developed or
implemented as they should can do that.
The requested $2 million for TED and TEA appropriations is
a good investment. It will improve academic success by
providing funding for tribal education agencies to operate
programs mentioned above and in areas such as math, science,
reading, after-school programs, and tutoring. The Rosebud Sioux
tribe, using their tribal dollars, operated similar programs,
and that helped to lower the dropout rate by 30 percent. This
is a statistic that came through the 1990s, but in short and in
closing, TEDs and TEAs can help the non-tribal, and the
federal, state governments to serve tribal children. TEDNA
strongly encourages Congress to do this.
[The statement of Mr. Jainga follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you.
Mr. Jainga. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Jainga. Thank you.
Mr. Jaingan Questions?
Mr. Moran. No, because we have got to move on, and what is
going to happen is that it is the luck of the draw, and
unfortunately, the people that have not yet spoken their luck
is going to run out in terms of having the attention of the
full subcommittee unfortunately.
Roman Bitsuie, the Executive Director of Navajo Hopi Land
Commission in Arizona.
----------
Thursday, April 15, 2010.
NAVAJO HOPI LAND COMMISSION
WITNESS
ROMAN BITSUIE
Mr. Bitsuie. Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee,
my name is Roman Bitsuie. I am the Executive Director of the
Navajo Hopi Land Commission Office, an entity of the Navajo
Nation. Thank you for this opportunity to provide testimony on
what has been one of the most difficult matters in modern
federal Indian policy and a true tragedy for the Navajo Nation.
I have spent my entire adult life working to resolve Navajo
Hopi land dispute and to address the Bennett freeze. I was born
in the disputed area, and I have seen the hardship that the
relocation law and the various long-term construction freezes
that has created. The impact of these federal actions will be
with the Nation for generations to come.
Let me speak first about the former Bennett freeze area.
Because of a dispute between the Hopi Tribe and the Navajo
Nation, then BIA Commissioner Robert Bennett imposed a
construction freeze in 1966, on this 1.5 million acre area
located in the western portion of the Navajo Reservation. The
freeze was in place until 2006. It was finally lifted after the
Navajo Nation secured a court decision that held that nearly
all the area was Navajo and then the two tribes were finally
able to reach a settlement agreement.
Because of the freeze, the Bennett-freeze Navajos are the
poorest of the poor. As President Obama noted in his proposed
fiscal year 2011, budget, ``During the freeze era the Navajo
people were prohibited from building new homes, schools, and
health facilities; building infrastructure; and engaging in
community and economic development projects, including
development for grazing, energy, and other land uses. The
freeze influenced the Navajo people socially, economically,
emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually.'' The
Senate Interior Appropriations Committee reached a similar
conclusion at a field hearing in 1993, which I have a copy.
I might add that since the hearing, the only federal
appropriation was that of $1.5 million to construct 85 homes
when the freeze was lifted temporarily in 1992, only to be re-
imposed by the court in 1995.
President Obama has proposed setting aside $1.5 million,
``to begin development of the former Bennett freeze area.''
While the President's budget request is welcome, it is intended
to be spent largely on land user and agricultural purposes.
While these purposes are important, the number one need in this
area based on an extensive independent study completed last
year is improving housing.
For this reason I will propose an additional $5 million in
BIA housing funds be set aside for critical housing repairs and
construction.
I would also recommend that this committee support the
establishment of a trust fund for reconstruction of the former
Bennett freeze area with an initial allocation of $10 million
for fiscal year 2011, but with further funding over the next 15
years. Such funding will provide the long-term support needed
if this area is to be rehabilitated.
Finally, I would ask for $1.5 million for phase II of a
solar project that the Navajo Nation is developing on Paragon
ranch, lands in New Mexico. Funds generated through the
development of these lands can only be used for the benefit of
Navajo families and communities that have been affected by the
Federal Relocation Law. If these lands can be developed, then a
vital new source of funds will be available to address the
Relocation Law.
Although the Navajo Hopi land dispute and the Bennett
freeze are painful issues, I thank the committee for this
opportunity and to provide testimony about the many Navajo
families who have suffered under federal actions can hope for a
better life.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The statement of Mr. Bitsuie follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Bitsuie. Thank you very much.
Dr. Mark Walker is next. I am going to ask that it only be
oral testimony. Please do not read anything. We do not have
time for that. Just summarize what you want to tell us, and we
will put the statement into the record. We have only got less
than 5 minutes to vote, and once we go we are gone for 2 hours
of voting. So that is the situation that confronts us
unfortunately. It is out of our control. Dr. Walker.
----------
Thursday, April 15, 2010.
COUNCIL ON GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS, AMERICAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION
WITNESS
DR. MARK WALKER
Dr. Walker. Thank you very much. Well, we appreciate the
opportunity to comment on the oral health issues that affect
the American Indians and Alaska Natives, as well as the
dentists that serve in Indian Country. I would like to thank
the committee for their continued support of the Indian Health
Service Program. Increases the committee included in this
budget year will expand recruitment efforts, increase advanced
training needed for specialists, and provide an electronic
dental record service, all important things.
