[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 124 (Wednesday, July 29, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4323-S4325]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



             Native Children Commission Implementation Act

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I come to the floor this evening to 
speak about legislation that I have recently introduced as chairman of 
the Indian Affairs Committee, alongside my friend Vice Chairman Schatz. 
The bill that we have introduced is the Native Children Commission 
Implementation Act.
  Before I get started explaining our legislation, I want to recognize 
the Tribal leaders, the elders, the youth, the children, and the 
families who flew in last week for a congressional staff briefing to 
share their perspectives on the bill and the importance of it but also 
to help educate members and staff about the importance of the bill.
  As events turned out, it was unfortunate that I was not here on that 
day due to my having a family emergency back home, but I was able to 
tune in virtually. It was 5:45 in the morning Alaska time, and I was 
able to beam in. I have to say I can't tell you how proud I was to see 
the Senate Indian Affairs hearing room. It was packed literally

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wall to wall, which was a reminder to me of how this legislation has 
captured the attention of so many people who believe that Native 
children deserve every opportunity to thrive.
  I was particularly grateful to the Tribal leaders, to Native youth, 
to advocates, and to commissioners who traveled from Alaska and across 
Indian Country all to be there. I really think that their presence, 
their stories, and their unwavering commitment have really brought this 
legislation to life.
  I also want to acknowledge and thank my colleagues Senator Schatz and 
Senator Smith for joining the event and helping to mark this important 
milestone. Together, they made it clear that this was more than just 
the introduction of a bill; it was the continuation of a movement--a 
movement that has been built on years of partnership, of perseverance, 
and on hope.
  I want to take a moment to specifically recognize Gloria O'Neill, who 
chaired the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native 
Children. Gloria and her fellow commissioners have devoted years to 
traveling throughout Indian Country. They have listened to Native 
families and have brought forward recommendations that are rooted in 
the voices of the communities themselves, and we owe them a great deal 
of gratitude for their work.
  Earlier this year, I joined the Alaska Federation of Natives and 
Tribal leaders for a gathering to recognize their work behind this 
effort. We were upstairs in the Hart Building, up on the ninth floor--a 
big room filled with Native leaders really from across the country--and 
I was deeply, deeply honored to be gifted the Mandan name ``Ho 
Hsiihe,'' meaning ``strong voice.'' This was gifted to me by Bheri Rose 
Hallam, who is the granddaughter of Alyce Spotted Bear. I was very 
humbled--very humbled--to receive the name, and I carry it as a 
reminder of the responsibility that we all share to continue the work 
that Alyce Spotted Bear and so many Native leaders began on behalf of 
Native children and families. That responsibility really is at the 
heart of why this legislation matters so deeply to me.
  Thousands of bills, we know, are introduced each Congress, and every 
bill matters to someone, but this one is particularly important to me.
  As I look at the Presiding Officer in the chair, I am reminded of his 
comments at an Energy hearing this morning when he spoke with deep 
passion and love and care for those children whom he didn't know--
children who had cancer. All he wanted to do was to be able to help 
them with a playground--a place to be happy, a place to feel good about 
being a child. So I know--I know--that he can relate when we talk about 
the important work we do for our children.
  The story of how the Native Children's Commission began didn't start 
here in Washington. It began in Tribal communities. It began with 
parents who wanted better opportunities for their children and with 
elders who were determined to preserve their languages and their 
cultures. It began with such a great story. It began with the young 
people who stood up in front of hundreds of grownups, hundreds of 
adults, in a convention in Fairbanks years ago, where they had the 
courage to tell the leaders what they were experiencing. They asked 
us--they asked us--to do something about it. That, to me, is really 
where it begins.
  So more than anything, this bill is about children.
  Across Indian Country, too many Native children experience challenges 
that no child should have to face. Some have watched their communities 
suffer from devastating storms or natural disasters. Some have lost 
