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26–593 PDF 2005

S. HRG. 109–396, PT. 2

FISCAL YEAR 2007 BUDGET

HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

ON

OVERSIGHT HEARING ON THE PRESIDENT’S FISCAL YEAR 2007 BUDGET

REQUEST FOR INDIAN PROGRAMS

FEBRUARY 23, 2006

BISMARCK, ND

PART 2

(
COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS

JOHN McCAIN, Arizona, Chairman

BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota, Vice Chairman

PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico

CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming

GORDON SMITH, Oregon

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska

MICHAEL D. CRAPO, Idaho

RICHARD BURR, North Carolina

TOM COBURN, M.D., Oklahoma

DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii

KENT CONRAD, North Dakota

DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii

TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington

JEANNE BUMPUS, Majority Staff Director

SARA G. GARLAND, Minority Staff Director

(II)
(III)

C O N T E N T S

Page

Statements:

Clancy, Lynn, on behalf of Hon. Kent Conrad, U.S. Senator from North

Dakota ............................................................................................................ 5

Davis, Ken W., chairman, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians ..... 6

Dorgan, Hon. Byron L., U.S. Senator from North Dakota, vice chairman,

Committee on Indian Affairs ....................................................................... 1

Gipp, David, president, United Tribes Technical College, Bismarck, ND ... 2

Hall, Tex G., chairman, Three Affiliated Tribes ............................................ 12

Pearson, Myra, chairwoman, Fort Totten, ND ............................................... 9

Skaley, Gail, on behalf of Hon. Earl Pomeroy, U.S. Representative from

North Dakota ................................................................................................ 3

Strongheart-Lopez, Matt, on behalf of Ron His Horse Is Thunder .............. 15

APPENDIX

Prepared statements:

Conrad, Hon. Kent, U.S. Senator from North Dakota .................................. 31

Davis, Ken W. (with attachment) .................................................................... 37

Gipp, David ....................................................................................................... 32

Hall, Tex G. ....................................................................................................... 70

McCain, Hon. John, U.S. Senator from Arizona, chairman, Committee

on Indian Affairs ........................................................................................... 31

Pearson, Myra ................................................................................................... 74

Pomeroy, Hon. Earl, U.S. Representative from North Dakota ..................... 34

Strongheart-Lopez, Matt, on behalf of Ron His Horse Is Thunder .............. 34

(1)

FISCAL YEAR 2007 BUDGET

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2006

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS, Bismarck, ND.

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:34 a.m. at United

Tribes Technical College, Bismarck, ND, Hon. Byron L. Dorgan

(vice chairman of the committee) presiding.

Present: Senator Dorgan.

STATEMENT OF HON. BYRON L. DORGAN, U.S. SENATOR FROM

NORTH DAKOTA, VICE CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON INDIAN

AFFAIRS

Senator DORGAN. We want to begin the hearing this morning. My

name is Byron Dorgan. I am a U.S. Senator serving on the Committee on Indian Affairs with Senator John McCain and a number

of our colleagues.

We are holding today a hearing of the Committee On Indian Affairs in Bismarck, ND. Senator McCain has sent with me a statement that he wishes to be a part of the record. He was not able

to be with me this morning.

One week ago we held a hearing in Washington, DC, of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs dealing with the President’s budget, its impact on Indian tribes and Indian people across this country.

I am holding a hearing today to talk with Indian tribes from our

region here in North Dakota and to receive more specific information about the impact of particularly the President’s budget cuts

and the impact those cuts will have on tribes and will have on the

citizens living on Indian reservations. We will be holding some additional hearings around the country, as well, on these subjects and

other subjects, including Indian education, in the weeks and

months ahead.

I do want to say thanks to United Tribes Technical College for

allowing us to use these facilities. Dr. David Gipp is a recognized

national leader in education. He’s president of a college that I have

enormous respect for. I’m a real believer in United Tribes and what

it does to enrich the lives of many young people.

And I would also like to say to Dr. Gipp and to others gathered

here who care about the future of United Tribes that although the

President has once again recommended zero funding in his budget

for United Tribes, I intend, once again, to write in the funding for

United Tribes in the Interior subcommittee on which I serve. We
2

have been doing that. I serve on the subcommittee that provides

the funding and I’m the ranking member on that subcommittee on

appropriations and I will see to it that we once again provide funding to this great college. My colleagues, Senator Conrad and Congressman Pomeroy, feel similarly strongly about this institution

and I just want you all to know that although the President’s budget does not request funding, I am confident that funding come from

the Congress because the Congress has on many occasions represented its belief that this college is a wonderful college and worthy of funding.

So let me ask Russell Gillette from the Three Affiliated Tribes

to come forward and he will provide an invocation at the start of

this hearing. Mr. Gillette.

[Invocation given by Mr. Gillette.]

Senator DORGAN. Russell Gillette, thank you very, very much.

Next, I would like to, for a welcome, call on Dr. David Gipp,

president of United Tribes.

STATEMENT OF DAVID GIPP, PRESIDENT, UNITED TRIBES

TECHNICAL COLLEGE, BISMARCK, ND

Mr. GIPP. Thank you, Senator Dorgan and vice chairman of the

Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. We’re honored that you have

brought the committee here today to listen to our tribal leaders and

allow them to speak about the issues that relate to their budgetary

needs and the future of their tribal citizens.

This is a historic occasion, I should add, for all that are here

today because, as far as I know, in my recollection, this is the first

time that we’ve had the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs have

an official hearing that relates to the budgetary matters of our Indian tribes. So we’re very pleased and honored to host you today,

as well as all of the other guests that have come today, Senator,

and we appreciate your remarks about restoring or getting Congress to restore the funding of United Tribes Technical College. It’s

going to be the fifth time that we’ve engaged in this issue with the

current administration in which they have left us out of the budget, and it would officially become the sixth time in 2008 fiscal year

2007 and 2008 that we would have been left out of the budget.

Only yesterday I was with some of our chairmen, Chairman

Davis and Chairman Hall in Washington, talking to the Bureau of

Indian Affairs [BIA] and the Department of the Interior about restoration of funds and about the issue of adequacy of Indian budgets

for our various Indian tribes. So we recognize and know the tremendous importance of these kinds of hearings to assure that the

administration is doing their job in serving Indian country adequately.

Here at United Tribes, of course, we’re going to be 37 years old

as of July 1, 2006, and that means we have been in the business

for some years of serving thousands of children and adults over the

these years. As of this year we are going to have served 1,114

adults and about 400 children on our campus and that’s not counting the on-line students that we’re beginning to offer through our

long-distance or distance learning programs. So we are a growing

institution and we represent what is happening throughout Indian

country.
3

I’ve said repeatedly that in Indian country when we talk about

our tribes in places like North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska,

Montana, and other places that 51 percent or better of our populations are under the age of 25. We have the growing population

particularly here in North Dakota. We have the growing challenges

to assure that everyone of our children and our young adults and

older adults receive access to good education quality education and

can be successful.

At United Tribes here Senator our return on investment is 20 to

one in terms of the dollar return of our graduates. We’re seeking

about $4.5 million for our 2007 appropriation and we hope that you

can look into that matter as you deliberate on the issues of the

budget.

I’m not going to digress too much. We have submitted record testimony. We would ask that testimony be accepted by the committee

for purposes of the budget, Senator.

In closing, I just again want to welcome all of you and mention

a couple things. First, that we hope that our tribal colleges will be

adequately funded. There are 26 of them funded under the Tribal

Control Community College Act. Of course, United Tribes is outside

of that and doesn’t receive funding there.

The second is that of assuring that we have safe, comfortable and

affordable housing with respect to our tribal nations and the needs

out there and certainly housing here at United Tribes. We’re seeking housing for many, many new students that are entering here

and, most importantly, the issue of health care. Health care remains a major, major issue for all of our tribal citizens here and

throughout the Nation.

Again, thank you for being here, and we will do all that we can

to assist you and our tribal leadership, as well.

Senator DORGAN. President Gipp, thank you very much. We appreciate those great comments and, again, thanks for the wonderful

work you do.

[Prepared statement of Mr. Gipp appears in appendix.]

Senator DORGAN. I’m joined today by Sara Garland, who works

on the Committee on Indian Affairs in the U.S. Senate, Peter

Kiefhaber, who works on the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee

in the U.S. Senate and also Gail Skaley, who works with Congressman Pomeroy here in North Dakota.

Gail, did you want to say a word on behalf of Congressman Pomeroy?

STATEMENT OF GAIL SKALEY, ON BEHALF OF

REPRESENTATIVE EARL POMEROY

Ms. SKALEY. Yes; Congressman Pomeroy apologizes for not being

able to be with you today, but he sincerely appreciates you bringing

this hearing to United Tribes in Bismarck and appreciates that opportunity for him. I have some written testimony that I will submit

on his behalf, and just thank you again.

Senator DORGAN. Gail, thank you very much. Congressman Pomeroy is not a member of the Committee on Indian Affairs, but I did

invite him to sit in. He was not able to do that. But I think you

all know and it’s safe to say that our entire delegation, myself, Senator Conrad, Congressman Pomeroy, work together on priorities
4

dealing with the Indian nations and United Tribes, and I very

much appreciate his statement. We will, without objection, put it

in the record and also will enter into the record the statement of

President Gipp.

[Prepared statement of Mr. Pomeroy appears in appendix.]

Senator DORGAN. Let me make just a couple of brief comments

before I call on the testimony from the tribes, and Tex Hall, I believe, will be here in a bit. He, I believe, was landing at 10:30 this

morning and so we will expect him to join us as well.

Back in the late 1990’s I asked then President Clinton to host

a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House of tribal leaders

from our region of the country. We worked on it for some while,

and then on 1 day we gathered in the White House and met with

President Clinton. Were you there, Tom?

Mr. DISSELHORST. I remember the day well.

Senator DORGAN. And I did that because I said to President Clinton, We have people in this country who are living in third-world

conditions and we have a bona fide crisis in a number of areas,

housing, health care, education, and we need to talk about that.

And so President Clinton agreed to do that and we gathered at the

White House for this meeting with the President, and I have never

forgotten the testimony that was given. It wasn’t a formal meeting,

but the testimony given by the tribal chairs who said to the President—one of them said to the President, you know, I come from a

third-world country, but it exists inside the United States, and

then he cited all the statistics about the incidence of disease and

poverty and accidental death and substance abuse and a whole

range of things and it was very compelling. And President Clinton

said, you know, we’ve got to do better, we’ve got to work on that.

And, you know, we’ve made some progress. I think it’s safe to say

that we’ve made some progress, for example, in trying to finally address the scourge of diabetes. We’ve got diabetes clinics and dialysis centers. We’ve invested a lot. Have we solved that problem? No,

but we’re making some progress in certain areas. But I would say

that 8 years later, 9 years later after that meeting there is still so

much yet to do. We still have so many who live in poverty and so

many who don’t have adequate access to mental health services or

to general health services or to the kind of education they should

expect to have access to or housing. There is so much yet to do.

And that’s why I suggested to Senator McCain that we begin to

hold these hearings. Senator McCain, as I do, cares very much

about what we can do to address the human needs and address the

investment needs to make life better for all Americans.

Now, the point of this hearing is to hear from the tribal chairs.

We have Ken Davis, the tribal chairman of the Turtle Mountain

Chippewa Tribe; Myra Pearson, the tribal chairman of the Spirit

Lake Tribe; Tex Hall will be with us, who is the tribal chairman

of the Three Affiliated Tribes; and we also have Matt Lopez, who

is in place for Ron His Horse Is Thunder from the Standing Rock

Sioux Tribe today.