We are pleased the Administration has recommended an
increase in the budget for the dental division this next year;
however, the proposed funding level of just over $161 million
really only protects the status quo and does not improve the
program to reduce the disproportional level of oral disease in
this population.
The most pressing oral issue in Indian Country is tooth
decay or caries, and, especially among young children, has
reached epidemic proportions. The decay rate is about 400
percent that of the average population. Worse still is the
severity of the decay. Native American preschool children have
five decayed teeth compared to one decayed tooth in the rest of
the population.
To address this the Indian Health Service instituted an
Early Childhood Caries Initiative, a program designed to
promote prevention and early intervention in tooth decay in
young children. Having long recognized the severity of this
epidemic, last year the ADA hosted a symposium on early
childhood caries in American Indians and Alaska Native
children. Among their conclusions is that more research needs
to be done for this disease because in the Native American
children the disease starts earlier and it is often more
aggressive and destructive.
The Sisseton-Whapeton Tribe set a five year goal to have
all children enter into school caries free. We would ask the
committee to support this goal and expand it to all Native
American children under the age of five. We anticipate this
would cost another $50 million.
[The statement of Dr. Walker follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Okay. Thanks very much, Dr. Walker. We are
down----
Dr. Walker. Thank you.
Mr. Moran [continuing]. To about 2 minutes. We will bring
that up with the head of the Indian Health Service if we can
get her here.
Dr. Walker. Thank you so much.
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much.
McCoy Oatman. You are going to have to do this in a minute
or two if you want to have the attention of all of us, sir. I
am sorry for this, but you are the Chair of the Columbia River
Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, and we appreciate your coming to
testify from Oregon.
----------
Thursday, April 15, 2010.
COLUMBIA RIVER INTER-TRIBAL FISH COMMISSION
WITNESS
MCCOY OATMAN
Mr. Oatman. All right. Thank you, Chairman Moran, committee
members. My name is McCoy Oatman, and like you say, I am the
Chairman of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. I
also sit on the Tribal Executive Committee, Nez Perce Tribal
Executive Committee with Sam Penney who testified earlier.
Most of our money for our program comes out of BIA, Rights
Protection Implementation. The biggest request we have today is
to restore the entire Rights Protection Implementation Account
to its fiscal year 2010 level of $30,451,000. The two primary
justifications for that is the increase in the management
responsibilities. We recently concluded three significant 10-
year agreements: the U.S./Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty, U.S. v.
Oregon Fisheries Management Plan, and Columbia Basin Fish
Accords, which three of our tribes are signatories. The Nez
Perce Tribe is not, but we agree with, the status of each tribe
that they can go on with their own pathway.
And just address our challenges. Climate change, reduction
in state natural resource budgets, increase in safety and
enforcement needs, and other species needs like lamprey,
sturgeon, and some management need for the predatory sea lions
that take a part of our salmon.
And finally, we continue to sustain losses from inflation
and rising costs, and I would just like to thank the
subcommittee for their time today.
[The statement of Mr. Oatman follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Nice job, Mr. Oatman. Well done. That is the
model. Nice going. Thank you very much. He does deserve a hand
there.
John Antonio, the Governor of Pueblo of Laguna in New
Mexico. We may be able to fit this one in, but we are now out
of time to go vote.
----------
Thursday, April 15, 2010.
PUEBLO OF LAGUNA
WITNESS
JOHN E. ANTONIO
Mr. Antonio. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the
committee. I thank you for the opportunity. My name is John
Antonio, Sr. I am the Governor of the Pueblo of Laguna, New
Mexico, a little bit west of Albuquerque, and on behalf of our
8,300 member strong I bring our greetings.
I know there is a lot of needs, and we have a lot of needs,
and of course, you have heard them from the different tribes.
So it is going to be part of the written records I understand,
but, again, health, education, roads. I mean, those are all
needs, and one of the basic things I just want to leave you
with is right now we have a trust litigation that is still
pending. You know, we hate to spend taxpayer money and our own
money to fight each other.
So I would just encourage you to encourage the Department
of Justice, the Department of the Interior to please settle
these trust litigations. You know, we have the world's largest
open-pit uranium mine, and we have been dealing with this for
57 years. We did our part to provide uranium resources, and the
royalties that came to us were mismanaged by the Federal
Government. They lost a lot of value. So right now we have
calculated what they are worth today, and we would just like
the government to be honorable and fair and give us our just
compensation.
[The statement of Mr. Antonio follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. I think we would like to see that be the case as
well. We are not going to be able to resolve that in the
Appropriations Subcommittee, but it is important to bring that
to our attention.
Thank you very much, Governor.
Mr. Antonio. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. And now we have to----
Mr. Antonio. I appreciate it. Thank you.
Mr. Moran [continuing]. Run off to vote now. We will try to
get both votes in, and then I will try to be back hopefully
either Mr. Simpson or Mr. Cole or either one. We are going to
work with Mr. Olver and see if we cannot figure out a way to
play tag team here and get as many witnesses as possible.
And we also got the Director of the Indian Health Service,
but I think at this point we are probably going to have to run
over. The time expired a couple minutes ago.
[Whereupon, the subcommittee recessed, to reconvene the
same day.]
