Facebook Twitter Email
FEBRUARY 28, 2001

When Secretary of Interior Gale Norton meets the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs today, she'll have a number of high profile issues on her mind.

Education, law enforcement, and trust reform are the three key issues Norton plans on addressing before the Committee's 14 members. With President George W. Bush placing an emphasis on education, Indian Country occasionally suffering from underfunded and understaffed police forces, and Elouise Cobell forging ahead with the billion dollar trust fund lawsuit against the government, Norton will present her Department's view on these hot topics.

But even before she says a word, Norton's appearance represents a political coup. Her testimony to the Committee will be her first since being sworn in as the first woman to head the Interior.

It also comes after Norton last week addressed the National Congress of American Indians' winter session in Washington, DC. Not only was the occasion a testing ground before tribal leaders eager to gain her attention, it was her first public speech as Secretary.

Although it may be too early to tell, Norton is quickly positioning herself as the sole advocate for tribes in the Bush administration. With her boss leaving out tribes in his Congressional address on Tuesday night, a number of his agencies facing rumored budget cuts which could affect tribal funding, and Democrats vowing to fight Bush's tax cut and spending plan, Indian Country would certainly need one.

As part of keeping her pledge, Norton will seek $802 million from Congress to eliminate the backlog of repairs to tribal schools throughout the country. She will also seek to make $126 million available immediately to replace the six schools most in need of replacement and construction.

Norton has bipartisan support for this goal. Among others, Senators Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.), Jeff Bingaman (D-N.Mex.), Pete Domenici (R-N.Mex.), and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), are standing behind the issue and Congress last year appropriated $300 million as part of its commitment to Indian education.

Norton has bipartisan support for improving the historically mismanaged trust fund system as well. Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) took an early lead on the issue before the passage of the Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act in 1994 and Congress last year again pushed for a solution to the ongoing Cobell litigation.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs saw its largest budget increase ever last year, with law enforcement receiving an 8 percent boost. Congress appropriated a total of $153 million to fighting crime in the fiscal year 2001 budget.

Norton's testimony begins at 9AM Eastern Standard Time today.

Get Norton's Senate Testimony:
Statement of Interior Secretary Gale Norton Before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee (2/28)

Get Norton's NCAI Speech:
Remarks by The Honorable Gale Norton, Secretary of Interior National Congress of American Indians (February 22, 2001)

Relevant Links:
The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs - www.senate.gov/~scia
The National Congress of American Indians - www.ncai.org

Related Stories:
Norton outlines Indian Country priorities (Politics 2/23)
Norton fields questions from tribal leaders (Politics 2/23)
Norton warns of Interior budget cuts (Politics 2/16)