My intention would be to ask that we have statements from each

of the tribal chairs and allow them to tell us what they perceive

as the needs, what they would like to see happen, and then we will

have time for questions and answers.
5

I do want to say that the President’s budget is a significant disappointment to many of us. It’s quite clear that we have to address

this Federal budget deficit, there’s no question about that, and we

have to tighten our belts. It’s quite clear there’s waste in the Federal Government and we ought to cut out the waste. It’s also clear

to me, however, there are a number of things that we do that address poverty for people in this country that really need some help,

and to have budget cuts in those areas I think is just wrong.

The President zeroes out the Johnson O’Malley Program, which

is a very important program for Indians, zero funding for United

Tribes I mentioned, zero funding for Urban Indian Health Program, zero funding for the Tribal College Endowment Program,

funding for only one Indian health facility in the entire country,

you know, a $50-million decrease in school construction for BIA

schools.

This is a budget that’s a significant disappointment because

there’s so much we need to do, and this budget in most areas retreats from that obligation. And my hope is that as Congress

grasps this budget and begins to debate it and thinks through this

budget, we can come to a better conclusion and come to a conclusion that we have a responsibility to make good investments and

to improve the lives of Americans who are living, in many cases,

below the poverty level and living without the basic services that

you need in this country.

So having said all of that, there are a couple of things in the

President’s budget that I should mention. He does include several

million dollars for an Indian suicide prevention program. My guess

is that that’s because we held a hearing here in North Dakota, held

a hearing in Washington, DC, and began to shine a spotlight on a

very serious problem. We need to begin moving down that road to

provide the resources to address it, and I appreciate the President’s

willingness to do that.

So on relatively short notice, the tribal chairs have made themselves available to speak on behalf of their tribes here this morning, and I want to thank them for doing that. Before I call on the

tribal chairs, I want to recognize Lynn Clancy, who is here representing Senator Conrad’s office. Lynn, would you like to say a

word on behalf of Senator Conrad.

STATEMENT OF LYNN CLANCY, ON BEHALF OF SENATOR

KENT CONRAD

Mr. CLANCY. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And thank

you for holding this hearing. Senator Conrad regrets that he cannot

be here, but I do have testimony from him that I would like to have

entered in the record. I don’t intend to read it, but he would like

to just express his disappointment in the President’s budget and

especially in the area of education and housing and health, but this

is the fifth year that the United Tribes Technical College has been

deleted from the budget, and he would like to support this effort

today to make the record that things need to change.

[Prepared statement of Senator Conrad appears in appendix.]

Senator DORGAN. Thank you very much, Lynn. Let me point out

that Senator Conrad is a member of the Committee on Indian Affairs in the U.S. Senate and does an excellent job and I’m pleased
6

to work with him. He’s in another part of the State today and simply could not be here, but I appreciate very much his statement.

As I indicated previously, Congressman Pomeroy is the voice in

the U.S. House that allows us to keep this funding for United

Tribes, among other things, in the appropriations process, so I

thank both of my colleagues and I thank them very much for their

statements.

I’m going to begin with Ken Davis. Ken is the tribal chairman

from the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe. In fact, I believe he has

just arrived back from some meetings in Washington, DC, about

this budget. The reason I’ve chosen you, Ken, I think you actually

have some seniority over the chair; is that right? I think you became tribal chair before Myra did.

Mr. DAVIS. One year before that. Myra used to be chair.

Senator DORGAN. Myra used to be chair. Well, then skip it, Ken.

Mr. DAVIS. There’s been a little confusion.

Senator DORGAN. Let me call on Chairman Ken Davis, and Ken

Davis has been very active working on a range of issues on behalf

of his tribe and, as I said, just arrived back from meetings in

Washington, DC, on this very budget. So, Chairman Davis, thank

you very much for joining us and why don’t you proceed.

STATEMENT OF KEN W. DAVIS, CHAIRMAN, TURTLE

MOUNTAIN CHIPPEWA TRIBE

Mr. DAVIS. Good morning, Senator Dorgan. Good to see you

again. Members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs

and other visitors and distinguished guests. I want to thank you

first for holding this hearing today and I’m glad to be here to provide you this testimony. I know this committee, especially you, Senator Dorgan, Senator Conrad, and also Congressman Pomeroy, are

special friends of Indian people and that you do the best you can

to help us out and look out for our best interests.

For those of you, as I’ve been introduced, I am the chairman of

the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and I am a member of the National BIA Budget Advisory Task Force along with

Chairman Hall.

I want to give you a little background very quickly here on the

Federal budget process. I don’t know if many of you remember, but

in fiscal year 1996, there was a major across-the-board reduction

in what we call the tribal priority allocations, and Senator Gordon

at that time led that charge, and I just want to say those tribal

priority allocations at Turtle Mountain, those reductions, those are

the local funds. There’s different parts, of course, of the BIA budget, but the local funds, we had a reduction from a little over $6 million to a little over $5 million, over a $1-million reduction.

I want to say that we’ve never recovered—these programs that

work at the reservation level have never recovered from those reductions. And now we see in the President’s fiscal year 2007 request a continued attempt, more significant reductions. And we understand there’s a Federal deficit—budget deficit, we understand

that there’s a disaster in New Orleans in Katrina, we understand

there’s a war going on, but at the same time the needs of Indian

people in this country, the first Americans, also are needed to be

considered as we go forward with the Federal budget process.
7

I want to remark that I think it’s very important that the Cobell

case gets settled because it is having a budget impact, not only the

fact of what we’ve seen recently of the $7 million to pay attorneys

and accountants, and so forth, but the priorities for the BIA to reform itself are siphoning off major resources that have been needed

to be able to fund essential programs at the reservation level.

I’ve got a philosophy that I’ve been promoting with the National

Budget Committee. I call it a do-not-harm budget, that as we look

forward and we look at the increased need due to our populations

and also the cost-of-living increases and the pay cost increases as

we move forward, even if we can’t get significant increases, I respectfully ask those of you that appropriate this money consider do

no harm, keep our people at a level at least that we’re not going

backwards.

You had a hearing recently, Senator Dorgan, on suicide, and I

don’t see a lot in this budget to address many parts of what’s needed to provide the types of necessary support services for suicide

prevention.

At Turtle Mountain you’ll see in our testimony—I have provided

written testimony that we do—we will be working with you and

Senator Conrad and Congressman Pomeroy on some special requests for a community youth center for the young people of Turtle

Mountain. And we recently got selected by the Northwest Area

Foundation for a major poverty reduction initiative, and we hope

to be able to leverage and broker some assistance there and other

sources to deal with issues such as the high risk of suicide at Turtle Mountain.

We have a continuing—and I’ve worked with your staff. We have

a continuing crisis developing in Indian country on welfare assistance. Until we get our economic development and the tribal economies at the level that the rest of this country and the State of

North Dakota is in, that we’re going to continue to have to depend

upon Federal assistance for the most basic essential needs of our

people, and welfare assistance in the BIA is a necessary ingredient

to be able to take care of those basic needs of a certain segment

of our population. And if you wouldn’t have restored the money in

2006—the President was planning to totally, totally wipe out welfare assistance in the 2007 request, but instead there’s an $11-million reduction.

And I’ve got information again in my testimony here that you

will see that at Turtle Mountain that our numbers continue to increase. I’m providing you data to show you from 2002 the general

assistance and burial assistance and emergency fire assistance and

tribal work experience. Our caseload continues to increase, our

total dollar amount continues to increase, while the administration

says we need less money. And last year they started taking people

off of welfare assistance and, of course, with your help again, we

were able to get the administration to provide some supplemental

assistance, and that is going to have to be done again in 2006. We

can’t wait until 2007.

I want to thank you for your support and the committee’s support of the IHS budget. I realize the medical needs of Indian people

have always been a priority. I know you can’t give us all we ask

for, and the budget again is increasing in 2006 and the administra-
8

tion is asking for an additional increase. That doesn’t tell the true

picture.

I’ve got testimony again—written testimony that gives you a better insight into the true picture. The local budget that we have at

our local facility is only able to provide priority 1 contract health

services. These are the life and death type of services. Other essential contract needs where you need to go to specialists for a variety

of reasons, IHS—you’re on a waiting list. And at the local level

we’re now using generic drugs, not being able to get some of the

best drugs this country has to offer. Instead, we’re having replacements with generic drugs.

I want to also mention that we do have a tribal community, outer

tribe, and in this President’s budget request where they intend to

wipe out Johnson O’Malley, reduce job training and the wildlife

and parks, that’s going to have a major negative effect. They get

very little out of the Federal Government. They have been kind of

a hybrid satellite community of ours and they’ve grown over the

years, but, also, they are a part of this budget.

I do want to mention this realignment issue, and I want to say

the task force on reorganizing BIA in the 1990’s came out clear

that the BIA needed to delegate its authorities to the lowest levels

in the BIA, not build up the hierarchy to the tune in 2007 of an

additional $17 million to support education management at the

central level. And they expect us to accept a diminishment of the

federal presence and responsibility on our reservation. Every tribe

I’ve talked to over the past 21⁄2 years opposes this alignment, yet

the BIA continues to move forward. Congress needs to require the

BIA in fiscal year 2007 to get our consent before any more dollars

are spent on this realignment.

I also want to say that in the early 2000’s that there was a major

backlog in construction and repairs.

Again, I want to thank you for the assistance on the new school

construction that we have at Turtle Mountain, but that doesn’t tell

the true story again nationwide. The construction and repair program since 2001 has been reduced 134 million by the administration, and this was a time when the backlog—we had the support

of the Congress to get that backlog completed.

I’ve gotten, as I said, considerable testimony here from my tribal

program directors, and I do want to say we continue to support the

restoration of the money for United Tribes and we also support the

college movement and the need there. We understand that the ISA

program for our children is probably underfunded to the tune of

about 1,800 to $2,000 per weighted student unit, and I will be providing you additional information, Senator, as we go forward.

I am going into Washington, DC next week. I hope to get a meeting with you and your staff, but there’s more details in what I’ve

provided in the written testimony. So with that I’ll be glad to answer any questions or if you want to wait until the rest get done.

[Prepared statement of Mr. Davis appears in appendix.]

Senator DORGAN. Chairman Davis, I’m going to wait until all of

the testimony has been completed, then I have a number of questions of you, but let me next turn—we are asking for 10-minute

statements and you were right on the button, Chairman Davis.
9

Myra Pearson is the chairperson of the Spirit Lake Tribe. Myra,

thank you for joining us and you may proceed and your entire

statement will be part of the record.

STATEMENT OF MYRA PEARSON, CHAIRWOMAN, SPIRIT LAKE

NATION, FORT TOTTEN, ND

Ms. PEARSON. Thank you, Senator Dorgan. Again, I’d like to say

good morning, Vice Chairman Dorgan and distinguished members

of the committee. Thank you for inviting the North Dakota tribal

chairs to provide testimony on behalf of our respective nations.

I am Myra Pearson, chairwoman of the Spirit Lake Nation,

headquartered in Fort Totten, ND. Before beginning, I would like

to thank the committee for supporting American Indian initiatives

at the national and State level, and especially those projects where

Spirit Lake was involved.

By being here today, we as tribal leaders have been asked to testify about the needs and priorities of our tribes in terms of funding.

These areas of need and priority are not an exhaustive list of our

needs, but they are a start. By providing for these needs, we as

tribal governments can carryout the mission that we undertook

when we were sworn into office.

Our tribal government is the primary policymaker for the four

tribal communities on Spirit Lake. Because of this responsibility,

we have come to realize the importance of using objective data to

guide our decisionmaking and addressing the needs of our people.

These needs vary by the age of our enrolled members and are influenced by our culture.

We consider our children the future of our people, we respect our

elders as keepers of our traditions, and value our veterans as protectors of our people. However, there are three issues that affect all

groups. These are poor health status, access to health care and lack

of housing. For Spirit Lake, most transportation issues such as distance and cost fall under barriers for access in health care. All of

these issues are a result of poverty; thus, education and economic

development are critical to addressing these needs.