Mr. Moran. Thank you. We are going to try to get the rest
of the testimony in before the next vote.
The next person to speak would be Rodger Martinez, the
President of the Ramah Navajo Chapter of the Ramah Band of
Navajos in New Mexico.
Sir.
----------
Thursday, April 15, 2010.
RAMAH NAVAJO CHAPTER OF THE RAMAH BAND OF NAVAJOS
WITNESS
RODGER MARTINEZ
Mr. Martinez. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much and the
committee if they are here. I have a three, four things.
The first request we are looking at is the detention
facilities. Through the ARRA funding we received $3.8 million.
It is going to be constructed by the year 2011. We are looking
at an operating fund of $941,000 that we want to see if we can
have that included in the Bureau funding and also reoccurring
funds from there on.
And also we are looking at the Natural Resource Facilities
that we have that needs to be completed with $400,000 and then
$200,000 of reoccurring funds for operations.
And the other unmet need is infrastructure for a real
estate program that we have. Currently our building is situated
in an emergency flood zone, and it has been flooded several
times, and it does not really look good. We have been infested
by other things as far as we had a bull snake that came in and
we lost it in the building somewhere. Those are some of the
things that we have been dealing with.
And the last one, that was the third, and the fourth one is
Congress passed a jobs bill here recently, and it does not do
much the way the bill was passed. You know, it does help a lot
of business people in situations where they, mainly the roads
and the small business areas, but it really does not reach the
grass root areas where it puts a workforce together. And we can
go as far back as Depression era. So that, and you know, having
some money go across for the Marshall Plan and the WPA at the
time. We need to do something like that and put people back to
work on the reservation.
On the reservation our unemployment is very high; 60
percent, and now we had two suicides since January, and some of
it is attributed to that, and it is a depressing situation, no
jobs, and people have kids, and they cannot afford to make a
living in situations like that, and nowadays it is high tech,
and everybody cannot land a job that is high tech, and that is
one of the big issues that we are facing on the reservation.
Not only in Ramah but all the reservations. And this is some of
the things that we face.
I hope the committee will understand our needs and be able
to afford us in this request that we have for you today.
[The statement of Mr. Martinez follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you. Which money are you talking about
that was so disappointing to you? Which agency?
Mr. Martinez. The Southwest Region. We are with the Navajo
Nation, but our fundings are going through the Southwest Region
because that is where we usually receive our monies with the
Southwest Region in Albuquerque.
Mr. Moran. All right. Well, thank you very much, Mr.
Martinez. Thank you for your testimony. Thanks for being here
with us. We appreciate it. Thank you.
Dr. Dale Walker is the Director of the One Sky National
Resource Center for American Indian/Alaska Native Substance
Abuse Services on behalf of the Friends of Indian Health in
Oregon. Sir.
----------
Thursday, April 15, 2010.
ONE SKY NATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER FOR AMERICAN INDIAN/ALASKA NATIVE
SUBSTANCE ABUSE SERVICES ON BEHALF OF FRIENDS OF INDIAN HEALTH
WITNESS
DR. DALE WALKER
Dr. Walker. Hello, there, and thank you very much for a
chaotic day, and I appreciate the fact that you came back to
help us work through the process. My name is Dale Walker. I am
a member of the Cherokee Tribe from Oklahoma. I am also a
psychiatrist. I work with the University of Oregon and have a
center there called the One Sky Center. As a part of that
center we provide consultation and technical assistance across
Indian Country. We average about 50 tribes a year that we work
with, and so part of my experience has to do with working
behavioral health, especially addictions, methamphetamine,
alcohol, depression, domestic violence, suicide. Not what you
call the easy things to deal with in Indian Country. They are
all elevated, they are all remarkable issues and problems.
What we want to talk about today is the fact that I am here
representing the Friends of American Indian Health. That is a
unique organization, because it has voluntarily come together
to advocate and help support Indian issues, and I am certainly
honored to be here on their behalf.
They come here with two issues of major concern. One has to
do with contract health services as a piece of the solution for
Indian healthcare. Now, Indian healthcare is a remarkable
phenomenon. Your committee advocated and supported special
facets, especially for meth and suicide, last year, and we
thank you for that process.
This year there is an increase of just under 9 percent of
the budget now to about $4.8 billion. The contract healthcare
part of that budget covers the chronic illness care that the
primary healthcare clinics of the Indian Health Service do not
administer or have the staff to support. They contract that out
to local community, private practitioners, and such.
Their needs are estimated to be $400 million short. That
would help solve the problems of the contract care. Let me just
mention to you, if you are an American Indian, and you happen
to have an illness that requires longer-term care, could be
diabetes, could be cancer, could be heart disease, if the funds
could run out in the first six months of a fiscal year, the
last six months there are no funds, and so care is denied.
35,000 times in 2008.
When that happens, the care is just delayed and spilled
into the next year, so prevention intervention for chronic
illness does not happen. So the idea is to provide the contract
care services, build your prevention programs, and help these
systems work. I can tell you that is a very, very critical
element.
