Updates from NCAI's annual winter session in DC

Tuesday, March 4, 2008  

Updates from the 2008 winter session of the National Congress of American Indians in Washington, D.C.

Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
Fresh off the passage of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said he will introduce an amendment next week to add $1 billion to the Indian Health Service budget. Similar efforts have failed in the past but Dorgan told tribal leaders he won't give up the fight.

"I'm going to do it by cutting tax loopholes," Dorgan said of his strategy.

The committee's next hearing takes place this Thursday, to address the state of health, education and detention facilities in Indian Country. Dorgan has asked the Interior Department's Inspector General to release a recent report about detention centers in time for the hearing, Allison Binney, the committee's staff director, said.

Future topics for hearings include law enforcement, contract health services, energy policy, financial literacy, said Binney, a member of the member of the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians from California. A general oversight hearing on the National Indian Gaming Commission is also planned.

Indian Health Care Improvement Act
The February 26 passage of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act was long overdue but the battle is far from over, said Rachel Joseph, the co-chair of a national steering committee to reauthorize the law.

"It had to be uphill every step of the way," Joseph told NCAI attendees.

Joseph said tribal leaders need to push the House Energy and Commerce Committee to act on the bill at a markup session on March 13. "We want to be on the agenda," she said.

If the bill isn't approved at that time, lawmakers probably won't get to it until they return from the Easter recess in April, Joseph said.

Political Doings in DC
When Republicans were in control of Congress, nearly every piece of Indian legislation was held up. Now that Democrats are in charge, tribal bills are moving but other issues are posing challenges, said Jackie Johnson, the executive director of the National Congress of American Indians.

The first is the presidential election. "Nothing gets done," Johnson said, due to busy schedules. Three prominent members of the Senate -- Democrats Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama, both co-sponsors of the IHCIA, and Republican John McCain, the former chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, are on the campaign trail this year.

Another big issue is Congressional earmarks, which could face elimination or some type of rollback. Johnson said NCAI has been surprised to learn that many Indian programs are actually funded through special appropriations language, meaning they could be zeroed out in upcoming appropriations bills.

A third controversy involves the Cherokee Freedmen, who are the descendants of former slaves, and their status within the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus want to cut funding to the tribe unless the Freedmen are guaranteed citizenship and are using the Indian Health Care Improvement Act and the Native American Housing and Self Determination Act as vehicles for their efforts.

"We're going to have to deal with [this issue] on the IHCIA," said Johnson. "It's the biggest issue" affecting NAHASDA, she added.

Bureau of Indian Affairs
Assistant secretary Carl Artman said regulations to implement Indian provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 will be published in the Federal Register on Wednesday. The tribal energy resource agreements, or TERAs, will lead to a "new era" in tribal self-determination, Artman told NCAI.

Artman continued to defend his decision to issue a guidance memorandum affecting off-reservation land-into-trust applications. He said he was working to improve "business practices" at the Bureau of Indian Affairs to reduce the backlog.

"We're making progress," said Artman, a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. A forthcoming handbook will provide further "clarity" to the process, he said.

Though tribes have submitted more than 1,300 applications, Artman said the land-into-trust backlog currently stands at 162 applications because not every one is complete. Meanwhile, the backlog of non-gaming off-reservation gaming applications has been reduced to zero, he added.

Upcoming
NCAI is due to hear from Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Michigan), the co-chair of the Congressional Native American Caucus, Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Washington), the chairman of the House Interior Appropriations subcommittee, and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey), the chairman of the Health subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, today.

Tribal leaders will get an update on two U.S. Supreme Court cases being heard this year, land-into-trust, labor unions and Native Vote 2008 efforts. A reception at the National Museum of the American Indian takes place this evening.

Relevant Links:
National Congress of American Indians - http://www.ncai.org

Related Stories:
NCAI holds annual winter session in Washington (3/3)