Health status and access to health care are the primary concerns

for our tribal council as we continue to subsidize the health care

of our tribal members due to inadequate IHS funding. Senator Dorgan and other distinguished members, we are aware of your support of the Indian Healthcare Improvement Act and request that

you continue your efforts to get this legislation reauthorized. Your

support is necessary to assisting our Federal Government in fulfilling one of the most important trust responsibilities for our people.

The Aberdeen Area IHS Region, of which North Dakota is a part

of, has the lowest life expectancy of all IHS regions in the Nation

at 64.3 years of age compared to the 77.6 years of age for the Nation, a difference of 13.3 years. This disparity is partially a result

of the rural isolation of the community, shortage of health providers and increasing poverty levels common among our people.

According to research conducted by the University of North Dakota Center for Health Promotion and the UND Center for Rural

Health, Spirit Lake adults, when compared to their North Dakota

counterparts ages 18 and over, were found to have poorer health

status, inadequate access to health care, higher health risk factors,
10

less health screenings, and lower chronic diseases. The results of

this data are listed in my testimony, and due to time restraints I’m

not going to go into those percentages, but I hope that they become

a part of my testimony.

The lack of screenings and health promotion activities among our

young and elder population are of special concern for our tribal

council as we see a significant change in health once our population

reaches elder status at age 55. We believe the lack of disease prevention, health screenings, chronic disease management, and

health promotion efforts seen among our young tribal members

eventually results in increased health disparities among our elders.

Another primary issue to our council that is also a Federal trust

issue is education of our young people. Results from the previously

cited report indicated that Spirit Lake adults were less likely to

have achieved higher levels of education when compared to their

North Dakota counterparts.

These results mirror national statistics provided in recent Senate

Committee on Indian Affairs testimony on February 16, 2006, by

Ryan Wilson, president of the National Indian Education Association. Increased funding initiatives to raise the educational status of

our people are imperative. Our children continue to test below their

North Dakota counterparts, and increased funding is needed to

provide a firm educational foundation for our children. Tribal college students are funded at one-half of what non-tribal community

college students receive at $4,447 per full-time student, 75 percent

of what is authorized. Regardless of the age of our student population, we request your support for the NIEA initiatives proposed

in last week’s testimony.

The correlation between health status, education levels and socioeconomic status is well documented. Thus, the issue of education

is critical to raising the health status and overall income of our

people. By raising education levels, we not only increase earning

capacity and one’s ability to access health insurance and health

care, but we also increase the amount of taxes paid into our Federal Government.

A housing shortage at Spirit Lake is denoted by 233 families currently on the housing waiting list. In most cases overcrowding is

occurring with multiple families residing in homes built for single

families. Recent flooding on our reservation and the resulting high

water table has also caused mold problems that have raised additional health concerns regarding asthma and other respiratory diseases. Substandard housing weatherization has resulted in increased heating bill costs that are severely affecting our tribal

members’ ability to make ends meet.

I also want to make a part of my testimony that the law enforcement and tribal courts are severely underfunded. At Spirit Lake

our tribal court is currently staffed with two judges, three clerks

and a juvenile officer. Our law enforcement agency is forced to

work in conditions where often only one police officer is assigned

to a shift. Further budget cutbacks for these programs has an effect

upon the ability of law enforcement and the courts to administer

justice. Not only that, but these law enforcement officers are placed

in extreme risk of injury by being forced to patrol an entire reservation alone.
11

These issues facing our communities in the area of public safety

not only affect our community, but also neighboring communities

with such issues as sex offender registration, domestic violence and

an emergence of drugs such as meth. We are seeing a need for

State, tribal and Federal law enforcement agencies to cooperate

now more than ever. In order for tribal communities to be safeguarded, we need to be sure that our law enforcement and tribal

courts are adequately equipped to do their part in combating these

social problems.

Also, we have a tremendous need for a detention center. At Spirit

Lake we have no juvenile detention at all. We are forced to contract

with state facilities when funding is available, and much of the

time it is not. The end result is that many juveniles are committing

crimes more often and it is becoming more serious in nature. I believe that this is due to the fact that a juvenile offender knows

when they come before the court, the judge will not be able to send

them to detention because no detention exists. With no alternatives

such as work service programs or home monitoring, the juvenile

court is extremely limited in what it can do to hinder juvenile

crime on the Spirit Lake. We need funding for juvenile facilities

and alternative programs if we are to end this cycle among our

youth.

As a part of our mission, our tribal governments are responsible

for ensuring that general health and well-being of our people are

provided for and protected. There is no doubt that these budget

shortfalls significantly impact our ability to carryout this mission.

Beyond the budget shortfalls, I am concerned over the apparent

unwillingness of the Federal Government to listen to the tribes

when we do provide comments and input in budgetary needs. The

2007 budget cuts are a clear reflection of this unwillingness. Tribal

leaders were among the many consulted with Federal agencies on

the 2007 budget, and still the comments and input from those tribal leaders were seemingly ignored.

All of the above-mentioned issues are critical and of priority to

Spirit Lake. We recognize the importance of applied research in developing plans of action. However, we also recognize our culture

and our community expertise must be implemented if these efforts

are to be successful. We are open to working with your committee

to move forward in the effort of addressing the disparities being experienced across Indian country. Furthermore, we applaud your efforts to reach out to the North Dakota tribes to get a better picture

of our needs. And I thank you for this.

[Prepared statement of Ms. Pearson appears in appendix.]

Senator DORGAN. Chairperson Pearson, thank you very much. I

want to read into the record just a couple of statistics that you did

not. There are a number of them that come from the University of

North Dakota Center for Health Promotion and some that come

from the National Resource Center on Native American Aging and

they relate to the adults on your reservation.

Spirit Lake adults were 59 percent less likely to have health coverage, 52 percent less likely to have a personal doctor, 78 percent

more likely to be obese, 193 percent more likely to smoke, just to

pick out some, 288 percent more likely to chronically drink. The

National Resource Center on Native American Aging in your state-
12

ment says that Spirit Lake elders were 44 percent more likely to

have arthritis, 90 percent more likely to have congestive heart failure, 206 percent more likely to have diabetes, 375 percent more

likely to have colon or rectal cancer.

I just point out that your testimony includes some statistics that

also describe some very serious problems and some very serious,

especially health care, issues faced by members of your tribe.

Tex Hall is here. Did he just leave? Tex is hard to pin down, you

know. Tex Hall has now joined us. I indicated, Chairman Hall, that

you were coming in on an airplane. We have a seat up here and

we’re about ready for you if you’re willing to offer us testimony.

What we have been doing is asking for, Chairman Hall, a 10-

minute oral testimony, if you will.

Mr. HALL. Oh, I’ll keep it to 10 minutes, Senator.

Senator DORGAN. Then we will hear from Matt Lopez, who is

speaking on behalf of Chairman Ron His Horse Is Thunder from

Standing Rock. As I introduce Tex Hall, I should say that we in

North Dakota have been enormously proud of his national leadership, two terms as president of the National Congress of American

Indians, and Tex has been very involved.

Chairman Davis, you mentioned the Cobell case, and I know all

of you have been involved in that, none more so than Tex Hall, in

trying to develop a national concensus on how we try to address

the Cobell case, because, I agree, Chairman Davis, that we have to

find a way to see if we can resolve that. It has an impact on so

many other things. At any rate, that’s a long introduction. Chairman Hall, we know you have been flying this morning, but we’re

very pleased your being with us to speak on behalf of your tribe,

the Three Affiliated Tribes.

STATEMENT OF TEX G. HALL, CHAIRMAN, THREE AFFILIATED

TRIBES

Mr. HALL. Good morning, Senator Dorgan, all of the staff that

are here and Dr. Gipp and all of the public that’s gathered here.

I want to thank you, first of all, for the hearing. We’re very proud

of your leadership in bringing the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs basically right here to United Tribes College in Bismarck.

As you mentioned with Chairman Davis and Chairman Pearson

and Matt Lopez, we have been working with the BIA—on the BIA

2007 budget and we’re very concerned that—‘‘consultation’’ is a

word that I really think that we would like to work with the committee on defining what that means. And I caught the end of

Chairwoman Pearson’s testimony about when we prioritize law enforcement because of the problems that we have and the lack of

law enforcement officers—they say there’s 15 million short nationwide—and we don’t get adequate funding for that, it appears that

that’s not real meaningful consultation. So I really would like to

look at it. There’s a past—President Clinton and President Bush

have an executive order that requires meaningful consultation, but

I guess if we meet and discuss and agree and if we come back and

then the priorities change, maybe we have to define even further

what ‘‘meaningful consultation’’ means.

I do want—a second point, Senator. I do want to touch on the

recent 7.7 million that was paid for the—to the Cobell attorneys.
13

And in talking with Jim Casson, I believe there was a—I want to

say a .1 percent across-the-board rescission with the exception of,

I believe it’s education and law enforcement, but still, nevertheless,

the rest of the programs were an across-the-board cut, and I really

question the legality, Mr. Chairman, on that.

I believe that the budget should be a do-not-harm budget as it

comes to the Cobell lawsuit because that is clearly an attack—to

me, in my opinion, Mr. Chairman, it’s an attack on the plaintiffs

or the allottees trying to seek justice, and my understanding the

judge paid—required a payment of 7.7 for the attorneys under the

Equal Access to Justice Act. Well, there’s not equal justice for the

500,000 Native Americans who are seeking justice through the

Cobell to amend their programs to get an across-the-board cut.

We’re very concerned about that and look forward to your leadership in S. 1439, the McCain-Dorgan Trust Reform and Settlement

bill, and I understand there’s a hearing that’s coming up.

I do want to mention the ILCA under that section of the bill, S.

1439. Fractionation is a huge problem for our tribe, the Mandan,

Hidatsa, Arikara Nation. For all of the tribes here in North Dakota

it’s a major problem. And the amount and the probates are backlogged and the budgets just don’t reflect adequately our backlog of

just trust transactions, lease and approval. Land sales, land trades,

land exchanges, gift deeds are just a tremendous backlog. Then if

you look at the 2007 President’s budget, there is a cut in realty

transactions. So you can put all the money you want—there’s an

increase in the ILCA budget, Indian Land Consolidation Act budget, but if you don’t put the increases in the people that do day-today land transactions, you’ll never get to the backlog and the

money will just sit there and the BIA will be forced to reprogram

to another priority so the money will not be used for what it’s intended for.

The last point on ILCA I would like to make is currently the way

the law reads is that the family members or family farmers or

ranchers cannot access this program. Only the tribes. So if there’s

a fractionation for a family, that they’re out of luck. And I would

recommend that maybe in S. 1439—I know there’s a land consolidation piece of your legislation, Senator Dorgan, that we look at

that and we discussed that here at the United Tribes College

among the tribal chairs previously.

I received testimony from all of our staff and they’re all very concerned. We have 64 departments and 550 staff members at the

MHA Nation. Welfare assistance is proposed to take a cut in the

President’s budget. Road maintenance is proposed to take a cut.

The Johnson O’Malley Program is to be eliminated. The fire protection program is to be eliminated. So we’re very concerned that—

these programs are so vital. That’s what we were talking about,

Chairman Davis, yesterday about do not harm. There should be a

do-not-harm mechanism for these budgets because there’s a treaty

obligation and trust responsibility. And if we lose our fire program,

we have no access to protect our communities. We can’t have safe

and self-sustaining communities. If we lose our law enforcement officers, and we have 6 BIA cops and 10 tribal cops that were funded

under the COPS DOJ grant that expired now this year. So as of

January, last month, the tribe is using JTAC funds to pick that up.
14

On health care, we’re supplementing over 2 million a year for our

CHS and our contract health—JTAC funds. We’re afraid, Senator—

JTAC funds were not intended to supplant the BIA, and that is exactly what is happening over and over, and I can go down the list.

