[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 23 (Thursday, February 27, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1731-S1732]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    A TRIBUTE TO STEVEN J.W. HEELEY

  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, I come to the floor today with mixed 
emotions. I'm glad because a colleague is moving on to new 
opportunities, but I'm also saddened by the fact that the Senate, and 
in particular the Committee on Indian Affairs, is losing a great 
friend, Steven Heeley.
  Steve's work on native American issues goes back many years, to when 
he started with Senator McCain as the deputy minority staff director 
and Counsel for the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in 1989. He moved 
across the Hill to the House of Representatives, where I first had the 
pleasure of

[[Page S1732]]

working with him, when Steve served as the deputy counsel on Indian 
affairs for the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs under 
Chairman George Miller. Later he became the counsel to the Subcommittee 
on Native American Affairs of the Natural Resources Committee of the 
House. Steve returned to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in 1995 
to become Chairman McCain's staff director and chief counsel.
  His lengthy list of accomplishments represents the kind of man Steve 
is: hard working and committed to Indian Country. Steve's work on 
environmental issues in Indian country includes the Clean Water and 
Clean Air Act amendments, solid waste disposal, leaking underground 
storage tanks and the Indian Environmental General Assistance Program 
Act. His broad range of knowledge was crucial in passing the Self-
Determination Act amendments, as well as self-governance legislation, 
the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and the Navajo-Hopi Settlement Act.
  Steve's work to reauthorize the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, 
his work with tribal courts and the Native American Graves Protection 
and Repatriation Act show his concern for native Americans and most 
important, our mutual heritage. The work that has been important to 
Steve was the work that was important to Indian people across this 
country. Much of his work, including reorganizing the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs and amendments to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act is not yet 
complete, but his mark will certainly be on the changes when they do 
occur.
  Steve's work on behalf of Indian people goes back before his time 
here in Washington. He served as the assistant general counsel for the 
Gila River community in Arizona and was a staff attorney for the Four 
Rivers Indian Legal Services Program at Gila River. Now, Steve is going 
back to Arizona, where I'm sure he's been missed, as we're going to 
miss him here.
  I would like to offer my personal thanks to Steve for the invaluable 
service he has provided to me as I took over as Chairman of the Indian 
Affairs Committee. His wise counsel to both me and my staff has made a 
difficult job more easy and has helped to make sure that the leadership 
Senator McCain brought to this committee will continue.
  Steve has been an outstanding advocate, leader, and friend to Indian 
country. On behalf of all of us who have been lucky enough to work him, 
we thank him, we wish him good luck, and we look forward to working 
together again.

                          ____________________