The next issue is how do you deal with the lack of
recruitment, the vacant positions within the Indian Health
Service. There are over 900 vacant positions within the Indian
Health Service, and one way of dealing with that is funding. In
funding the workforce and providing to do retention support for
people who have bills for their healthcare payments has worked
in the past. It is estimated that another $14 million would be
very, very useful. I do not think that is a lot of money to try
to recruit and bring more people into the Indian Health
Service.
When people are involved in recruitment and retention by
payback of their healthcare, that has been shown to increase
their retention considerably, and so we think that that is a
good way to go.
The other thing that is happening is the friends themselves
are helping to develop an advocacy package for recruitment of
more people into Indian healthcare. I just want to take the
moment and tell you that I am excited about what is happening
in the Indian Health Service. I think that the movement towards
increases in funding, the attention to care is absolutely
critical and will empower Indian people to be much more
involved in their care. If we can figure a way for interagency
coordination between Indian Health Service and Bureau of Indian
Affairs to help pursue that, I think it will be a major
breakthrough. Frankly, the way I saw your committee work is a
model for what needs to happen.
[The statement of Dr. Walker follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much, Dr. Walker. We appreciate
it.
We are going to hear from Dr. Roubideaux in a moment, and
they have increased money, and I know they will spend it well,
even though the demands are enormous.
Thank you very much.
Dr. Walker. Thank you.
Mr. Moran. Next, Jerry Pardilla, who is the Executive
Director of the National Tribal Environmental Council, New
Mexico. Mr. Pardilla.
----------
Thursday, April 15, 2010.
NATIONAL TRIBAL ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL
WITNESS
JERRY PARDILLA
Mr. Pardilla. Good afternoon.
Mr. Moran. Good afternoon.
Mr. Pardilla. Thank you for the opportunity to be here, Mr.
Chairman. In the interest of time I would really like to just
highlight, focus on five programs, and they are within the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and
the Environmental Protection Agency.
The underlying perspective that we offer these comments are
that tribes have some of the more pristine habitat in the
country, and for those lands tribes have been historically
under-funded for wildlife and natural resources, management
programs, and also for environmental protection programs.
I would like first to draw your attention to the Climate
Change Adaptation Initiative. This is a new program. It began
in fiscal year 2010, out of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Now,
that first year there was appropriated 136 million, and there
were no allocations to tribes. Tribes got zero in the first
year.
Mr. Moran. Go over this again.
Mr. Pardilla. The Climate Change Adaptation Initiative
began fiscal year 2010, in September.
Mr. Moran. And there were requests but no funding.
Mr. Pardilla. Zero funding for tribes. And it is not
consistent with the disproportionate impacts tribes are
experiencing due to climate change and lifestyle and even their
very homes if you look to the very well-known villages along
the Alaska coast. So zero funding in 2010. In 2011, tribes are
only being allocated $200,000, and we think that this is
tragically low, and it is a mere .001 percent of the overall
funding for this program, which the Administration is
requesting $171.3 million. So of that in 2011, only $200,000
for tribes.
We think that a more proportionate amount of funding given
that of the 95 million acres that Indian tribes and Alaska
Native corporations manage, some 4 percent of the United States
total land area, that a more equitable funding would be $8.5
million out of that Climate Change Adaptation Initiative
funding.
Mr. Moran. We may address that. We may want to address that
in the report. Thank you for bringing that to our attention.
Mr. Pardilla. Thank you, and the next area is the Trust
National Resources Program, and we urge you to maintain the
2010 enacted amount of $175.62 million. This would involve a
reinstatement of $17.2 million, and again, I would like to
point out that this fund represents the largest amount of base
federal funding for tribal natural resources management.
In 1999, Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs
issued a report that documented more than $356 million of unmet
annual needs, so we are dramatically under-funded, and a
reduction would be a further harm.
Moving onto the Fish and Wildlife Service, I draw your
attention to the Tribal Wildlife Grants Program. We urge you to
consider increasing the funding to $8.4 million, which would be
a 20 percent increase over last year's funding. In 2010, the
State and Tribal Wildlife Grant Program received $90 million,
and it is an increase of $15 million from the year before and
approximately 20 percent. We think that tribes should be
considered for a 20 percent increase proportional to the
increased request.
Moving onto the Environmental Protection Agency, we urge
you to preserve the Administration's request for $32.9 million.
This comes in two parts. One is a new $30 million for Multi-
Media Tribal Implementation Program funds. This is a new
program. We are not quite sure how this is going to operate at
the EPA, but it is new funding, and we encourage you to
preserve that.
Along with that is $2.9 million for capacity building and
implementation of that program.
The last part and final point is with the Indian
Environmental General Assistance Program, and we encourage you
to preserve the Administration's 2011 request of $71.4 million
in the GAP Program.
So with that, sir, that concludes my comments.
