[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 204 (Tuesday, December 19, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S18920]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. PRESSLER:
  S. 1485. A bill to require the Secretary of the Interior to submit a 
report on Indian tribal school construction funds to certain committees 
of Congress, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Indian 
Affairs.


              tribal school construction funds legislation

  Mr. PRESSLER. Mr. President, today, I am introducing legislation that 
would require the Department of Interior to report to Congress within 
30 days on the availability of unobligated tribal school construction 
funds. These are funds that were appropriated for construction in a 
previous fiscal year, but never spent.

  Tribal schools have a deplorable backlog of needed construction and 
repairs. Indian children continue to attend school in dilapidated and 
even condemned buildings despite congressional efforts to correct the 
problems over the last several decades. Many in Congress are interested 
in finding ways to finance the cost of these needed improvements in the 
face of limited Federal resources. However, the first step is to 
determine and account for funds previously appropriated. This 
accounting is necessary in order to consider financing options.
  I sincerely regret that it takes legislation to request an accounting 
of these unobligated funds. The distinguished chairman of the Indian 
Affairs Committee, Senator McCain, and I repeatedly have asked the 
Bureau of Indian Affairs [BIA] for a report, but the BIA has refused to 
provide this information. I sincerely hope that this refusal is not due 
to mismanagement of this particular BIA account. Therefore, in light of 
the BIA's failure to accurately account for its own budget, legislation 
is necessary. I look forward to hearing from the BIA on this matter and 
will work with my colleagues on this important issue. The bottom-line 
goal is to provide native American children a positive, healthy, and 
safe environment to learn.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1485

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. REPORT ON FUNDING OF FACILITY IMPROVEMENT, REPAIR, 
                   AND CONSTRUCTION OF SCHOOLS OF THE BUREAU OF 
                   INDIAN AFFAIRS.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 30 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall 
     prepare and submit to the Committee on Indian Affairs of the 
     Senate and the Subcommittee on Native American and Insular 
     Affairs of the Committee on Resources of the House of 
     Representatives a report on the amounts made available to the 
     Department of the Interior for facility improvement, repair, 
     and new construction of schools of the Bureau of Indian 
     Affairs under part B of title XI of the Education Amendments 
     of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 2001 et seq.).
       (b) Content of Report.--The report prepared under 
     subsection (a) shall--
       (1) for each of fiscal years 1992 through 1995, specify--
       (A) the amounts made available to the Department of the 
     Interior for facility improvement, repair, and new 
     construction of schools of the Bureau of Indian Affairs under 
     part B of title XI of the Education Amendments of 1978 (25 
     U.S.C. 2001 et seq.); and
       (B) any amount of those amounts that were not obligated 
     during the fiscal year for which the funds were made 
     available; and
       (2) include information concerning the availability of 
     funds for facility improvement, repair, and new construction 
     of schools of the Bureau of Indian Affairs prior to fiscal 
     year 1992.

                          ____________________