Ed. Note: The following is the text of the prepared remarks of Sen. Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota) at the National Congress of American Indians winter session. February 23, 2004. Washington, D.C.

It is an honor and a privilege to participate in this conference and to join you in celebrating the 60th anniversary of the National Congress of American Indians. There is no more powerful advocate for the rights of Native people, and no more passionate or articulate voice for their hopes and dreams, than NCAI.

I want to congratulate my friend, Chairman Tex Hall, of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nations, on his re-election last fall as NCAI president. Tex is from North Dakota, but we consider him one of our own. Last fall, I had the honor of standing next to Tex in the rotunda of the United States Capitol. We were there for the unveiling of a new statue of an American hero, Sakakawea. Like Sakakawea, Tex Hall has a gift that enables him to find paths that others sometimes cannot find. Thank you, President Hall, for using your gifts to help NCAI, and our nation, find the right path forward.

I also want to acknowledge your remarkable executive director, Jackie Johnson, and her great staff. I want to thank the tribal leaders and friends who are here from the Great Sioux Nation of South Dakota. And thank you all for your support of NCAI's Native Vote 2004 effort.

Voting is self-determination. We saw that in the last elections in my state. Tim Johnson says that, on Election day, his opponent's supporters were quoting Custer: "Where the heck did all these Indians come from?"

Senator Johnson will tell you. Indian voters came in record numbers, from every reservation in the state and from other South Dakota towns and cities, too. And they came because Tim Johnson spoke to the concerns and aspirations of South Dakota's Native American community, and because he worked to integrate the community into his campaign. Most of all, they came because of people like O.J. and Barb Semans, members of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. They worked tirelessly to register every voter they could, and to get those voters to the polls. We saw amazing sights: young people voting for the first time, elderly men and women casting their first votes ever. We saw people reminding friends and family members to vote, telling them: "Every vote counts."

They were right. Tim Johnson was re-elected to the Senate by 524 votes. And elected with him were record numbers of Indian sheriffs, school board members, county commissioners and state legislators.

One thing we saw in the 2002 elections that I never want to see again was some very ugly efforts to suppress the votes of Native Americans and other minorities. It wasn't just in South Dakota. It was also in Louisiana, Oklahoma, Maryland, Missouri and other states.

When these efforts failed, some on the far right tried to discredit the election results by falsely claiming voter fraud. Their charges have all been discredited. But that doesn't stop the far right. They've started repeating their lies lately. Well, I have a message for them: The record turnout in Indian Country in 2002 is cause for celebration, not criticism. And I expect Native Vote 2004 to give us more reasons to celebrate.

No group has sacrificed more than Native Americans for the right to vote. No group has served in America's armed forces in greater numbers. This war has taught us the names of new warrior heroes. Private First Class Lori Piestewa, the young Hopi mother from Arizona, is one of those heroes. Private First Class Sheldon Hawk Eagle is another.

Sheldon Hawk Eagle was an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota - one of about 90 members of his tribe deployed to Iraq. He was also a descendant of the great warrior leader, Crazy Horse. His Lakota name was Wanbli Ohitika -- "Brave Eagle." His grandfather, father and uncle all served in this nation's armed forces.

In June 2002, Sheldon Hawk Eagle followed their footsteps and enlisted in the Army. Last March, he was deployed to Iraq. Just before Thanksgiving, he and 13 other American service members died in Iraq when the two Black Hawk helicopters they were in collided in mid-air, after apparently coming under enemy fire. Sheldon Hawk Eagle was 21 years old. They brought his body home and buried him in the Black Hills.

It is our obligation to create a future that is worthy of the sacrifices of Lori Piestewa, Sheldon Hawk Eagle, and all Americans who have served our nation in the past, and who are risking their lives today in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places far from home.

One way we can create that future is by holding our government accountable for the promises it has made in treaties. There is no more poignant example of this responsibility than trust reform.

The government has never lived up to its trust responsibility. The trust assets - your assets and those of your families -- have been so grossly mismanaged, for so long -- by Administrations of both parties -- that no one even knows how much money the trust should contain -- never mind who is owed what. Estimates of the total owed just to individual account holders range from a low of $10 billion to $100 billion -- or more.