On higher education—we really place a strong emphasis on our

education and our higher education. We’re now down—with the reductions we’re down to 1,350 each—$1,350 for each. And we had

over 350 eligible. Now we’ll have to cut that down to probably 100

less. And our statistics—it’s in our testimony, Mr. Chairman, we’re

very proud. For those that have a 3.5 or a better—20 percent of the

350 are over a 3.5. For those that are 3.0 and above, we are 55 percent. For those that are 2.0 and above, we’re 20. So basically 95

percent of our higher education students are over 2.0 GPA. So the

results—this is a good investment, the results are there, and, unfortunately, the budgets are getting less and less. So we just really

want to emphasize.

And, of course, our college here is again eliminated from this

budget. And we really get confused when we go into the administration meetings like yesterday and they talk about PART and they

talk about GPRA, about how the Government Performance Results

Act, requires all these tribal programs to produce good results and

then we give them statistics and then we don’t know what happens

to those statistics when the budgets get cut. It doesn’t add up.

We’re trying to really make these dollars—and we could go to law

enforcement. Crime is being reduced because of our law enforcement, but the budgets are not. We can go to education on Johnson

O’Malley and higher education. The results are there, but our

budgets are being cut. So it’s really confusing on how the Government Performance Results Act or PART, the Program Assessment

Rating Tool, is administered. It appears to be arbitrarily administered to us, Mr. Chairman. So I don’t know what the committee

can—how they can help the tribes look into that because we get—

we kind of get the run-around when we ask the administration,

and they just say, well, you got to keep doing the PART, you got

to keep doing the GPRA.

On health care facilities, we’re very concerned, of course, of that

cut again, and it’s only down to 18 million, and there’s a number

of facilities to be constructed on the priority list in the Aberdeen

area, and including our tribe, which is looking to get outside that

area, because if it’s under that 18 million, as you know, under the

President’s budget, Mr. Chairman, we have been waiting since

1948, it will be another 50-some years beyond this before—at 18

million it’s—they know—the administration knows that there’s a

$1-billion backlog. Again, it’s confusing. I don’t know how they justify their budgets. So our tribe and all the tribes will be waiting

for another 50 years to get either on a priority list or to get adequate funding.

And I see Urban Indian Health is entirely eliminated, and half

of our people live off the reservation. Many of our people live in

Bismarck, Mandan, Fargo, and Grand Forks. And I do not understand, Mr. Chairman, how the administration again justified eliminating a program when they have a trust responsibility. And that

to me, I guess, would be—my own opinion is they don’t understand

the trust responsibility.
15

And, anyway, Mr. Chairman, I could go on and on, but I want

to submit my entire testimony for the record, Mr. Chairman. I

would be happy to answer any questions.

Senator DORGAN. Without objection—I have a number of questions, but we will have your entire statement printed in the record.

[Prepared statement of Mr. Hall appears in appendix.]

Senator DORGAN. Next, Matt Lopez is here on behalf of Chairman Ron His Horse Is Thunder from the Standing Rock Tribe.

Matt, would you want to proceed?

STATEMENT OF MATT STRONGHEART-LOPEZ, ON BEHALF OF

CHAIRMAN RON HIS HORSE IS THUNDER, STANDING ROCK

SIOUX TRIBE

Mr. STRONGHEART-LOPEZ. Good morning, Senator and members

of the committee, and welcome. We also want to thank you for

being here this morning.

My name is Matt Strongheart-Lopez and I’m a councilman at

large, also the vice chairman of the HEW Committee for Standing

Rock. And Chairman His Horse Is Thunder regrets that he could

not be here this morning for sake of the loss of one of our constituents. James Jamerson passed away last week, and he was recently

elected from the Running Antelope District, representative to the

council, so his memorial service is today and so he will be there.

But, nonetheless, I just want to give you, Senator and your office,

our regards there from Standing Rock.

And this morning, as you know, we do have many, many issues

which have already been addressed, and so forth, for your hearing

today, but for us, you know, we want to prioritize education and

the restoration of the Johnson O’Malley and the higher education

and the BIA education, and so forth.

The main—one of the reasons that we want to bring this forward, just to be able to tie together the BIA cuts and IHS cuts, is

that, just for an example, with the new regulations, you know,

being passed down With No Child Left Behind, many of our

schools, of course, are not maintaining their adequate yearly

progress, [AYP] but they’re identifying attendance as a major factor

in that. And so when we as a tribal government go forth to pull

on those resources within the BIA judiciary or law enforcement to

address this issue, they’re not there, it’s not happening for us. So

the effects for these budget cuts to our communities impose a significant malfunction in our society and for those lack of law enforcements and to maintain our courts and, also, you know, allowing for our children not to go to school, and so forth. But, most importantly, where it ties the IHS in, and I know you have paid close

attention to, Senator, is that this opens the door for unsupervision

for our children and which leads to the suicides and, you know, we

just can’t put a figure on this human life, and so forth.

So, you know, as you ask, how is this going—how are these budget effects going to affect Indian country? Well, in that area is one

and, you know, of course, as you know, we maintain an economy

in surrounding communities, but also just the economy within the

communities of our reservation. You know, it’s important to us just

to have that IHS not only in mental health, the health budgets restored, but also our construction dollars in the IHS.
16

So I’m sure that we’ll have other testimonies dealing with those

treaty rights—it’s been mentioned—and trust responsibility, but I’ll

just close with that. I do have more testimony to submit there to

you, but, most of all, Senator, we want to thank you for your work

and, most importantly, for your loyalty to Indian country. So thank

you.

[Prepared statement of Mr. Strongheart-Lopez on behalf of Ron

His Horse Is Thunder appears in appendix.]

Senator DORGAN. Matt, thank you very much. Your entire statement will be made a part of the record.

Let me ask first about Johnson O’Malley funds. Many people

wouldn’t know what Johnson O’Malley funds are. My understanding is that the Johnson O’Malley funds are allowing you to provide

for after-school programs that provide for young students’ tutoring

and counseling after school, and I think it’s an investment of about

$80 per student. Can you tell me how the Johnson O’Malley funds

are used and how many students on your reservation are affected?

And, as you know, the President would zero out this program.

What would the impact be on the children of your reservation? Mr.

Davis.

Mr. DAVIS. Senator, at Turtle Mountain Johnson O’Malley funds

the students that attend the surrounding public schools at St.

John’s, Dunseith Public, Rolla, Rolette, and those moneys come

through the tribe, and roughly the number is around, I believe,

700, 800. The program has been decreased significantly over the

years. It’s on a formula basis. But the actual money does a lot of

things. And I look at it, Johnson O’Malley is supplemental—exclusively supplemental.

When it was passed in 1934, there was a big provision for direct

primary support of public schools, but that got done away with in

the seventies and since then it’s been only a supplemental program. And I consider it the type of program that helps us build

self-esteem of students for areas that their parents cannot financially help them or else the school system can’t actually help them.

It could be after-school tutoring, it could be helping getting class

pictures, because if you couldn’t afford them, a kid’s self-esteem

would be hurt, for camps, both academic camps and other sports

camps some kids get sent to. It’s a variety of supplemental services.

Senator DORGAN. All right. But, also, it includes the principal

after-school programs for children who in some cases have nowhere

else to go and get tutoring in these programs. Is that correct?

That is correct.

Senator DORGAN. Chairman Hall.

Mr. HALL. Mr. Chairman, real brief, the way—as an old superintendent, the way I look at it is that it’s so important for those

kids that need the program for after-school activities, for extracurricular, including tutoring. For some kids, if they don’t get tutoring, they’re not going to pass. They need extra help in math or

English or science, wherever their weakness is. For those kids that

can afford tutoring or for those districts that have—real wealthy

districts, those kids are going to make it.

On my reservation it’s between 100 and 150 kids. It’s about $80,000 to $100,000, the budget fluctuates. But those 100 to 125,

150 kids, they will be eliminated, I envision, because a lot of these
17

kids are at that place in their school where they can succeed or

they can’t succeed. So the program clearly makes a difference, and,

again, I don’t understand why it was eliminated when it makes

such a tremendous difference for those kids and families.

Senator DORGAN. Was there any consultation with any of you by

the administration, by the BIA about the potential elimination of

the Johnson O’Malley program?

Mr. HALL. Absolutely none whatsoever. We were actually on

record, the Tribal Budget Advisory Council, [TBAC]. That’s where

Ken and I represent the region, as well as Cecelia Fire Thunder

from Pine Ridge. We represent the Aberdeen Area Office TBAC,

which represents the 12 regions of Indian country. Nobody wanted

this program cut. We’re hearing from Alaska tribes, the Dakota

tribes, the Oklahoma tribes—these areas are really concerned—and

Mexico—are very concerned where most of the Johnson O’Malley

funds are.

Senator DORGAN. Let me ask just 1 moment about contract

health. The Indian Health Service has not been very forthcoming

when I’ve asked them some pretty tough questions about this, and

I understand why, but, you know, I have been asking them what

are the unfunded health care requirements as a result of your

budget. In other words, stated another way, what percent of the

need for health care is being met under the trust responsibility

here? I finally have gotten an answer from them, although it’s not

on the record, it’s on background, but the answer is between 60

and 65 percent of the health care needs of American Indians are

being met. Translated, 35 to 40 percent of the health care needs

are not met.

Now, as I try to answer the question and, I guess, ask the question, what are the needs that are not being met? Part of it, I think,

was in the testimony that you’ve given today. You talk about the

contract health care waiting list. My understanding is that the

funding for the contract health care—that is, health care that

you’re going to have to get at some other facility—is sufficiently

low so that only a certain kind of life-threatening disease or lifethreatening event is able to be covered and other things you just

wait for. So tell me, what are those things that you can’t get health

services for? What are they waiting for? Because there’s not sufficient money in the contract health care area?

Mr. HALL. Mr. Chairman, that’s really a red flag for our tribes.

Actually, we’re funded at 45 percent. We did an analysis. Again,

that’s part of our JTAC funds that supplement what we can. But

priority 1 is what you’re alluding to, Mr. Chairman, and that has

to be life- or limb-threatening in order for you to get a referral approved. Then there’s a report done now in Aberdeen that’s called

Don’t Get Sick After June. That means your budget runs out in

June in contract health. This is the facts. And some of the folks are

laughing in the audience. They’re laughing because that’s how

crazy it is. This report really was done—I think it was targeted for

Aberdeen. Don’t Get Sick After June means they run out of contract health, so you’ve got to postpone that surgery, you’ve got to

postpone that operation, so many people just simply go without.

And the troubling part of it is what happens when it’s carried

over to the next year? If I was a priority 1 client and it was after
18

June, I wouldn’t get that surgery, so they may tell me I have to

come back, you know, next—maybe October 1 or October 2 you

could get that surgery. Well, what happens if my priority gets

changed to priority 2 or 3, which I know it happens, and when it

goes to 2 or 3, then I’m not eligible for contract health because only

priority 1.

Senator DORGAN. And priority 1 is life and limb?

Mr. HALL. Yes.

Senator DORGAN. Myra, what are the examples of that?

Ms. PEARSON. Exactly what Chairman Hall said. IHS is

prioritizing your illnesses and stuff and only if you’re a priority 1

is when you’re going to receive your health care.

But I also ran into this the other day when I was home. I get

all those calls at my office, you know, when something is going on

down there, but I got two calls and they both were in regards to

diabetes. There was a young girl, 17 years old, who needed her insulin and then there’s an elderly lady in her eighties that needed

her insulin. When they went down there to get their medication for

them, they told them they were out of the insulin. So it’s things

like that. You know, there’s shortages on the medicine. Your priorities have to be dealt with either in Grand Forks or here in Bismarck. Grand Forks don’t take any of the people from Spirit Lake

anymore because they haven’t paid the bills and now they’re referring them down here to Bismarck.

