Senate Indian Affairs Committee sets meeting and hearing


The roof at a Bureau of Indian Education school has sprung multiple leaks after being installed in 2010 at a cost of $3.5 million. Efforts to fix the problem have gone nowhere. Photo from Government Accountability Office

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

Only one bill is on the agenda for the meeting. S.986, the Albuquerque Indian School Act, a bill that requires the Bureau of Indian Affairs to place land in trust for the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico.

The has not held a hearing on the bill during the 114th Congress. An identical version was considered during the last session.

The oversight hearing focuses on "organizational challenges" at the Bureau of Indian Education. The agency has been under scrutiny for poor conditions at schools and management failures.

A witness list hasn't been posted online. But Charles Roessel, the director of the BIE, is expected to testify, according to the Interior Department Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs.

The meeting and hearing take place at 2:15pm in Room 628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The meeting will not be webcast but the hearing will.

Committee Notices:
Business Meeting to Consider S. 986 (May 13, 2015)
Oversight Hearing on "Bureau of Indian Education: Examining Organizational Challenges in Transforming Educational Opportunities for Indian Children." (May 13, 2015)

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