NALU October 30: Events and Hearings and Bills, Oh My!
In this issue:
- White House to Host Nation-to-Nation Conference
- Indian Health Care Improvement Act Hearing
- National Health Care Progress
- Indian Energy and Indian Energy Efficiency Hearing
- UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing to Visit United States
WHITE HOUSE TO HOST NATION-TO-NATION CONFERENCE
On October 12, President Obama announced that he will host the first ever White House Tribal Nations Conference. He has invited each of the 564 federally recognized tribes to send one representative to participate in this day-long conference on November 5, 2009. Many people have expressed excitement at this opportunity. Much of the conference will be webcast live at mytribetv.com.Click on the "Events" page on November 5 to view the proceedings.
INDIAN HEALTH CARE IMPROVEMENT ACT HEARING
On October 20, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's Health Subcommittee held a hearing on the reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (H.R. 2708). The committee heard testimony from the following people:
Yvette Roubideaux (Director of Indian Health Services)
Jefferson Keel (Lieutenant Governor of Chickasaw Nation and President-elect of National Congress of American Indians)
Rachel Joseph (Co-Chair of National Tribal Steering Committee for the Reauthorization of the IHCIA)
Andrew Joseph (Chair of Human Services Committee, Direct Services Tribe Advisory Committee)
Dr. Patrick Rock (Executive Director of Indian Health Board of Minneapolis, President-elect of National Council Urban Indian Health)
Though each of the witnesses brought a different perspective, they were united in one message: Congress needs to permanently authorize the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. Legislation to reauthorize this vitally important program passed the Senate in 2008 but did not become law. The program has not been reauthorized since it expired in 2001. Permanent authorization would allow Indian health service providers and programs to focus on their work rather than wondering every year if they will be able to continue. However, since this hearing there has been an exciting new development.
NATIONAL HEALTH CARE PROGRESS
Good news! The Indian Health Care Improvement Act has been included in the “big” health care reform bill in the House (H.R. 3962), and may also be included in the Senate bill. The House bill would also permanently reauthorize the IHCIA. Both the House and Senate are nearly ready to bring their respective bills to the floor for debate and a vote. In the House, the process could take just a few days. In the Senate, the debate itself will probably take a few weeks. Senators still significantly disagree about what ought to be included in the bill – for example, whether the bill should include a public insurance option – and about how to make health care affordable to people who don’t now have insurance. Both the House and the Senate bills do currently include additional funding for community health centers and Indian health centers. Health insurance reform MAY be completed by Christmas.
INDIAN ENERGY AND INDIAN ENERGY EFFICIENCY HEARING
On October 22 the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held a hearing on Indian energy and Indian energy efficiency, following up on an earlier hearing held in May 2008. In 2008, the committee heard that while there is great opportunity for energy development on tribal land, very little has been done in this area. The committee pinpointed three major obstacles:
1) Antiquated laws and cumbersome regulations
2) Tribal access to the transmission grid
3) Lack of available financing and incentives for investors for Indian tribal energy projects
Since then, the Senate committee has worked to find and implement solutions to this difficult situation. At the hearing last week, the Indian Affairs Committee heard testimony from the following, checking in about the progress of energy resource development:
Marcus Levings (Chair of Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold, New Town, ND)
James Roan Grey (Chair of Osage Nation, Pawhuska, OK)
Steve Herrera (Tribal Councilperson of Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Ignacio, CO)
Ralph Sampson (Chair of Yakama Nation, Toppenish, WA)
To view a webcast of the hearing, you can visit the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs' website.
UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON ADEQUATE HOUSING TO VISIT UNITED STATES
A Special Rapporteur is "an independent expert appointed by the [UN] Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme." The Special Rapporteur on adequate housing will soon be conducting a visit to the U.S. to examine the housing situation here. As part of her visit, she will be attending a special briefing hosted by the National Congress of American Indians at the Embassy of Tribal Nations on November 7. She will also be visiting the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. She will make a formal report to the UN sometime next year based on this trip.
Learn more about any of the bills mentioned in this or other Native American Legislative Updates at the Library of Congress web site. Just type in the bill number or name to see the bill's text, co-sponsors, and schedule for hearings.