[The statement of Mr. Pardilla follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Moran. Thank you very much, Mr. Pardilla. We appreciate
your testimony. We appreciate the testimony of everyone, and
those who were cut short, please feel free to share your
further views with the committee, and we have all of your
formal testimony. I am sorry that I had to cut some people
short, but I wanted as many members as possible to hear the
major points that you wanted to make.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
I N D E X
----------
Voices From Our Native American Communities
March 23, 2010
INDEX--ORGANIZATIONS
Page
Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of Fort Peck Reservation............ 82
California Rural Indian Health Board............................. 204
Catawba Indian Nation............................................ 163
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe....................................... 212
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma....................................... 156
Chugach Regional Resources Commission............................ 117
Colville Reservation, Confederated Tribes of..................... 56
Dine Power Authority............................................. 195
Dzilth-Na-O-Dith-Hle Community Grant School Board................ 199
Fort Belknap Indian Community.................................... 184
Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission.................. 144
Independent Tribal Courts Review Team............................ 110
Institute for Indian Estate Planning............................. 9
Intertribal Timber Council....................................... 97
Isleta Pueblo.................................................... 104
Johnson-O'Malley Association..................................... 209
Kodiak Area Native Association................................... 125
Lac Du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indian Tribe...... 176
Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe........................................ 15
Lummi Indian Nation.............................................. 3
National Council of Urban Indian Health.......................... 169
National Indian Education Association............................ 90
National Indian Health Board..................................... 150
Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission............................ 29
Oglala Sioux Tribe............................................... 138
Puyallup Tribe of Indians........................................ 22
Santee Sioux Tribe............................................... 61
Seattle Indian Health Board...................................... 36
Siltez Tribe..................................................... 76
Skokomish Indian Tribe........................................... 44
[Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Miller & Munson]..................... 226
Squaxin Island Tribe............................................. 50
Southcentral Foundation.......................................... 132
United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc............................. 221
United Tribes Technical College.................................. 189
Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, Confederated Tribes of....... 69
INDEX--WITNESSES
Bean, David...................................................... 22
Begay, Steve..................................................... 195
Benavides, Robert................................................ 104
BlueEyes, Faye................................................... 199
Brings Plenty, Joseph............................................ 212
Brown-Schwalenberg, Patty........................................ 117
Cagey, Henry..................................................... 3
Charles, Frances................................................. 15
Coochise, Elbridge............................................... 110
Crouch, James.................................................... 204
Durglo, Joe...................................................... 97
Dustybull, Harold................................................ 209
Finley, Michael.................................................. 56
Forquera, Ralph.................................................. 36
Frank, Billy Jr.................................................. 29
Gipp, David...................................................... 189
Gottlieb, Katherine.............................................. 132
Grim, Michael.................................................... 29
Kelly, Bob....................................................... 29
King, Tracy Ching................................................ 184
Kruger, Pete..................................................... 50
Marks, Patricia.................................................. 61
Miller, Lloyd.................................................... 226
Mousseau, Hermes John............................................ 138
Nash, Douglas.................................................... 9
Patterson, Brian................................................. 221
Pavel, Joseph.................................................... 44
Peercy, Mickey................................................... 156
Peters, Ray...................................................... 50
Pigsley, Deloris................................................. 76
Rodgers, Donald.................................................. 163
Rolin, Buford.................................................... 150
Roth, Geoffrey................................................... 169
Stafne, A.T...................................................... 82
Suppah, Ron...................................................... 69
Teuber, Andy..................................................... 125
Trudell, Roger................................................... 61
Wawronowicz, Larry............................................... 176
Whitefoot, Patricia.............................................. 90
Zorn, James...................................................... 144
__________
Issues from the Field: Public Witnesses and Members of Congress
March 25, 2010
INDEX--ORGANIZATIONS
American Association of Museums.................................. 295
American Lung Association........................................ 260
American Society of Civil Engineers.............................. 357
Association of Art Museum Directors.............................. 295
Audubon Society.................................................. 332
Everglades Coalition............................................. 320
Families of Flight 93............................................ 245
Federal Forest Resource Coalition................................ 326
Geological Society of America.................................... 308
Interstate Council on Water Policy............................... 302
Interstate Mining Compact Commission............................. 267
Member of Congress........................................236, 242, 292
National Association of Clean Air Agencies....................... 345
National Parks Second Century Commission......................... 278
National Wildlife Federation..................................... 339
Nature Conservancy............................................... 351
Partnership for National Trails System........................... 253
USGS Coalition................................................... 314
Wildlife Conservation Society.................................... 285
INDEX--MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
Heller, Representative Dean...................................... 236
Reyes, Representative Silvestre.................................. 242
Sherman, Representative Brad..................................... 292
INDEX--WITNESSES
Calvelli, John................................................... 285
Cassidy, Tom..................................................... 351
Cerullo, Arthur.................................................. 260
Douglas, Mary Sullivan........................................... 345
Evans, Peter..................................................... 302
Fain, Sara....................................................... 320
Felt, Gordon..................................................... 245
Garner, Mike..................................................... 267
Gropp, Dr. Robert................................................ 314
Hinojosa, Maria.................................................. 278
Lambert, Bradley................................................. 267
Long, Gretchen................................................... 278
