Indian Country is set for a busy week on Capitol Hill

Monday, July 22, 2024

By Acee Agoyo

Indianz.Com

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Indian Country is set for a busy week in the nation’s capital, following the Republican National Convention and the stunning end to Democratic President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign. Four hearings with tribal and Native leaders are scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. And by the end of the week, a budget bill with record funding for Indian Country is expected to make a major move forward on Capitol Hill. Here’s what to watch as the week progresses.

Indian water rights

A whopping 12 Native American water rights bills are on the agenda at a hearing before the House Committee on Natural Resources on Tuesday morning, representing $12 billion in investments in tribes and neighboring communities across the country. The hearing, featuring 13 witnesses, is bipartisan in nature, though Republicans control the U.S. House of Representatives. Five of the tribal water measures are led by GOP members from Arizona, California and Montana. And of the 12, six address longstanding tribal water issues in New Mexico. In all, the legislation benefits 13 tribes in the state. “We must honor the trust and treaty responsibilities that we have to ensure water security for our tribes,” noted Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-New Mexico), whose Democratic colleagues from the Land of Enchantment are united in supporting the entire slate of legislation. The focus on water in Indian Country continues with a hearing before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on Thursday afternoon. A bill to settle the rights of the Ohkay Owingeh tribe in northern New Mexico is on the agenda. “The United States has a moral obligation to honor its trust responsibility to the tribe,” said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico), who introduced the U.S. Senate version of the Ohkay Owingeh Rio Chama Water Rights Settlement Act last month.

Notice from the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries

Legislative Hearing on HR 1304, HR 3977, HR 6599, HR 7240, HR 8685, HR 8791, HR 8920, HR 8940, HR 8945, HR 8949, HR 8951, and HR 8953 (July 23, 2024)

Notice from the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs

Legislative Hearing to Receive Testimony on S. 4370 and S. 4505 (July 25, 2024)

Haskell Indian Nations University

On Tuesday afternoon, the House Committee on Natural Resources and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce will convene for a joint hearing to address alleged misconduct at Haskell Indian Nations University (HINU), a post-secondary institution in Kansas. Unlike tribal water rights, the focus on Haskell has been bipartisan. Republicans on both committees allege that the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) has ignored repeated requests for more information about allegations of harassment, bullying, nepotism, theft and sexual abuse on the university’s campus. “Allegations of campus misconduct at HINU, including sexual abuse, should never be ignored and the students deserve better from the federal government and the Bureau of Indian Education,” said Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Arizona), who chairs the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, in announcing the hearing. “Misconduct and abuse at Haskell Indian Nations University have been ignored for far too long and have affected far too many people, while the Biden administration has failed to take action,” said Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah), the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development. The witness list is expected to include a former Haskell president who was removed from his position by the BIE and a former cross-country coach who believes he was fired for reporting allegations of misconduct. A student who has disclosed that he was sexually assaulted is also scheduled to testify.

Notice of the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Investigation into how Biden administration ignored cries for help from students at Haskell Indian Nations University (July 23, 2024)

Notice of the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Higher Education and Labor Market Development

Investigation into how Biden administration ignored cries for help from students at Haskell Indian Nations University (July 23, 2024)

Native American Health and Alaska Native Lands

On Wednesday morning, the House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs will consider four bills during a hearing. Three of the bills address employment, training and jurisdictional issues at the Indian Health Service, the federal agency charged with providing health care to more than two million American Indians and Alaska Natives. They are: HR8942, the Improving Tribal Cultural Training for Providers Act of 2024; HR8955, the IHS Provider Integrity Act; and HR8956, the Uniform Credentials for IHS Providers Act. The fourth bill on the agenda is HR6489, the Alaska Native Village Municipal Lands Restoration Act. The bill would ensure that Alaska Native village corporations retain title to their lands under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA).

Notice of the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs

Legislative Hearing on HR 6489, HR 8942, HR 8955, and HR 8956 (July 24, 2024)

Allocations to the Indian Country

A budget bill with record levels of funding for most Indian Country programs is set to be passed in the U.S. House of Representatives this week. HR8998, the Department of the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Fiscal Year 2025 budget bill, includes $8.56 billion for the Indian Health Service, a 23 percent increase, or $1.6 billion, in funding over current levels. The bill also retains a provision that provides for advance appropriations for the IHS, protecting the agency from federal shutdowns and other shortfalls. Elsewhere, HR8998 provides $2.81 billion for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), including $746 million for public safety and justice and $1.47 billion for the Bureau of Indian Education. The total BIA figure represents a 14.5 percent increase over current funding levels. “We will continue to uphold our sacred obligations to tribal communities,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma), a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation who is the first Native person to chair the powerful House Committee on Appropriations. “The bill provides critical increases to tribal programs, including tribal justice, the Bureau of Indian Education and the Indian Health Service.” Movement on HR8998 begins Monday afternoon with a hearing before the House Committee on Rules. Cole previously chaired the key legislative panel. According to the House Majority Leader’s calendar, HR8998 is expected to be passed by the chamber this week. Three other budget bills are also on the docket.

Notice from the House Rules Committee

HR 8997 – Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Budget Act, 2025; HR 8998 – Department of the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Budget Act, 2025; HR 8773 – Financial Services and General Government Budget Act, 2025; HR 9027 – Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Budget Act, 2025 (July 22, 2024)

Presidential politics

The bustle on Capitol Hill is typical of the presidential party years, as lawmakers try to get as much work done as possible over the summer so they can focus on national and home campaigns in the fall. But 2024 is proving to be unprecedented. Joe Biden, a Democrat whose administration has delivered record and historic firsts for tribes and their citizens, ultimately will not be his party’s nominee for president after weeks of pressure to resign. “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” Biden said in a letter Sunday outlining some of his accomplishments. “And while my intention has been to be re-elected, I believe it is in the best interests of my party and the country that I step down and focus solely on fulfilling the duties of my president for the remainder of my term.” In his place, Biden endorsed Kamala Harris, who has already made history as the first woman, the first African-American and the first Asian-American to serve as vice president. The former U.S. senator from California is aiming to secure the party’s presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, next month. “We have 107 days until Election Day,” Harris said of the approaching Nov. 5 election. “Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.” At the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, last week, former one-term Oval Office occupant Donald Trump secured his party’s nomination for president. He is on the ballot with J.D. Vance, the Republican senator from Ohio, a man who has expressed anti-Native sentiments and introduced legislation that would violate tribal sovereignty.

related stories