loved ones to violence, to addiction, to suicide. Others have entered 
foster care. They have struggled to access healthcare or behavioral 
health services. Or perhaps they have carried the weight of the 
boarding schools era, which has caused historical trauma that continues 
to affect families today after subsequent generations.
  Those experiences are very real, but they are also not the whole 
story. If there is one lesson that I learned from traveling across my 
State and meeting with Tribal communities across Indian Country, it is 
that resilience is every bit as real as hardship. Native communities 
possess extraordinary strengths, and their strengths include strong 
families, vibrant cultures, enduring languages, and generations of 
wisdom that is passed from elders to the children.
  Time and time again, I have watched grandparents teach language to 
their grandchildren. I have seen parents work tirelessly to create 
opportunities for that next generation. I have seen elders reminding 
young people of exactly who they are and where they come from.
  That sense of identity and culture is so, so powerful. It gives 
children confidence. It creates belonging. It fortifies our families. 
It reminds us that the future of Native children is built not only by 
overcoming hardship but by building--building--upon the remarkable 
strengths that have sustained Native communities for generations. That 
understanding has shaped every part of this legislation whose path 
began more than a decade ago.
  I mentioned the Alaska Federation of Natives convention. This was 
back in 2013. During one of the sessions--again, this is the largest 
gathering of Native people in our State--a group of young leaders--
kids, kids--from the village of Tanana stood up before Tribal leaders, 
community members, and elected officials. They stood on stage, and they 
spoke with an honesty and a bravery about what they were seeing in 
their community. They spoke of violence. They spoke of substance abuse 
and suicide. But what struck me most was not the hardship that they 
described; it was the hope they carried with them. Their message was so 
simple. It was so clear. It was ``Listen to us.'' The children were 
saying ``Listen to us, and then do something,'' and I have not ever 
forgotten those words.
  Last summer, I heard from Natasha Singh. She is a leader from the 
Tanana region, and she shared that the chiefs there continue to meet 
with young people every year.
  They ask: What progress have we made? What challenges remain? What 
more needs to be done? What more do we need to do to listen to you?
  And that kind of accountability is really remarkable because it 
reminds us that leadership is not measured by the promises that we make 
but whether or not we are willing to answer for them.
  It also reminded me that if Tribal leaders are willing to answer to 
their children, then Congress should be willing to do the same. So 
those young people challenged us more than a decade ago, and this new 
legislation is part of our answer. That conversation that we had in 
2013 ultimately led to bipartisan legislation with my friend and former 
Senator Heidi Heitkamp, and we established the Alyce Spotted Bear and 
Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children.
  And the commission had a very straightforward but very important 
mission, and that was travel throughout Indian country, listen to 
Native children, listen to the families, to the Tribal leaders, to the 
service providers, the experts, and then come back and tell us here in 
Congress what is needed to improve outcomes for Native youth. That is 
exactly what they did.
  Over several years, the commissioners visited communities across the 
country, and they heard some pretty tough stories. They heard some 
heartbreaking stories, but they also witnessed extraordinary examples 
of resilience, of innovation, and Tribal leadership. They saw 
communities creating culturally grounded solutions that were then 
strengthening families and improving health, supporting children, and 
really restoring hope.
  And their work culminated in a report that they called ``The Way 
Forward.'' But that report was never meant to be the end of the 
conversation; it was only the end of the beginning.
  And when the commissioners presented their recommendations to our 
Committee on Indian Affairs, they urged us; they said: Please, don't 
let this work become another report that just sits on the shelf and 
gathers dust. The families who shared their stories deserved more than 
that; they deserved action.
  And so that is when we got to work. Over the last couple of years, we 
have worked closely with Tribal leaders, Native organizations, youth 
advocates, Federal Agencies, and Members of Congress on both sides of 
the aisle. We released draft legislation. We held hearings and 
roundtables. We invited the

