Tribal leaders attending the Bureau of Indian Affairs budget advisory council meeting in Washington, D.C., last month were upset when the Bush administration cut out early.
Associate deputy secretary Jim Cason said he had to leave in order to take staff from the Senate Indian Affairs Committee to the department's Indian trust records center in Kansas. Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), the committee chairman, mentioned the visit at a hearing last week and said it was productive.
But tribal leaders were upset that Cason would have left before the budget was discussed. So the agenda was arranged to make sure he heard from tribes about funding cuts.
'Originally ready to consult and present requests and priorities to Cason and the BIA executive staff, it now appeared they would plead cases for additional BIA funding for various programs to each other,'' a statement issued by the Navajo Nation said.
Get the Story:Leaders annoyed by BIA exit from budget session (Indian Country Today 3/3)
Advisory council criticizes consultation and budget cuts (Indian Country Today 3/3) FY2007 BIA Budget Request:
Bureau of Indian Affairs Budget | Departmental Offices [includes Office of Special Trustee] FY2007 DOI Budget Documents:
Fulfilling Trust Responsibilities | Serving Tribal Communities | Protecting Lives, Resources, and Property [includes Safety in Indian Country] | Budget in Brief | Interior Department [from the White House] FY2007 IHS Budget in Brief:
HTML | PDF White House OMB Report:
Major Savings and Reforms in the President's 2007 Budget (February 2006) Relevant Links:
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