[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 1 (Wednesday, January 23, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S17]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         CREATING A NEW BUREAU OF INDIAN TRUST ASSET MANAGEMENT

  Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, it has long been recognized that the 
Department of the Interior's Indian trust fund accounting and 
management systems have struggled with the challenge of meeting the 
Government's trust responsibility to Native Americans. Shortly before 
the Christmas break, to her credit, the Secretary of the Interior 
acknowledged this fact and proposed reorganizing the way the Department 
handles its trust asset management responsibilities.
  The Secretary has proposed creating a new Bureau of Indian Trust 
Asset Management to manage Indian trusts. It is now the job of the 
Department, Congress, and the tribes to assess how this plan would work 
in practice.
  Tribal leaders in South Dakota have emphasized to me their concern 
that any BIA reorganization plan that has not been thoroughly discussed 
with the Native American community nationwide could hold potentially 
adverse consequences for tribal members. The leaders of the nine tribes 
in my State, for example, ask how such a proposal would address the 
underlying issues of trust fund management in light of the pending 
Cobell vs. Norton class action suit; how it would impact funding for 
other programs upon which tribes depend; and how it would affect the 
self-governance of Tribes.
  These are legitimate questions, and tribal leaders and their members 
deserve satisfactory answers prior to the implementation of any 
reorganization plan. I hope that a more concerted effort will be made, 
by the Department and Congress, to involve tribal leaders fully in the 
decision-making process on the BIA reorganization effort. Certainly no 
significant organizational changes within the BIA should be made 
without adequate consultation with tribal leaders across the country. 
The essence of the Federal Government's trust relationship with the 
tribes requires no less.

                          ____________________