Moffatt, Laurie Norton........................................... 295
Moore, Brian..................................................... 332
Natale, Patrick.................................................. 357
Partin, Tom...................................................... 326
Schiffries, Dr. Craig............................................ 308
Stein, Dr. Bruce................................................. 339
Werner, Gary..................................................... 253
__________
Voices from Our Native American Communities
April 15, 2010
INDEX--ORGANIZATIONS
American Dental Association...................................... 446
Association of Community Tribal Schools.......................... 410
Black Mesa Community School Board................................ 416
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission...................... 452
Friends of Indian Health......................................... 468
Makah Tribal Council............................................. 394
National Congress of American Indians............................ 387
National Tribal Environmental Council............................ 475
Navajo Hopi Land Commission...................................... 441
Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee............................. 402
Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board...................... 375
Pueblo of Laguna................................................. 457
Quinault Indian Nation........................................... 381
Ramah Navajo Chapter of the Ramah Band of Navajos................ 462
Ramah Navajo School Board, Inc................................... 428
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation............. 422
Tribal Education Departments National Assembly................... 435
United Sioux Tribes Development Corporation...................... 367
INDEX--WITNESSES
Antonio, John E.................................................. 457
Bitsuie, Roman................................................... 441
Bordeaux, Dr. Roger.............................................. 410
Jainga, Jerome................................................... 435
Joseph, Andy..................................................... 375
Keel, Jefferson.................................................. 387
Martine-Alonzo, Nancy............................................ 428
Martinez, Rodger................................................. 462
Oatman, McCoy.................................................... 452
Pardilla, Jerry.................................................. 475
Penney, Sam...................................................... 402
Sharp, Fawn...................................................... 381
Skye, Clarence................................................... 367
Small, Nathan.................................................... 422
Tyler, Nate...................................................... 394
Walker, Dr. Dale................................................. 468
Walker, Dr. Mark................................................. 446
Yellowhair, Marvin............................................... 416
__________
Written Public Testimony
INDEX--ORGANIZATIONS
1854 Treaty Authority............................................ 484
Alaska Wilderness League......................................... 487
Alliance of National Heritage Areas.............................. 493
American Assoication of Petroleum Geoligists..................... 497
American Bird Conservancy........................................ 500
American Forest & Paper Association.............................. 504
American Forest Foundation.....................................510, 914
American Forests................................................. 508
American Indian Higher Education Consortium...................... 514
American Institute of Biological Sciences........................ 518
American Public Power Association................................ 522
American Rivers.................................................. 524
American Society for Microbiology................................ 528
American Society of Agronomy..................................... 532
American Society of Mechanical Engineers......................... 536
American Sportfishing Association................................ 540
Amigos de la Sevilleta........................................... 544
Animal Welfare Institute......................................... 546
Appalachian Mountain Club........................................ 550
Appalachian Trail Conservancy.................................... 554
Association of American Universities............................. 489
Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities................ 562
Association of Research Libraries................................ 566
Association of State Drinking Water Administrators............... 558
Bat Conservation International................................... 569
Biomass Energy Research Association.............................. 573
Bird Conservation Alliance....................................... 577
Bird Conservation Funding Coalition.............................. 580
Buffalo Field Campaign........................................... 584
California Forest Pest Council................................... 914
Cascade Land Conservancy......................................... 588
Center for Coalfield Justice..................................... 592
Center for Plant Conservation.................................... 594
Central Arkansas Water........................................... 598
Childrens Environmental Health Network........................... 600
Chippewa Flowage Project in Wisconsin............................ 604
Citizens Coal Council............................................ 607
City of Chicago Department of Streets & Sanitation, Bureau of
Forestry....................................................... 914
Civil War Preservation Trust..................................... 609
Closeup Foundation............................................... 613
Coalition for Environmentally Safe Schools....................... 619
Coalition for Healthier Schools................................620, 622
Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum...................... 616
Colorado River Board of California............................... 624
Colorado River Commission of Nevada.............................. 628
Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde Community of Oregon...... 629
Connecticut Council of Trout Unlimted............................ 632
Conservation Fund................................................ 636
Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE)............... 640
Council for Tribal Employment Rights............................. 643
Council of Western State Foresters............................... 647
Cuyahoga Valley National Park Association........................ 649
Dance/USA........................................................ 652
Davey Institute.................................................. 914
Defenders of Wildlife............................................ 656
Deschutes Chapter of Trout Unlimited............................. 660
Doris Day Animal League.......................................... 744
Emissions Control Technology Association......................... 667
Endangered Species Coalition..................................... 671
Environmental Council of the States (ECOS)....................... 663
Federation of State Humanities Councils.......................... 675
Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa....................... 679
Friends of Back Bay.............................................. 683
Friends of Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge......... 686
Friends of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge................... 689
Friends of Congaree Swamp........................................ 692
Friends of Maine Seabird Islands................................. 695
Friends of Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge................ 697
Friends of Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge................... 699
Friends of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge........ 701
Friends of the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge........... 703
Friends of the Tampa Bay National Wildlife Refuges, Inc.......... 706
Friends of Virgin Islands National Park.......................... 708
Friends of Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge............... 711
Friends of Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge..................... 713
Georgie Department of Natural Resources.......................... 715