Senator DORGAN. And they haven’t paid the bills because of contract health payments. Let me ask you this. Under contract health,

under the old system, if you actually went and got the service, then

somehow contract health didn’t pay for it, isn’t that a circumstance

where it comes back and ruins the credit of the individual that got

the service?

Ms. PEARSON. Your names are entered into the credit bureau.

Mr. HALL. Mr. Chairman, could I just make one real brief comment?

Senator DORGAN. Yes, Tex.

Mr. HALL. I have tribal members, that they stop by my house because the debt collector—because IHS has not paid for their medical bill even though they were approved but ran out of money.

They were garnishing their income tax that comes into their bank

account. I’ve had ladies—men and women come in with their five

or six kids. I think they just did that just so I can see who’s not

getting that money, that income tax return.

Senator DORGAN. That’s shameful. Ken.

Mr. DAVIS. Well, a couple cases that I’ve had—under contract

care there has been a few and I’ve been unsuccessful. We’ve had

some tribal members who have been off the reservation and all of

a sudden this one lady had certain abdominal pains and she came

into the emergency ward here in Minot and she ended up getting

hospitalized. The doctors determined that she needed to be put

under surveillance, and she was, she went back and requested for

coverage. They have a 72-hour rule. They turned her down and

said it wasn’t life-threatening.

You’ve got a whole bunch of specialists also, whether it’s a knee

surgery, whether it’s a hip replacement, whether it’s a foot, and in

some cases detoxification—individuals have to be sent to other
19

places for detox. Sometimes it’s youth placements for mental health

reasons or other reasons, but, again, contract care moneys are not

available so they have a waiting list, and those waiting lists are

never reached anymore because priority 1’s are all they do.

Senator DORGAN. Let me ask which of you have any community

youth centers? That issue came up when I held the hearings on

youth suicide. Matt, does your reservation have a community youth

center?

Mr. STRONGHEART-LOPEZ. I believe we do, Senator. It’s the Boys

and Girls Club. And, you know, we’ve, of course, continued to find

funding and activity for them in this facility. But, again, I would

have to pull on staff to get figures of what kind of numbers are run

through the facility, but I think, also, we need to develop—we need

to advance that also into the youth—you know, not just the younger children, but into the youth, as well.

Senator DORGAN. But I don’t believe you have a significant youth

facility, do you, at Standing Rock——

Mr. STRONGHEART-LOPEZ. No.

Senator DORGAN [continuing]. Where you can conduct substantial

organized activities? Let me ask you a question. What is the unemployment rate at Standing Rock. Do you know?

Mr. STRONGHEART-LOPEZ. Well, the unemployment is going to

run between 60 and 70 percent. This is of enrolled members who

are able and willing to work, but don’t—but can’t have that job.

I just wanted to mention something, Senator, on this with the

IHS and the staffing of these facilities and the doctors. One of the

things, we know we’re running into patients having lack of services

with patients, and so forth, but, you know, we also lack the number

of doctors to provide that service, as well. It’s similar to the BIA

law enforcement thing, as I understand it. But I just want to make

mention of that, that we do have that lack of doctors. And many

of our facilities run into problems with that in the weekend service,

as well, with the IHS.

Senator DORGAN. Let me ask, if I can, of Chairman Davis, what

is the unemployment rate on your reservation?

Mr. DAVIS. The last labor force report that was done had it

around 65 percent, Senator.

Senator DORGAN. Okay. And I’m going to come back to that and

ask about economic development. That is the reason I’m asking

that question. Do you have a significant community youth center

on your reservation?

Mr. DAVIS. No; we don’t. We have been in a planning process and

I’ve included some in testimony here, but it was a priority of my

administration that I wanted to address this particular need, and

we’re in the process right now working with an architectural firm.

We’ve laid out the program, we’re doing the initial design of it—

or we’re doing the fund-raising now. And the intent there, I’ll just

give you an example. I’ve got a grandson of mine that I raised, 15

years old. Every time I wanted to take him to the swimming pool

in the summertime, I had to take him off the reservation. Every

time in the wintertime I wanted to take him to an ice-skating rink,

I had to take him off the reservation. Every time I wanted to take

him to a movie, I’ve got to take him off the reservation. Not everybody, with the high rate of poverty we have, has that type of re-
20

source and ability to do that with their children, so their children

don’t get those opportunities. And we realize there’s a segment of

our population that were like me when I was growing up, that were

not a part of the—I call it the reservation middle class the reservation has. They are the ones that are stuck away in the bush or

they’re stuck away in some of these housing projects and they’re

not into the mainstream of youth activities, and we need to reach

those kids because those are the ones that are vulnerable for drugs

and other delinquencies.

Senator DORGAN. Myra, do you have a youth community center

of any significance on the reservation?

Ms. PEARSON. No; we’ve got a recreation center in each of the

districts, but like Standing Rock said, we’re working with the Boys

and Girls Club, which we’ve only started working with them.

They’ve been around, but because they didn’t, you know, combine

the two programs, they finally started working with us, and they

agreed to come into the tribe as part of the tribal programs.

But, again, we have a lot of youth out there that, because of

transportation, aren’t able to get into these centers for activities.

We did have a little $9,000 grant that we were able to go and buy

some computers that were set-up in each of the districts so the students can use them for perhaps after-school tutoring and stuff.

Senator DORGAN. And what is the unemployment rate on your

reservation?

Ms. PEARSON. Oh, it was 65 and I think it’s higher now. We just

had—we had Golden Eagle Wireless now almost completely shut

down.

Senator DORGAN. Tex, what is the unemployment rate of the

Three Affiliated Tribes?

Mr. HALL. It’s about 50 percent, Mr. Chairman. But like the

other tribes have mentioned, North Dakota and South Dakota

tribes, the average is 75 percent. We just looked at those numbers.

This is the poorest region in the entire country and one of the largest land base, just under 9 million acres for 16 tribes in the Dakotas and Nebraska, and probably just under 300,000, so it’s one of

the most populated and biggest land base regions and the most

allottees and landowners, but yet still economic development has

not come to our region.

Senator DORGAN. Let me ask you about economic development

because that has a pretty big impact on the question of what social

services are needed. You know, obviously a good job that pays well

is a pretty significant part of someone’s life, allowing them to do

a lot of the other things, and yet with high unemployment rates,

because there’s just a lack of employment opportunities in many of

these areas, there then is increasing claim on the human services

needs. Can you just give me a brief description of your view of economic development in the future on your reservation?

Mr. HALL. Well, thank you for the question. I really—as the tribal chairman for quite some time now, since the beginning I’ve always focused—my focus has always been on creating a real economy, a self-sustaining economy that includes both tribal businesses

and individual entrepreneurs because, in my opinion, that’s what

builds Main Street, and many of our communities now have a community center and they now have a small convenience store with
21

gasoline sometimes. Every now and then we get a daily newspaper

in some of our isolated communities. And we just started getting—

in my community, Mandaree, we’re just now starting to get a regular daily newspaper, so we’re really proud of that, even though

many of us still haul water and we’re really isolated. So economic

development is critical because——

Senator DORGAN. Can I stop you at that point? You talk about

hauling water and I’ve heard this discussion before just in recent

days. Are there a fair number of people hauling water on your reservation?

Mr. HALL. Just under 300, Mr. Chairman.

Senator DORGAN. 300 citizens are hauling their water for their

daily water needs?

Mr. HALL. Yes; they are. Only the communities—the six communities on Fort Berthold in part of the Dakota Water Resources Act

are hooked up. The outlying rural houses are not. The water pipelines have not reached. And, of course, that’s under your leadership

with the 70 million that was authorized for the Three Affiliated

Tribes.

Senator DORGAN. Right.

Mr. HALL. So hard work and finding good jobs is critical, especially when you can’t get sick after June with IHS. Everybody looks

for trying to get a Blue Cross and Blue Shield medical card. Many

of our people don’t have a 401(k) or a 403(b), that’s just absent, because that’s like chocolate on an ice cream cone. A lot of our people

never accomplish a 401(k) or a 403(b). So we’re looking for real jobs

that pay real good wages. And, of course, we have a couple of construction companies that are looking at 8(a) contracts.

And, Mr. Chairman, I understand that the 8(a) USDA program

is under attack by many people in Congress that want to eliminate

it that don’t understand for those tribes where real gaming has not

really been a real huge impact for us out in rural North Dakota,

the 8(a) program is critical because it gives you preference to your

tribal or individual business to get contracts. And so, of course,

Mandaree Enterprise Corporation, MHA Systems and our Buffalo

Enterprise and all of our businesses are really dependent on that

8(a) program to supply the USDA or the school hot lunch program.

But equity—getting equity for finance—enhanced financing just

continues and just business development continues to be a real

tough battle for us.

Senator DORGAN. Myra, are there people hauling water on your

reservation for their daily water needs, as well?

Ms. PEARSON. Out toward the western part of the reservation,

yes, for drinking water, and some of them don’t use it for doing the

laundry or house chores or anything like that.

Senator DORGAN. Ken, what about your reservation, do you have

people hauling water still?

Mr. DAVIS. Senator, we’ve got a number of people that are on a

waiting list for water and sewer, and so, yes, they must be hauling

water because they don’t have it hooked up. So we got a rural

water system on the reservation, it’s a fairly good delivery system,

but, still, if you don’t have the sewage system set up, it doesn’t

help you a heck of a lot.
22

Mr. STRONGHEART-LOPEZ. Senator, yes, we do have—we are

hauling water here on Standing Rock. And we’re also looking at,

again, furthering development of our water lines, water resources

there. And so we do, also.

Senator DORGAN. All right. Could I just get a brief description of

the fire prevention program and what impact that has on your

funding of the reservations? Tex, you mentioned the fire prevention

program, and I don’t know if you did, Ken, or not. Do you want to

tell me?

Mr. DAVIS. The program that’s targeted for elimination is community fire protection. That’s structural programs. And at Turtle

Mountain the tribe runs the structural fire protection program.

Years ago we used to have to rely exclusively on the facility management, planned management of the BIA. They were the only one

in town that had a fire truck. So about 20 years ago we had some

tribal members that started the department and ended up combining the BIA program with the tribal program, and we get about

$30,000 a year to run a portion of the program. We get funding

from other sources, but the backbone of it has always been the

money on TBA and structural fire, 24-hour coverage

reservationwide for any home fires, and we’ve had them. We’ve lost

tribal members and babies, and so forth, in some of the home fires.

Just recently a couple years ago we lost a couple children. But this

program is a public safety program and, you know, there’s no other

resource available to replace it.

Senator DORGAN. I want to ask you just for 1 moment about hunger and the issue of feeding programs on the reservation. Some

years ago then Congressman Tony Hall from Ohio and I held a

gathering at the Standing Rock Reservation about the feeding programs, the food that was coming from USDA, and particularly it

was canned meats and other things, that we were doing some work

on the quality of it, which was horrible quality, very high in fat,

and so on. Tell me now about the programs that would address

hunger on the reservation, and is there hunger, how effectively is

that addressed?

Mr. DAVIS. Well, we have Meals on Wheels for elders, which is

not adequately funded. We’ve got the USDA hot lunch programs at

the schools and we also got the commodity programs, and then we

have the food stamp programs. And, of course, the intent of the administration is to totally eliminate the commodity program in

USDA that comes through the State to the reservations.

And the problem there, Senator, is that the people right now

have a choice between going and applying for food stamps or USDA

commodities. And there’s a sliding scale for the food stamp program, so you can get, say, $200 of food stamps or you can get $25.

On the commodities, if you’re eligible, you get everything. So a lot

of individuals that just get a small amount of eligibility, instead go

under the commodities program so they get the full amount for

their families. And the program has improved drastically over the

years.

