Indian Affairs Committee finds Native American Sch

[Okwes]

Indian Affairs Committee finds Native American Schools, Jails and Health
Facilities Crumbling
March 06, 2008

At a hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday, U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND),
Chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said the schools, health
clinics and jails on Indian reservations are in desperate need of repair or
replacement.

Native American communities are continually faced with crumbling
educational, health and law enforcement facilities. There is a nearly $3 billion backlog
in construction or repair of Native American health facilities and $1.8
billion backlog to repair or construct schools. It would take $6 billion to
repair and construct jails. Schools examined by the Department of Interior
Inspector General in a May 2007 study were found to be unsafe and dangerous. Other
reports have continually cited the derelict conditions of many jails on tribal
land.

"For too long we´ve had to fight the Administration just to keep the level
funding but that´s not going to cut it anymore," Dorgan said. "It´s time
for the needs of the Native American communities to be met and we´re going to
fight to fund them. The passing of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act was
the starting line, not the finish line for the work that needs to be done to
improve the quality of life on reservations."

The President has repeatedly underfunded the agencies that support Native
American programs and for Fiscal Year 2009 has proposed to cut $21 million from
the Indian Health Service´s facilities budget. The President´s budget also
called for an elimination of Department of Justice funding for tribal jails
as well as a $3 million cut to the Department of Interior´s budget to repair
tribal jails.

Senator Dorgan is currently awaiting reports from the Department of the
Interior that will update him on the current state of jails and schools in Native
American communities. Indian jails, in particular, have been a longstanding
problem. Attorney General Janet Reno testified in 1998 before the Indian
Affairs Committee that Indian country jails are "inadequate and antiquated." The
Department of Interior Inspector General noted that the situation had not
gotten better in a 2004 report.

The Senate is preparing to take up the budget proposal for the Fiscal Year
2009 next week.

[Okwes]

Sen. Tester: A victory on Indian health reauthorization
Wednesday, March 5, 2008

The following is the opinion of Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana), a co-sponsor of
the Indian Health Care Improvement Act and a member of the Senate Indian
Affairs Committee.
We made history last week. And we couldn’t have done it without the hard
work of thousands of American Indians who live here in Montana
The Senate overwhelmingly passed the long-overdue Indian Health Care
Improvement Act (IHCIA).
I cosponsored this historic legislation because I know just how critical the
health care situation is in Indian Country. Over the past year I visited all
corners of Montana and visited with every tribe. All of them told me access
to quality health care is the number one issue facing Indian Country today.
When Indian Affairs Committee Chairman Byron Dorgan and I hosted a field
hearing on how to improve Indian health care last August in Crow Agency, one
thing became clear from all of Indian Country: there is a disturbing difference
between the state of health care in Indian County and the health care
available to most other Montanans. So when Senator Dorgan and I returned to
Washington, we fought even harder to make sure the Senate would vote on the IHCIA. The
measure hadn’t been reauthorized since 2000.
This reauthorization contains a lot of good stuff. It authorizes programs to
address mental and behavioral health care. It promotes disease prevention,
substance abuse and addiction treatment. And it promotes better physical
health. In addition, the legislation now allows those who are eligible for Medicare
and Medicaid to fully participate in the programs.
I also sponsored an amendment that passed unanimously encouraging law
enforcement agencies at federal, state, and local levels to work closely with
tribal law enforcement agencies to combat meth in Indian Country.
As a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, I hear heartbreaking
stories about the state of Indian health care every week. It is a priority for
me, as well as my fellow committee members, to create opportunities for
providing better and more accessible health care.
Passing the Indian Health Care Improvement Act was just the first thing we
can do to fulfill our commitment to American Indians but we still have work to
do. I hope the House works together as the Senate did, and I expect the
President to sign this critically important legislation.