[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 59 (Wednesday, May 4, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2688-S2689]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself and Mr. Udall of New Mexico):
S. 885. A bill to amend the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st
Century to reauthorize a provision relating to additional contract
authority for States with Indian reservations; to the Committee on
Environment and Public Works.
Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I rise today with my distinguished
colleague Senator Udall of New Mexico to introduce the Indian School
Bus Route Safety Reauthorization Act of 2011. This bill continues an
important federal program begun in 1998 that addresses a unique problem
with the roads in and around the Nation's single largest Indian
reservation and the neighboring counties. Through this program, Navajo
children who had been prevented from getting to school by roads that
were often impassable are now traveling safely to and from their
schools. Because of the unusual nature of this situation, I believe it
must continue to be addressed at the Federal level.
I would like to begin with some statistics on this unique problem and
why
[[Page S2689]]
I believe a Federal solution continues to be necessary. The Navajo
Nation is by far the nation's largest Indian Reservation, covering
25,000 square miles. Portions of the Navajo Nation are in three states:
Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. No other reservation comes anywhere
close to the size of Navajo. To give you an idea of its size, the state
of West Virginia is about 24,000 square miles. In fact, 10 states are
smaller in size than the Navajo reservation.
According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, about 9,700 miles of
public roads serve the Navajo nation. Only about 1/3 of these roads are
paved. The remaining 6,500 miles, 67 percent, are dirt roads. Every day
school buses use nearly all of these roads to transport Navajo children
to and from school.
About 6,200 miles of the roads on the Navajo reservation are BIA
roads, and about 3,300 miles are State and county roads. All public
roads within, adjacent to, or leading to the reservation, including
BIA, State, and county roads are considered part of the Federal Indian
Reservation Road System. However, only BIA and tribal roads are
eligible for Federal maintenance funding from BIA. Moreover, the
funding for road construction from the Federal Lands Highways Program
in SAFETEA is generally applied only to BIA or tribal roads. Thus, the
states and counties are responsible for maintenance and improvement of
their 2,500 miles of roads that serve the reservation.
The counties in the three States that include the Navajo reservation
are simply not in a position to maintain all of the roads on the
reservation that carry children to and from school. Nearly all of the
land area in these counties is under Federal or tribal jurisdiction.
For example, in my State of New Mexico, \3/4\ of McKinley County is
either tribal or federal land, including BLM, Forest Service, and
military land. The Indian land area alone comprises 61 percent of
McKinley County. Consequently, the county can draw upon only a very
limited tax base as a source of revenue for maintenance purposes. Of
the nearly 600 miles of county-maintained roads in McKinley County, 512
miles serve Indian land.
In San Juan County, Utah, the Navajo Nation comprises 40 percent of
the land area. The county maintains 611 miles of roads on the Navajo
Nation. Of these, 357 miles are dirt, 164 miles are gravel and only 90
miles are paved. On the reservation, the county has three high schools,
two elementary schools, two BIA boarding schools and four pre-schools.
The situation is similar in neighboring San Juan County, New Mexico,
and Apache, Navajo, and Coconino Counties, Arizona. In light of the
counties' limited resources, I do believe the Federal Government is
asking the States and counties to bear too large a burden for road
maintenance in this unique situation.
Families living in and around the reservation are no different from
families anywhere else; their children are entitled to the same
opportunity to get to school safely and to get a good education.
However, the many miles of unpaved and deficient roads on the
reservation are frequently impassable, especially when they are wet,
muddy or snowy. If the school buses don't get through, the kids simply
cannot get to school.
These children are literally being left behind.
Because of the vast size of the Navajo reservation, the cost of
maintaining the county roads used by the school buses is more than the
counties can bear without Federal assistance. I believe it is essential
that the Federal Government help these counties deal with this one-of-
a-kind situation.
In response to this unique situation, in 1998 Congress began
providing direct annual funding to the counties that contain the Navajo
reservation to help ensure that children on the reservation can get to
and from their public schools. In 2005, the program was reauthorized in
SAFETEA through 2009, and now extended through 2011.
Under this program, $1.8 million is made available each year to be
shared equally among the three states. The funding is provided directly
to the counties in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah that contain the
Navajo reservation. I want to be very clear: these Federal funds can be
used only on roads that are located within or that lead to the
reservation, that are on the State or county maintenance system, and
that are used by school buses.
This program has been very successful. For 14 years, the counties
have used the annual funding to help maintain the routes used by school
buses to carry children to school and to Headstart programs. I have had
an opportunity to see firsthand the importance of this funding when I
rode in a school bus over some of the roads that are maintained using
funds from this program.
The bill we are introducing today provides a simple 6 year
reauthorization of that program, for fiscal years 2012 through 2017,
with a modest increase in the annual funding to allow for inflation and
for additional roads to be maintained in each of the three states.
I believe that continuing this program for 6 more years is fully
justified because of the vast area of the Navajo reservation, by far
the nation's largest, and the unique nature of this need that only the
Federal Government can deal with effectively.
I don't believe any child wanting to get to and from school should
have to risk or tolerate unsafe roads. Kids today, particularly in
rural and remote areas, face enough hurdles to getting a good
education. I ask my colleagues to join me again this year in assuring
that Navajo schoolchildren at least have a chance to get to school
safely and get an education.
I look forward to working with Chairman Boxer and Ranking Member
Inhofe of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Chairman
Baucus and Ranking Member Vitter of the Transportation and
Infrastructure Subcommittee, to incorporate this legislation once again
into the next comprehensive 6 year reauthorization of surface
transportation programs.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that text of the bill be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be
printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 885
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Indian School Bus Route
Safety Reauthorization Act of 2011''.
SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF ADDITIONAL CONTRACT AUTHORITY FOR
STATES WITH INDIAN RESERVATIONS.
Section 1214(d)(5)(A) of the Transportation Equity Act for
the 21st Century (23 U.S.C. 202 note; 112 Stat. 206; 119
Stat. 1460) is amended by striking ``$1,800,000 for each of
fiscal years 2005 through 2009'' and inserting ``$2,000,000
for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2017''.
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