[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 57 (Tuesday, March 28, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4685-S4686]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  INDIAN SOCIAL SERVICES BLOCK GRANTS

  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, S. 285 would bring some fairness to our 
Federal social services program by setting aside 3 percent of the 
Federal title 20 social services block grant funds to be used solely by 
native American tribes and tribal organizations. This change would 
provide tribes with a badly needed $84 million annually for social 
services; including special education, rehabilitation, aid to 
disadvantaged children, legal support, and developmental disabilities.
  Mr. President, this change must be made. There is ample evidence that 
many States are not treating native Americans fairly when allocating 
title 20 funds. A recent report by the inspector general of the 
Department of Health and Human Services found unfair treatment of 
native Americans by the States to be pervasive, with 15 of the 24 
States with large native American populations allocating no title 20 
funds to tribes from 1989 to 1993.
  Why have native Americans been denied funds that we have 
appropriated? In part, this is because the Federal Government gives all 
title 20 funds directly to State governments instead of awarding part 
of the funds to tribes. Moreover, States are neither required nor 
encouraged to share funds with tribes as a condition of receiving title 
20 funding. This is one case where ``giving money to the States'' adds 
another step of bureaucracy.
  There are few places in America where the need for social services is 
greater then in Indian country. Yet these needs are obviously not being 
met. The tribal counsels of the Crow, Northern Cheyenne, Fort Peck, 
Fort Belknap, Rocky Boy, Blackfeet, and Flathead Indian Reservations in 
Montana have expressed their frustrations to me. We have a trust 
responsibility to see that the needs of our first Americans are met; 
that the men, women, and children living too often in poverty on Indian 
reservations are given an opportunity to help themselves.
  In recent years, Federal funding for tribes has fallen significantly. 
In 1993, 471 of the 542 federally recognized tribes received no child 
welfare funding under title IV-B because the eligibility criteria and 
award formulas effectively exclude many tribes. Furthermore, although 
the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior provides 
the largest amount of Federal funding for tribal child welfare 
services, the Indian Child Welfare Act, for example, does not assign to 
any Federal agency the responsibility for assuring State compliance 
with its requirements.
  [[Page S4686]] It is time to change our policy and provide direct 
funding to tribes under title 20.


                          ____________________