[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 26 (Monday, February 12, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S1821]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    NOMINATION OF CARL JOSEPH ARTMAN

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I will talk about something very important 
which will soon be pending before the Senate; that is, the nomination 
of Carl Joseph Artman as Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs.
  The Indian program in this country is very important. As part of the 
Government, we have part of the Interior Department working on it. I 
rise to offer my strong support for the nomination of Carl Artman for 
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs in the Department of the 
Interior. Mr. Artman is an excellent candidate with diversity and 
experience in both the public and private sectors and has the 
leadership and the academic credentials needed for this extraordinarily 
demanding position.
  This position is unique in that many of the issues with respect to 
Indian affairs are unique. Yet it has to be someone who has background 
in government and operations. The Assistant Secretary implements 
Federal Indian policy set forth by the Congress and facilitates the 
government-to-government relationships with 561 Indian tribal 
governments. That is a large challenge.
  The Assistant Secretary is responsible for a variety of activities 
and programs in Indian communities, including economic development, law 
enforcement, trust assessment management, social services, and 
education. In discharging these duties, the Assistant Secretary must 
balance many competing interests and needs in working with the States, 
in working with the tribes, and in working with the Federal Government. 
Mr. Artman has pledged to facilitate more vibrant communication among 
the Indian tribes and their neighbors. I believe that is helpful in 
terms of furthering Federal policies of interaction with the Indian 
tribes on a government-to-government basis and encouraging Indian self-
determination and self-government. That is our challenge and the 
challenge the tribes take, to become more independent economically and 
from a government standpoint so they can operate as they choose with 
self-government.
  The job of Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs has been made 
exponentially more difficult by the methamphetamine plague that has 
ravaged the Indian tribes and the Indian communities. I am encouraged 
by Mr. Artman's commitment to fighting and defeating this epidemic, 
which may require aggressive efforts by the agency he will lead as well 
as other Federal and tribal partners to achieve measurable results.
  Mr. Artman is also committed to assisting tribal governments develop 
the socioeconomic infrastructure and fight the obstacles in many of our 
Indian reservations that foster hopelessness and despair. One of the 
issues is to provide opportunities for the tribal members to have jobs, 
to be somewhat sufficient and self-supporting in terms of their 
economy.
  Although many Indian tribes have made tremendous gains through tribal 
self-governance and some have managed to flourish materially in recent 
years through economic development, it is a common misperception that 
most tribes have experienced economic prosperity as a result of 
successful gaming facilities. In fact, poverty and unemployment are 
sill prevalent in far too many communities in Indian Country. A robust 
and diversified economy is essential to improving the quality of life 
of these communities and to providing the people living in them with 
alternatives to such heartbreaking problems of suicide and substance 
abuse, of which there is an abundance.
  I am confident that Mr. Artman will provide outstanding leadership in 
this daunting challenge. I urge my friends in the Senate to approve his 
confirmation, which I hope will come before the Senate in the very near 
future.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Tester). The Senator from Oregon.

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