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Senate Indian Affairs Committee sets meeting and hearing

Monday, November 16, 2015

Dancers at a Haskell Indian Nations University powwow in 2014. Photo from Facebook

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee will hold a business meeting and legislative hearing on Wednesday.

Two bills are on the agenda for the meeting. They are:

• S.817, a land-into-trust bill for the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians in Oregon. The committee held a hearing on October 7.
• S.818, a land-into-trust bill for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in Oregon. A hearing was held on October 7.

Immediately following the meeting, the committee will take testimony on three Indian education bills. They are:

• S.410, the Building upon Unique Indian Learning and Development (BUILD) Act. The bill seeks to improve programs for Indian students in public schools as well as Bureau of Indian Education schools. It sets funding levels for Impact Aid and authorizes forward-funding for the Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development, Haskell Indian Nations University and Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute.
• S.1163, the Native American Languages Reauthorization Act. The bill reauthorizes funding for Native language programs at the Administration for Native Americans.
• S.1928, the Native Educator Support and Training (NEST) Act. The bill establishes new scholarships, federal student loan forgiveness plans and teacher development courses to encourage people to work at Bureau of Indian Education schools.