Today, instead of making a just settlement of the trust debacle a priority, government officials are desperately trying to continue to delay justice. Their priority seems to be trying to limit the government's financial exposure, not providing justice for account holders. They hope that if they hold out, the trust problem will go away.

When historians write about who had the courage to stand up for justice in these times, one name they will mention prominently is Elouise Cobell of the Blackfeet Indian Nation. Thanks to Elouise Cobell, NCAI, and other men and women of principle, the trust dispute is not going to go away; it's going to be resolved.

Like you, I was stunned last fall when the House Republican leadership inserted their "midnight rider" to the Interior appropriations conference report. That rider -- added behind closed doors, at the urging of the Administration -- dashed our hopes that an independent assessment of the government's obligation to account holders was finally within reach.

Today, Interior Department officials are arrogantly moving ahead with their own reorganization plan, with little or no involvement from tribes.

Earlier this month, President Bush sent Congress his budget recommendations for next year. The President's budget makes deep cuts in virtually every program affecting Indians -- except one. It includes a 50 percent increase for trust reorganization.

I know -- from resolutions passed by NCAI, from conversations with Chairman Hall, and from many discussions with South Dakota tribal leaders -- that there is overwhelming skepticism about the department's trust reform efforts in Indian Country. I also know that no trust reorganization plan can succeed without the involvement, support, and leadership of tribes.

I believe it is becoming increasingly clear that this Administration is determined to push through its own reorganization of its trust functions -- no matter who opposes that plan, or how badly flawed it is. So I am announcing today that I will ask Congress to take a more active role in trust reform. Specifically, I believe at least three things must occur:

First, we need a new, comprehensive round of hearings so we can hear from the tribes what they think of the Interior Department's trust reform initiatives, and listen to what they propose.

Second, the congressional meddling in the Cobell litigation must end. The "midnight rider" prohibiting Interior from undertaking a full accounting of the trust problem must not be extended, and the federal courts must be allowed to do their job. Last year, Senators McCain, Johnson, Inouye and I introduced a bill requiring the Interior Department to do what Judge Lamberth ordered: conduct an historical accounting for all trust assets. Our bill, the American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act Amendments, S. 1459, would also authorize Indian tribes to manage Indian trust assets, and it would bring badly needed accountability to the Interior Department's management of the trust. It is time for Congress to include these ideas in the trust debate.

Third and finally, the federal government should start budgeting for an eventual solution. Last year, I introduced the Indian Payment Trust Equity Act (S. 1540). This legislation would create a $10 billion fund to begin making payments to trust holders who have received an objective accounting of their trust assets. Somehow, the federal government needs to put its money where its mouth is and begin the process of making trust holders whole.

I encourage you to ask your Senators to co-sponsor both S. 1459 and S. 1540. And keep asking until they say yes. I encourage you, also, to raise this issue every time someone asks for your vote. Ask candidates where they stand on trust reform, and what they will do to help build a consensus for a just settlement.

The people who are trying to prevent a just settlement of the trust issue are always trying to win support for more tax cuts by proclaiming, "It's your money." Well, in Indian trust accounts, it's Indian people's money. Correcting more than a century of mismanagement and neglect will be difficult, but the complexity of the challenge cannot be used as an excuse to continue denying account holders what is rightfully theirs.

Another injustice that must end is the chronic under-funding of the Indian Health Service. This nation has a treaty obligation to provide - and fully fund - Indian health care. And it must fulfill that obligation. It is unacceptable that the federal government spends twice as much on health care for federal prisoners as it does for Indian children's health care. It is shameful that the Indian Health Service is forced to ration health care because of budget shortfalls. It is immoral that sick people are turned away every day from IHS hospitals and clinics in this country unless they are in immediate danger of losing their life or a limb. "Life or limb." That's not a figure of speech. At IHS, it is the actual standard for care. And it is a national disgrace.

I hear horror stories all the time about people being denied needed health care. The IHS Service Unit at Eagle Butte is funded at 44 percent of its actual need. It has 22 beds and a birthing room. There are two or three doctors to staff the clinic, hospital and emergency room. Despite the community's high birth rate, there is no staff obstetrician. A visiting obstetrician comes every couple of weeks. Because of budget constraints, IHS pays for only one ultrasound per pregnancy.