I grew up on commodities and, you know, I know that the cheese

and the flour and the fry bread and the lard, and so forth, attributed to my obesity. But the program nutritionally has improved
23

drastically over the years, and I am opposed to any elimination of

the USDA commodity program by the administration.

Senator DORGAN. Ken, I hope you’re starting to substitute for

that lard. We’ve learned a lot since the old days and get that lard

out of the diet they tell us, I guess, anyway. Thank you very much,

Ken, for that. Myra, the feeding programs, the commodity and hunger programs.

Ms. PEARSON. We have the same programs, but the only thing

is our elderly feeding program is—you know, they don’t get enough

money to provide food year-round for the elders, and they do deliver most of the meals again because of transportation, but we do

supplement them somewhat, too, to see that they make it through

to the end of the fiscal year.

The schools have the hot lunch feeding program, but, again, some

of the kids, because of the mere fact that, you know, the applications aren’t turned in, they have to pay the full price for some of

those meals. A lot of our children attend school off the reservation

to the Minnewaukan, Warwick and Sheyenne School Districts, Devils Lake School District, and they also have to pay for their meals

when they attend there. If it’s not full cost, then they pay, you

know, part of the cost of their hot lunch, so we try to supplement

in those areas.

Senator DORGAN. All right. Tex.

Mr. HALL. Mr. Chairman, can I briefly go back to the fire?

Senator DORGAN. Yes.

Mr. HALL. The fire program has about 185,000 for our tribe. It

employs two fire people per segment, so it’s 12 total. That’s the

only fire program that we have. It’s for grassland mainly, but it

also protects home, because if that’s the only water truck in town,

that’s what you have to use when there’s a fire. We tried to apply

for the Homeland Security grants that come down for a nice, stateof-the-art fire truck, and their answer was, well, you don’t have a

structural program. You just have a grassland program. So if we

lose our grassland program, there will be nothing out there. So I’m

really concerned about not having any fire protection at all in our

community.

On the commodity program we probably have over 1,000 people

that use the commodity program, so it is a critical program. And

kind of like Ken, I went to college on commodities because at Dickinson State you only had a meal program Monday through Friday.

You didn’t get a meal on Saturday, Sunday, so if it wasn’t for those

commodities, I wouldn’t have stayed in college. You either eat or

you go home because there’s no food there on a weekend program

at Dickinson State—well, back in the seventies, anyway. Maybe

they do now.

But, anyway, over 1,000 people use this program, and it’s really

improved tremendously. Our program—Joe Henry runs our commodities program and works with Red Gates down at Standing

Rock. And it’s really a more healthy product now. It’s got real fruit,

real vegetables. It eliminated that chopped meat with all that lard

in it and it’s got margarine instead of butter and it’s got real

brand-name cereal. So the work that you and Congressman Hall

did must have really completely turned that program around, be-
24

cause I remember what it was like in the seventies and it doesn’t

look like that today.

Senator DORGAN. You know, Red Gates is one of the reasons that

we decided to go down to Standing Rock and take a look at those

commodities and meet with people, and I remember Tony Hall’s reaction when we opened up those cans and those jars and we saw

the kind of meat that was in it and the lard, and so on. But he’s

been working on those issues for a long, long time—Mr. Gates has.

I want to ask if there are other issues that you would like to

comment on before we adjourn? And I want to say a couple other

things, too. The issue of human needs, especially with respect to

the choices by the Congress and the President, the issue of human

needs is really very important. And sometimes in the Congress, especially at a national level, this is debated in the guise of statistics,

but it really is not about statistics. It’s about families. It’s about

people who are living in poverty. It’s about people who seem hopeless and helpless and wonder how they’re going to get out of the

circumstances they’re in. And it’s about a country deciding to pay

attention to those that are struggling. And there’s no greater need,

I think, than the need that exists on Indian reservations, and part

of our responsibility, I think, is to help with economic development.

Part of it is funding education. Economic development is about

jobs. Education is about opportunities. But at the start you also

have to take care of the basic human needs, and that’s why I wanted to have some discussion from you about the issues of hunger

and poverty and school children needing tutoring, the basics.

You’ve got to take care of the basics first and then work on the

other issues.

On health care, I know that there are statistics I’ve seen that say

to us—we have a trust responsibility for health care for Native

Americans. That’s not an option. That’s a trust responsibility that

our country inherited, agreed to, and we spend, I believe, about

one-half as much per person on health care for American Indians

as we do for those who are incarcerated in American prisons. We

also have a health care responsibility for those who are incarcerated. They’re our charge, our responsibility. So we spend twice as

much per person for them as we do for health care for American

Indians. And it describes, I think, how underfunded the Indian

Health Service is in a circumstance where we meet, Tex, you say

on your 68 reservation, 40 or 45 percent, the national figures I

think are probably around 60 percent, but where we don’t meet 40

percent of the health care needs, and there are people on reservations walking around today who have a condition that is chronic

and painful and difficult, it may not threaten their life and limb,

but it desperately needs treatment and they’re not getting the

treatment because they’re told they’re not priority 1 and contract

health service won’t pay for it. That’s shameful in my judgment.

And this country needs to do much, much better than that.

I would like to offer each of you the opportunity to make any

closing comments, and let me start with you, Matt.

Mr. STRONGHEART-LOPEZ. Thank you, Senator. I just want to

thank you for your comments, as well, and your concerns for the

human needs in Indian country and your concern for the economics, and so forth, and poverty levels. You know, to tie all these
25

things together, you know, we see that poverty level as a cuttingoff place if one should choose to get that job in construction, or so

forth, that then begins to make him ineligible for our programs

that we have set up in the system for them and it gives them—

they lose that desire and that drive to continue on, and so we need

to adjust that poverty level somehow within that government.

So I just wanted to mention back again also for the economics

that on Standing Rock, as you know, we’ve been 3 years in construction with our streets and highways programs. The win thing

for our tribal government in that is that it provided those jobs for

our enrolled members in that timeframe—in that 3-year timeframe.

And we just want to thank you again, Senator, for your work and

your input on that, and I know we have looked for target projects

of that magnitude in other areas and trying to resurrect the bridge

over Oahe project in looking at trying to see if the same results as

the Government raising that poverty level and the employment

issues and also helping the people meet the needs of their health

insurance, and so forth, so it’s important for us to look at that

great project, and I know it’s been a sore point at times and we

need to understand that if we can pursue that, it will increase and

it will grow our economy here at Standing Rock.

Senator DORGAN. Matt, we tried very hard for a period of time

almost 10 years ago where there was, I think, a window to try to

get that done and we were unsuccessful in working with the tribe.

As you know, there were burial ground issues, and every time we

thought we were making progress, another issue was raised. And

I think, you know, we may well be beyond that, but we’ll talk about

it. It is an authorized project, but has not ever been funded, and

we’ve had two occasions where we worked pretty hard to see if we

could get something started and it just—the tribe was impossibly

divided, as you know, on a wide range of things and it just took

forever and ever and ever, and I finally said, you know, we’ve got

to some closure and it was impossible to do. We will continue to

talk about that at some point in the future. Thank you very much.

Thank you. In our instance, as we grow, as we mature in Indian

country, we appreciate that. Thank you.

Chairman Davis.

Mr. DAVIS. I didn’t get a chance to comment much on the economic development, but when you compare the unemployment of

Indian tribes in North Dakota and the State as a whole, there is

a horrific difference. We’re not making these figures up, Senator.

I’ve given you statistics here that shows that we had over 1,400

people last year on welfare assistance at Turtle Mountain, plus

there was another eight to nine hundred individuals over in Rolette

County that got TANF assistance. So the figures are not made up.

It’s a real world out there.

We have been getting a lot of lip service about economic development from the Administration and they say it’s a priority. Of

course, they look at our gaming enterprises and think, well, things

are all hunky-dory, everybody is making a whole bunch of money,

but, as we’ve shown you this morning, that is not really the case.

I do think that the Indian Finance Act of 1974 had authorizations in there. Of course, no money has been appropriated in a couple of those vital areas, particularly the grant program and the di-
26

rect loan program, and I know that there was a sense that those

were failures, but I’m going to tell you they were not failures. They

were Indian people’s first opportunities to go into business, private

commercial businesses in Indian country. That generation planted

the seed for what’s going on today for more business conscious, for

more entrepreneurial conscious and that money was not wasted.

And so if we’re going to continue—and I think Indian tribes are

going to have to compete in the global economy, starting in the

state and going national and going global, and we’re doing some of

that right now with some of the businesses, and with assistance

from yourself and Senator McCain and Senator Inouye, some of the

contracts we’ve gotten on a national basis.

I want to say one more thing in closing, that we had a celebration 1 year ago at Turtle Mountain that we commemorated the last

signing of our agreement, the McCumber agreement, on February

15, 1905, with the United States of America, and at that time we

had no welfare at Turtle Mountain, we didn’t have any jails at Turtle Mountain, and it was only 100 years ago. Our people were fairly

self-sufficient and we just went through a drastic change in our

way of life. We were a buffalo tribe. And the last 100 years have

been a shameful history for people in many areas. And I think that

I’ve given you information in my presentation about some very

vital statistics, and over an extended period of time now vital programs for us have not fulfilled the needs of our people. You only

have to go to the U.S. Office of Civil Rights report on a crisis to

know that Indian people in this country have not participated in

our fair share of the public support of needed programs.

One last comment. I belong to the Aberdeen Area Tribal Chairman’s Health Board, and we have provided you additional testimony here today to answer some of the questions you had about

the priority 1, and so forth.

Senator DORGAN. Chairman Davis, thank you.

Mr. DAVIS. Thank you very much and your committee for your

presence today.

Senator DORGAN. Chairman Davis, thank you very much. Chairwoman Pearson.

Ms. PEARSON. I, too, Senator Dorgan, would like to thank you for

allowing us here today and hope you’ve listened to all our needs

and our priorities and stuff, but at the same time life goes on, and

we as Indian people, Native Americans, we have a sense of humor

that, you know, we’ll laugh our way through this and hopefully

that we come out on the good end of it.

I was on the council before and things haven’t changed much

since then. I come back to address the same needs that I left with

back then, and hopefully this time I’ll stay a little longer to see

something get done. It’s not an easy job and I’ve got some good people helping me, as well as my counterparts here at United Tribes.

I also want to thank Dr. Gipp for all the assistance and help that

he’s given me and for the great job he’s doing at United Tribes, and

I hope you can do all you can to assist him. My voice is going out

a little bit so I better quit.

But I do have some good things that have happened at Spirit

Lake. We are going to have our own propane company. One of our

enrolled members have started that up. We’ve got the wind energy
27

that one of Chairman Hall’s members have come in to help us with,

and hopefully we can get that going.

We have our commodity program that we talked about, and what

we do there, and I should have mentioned it, but we do process our

buffalo. We have a 200-head herd of buffalo that we use and we

process and that is taken down to the commodity house and it’s

stored there for our diabetics. Our diabetic people are allowed to

go down there and get what they can because it’s supposed to be

good for their diets.

And as far as our fire department, I want to remind everyone

that the reason why we got that fire department was because of

the disaster that, you know, took the lives of three children and we

didn’t have a fire department then, and because of the deaths of

those children, our housing authority with the fire hall finally

made it a reality to have a structural fire department. The day that

those children died there was a fire truck sitting across the street

that was a BIA fire truck, and because of their restrictions on

where they service, they weren’t allowed to put that fire out, but

when they did put it out, those children were still in that house

and that was the reason why our fire department was started back

then. And I hope you can give us some support there in retaining

that fire department. We’re down to a minimum now, too, but if we

can keep it without a problem.

I think I’ve said enough and, again, I would like to thank you

all for allowing me to sit here today and express my views. Thank

you.

