Rep. Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma), the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, discusses the food shortage crisis in Indian Country on September 11, 2024.

Cole, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, spoke at a joint oversight hearing titled “Severe Food Distribution Shortages in Tribal and Elderly Communities.” He blamed the Biden administration for problems with the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) that have resulted in the most vulnerable in Indian Country going without food for months.

“It’s more than a mistake. It’s gross negligence,” Cole said of a decision by the Department of Agriculture to change how tribes receive FDPIR deliveries.

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