Two years ago, a young woman went into labor at the Eagle Butte facility. Her pregnancy was full-term and, as far as the medical staff could tell, her baby was perfectly healthy. But the delivery was difficult. For reasons the staff couldn't understand, the baby's heart beat dropped dangerously during labor. Had there been an obstetrician there, had the medical staff been able to order a second ultrasound, they would have known that the baby's umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. But there was no money in the budget for an obstetrician, or a second ultrasound, so that little boy was stillborn.

Last week, I held town hall meetings on Pine Ridge and Rosebud to hear about people's experiences trying to get health care. We expected a couple hundred people at those meetings. More than 700 people showed up.

The Indian Health Service budget accounts for one-half of 1 percent of the Department of Health and Human Services budget. One-half of 1 percent. It has consistently grown at a far slower rate than the rest of the HHS budget. That means that the health system with the sickest people and the greatest needs gets the smallest increases. That just doesn't add up.

Last March, I offered an amendment to the 2004 budget resolution to provide an additional $2.9 billion for IHS clinical services. It wasn't enough -- by far -- to meet all of the health care needs in Indian Country. But it would have provided enough room in the budget to fund basic clinical health care services for American Indians and Alaska Natives who currently depend on the Indian Health Service. Republicans killed that amendment. Every Republican senator voting against it.

Afterwards, the Senate Republican leadership proposed their own amendment to increase IHS funding by $292 million - one-tenth the amount of the increase we proposed.

Their proposal was deeply inadequate, but we accepted it anyway because we believed that an increase that allowed even a few more people to get health care was better than no increase at all. Then Republicans killed their own amendment in a Republican-only conference.

In November, when the Senate debated the Interior Appropriations bill, we asked them to restore the $292 million they had promised. They refused. They agreed that Native people are being denied essential health care. But, they said, we just can't afford to do any better. Well, they said we couldn't afford to meet our trust responsibility when we were expecting trillions of dollars in surpluses, either. If we have billions to spend in Iraq, and billions more to go to Mars, we ought to have the billions necessary to honor our treaty obligation and provide every American Indian health care. The truth is, this is a matter of will, not wallet.

Earlier this month, the President has sent Congress his proposed budget for 2005. It recommends only $2.1 billion for IHS clinical services. That is more than 60 percent below the bare minimum needed to provide basic health care for people already in the IHS system. And it is unacceptable. I am announcing today that I will offer an amendment to next year's budget resolution to fully fund the clinical services portion of the Indian Health Services budget.

Last year, I asked Congress' investigatory arm, the General Accounting Office, to document the deficiencies in Indian health care. I hope to have some preliminary information soon. And I hope it will finally convince our Republican colleagues to help us end the immoral health care rationing that is taking place every day in Indian Country.

IHS's funding crisis is not just in clinical services. Prevention efforts, facilities, personnel, mental health care, substance abuse programs, and contract support costs are all drastically under-funded, too. And this is not just an "Indian issue." Rural community hospitals, ambulance services, and other health care providers who work with IHS are hurt, too, because IHS is unable to pay them. This has to stop. Our government promised, in treaties, to provide health care for Indian people. We have to keep that promise. Period.

There's an old legend that a friend told me. It's a Sioux legend, but I think we can all understand it. According to this legend: The Creator gathered all of creation and said, "I want to hide something from the humans until they are ready for it. It is the realization that they create their own reality." The eagle said, "Give it to me, I'll take it to the moon." The Creator said, "No, one day they'll go there and find it." The salmon said, "Give it to me. I'll hide it on the bottom of the ocean." The Creator said, "No, they will go there, too." The buffalo said, "I will bury it on the Great Plains." The Creator answered: "Even the Great Plains is not big enough. They will cut into the skin of the Earth and find it." Then Grandmother Mole, who lived deep in the Earth and had no physical eyes -- only spiritual eyes -- said, "Put the knowledge inside them." And the Creator said, "It is done."

We have major challenges ahead, but they are nothing in comparison to what Indian people have already survived. There are answers -- and many of them are within you. I am committed to working with you to try to make sure our government keeps its promises and honors the obligations it has made in treaties and in laws. Together, we can and will create a future that is worthy of all those who came before us and all those yet to come."