Grand Valley Water Users Association............................. 718
Great Lakes Commission des Grands Lacs........................... 722
Greater Yellowstone Coalition.................................... 719
Green Mountain Club.............................................. 726
Ground Water Protection Council.................................. 729
Healing Our Waters - Great Lakes Coalition....................... 732
Hoopa Valley Tribal Council...................................... 736
Hoopa Valley Tribe, K'ima:w Medical Center....................... 740
Humane Society Legislative Fund.................................. 744
Humane Society of the United States.............................. 744
Ice Age Floods Institute......................................... 752
Idaho Conservation League........................................ 756
International Association of Fire Chiefs......................... 757
International Code Council....................................... 759
International Maple Syrup Institute.............................. 914
InterTribal Bison Cooperative.................................... 762
Izaak Walton League of America................................... 766
Kern County Valley Floor Habitat Conservation Plan Industry &
Government Coalition........................................... 770
Land and Water Conservation Fund Coalition....................... 774
League of American Orchestras.................................... 778
Ludlow's Island Resort........................................... 782
Marine Conservation Biology Institute............................ 786
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California............... 790
Mother Lode Chapter, Sierra Club................................. 793
Mulch & Soil Council............................................. 914
National Assembly of State Arts Agencies......................... 796
National Association of Forest Service Retirees.................. 800
National Association of State Energy Officials................... 804
National Association of State Foresters........................807, 914
National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers.... 845
National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers...... 811
National Cooperators' Coalition.................................. 849
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation............................ 815
National Humanities Alliance..................................... 852
National Institutes for Water Resources.......................... 819
National Mining Association...................................... 823
National Parks and Hospitality Association....................... 827
National Parks Conservation Association.......................... 831
National Plant Board............................................. 914
National Recreation and Park Association......................... 835
National Trust for Historic Preservation......................... 839
National Wildlife Refuge Association............................. 856
Native American Healing Through Horses Alliance.................. 843
Nature Conservancy............................................... 914
New Jersey Audubon Society....................................... 860
New Mexico Wildlife Federation................................... 863
New York Department of Environmental Conservation................ 914
North American Maple Syrup Council, Inc.......................... 914
Northern Plains Resource Council................................. 867
Ohio Environmental Council....................................... 868
Opera America.................................................... 871
Ophir (Town of), CO.............................................. 875
Oregon Water Resources Congress.................................. 877
Orleans Audubon Society, Inc..................................... 881
Outdoor Alliance................................................. 884
Pelican Island Preservation Society.............................. 888
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture........................... 914
Performing Arts Alliance......................................... 890
Pocono Heritage Land Trust....................................... 894
Preservation Action.............................................. 897
Public Lands Foundation.......................................... 901
Public Trust Environmental Legal Institute of Florida, Inc....... 905
Purdue University, Department of Entomology...................... 914
Rainforest Biodiversity Group.................................... 908
Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians................................ 910
Rocky Mountain Climate Organization.............................. 917
San Diego County Water Authority................................. 921
Sierra Foothills Audubon Society................................. 923
Society for American Archaeology................................. 926
Society of American Florists..................................... 914
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe........................................ 930
Team El Toro..................................................... 934
Theatre Communications Group..................................... 937
Trust for Public Land............................................ 940
Union of Concerned Scientists.................................... 914
Upper Peninsula Public Access Coalition.......................... 944
Vermont Council of Trout Unlimited............................... 948
Wellington, FL................................................... 951
West Virginia University National Drinking Water Clearinghouse... 956
Western Interstate Energy Board (WINB)........................... 954
Wheeler Wildlife Refuge Association.............................. 960
Wilderness Society............................................... 970
Wildlands CPR.................................................... 962
Wildlife Society................................................. 966
Wisconsin Board of Commissioners of Public Land.................. 974
Wyoming State Engineer's Office.................................. 977
INDEX--WITNESSES
Adler, Prudence S................................................ 566
Arnold, Susan.................................................... 550
Bajura, Richard A................................................ 956
Barnes, Randy.................................................... 875
Barnett, Claire.................................................. 622
Bartel, Dan...................................................... 770
Baskin, Laurie................................................... 937
Basralian, Joe................................................... 860
Bearer, Cynthia.................................................. 600
Beetham, Mary Beth............................................... 656
Berdahl, Robert M................................................ 489
Bisson, Henri R.................................................. 901
Blazer, Arthur Butch............................................. 647
Blue-McLean, Anngeolace.......................................... 703
Bowen, Darell.................................................... 951
Bowers, Carla.................................................... 583
Brister, Daniel.................................................. 584
Brown, Molly P................................................... 683
Brown, R. Steven................................................. 663
Brownrigg, Ted................................................... 660
Budd, Dan s...................................................... 977
Burns, Kathleen.................................................. 935
Caan, George M................................................... 628
Carlson, Ervin................................................... 762
Carr, Julie Palakovich........................................... 518
Chandler, William................................................ 786
Clark, Chris..................................................... 715
Clark, Les....................................................... 770
Colburn, David................................................... 675
Coulson, Jennifer................................................ 881
Crandall, Derrick A.............................................. 827
D'Antonio, John R................................................ 616
Daulton, Michael................................................. 580
Davis, James..................................................... 934
Davis, Mary...................................................... 934
Davis, Timothy S................................................. 613
