Politics

Key House panel to hold first legislative hearing of 114th Congress

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), the chairman of the House Subcommittee Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs. Photo from Rep. Don Young

It's taken more than three months, but the new House Subcommittee Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs will finally hold its first legislative hearing of the 114th Congress.

Three bills are on the agenda for the April 14 hearing. They are:

• H.R.329, the Indian Employment, Training and Related Services Consolidation Act of 2015. The bill amends the Indian Employment, Training and Related Services Demonstration Act of 1992, commonly known as Public Law 477, to further tribal self-determination.
• H.R.521, a bill to transfer land to the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation in Alaska.
• H.R.812, the Indian Trust Asset Reform Act. The bill makes reforms to trust management at the Interior Department, authorizes a new Under Secretary for Indian Affairs to oversee all Indian programs at DOI and orders a report to prepare for the transition of duties from the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The subcommittee has been slow to start since it was created by Republicans at the start of the 114th Congress in January. Over the objections of Democrats, they added a new area of jurisdiction -- Insular Affairs -- to a panel that was previously solely focused on tribes in the Lower 48 and Alaska.

Since then, the subcommittee has held just one oversight hearing. Next week's hearing will be the first where bills are being considered.

Get the Story:
Legislative Hearing on H.R. 329, H.R. 521, H.R. 812 (April 14, 2015)