The House Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs held a hearing this morning on four bills. The Bureau of Indian Affairs supports bills to update the self-governance program at the Interior Department, authorize a land swap for the Morongo Band of Mission Indians in California and reaffirm the trust status of lands acquired for the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatami Indians in Michigan, Assistant Secretary Kevin Washburn said. They are: H.R.4546, the Department of the Interior Tribal Self-Governance Act; H.R.4867, the Economic Development Through Tribal Land Exchange Act; and S.1603, the Gun Lake Trust Land Reaffirmation Act. The Indian Health Service, on the other hand, was guarded about H.R.3229, the Indian Health Service Advance Appropriations Act. The bill appropriates funds for the Indian Health Service for two years in advance but deputy director Elizabeth Fowler didn't say what the agency thought of the bill until she was asked directly by Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), the chairman of the subcommittee, and even then she said the Obama administration doesn't have a "formal position" on the matter. The hearing lasted about 1 hour and 17 minutes. Audio can be found on the Indianz.Com Sound Cloud. Committee Notice:
Legislative Hearing on H.R. 3229, H.R. 4546, H.R. 4867, and S. 1603 (July 15, 2014)
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