Senator DORGAN. Thank you very much. Chairman Hall.

Mr. HALL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a comment on two

things, the human side of things as you mentioned and then I want

to mention on S. 2078.

I think of the old people as we were all talking today. I think

about our ancestors. And there’s something about our tribes, we

never forget where we came from, from our fathers and mothers

and our grandparents and our great-grandparents and our chiefs

that settled this country and lived here thousands of years and how

they must have felt when they entered into treaties with the

United States. They weren’t certain in 1851 what that meant. But

when the United States came and said if you sign this peace treaty,

as long as the grass grows and the wind blows and the water flows,

we’ll provide for your health, education and welfare and you can

trust the great white father in Washington. Then, of course, we

know what happened, they took the land.

And then in 1948 I think of our relatives, too, that they said they

signed the Garrison Dam with a heavy heart and it split our people

almost 50–50, those that said, well, we got to trust the United

States, we got to trust them. If they flood us, they say they’re going

to provide for a new health facility they’re going to provide for a

new education facility and it was half of our people that didn’t believe them. They said remember the treaty in 1851. They never

lived up to that and we have to think of our children so, no we’re

not going to support the Garrison Dam, so it divided us completely

in two. And now we’re coming back around, we’re seeing a budget

that takes away from school construction, a budget that takes away

from facilities construction, a budget that takes away from eco-
28

nomic development, a budget that wipes out Johnson O’Malley for

after-school children.

And getting back to health care, Mr. Chairman, you mentioned

the prisoners and there’s a joke in Indian country if you want to

get a surgery you’ve got to commit a crime, you know because you’ll

get a surgery there.

You know, that priority 1 and priority 2 and 3 is all hogwash.

That’s rationed health care. That’s not providing real health care

for people. Our people are prisoners after 5 o’clock or on weekends

because you can’t get access to the clinic after 5 o’clock or you can’t

get access to that clinic on Saturday or Sunday, so if you’ve got a

gallbladder, tough luck because that’s not going to be approved for

your priority 1 because that’s a priority 2 or priority 3. Or if your

mother needs a mammogram or your grandmother, your aunt

needs a mammogram, tough luck, she’s got to wait until she’s got

cancer before she gets approval for priority 1, then we know it’s too

late.

I could go on and on, Mr. Chairman, and you know these things.

I’m basically talking for the record, you know, because I know you

understand the needs of our tribes. But I think about those things

about our ancestors and about how they would think about where

we’ve come. We make progress and then we go backward, and

we’re going backward in this 2007 budget, so I wonder not only

about today, but I wonder about 2008 and 2009 and I wonder when

I’m not in this chair, what is it going to be like in 10, 20 years from

now, where are we going to be. So I just wanted to state those

things and it really concerns me about where we’re going and why

we’re not providing for our people.

And then in closing I just want to mention, Mr. Chairman, on

McCain’s S. 2078, the North Dakota tribes are totally opposed to

it. It appears that Senator McCain wants to make the NIGC the

BIA of Indian gaming and that totally goes against self-determination. We have tribal gaming commissioners that all have been approved. We have State compacts that the attorney general of North

Dakota and the state have negotiated and we’ve provide regulation,

yet it appears 2078 wants to completely put the NIGC on every

tribal council. That’s basically—it would be like the BIA managing

every piece of our land. The NIGC now under this S. 2078 would

manage every aspect of gaming, and I think that would be an economic detriment.

And if somebody committed some wrongdoing in some other

State, why do we have to pay that price in North Dakota when we

need those dollars to replace what those charts are saying that

we’re losing under the Federal Government? So we ask for your

consideration in that, Mr. Chairman.

It’s been a great honor to testify here today in North Dakota at

United Tribes Technical College with you as the chairman of the

committee today.

Senator DORGAN. Chairman Hall, thank you very much. We will

have in the future discussion about Senator McCain’s bill. In fact,

there will be a hearing on that very soon, and I will have a discussion with the tribal chairs in North Dakota about it. It’s a very important issue.
29

I want to just make one final comment. We have necessarily been

talking about what’s wrong and how to fix it today, and when you

do that at a hearing, you talk about what isn’t working. I held a

meeting in Minot once, among many town meetings, hundreds and

hundreds that I’ve had over the years, and started the meeting—

it’s the only one I’ve ever done this way—I said to the people who

came to the meeting, I want to do something a little different.

We’re going to have a town meeting to talk about our lives and

what’s going on. I don’t want anyone to do anything other than talk

about what’s right in their lives, what works in their lives. We

can’t criticize anything. We just want to talk about what’s right.

And it was very hard for all of us to do that because our nature

is to figure out what’s wrong and how to fix it. But it was very interesting, as well.

After about 15 minutes where I said, no, no, you can’t say that,

no, no, you can’t do that, pretty soon they would have to start

thinking, I had this wonderful teacher that had a profound impact

on my life or I’ve got a person down the street that has this business, it’s the most unbelievable person you’ve ever met, and pretty

soon people were talking about what really works in their lives.

Now, we could, because we’re talking about what’s wrong, and

we have four tribal leaders here, we could have spent the time perhaps differently, and my guess is if we had allotted a couple of

hours for you to talk about what’s working and what’s right, my

guess is you can tell me about the 41-year-old mother of four that

graduates from a tribal college against all the odds, you can tell me

about all those success stories. And I just don’t want the fact that

these hearings—the nature of these hearings is about what’s wrong

and how to fix it, I don’t want that fact to obscure the leadership

that exists and the interests of individuals, as well as tribal leaders, to better their lives and to invest in making life better for

themselves. That’s going on all around the country on reservations

and it’s going on right here at United Tribes.

So I want to end by saying I think there are enormous challenges, and there are misjudgments being made about priorities

and choices in these budgets, but there are also some really good

things happening, and if we work together I think all of us can amplify those good things and build on them to create a much better

and brighter future. That’s what we owe our children and that’s

what we owe our elders and we inherited that responsibility.

There’s nobody—nobody better to do that than us. That’s why we’re

here at this time and it’s our job.

This hearing is adjourned.

[Whereupon, at 12:38 p.m. the hearing was concluded.]

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APPENDIX

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN MCCAIN, U.S. SENATOR FROM ARIZONA, CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS

Good morning. I’m sorry that I cannot be with you this morning, but want to

thank my friend and colleague, Senator Dorgan, for holding this hearing, and thank

the witnesses for testifying on the President’s Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2007.

While we must all be concerned by our country’s burgeoning budget deficit, we

must also be mindful of the Federal Government’s trust and moral obligations to

Native Americans.

In evaluating the budget request against this backdrop, I am disturbed by many

of the cuts that have been proposed to programs that already fall far short of meeting needs. I look forward to reviewing the testimony from today’s hearing.

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. KENT CONRAD, U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH DAKOTA

I want to extend my thanks and appreciation to Senator Dorgan for holding this

important hearing on the President’s fiscal year 2007 budget request and its impact

on the tribes in North Dakota. Thank you to each of the tribal leaders who is here

today to present testimony.

While I am unable to attend today’s hearing, I did want to share some of my observations and concerns with this budget. Overall I must say that I am deeply disappointed with the President’s budget and his disregard of the Federal Government’s clear trust responsibility to American Indians. This budget fails in every conceivable way to address the growing unmet needs in education, housing, and health

care.

I am very troubled that for a fifth straight year the budget fails to provide funding for United Tribes Technical College [UTTC]. This administration simply has no

justifiable reason for eliminating its funding.

For 37 years UTTC has been providing a quality education for many across the

Great Plains. The college has had the strong support of past administrations to provide educational services to students and families. Only when this administration

took office did this college, its students, and faculty come under attack. It is hard

to comprehend why the administration wants to close this college which, has an 87-

percent retention rate, a 95-percent placement rate, and a return on Federal investment of 20 to 1.

The BIA argues UTTC’s funding through the Department of Education is sufficient to meet the needs of the college. However, the funding provided through the

BIA accounts for one-half of UTTC’s annual operating budget and is critical to keeping its doors open.

More than 1,000 ‘‘real’’ people are impacted by this cut. It is shameful that this

budget would again yank the rug out from under these students.

On a more positive note, after several consecutive years of deep cuts, the administration is finally recognizing the importance of tribal colleges.
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Tribal colleges provide hope and opportunity to thousands who might not otherwise get the chance to achieve a higher education. For far too long, this administration had short-changed these successful colleges, providing less and less funding.

This budget takes a positive step in providing the necessary resources to support

these valuable institutions; however, I and many others will be working to boost

funding for the tribal colleges even more as the budget and appropriations process

gets underway.

The President’s budget is also very troubling in the area of American Indian housing. Housing is a basic fundamental need. Yet, the reservations here in North Dakota are plagued by a chronic shortage of decent, affordable housing. The President’s answer is to cut funding for Indian housing block grants, even though the

needs reach $1 billion.

Finally, let me say a few words about health care, because the lack of adequate

funding in the President’s budget is very concerning to me.

In 2004, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued a report on the Native American health care system. The Commission’s report noted ‘‘persistent discrimination

and neglect continue to deprive Native Americans of a health system sufficient to

provide health care equivalent to that provided to the vast majority of Americans.’’

It is very troubling that in the 21’’ Century Native Americans still do not have the

access to the quality health care to which they are entitled.

Unfortunately, the President’s budget fails to bridge this gap. It fails to address

the increasing health care demands due to population growth and increasing medical costs, which have resulted in ballooning unmet needs.

In North Dakota, where certain kinds of health services are not available through

IHS, tribes rely on contract health care. However, because of the limited funding

available to purchase contract care, a patient must fall within the priority 1 category, which means the patient must have a life threatening illness or injury to receive care.

At present, only one-half of the needs in contract health are being met, leaving

many without access to the care they need. The President’s response is to only include about a $37-million increase for contract health care, hardly enough to expand

services beyond priority 1 patients.

The road to reverse these cuts will be difficult. Yet, if we continue down this road,

the gap between needs and funding to meet those needs will continue to enlarge to

a point of no return. We simply cannot allow this to happen. We cannot continue

to ignore the Federal Government’s trust responsibilities to tribes.

Again, I thank the witnesses for being here today and look forward to your input

on how we can make real progress on these serious challenges.

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DAVID GIPP, PRESIDENT, UNITED TRIBES TECHNICAL

COLLEGE

Welcome, Senator Dorgan, members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs,

tribal leaders, guests, and members of the public. Thank you, Senator, for allowing

me to make an opening statement on behalf of United Tribes Technical College at

today’s historic hearing regarding the impact of the President’s proposed budget for

fiscal year 2007 on Native Americans. United Tribes is honored to be able to host

the hearing today on the campus of United Tribes Technical College.

As you know, of course, the core funding for United Tribes Technical College provided through our Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act [Public Law

93–638] contract was once again left out of the President’s budget proposal for fiscal

year 2007. This represents 6 years in a row that funding for our institution has been

omitted. Yet, the Self-Determination Act requires that the President request the

funds each year a valid contract is in effect. This year is the third year of a 3-year

contracting cycle for us, and we are now a self-determination contractor with mature status, which should make renewal of the contract automatic. Yet, these legal

obligations were ignored in the President’s proposed fiscal year 2007 budget.

Leaving us out of the budget for fiscal year 2007 is now even more painful, because we serve over twice as many students as we did just 2 years ago, and yet

we have not received any increase in funding. Our student count for this school year

is over 1,000 students, and we serve nearly 400 children of students and staff in

our day care and K–8 elementary school facilities. Thus, we are doing twice as much

on the same amount of funds. Our cost per student has decreased dramatically, but

we cannot sustain the present level of students on the same amount of funding.

Without the core funding we have received every year since our founding in 1969,

the impact of the President’s budget on us could be severe. We are very thankful
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and grateful that in previous years, largely through the efforts of you, Senator Dorgan, our core funding has been restored.

