[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 165 (Friday, November 19, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2480]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




INTRODUCTION OF CONCURRENT RESOLUTION TO DEDICATE BUDGET SURPLUS FUNDS 
     TO PROTECT FEDERALLY HELD AMERICAN INDIAN TRUST FUND ACCOUNTS

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                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 18, 1999

  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
introduce a House Concurrent Resolution calling for Congress to 
dedicate a portion of the budget surplus to fulfill the moral and legal 
responsibilities of the United States by ensuring proper payment and 
management of all federally held tribal trust fund accounts and 
individual Indian money accounts.
  Since 1820, the United States has held monies in trust for American 
Indians. At first for Indian Tribes and later for individual Indians as 
well. Funds mostly derived from the lease or sale of trust lands and 
other resource assets including timber stumpage, royalties from oil, 
gas and coal development, and agriculture fees are added to these trust 
fund accounts. Currently, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), which is 
charged with maintaining the accounts, controls approximately 390,000 
individual Indian money accounts (IIM), and 1,500 tribal accounts. Each 
year over $1 billion passes through these accounts.
  The historical and legal record demonstrates that the U.S. government 
has failed miserably at its fiduciary responsibility to manage these 
accounts. Horror stories include years of royalty checks being stuffed 
in desk drawers instead of deposited, and piles of documents thrown 
away, destroyed or lost. Reams of reports by Congressional 
investigators, spanning several Administrations, document the often 
careless and incompetent manner in which these accounts have been 
managed. Beginning in 1991 Congress funded BIA to reconcile the 
accounts but after 5 years and $21 million we were told that volumes of 
documentation of transactions and investments simply no longer exist.
  As far back as the Reagan administration, the Indian Trust Funds were 
listed as one of the top federal financial liabilities. Currently, a 
class action suit of Individual Indian Money (IIM) account holders is 
pending in federal court and the BIA is working to ensure that similar 
accounting problems do not occur in the future.
  In the meantime, I am deeply concerned that Congress is paying 
inadequate attention to the very substantial financial debt the federal 
government owes to Native American account holders. In particular, in 
making sweeping decisions about allocation of the budget surplus, it is 
essential that we reserve sufficient funds to ensure our ability to 
meet our fiduciary responsibilities to Indian tribes and individuals.
  These are real debts we owe to fellow American citizens; just as we 
cannot spend the surplus needed for Social Security and Medicare 
solvency, so, too, must we reserve sufficient amounts to meet our 
obligations to the Indian Trust Funds.
  My House Concurrent Resolution calls upon the Congress to fulfill our 
moral and legal obligations to Native Americans by reserving adequate 
funds to address the problem. I will push for swift consideration and 
approval of this legislation and urge all my colleagues to join me in 
supporting this important resolution.

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