DeCoster, Kathy.................................................. 940
Dickson, David................................................... 486
Diver, Karen R................................................... 679
Durkin, Bill..................................................... 697
Duvernoy, Gene................................................... 588
Easley, Tom...................................................... 917
Eder, Tim........................................................ 722
Edwards, Conrad.................................................. 643
Erickson, Aimee.................................................. 607
Fascione, Nina................................................... 569
Finkelman, Lois G................................................ 835
Focht, Will...................................................... 819
Giudice, Philip.................................................. 804
Glasener, Karl................................................... 532
Glowienka, James P............................................... 632
Goad, Claire..................................................... 713
Gray, Gerald J................................................... 508
Grego, Dr. John.................................................. 692
Gunn, Dr. Sue.................................................... 962
Guyer, Ed........................................................ 736
Hamilton, Alan................................................... 866
Harbut, Dr. Michael.............................................. 936
Hargis, Shelia................................................... 686
Hein, Erik....................................................... 897
Hirsche, Evan.................................................... 640
Holmer, Steve.................................................... 500
Hoover, Charles.................................................. 699
Hopper, Dr. George............................................... 562
Hopwood, Jane T.................................................. 695
Howard, Barbara.................................................. 706
Huta, Leda....................................................... 671
Hutchins, Michael................................................ 580
Hymel, Stephanie................................................. 598
Ibata, Dr. Brent................................................. 748
Iwan, Gerald R................................................... 956
James, Ted....................................................... 770
Johnson, Jeffrey D............................................... 758
Jourdain Jr., Floyd.............................................. 910
Kane, Robert..................................................... 736
Kennedy, Cheryle A............................................... 629
Kennedy, Kathryn L............................................... 594
Kessler, Elizabeth S............................................. 835
Kessler, Joe..................................................... 708
Kiernan, Thomas C................................................ 831
Kightlinger, Jeffrey............................................. 790
King, Tim........................................................ 934
Kleinknecht, Gary................................................ 752
Koehn, Steve..................................................... 807
Kovarovics, Scott................................................ 766
Kraus, D. Bambi.................................................. 845
Kurtzweil, Douglas J............................................. 609
Larson, Douglas C................................................ 954
Lawton, Joe...................................................... 875
Lee, Joe......................................................... 729
Leonard, George M................................................ 800
Leopold, Bruce................................................... 966
Lighthizer, O. James............................................. 609
Liss, Cathy...................................................... 546
Lord, Chad....................................................... 732
Lorenz, John C................................................... 497
Ludlow, Mark..................................................... 782
Martin, Tom...................................................... 510
Mason, Maria..................................................... 619
Massey, Steve.................................................... 888
Masten, Leonard................................................736, 740
McCollum, Michelle............................................... 493
Meyer, Kristy.................................................... 868
Miller, Andrew................................................... 905
Miller, Dr. Gregory.............................................. 884
Mimiaga, Bill.................................................... 934
Mimiaga, Christine............................................... 934
Moe, Richard..................................................... 839
Moore, Chris..................................................... 948
Morganthau, Thomas A............................................. 894
Murphy, Charles W................................................ 930
Murray, William R................................................ 504
Myers, Jacob..................................................... 484
Nelson, Tia...................................................... 974
O'Connor, Martin................................................. 689
O'Dowd, Grace.................................................... 934
O'Dowd, Robert................................................... 934
O'Grady, Dr. Richard............................................. 518
Olson, Jody...................................................... 815
Pellegrino, Joan L............................................... 573
Pfister, Ellen................................................... 867
Pierpont, Ruth................................................... 811
Pizarchik, Joseph................................................ 607
Poole, Bob....................................................... 770
Pope, Maddy...................................................... 774
Proctor, Richard L............................................... 718
Raabe, Peter..................................................... 524
Ratliff, Mary Lee................................................ 960
Regan, Ron....................................................... 580
Regan, Timothy................................................... 667
Riley, Steve..................................................... 849
Rippel, Raina.................................................... 592
Rivenes, Barbara L............................................... 793
Rivenes, Donald L................................................ 923
Robertson, Gordon................................................ 540
Robison, John.................................................... 756
Rosen, Jesse..................................................... 778
Rowsome, Alan.................................................... 970
Sakura, Daniel G................................................. 636
Schneider, Daniel R.............................................. 908
Schroeder, Darin C.............................................577, 580
Schulfer, Roche.................................................. 890
Scorca, Marc..................................................... 871
Shea, Susan...................................................... 726
Snyder, Andrea................................................... 652
Soare, Mihail.................................................... 740
Springer, Marie.................................................. 711
Staab, Darek..................................................... 660
Stapleton, Maureen A............................................. 921
Startzell, David N............................................... 554
Stowe, Nyleen Troxel............................................. 544
Sybert, Brian.................................................... 719
Taft, James D.................................................... 558
Tyrrell, Patrick T............................................... 977
Uldrich, John.................................................... 934
Vradenburg, Leigh Ann............................................ 701
Warren, Nancy.................................................... 944
Winkler, Anita................................................... 877
Yandala, Deb..................................................... 649
Yerkes, Sara C................................................... 761
Zimmerman, Gerald R.............................................. 624