'We must help Indian Country build back better': Assistant Secretary Nominee Bryan Newland
Channel: indianz
Date: 2021-06-09

Bryan Newland delivers an opening statement as his nomination hearing to be Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs in the Joe Biden administration.

Newland, a citizen of the Bay Mills Indian Community, went before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on June 9, 2021. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, he would oversee the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Indian Education and the recently-created Bureau of Trust Funds Administration at the Department of the Interior.

"I know first-hand the connection between public service and the lives of others," Newland told the committee." When you live with the people you serve, you cannot escape that connection – if you make a mistake, you see it (and, if you don’t see it, there’s sure to be an auntie or a friend to remind you).

"If confirmed, I will bring that perspective with me to the Department of the Interior. We must help Indian country build back better after the pandemic. We must also respond with urgency to the violence against Indigenous women and children," Newland said. "And we must lay the foundation for the next generation of Native children to succeed.

"I believe that tribal governments, rather than federal agencies, are best-suited to respond to the challenges their communities face," he added. "Our job is to be a collaborative trustee and ensure that Indian Country drives our work. With your consent, I will be a leader for these important efforts."

INDIANZ.COM: Native American news, information and entertainment. Owned by Ho-Chunk Inc., an economic development corporation owned by the Winnebago Tribe, an Indian nation with homelands in Nebraska and Iowa.
Website: https://www.indianz.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/indianz
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indianz
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/indianz
Tumblr: https://indianzcom.tumblr.com