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criticism. We made changes. We refined provisions, added new ideas, and 
we remained focused on one goal, and that was honoring what Native 
communities told us they needed.
  This bill is stronger because it was built with Native communities, 
not for them. The Native Children's Commission Implementation Act 
reflects a simple idea, and that is: If we want to improve outcomes for 
Native children, we cannot look at just one issue at a time.
  And we know when we are talking about kids, you can't talk about life 
in separate categories. A child does not experience life in neat, 
clean, separate categories. Health is connected to education. Education 
is connected to housing. Behavioral health is connected to family 
stability. Parents cannot succeed if they can't find childcare. 
Children can't reach their full potential if they are hungry, if they 
are dealing with untreated trauma or disconnected from language or 
culture or identity. So our policies should recognize that reality.
  And we do that within this legislation. It strengthens access to 
healthcare and behavioral health services. It supports Native education 
and language revitalization. It improves juvenile justice, public 
safety, housing, nutrition, workforce development, and research. And, 
more importantly, it recognized that Tribal communities are best 
positioned to lead these efforts because they know their children and 
their families, and they know them better than anyone else.
  During a hearing earlier this year on a draft legislation, Joan 
Johnson of the Fort Belknap Indian Community shared a story of a young 
woman who entered the Tribe's Tiwahe wellness program, and the Tiwahe 
Initiative is a pilot program at BIA that assists Tribes in providing 
holistic services that promote everything from child safety to family 
stability and Tribal self-determination.
  And Fort Belknap testified that their wellness program has removed 
the stigma of intervention by meeting families in their homes and 
helping them access care.
  To understand the need to make this initiative permanent, Joan shared 
the story of a young woman who had struggled with addiction and 
homelessness. And the young mother shared, she said:

       Tiwahe gave me the nudge I needed. They guided me to become 
     closer to my Creator and helped me learn who I am.

  And, today, that young woman is sober. She is raising her children. 
And she is helping build a brighter future for her family.
  And that transformation doesn't happen because Washington has all the 
answers. It happened because a Tribal community invested in one of its 
own. And we have learned from that, and we are seeking to codify Tiwahe 
as one important section in our legislation.
  Councilwoman Johnson also described children who came into the Tiwahe 
program knowing they were Native, but not knowing their language, not 
knowing their traditions, or even their own family stories. And elders 
helped connect those young people with their identity. They learned 
their Native names. They participated in ceremony.
  And many of those same young people eventually became mentors for the 
children who followed them. So healing became leadership; one 
generation began lifting the next.
  We heard similar stories from Alaska where the Association of Village 
Council Presidents redesigned the way that families receive services. 
So instead of forcing parents in crisis--maybe it is addiction, maybe 
it is homelessness. But it is hard when you have so many disconnected 
programs. And so through this initiative, they brought education, 
employment, childcare, family services all together in one place. And 
so when you have got a family that is just facing so many big, big, 
heavy burdens, that kind of coordination can make all of the 
difference.
  And these stories, again, remind us that the best ideas rarely begin 
in Washington.
  And while I am proud to get to this point, which is our bill 
introduction, it is also a reminder that our work is just beginning. 
This legislation represents more than a decade of listening, learning, 
and working alongside Tribal leaders, Native organizations, families, 
and young people. And it reflects the belief that lasting change 
happens when we listen first and legislate second.
  While this is an important step, what matters is that we keep moving 
forward because every recommendation in the report which was translated 
into this bill began with a conversation in a Tribal community.
  And I am going to keep coming back to those young people from Tanana, 
because they said--it was more than a decade ago. They asked us to 
listen. And I hope--I hope--today they can see that we are listening. 
We are acting. The Native Children's Commission Implementation Act is 
not about creating yet one more Federal program or one more report that 
is going to sit on a shelf somewhere. It is about strengthening what is 
already working in Native communities. It is about trusting Tribal 
governments, investing in Native families, and ensuring--ensuring--that 
every Native child--whether Alaska Native, American Indian, Native 
Hawaiian--has the opportunity to grow up healthy, to grow up safe, 
connected to their culture, and confident in who they are. And that is 
a goal that should unite all of us.
  So, today, I invite my colleagues--Republicans and Democrats alike--
to join Senator Schatz and me as cosponsors of the Native Children's 
Commission Implementation Act. Let's show that when Tribal communities 
speak, Congress listens. Let's turn their recommendations of ``The Way 
Forward'' report into meaningful action, and let's work together to 
build a future where every Alaska Native, American Indian, and Native 
Hawaiian child has the opportunity to not only overcome challenges, but 
to become those leaders of the next generation.
  So I look forward to working with you and the rest of our colleagues 
to do just that.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Husted). The Senator from Utah.