But we should not have to go through this exercise every year, as we know that

we provide a vital service to many, many, tribal citizens and their families as they

seek a solid education and seek to improve their lives. Our retention rate is more

than 85 percent. We place nearly all of our graduates in meaningful jobs they would

not otherwise have been able to obtain if they had not come here for there education. Based on a recent survey, verified independently, the return on the investment the United States makes in our institution is 20 to 1. For every dollar invested

by the United States at United Tribes, the students who graduate return $20 over

the course of their lifetimes to the U.S. Treasury. Few investments anywhere have

that kind of rate of return.

Therefore, we are requesting $ 4.5 million in direct funding from the BIA as our

core funding under the Self-Determination Act for fiscal year 2007, an increase of

$ 1.05 million from our current funded amount. We believe the BIA would be providing that kind of funding if it were operating this program, and more. This amount

remains a modest request. For fiscal year 1978, we requested $2.75 million for the

core funding of our self-determination contract with the BIA. In today’s dollars, that

amount would be more than $10 million. We are truly doing more with less money,

but that cannot continue indefinitely.

Just as important as our core funding is the need for housing for our students.

Most of our students do not have funding for off-campus housing, and we prefer that

they stay on campus as much as possible, because all of our services our here—cafeteria, elementary school, security and day care, among other things. For fiscal year

2007, we are asking for a facilities grant of $5 million to enable us to provide housing for as many as 100 students now housed off campus. For fiscal year 2008, we

anticipate making a similar request for facilities, to begin to assist us both with our

new campus and to keep up the buildings we are now using, many of which are

more than 100 years old. For operational funds, we will also request an amount

similar to what we are requesting for fiscal year 2007, and further, we expect that

we will finally be put back in the President’s budget.

And that is just the impact of the President’s budget on United Tribes.

I know that there are many other issues that tribal leaders in this region want

to talk about today, and I will conclude shortly. But I would be remiss if I didn’t

mention briefly three other areas, as well.

First, we need to make sure our tribal colleges in general are adequately funded.

It is unconscionable that the President’s budget once again treats tribal colleges as

the stepchildren of the higher education system in this country. Operating without

a tax base, they receive less than one-half per student of what non-tribal publicly

supported community colleges receive. The tribal colleges provide critical pathways

for tribal citizens learning new skills, and are often exactly the training ground

needed for students to be able to attend 4-year institutions. And not only do tribal

colleges train tribal citizens, they also serve, most often without additional funding,

non-Indians from the local communities.

Second, obtaining enough safe, comfortable and affordable housing remains a critical need for the citizens of most our tribal nations in the Great Plains. The President’s budget is woefully inadequate in this regard. Housing has always been a fundamental trust responsibility, under the treaties signed with our tribal nations in

this region. People are still on waiting lists for housing for up to 20 years, living

two and three families to a house, and that includes tribal citizens who can afford

to pay for housing. The President’s budget also eliminates a key program for improving existing housing stock; the Housing Improvement Program [HIP]. Without

adequate housing, economic development that creates jobs does not happen. Without

adequate housing, many social problems will continue unabated. Housing is another

tremendously effective investment, if done correctly. We have seen too often in Indian country how cutting corners on safe and affordable housing, and forcing people

to do without adequate housing, creates negative social and economic impacts. The

problem with black mold in our region is but one example of inadequate housing

construction techniques.

Third, we need to insure that appropriate health care is provided to all tribal citizens of our region. Once again, the President’s budget does not even keep pace with

inflation in this area. A Federal prisoner receives twice as much funding for health

care as a tribal citizen receives from the Indian Health Service. Further, if a tribal

citizen from the Cheyenne River Tribe is living in Bismarck, that citizen ought to

be able to receive health care in Bismarck and expect that the Indian Health Service will pick up the cost if he or she cannot afford insurance or the cost of that

health care. Some of our staff have had their credit ruined because of the lack of

IHS funds for off-reservation care. We also need adequate funding for our injury
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prevention programs across the United States. Too many tribal citizens die needlessly from preventable accidents. Health care, like housing, is a fundamental treaty

obligation that ought to fulfilled.

I know there are many other issues that tribal leaders will be speaking about.

Again, welcome to all, and Senator Dorgan, we thank you again for your continued

support of our efforts at United Tribes Technical College.

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. EARL POMEROY, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM NORTH

DAKOTA

First, I would like to thank you and the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs for

holding these hearings. The Federal budget contains many programs that are important to North Dakota’s tribes. I want to thank the tribal leaders for being in attendance today and discussing these issues.

With strong leadership, North Dakota’s American Indian Tribes have worked hard

to meet the needs of their people. North Dakota’s tribes have developed strong tribal

colleges, which help lay the foundation for growth and renewal on reservations.

North Dakota’s tribes also have improved the infrastructure in the region with the

opening of the new Four Bears Bridge and procuring the National Scenic Byway

designation for Standing Rock Scenic Byway. However, North Dakota’s tribes still

face many unique issues. The inflexibility and underfunding of No Child Left Behind has made its implementation in BIA schools in North Dakota difficult, Also,

American Indians’ life expectancy is 5.9 years less than that of the total U.S. populations and suicide is the second-leading cause of death for American Indian and

Alaskan Native youth aged 15–24.

The Federal Government has an obligation to assist American Indian tribes with

these needs. Crucial programs for American Indians must receive adequate funding.

The President’s request would reduce the overall BIA budget by 1 percent and cuts

funding to many important programs ranging from the Indian Child Welfare Act to

funding for tribal courts. In addition, funding for the construction of education facilities has been cut by over 60 percent and construction for Indian Health Services

facilities construction has been cut by almost 10 percent. Finally, the United Tribes

Technical College received no funding under the administration’s budget proposal.

While North Dakota’s tribes are working diligently toward improving the state of

their tribes, the Federal Government has a clear responsibility to assist tribes in

addressing these issues. It is my hope that, as the budget process progresses, American Indian tribes will receive the attention and funding they need.

I look forward to reviewing the testimony of the tribal leaders in attendance today

and regret I can not be there to hear your concerns in person.

PREPARED STATEMENT OF MATT STRONGHEART-LOPEZ, MEMBER, STANDING ROCK

SIOUX TRIBAL COUNCIL, ON BEHALF OF RON HIS HORSE IS THUNDER, CHAIRMAN, STANDING ROCK SIOUX TRIBAL COUNCIL

Good morning, Senator Dorgan. I bear greetings from the Dakota and Lakota people of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. My name is Matt Strongheart-Lopez. I am

an At-Large Representative member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council, and

serve as Vice-Chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council’s Health, Education, and Welfare Committee.

I am honored to deliver testimony to this committee on behalf of Chairman Ron

His Horse Is Thunder. Chairman His Horse Is Thunder is unable to be here today

due to the passing of one of our colleagues, James Jamerson, Standing Rock Sioux

Tribal Council Representative from the Running Antelope District. Mr. Jamerson

passed away last week, and his funeral services are today.

On behalf of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, I wish to thank you for the opportunity to share with this committee, the distressing concerns of the Standing Rock

Sioux Tribe regarding the President’s Fiscal Year 2007 Budget Request for Indian

Programs.

As is the case with many other American Indian nations, the Standing Rock Sioux

Tribe is challenged with many formidable difficulties and obstacles in achieving a

sound quality of life for its 9,000 resident members. In addition to the challenges

posed by geographic isolation, the communities and people of the Standing Rock

Sioux Tribe, though prideful of our glorious Dakota/Lakota heritage and historical

contributions to American society, remain as some of the poorest and most overlooked in this country.

Coincidently, most of the challenges we are faced with overcoming today are issue

areas associated with the terms and obligations of the Federal Government which
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are outlined in our 1868 treaties with the United States of America. These treaty

issue-challenges include health care and education disparities, and inadequate housing and infrastructure.

Just as great leaders from Standing Rock, such as Sitting Bull, Gall, and Two

Bears, envisioned a prosperous Dakota/Lakota Nation 7 generations from their time,

we, in this generation, are working toward a prosperous Standing Rock 7 generations from today. In order to accomplish our cultural and spiritual obligations to our

Dakota and Lakota descendants, we will continue to rely on the treaty promises

made to our forefathers seven generations ago. Promises made in exchange for

peace, our livelihood, and most of our best lands.

Although we are not surprised by the fact that the needs of Indian country and

Standing Rock are not prioritized in the President’s Fiscal Year 2007 Budget Request, we are, however, very discontented that funding for critical Federal Indian

programs is slated for reduction. While we appreciate the slight increase proposed

for the Indian Health Services budget, the proposed cuts to other important programs in Indian country are hugely troublesome, especially since all of our communities at Standing Rock continue to grow at a very rapid rate. Current levels of

funding for Federal Indian programs at Standing Rock are woefully inadequate and

cover only about 40-percent, at the most, of our actual needs. In light of forecast

population growth at Standing Rock, future reduced or stagnant funding of critical

Indian programs will translate into dire conditions and additional challenges.

The list of needs and challenges at Standing Rock is long. One very important

item proposed for elimination in the President’s 2007 Budget is the Johnson

O’Malley Grant Program. The elimination of this crucial program will further inhibit the academic successes of over one-half of all Standing Rock’s elementary, middle, and secondary students. Of the 9 school systems on the Standing Rock reservation, 6 are public schools and 3 are BIA-funded schools. Standing Rock children who

attend those three BIA-funded schools will inevitably absorb the proposed $1.3 million cut to BIA Office of Indian Education Programs funding.

Additionally, the planned realignment of BIA Office of Indian Education Programs

Education Line Officers is quite problematic. The proposal would split Standing

Rock and cause the Bureau school administrators on the South Dakota portion of

Standing Rock to report to an Education Line Office in Pierre, while administrators

on the North Dakota side would report to an office in Minot, thus removing essential services and technical assistance from the local agency level at Fort Yates to

distances far removed from Standing Rock.

As well, the proposed $65 million reduction in overall BIA funding will likely

translate into additional strains on BIA Law Enforcement Services at Standing

Rock. As it is, budget constraints allow for only 7 BIA Law Enforcement officers to

patrol all 8 districts, 1,300-plus miles of roads, and nearly 850,000 acres of tribal/

trust lands of the Standing Rock Reservation.

Since 1997, the Dakota and Lakota people of Standing Rock have endured tragic

and painful losses of its young people to suicide. Sadly, we have the task of interring

another young person tomorrow. Additional funding for suicide prevention, intervention, and post-intervention care and services will not immediately and completely

abate future tragedies, but it will assist immensely. Certainly, stagnant funding for

I.H.S. Mental Health Services or reductions in funding for BIA Social Services will

not help.

Again, the current list of needs and challenges at Standing Rock is long. With the

anticipated doubling of our population in several years to come, that list will only

become longer if the current rates of funding for Federal Indian programs is applied

to future allocations. The President and Congress must remember that funding for

Indian programs is not welfare, but payments for large amounts of our territory.

Finally, on a related note, as pro posed budgets for Federal Indian programs continues to shrink in light of rising needs and population growth all across Indian

country, now is not the time to propose restrictions on Indian gaming. Although the

benefits and revenues of Indian gaming enterprises at Standing Rock are meager

in comparison to that of other tribes, such benefits and revenue assist greatly in

supplementing critical family and child programs for the Dakota and Lakota people

of Standing Rock.
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In closing, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe trusts that members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will continue to educate and enlighten your Senate colleagues on the importance of adequate funding for Federal Indian programs. As

well, we will continue to hope that the White House will someday acknowledge and

prioritize the needs and challenges in Indian country.

Thank you again for the opportunity to share a glimpse of the potential impact

of the President’s Fiscal Year 2007 Budget Request on the services and programs

for the people of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

I will be happy to answer any questions that you may have.
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