WASHINGTON DC –
Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) announced Tuesday the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will hold an organizational meeting, followed by a hearing on “Advancing Indian Health Care” at 11:00 AM on Thursday, February 5, 2009, in Room 628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
At the organizational meeting, the committee will adopt is rules of operation for the 111th Congress. It will also formally elect Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) Chairman of the committee and Senator Richard Barrasso (R-WY) as Vice Chairman. Barrasso will replace Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who is stepping down from that post but is remaining as a member of the committee.
Following its organizational work, the committee will conduct a hearing on Indian health care. Tribal leaders, Indian health experts, and advocates will present ideas on how to develop a plan to improve access to, and the quality of, Indian health care.
Details follow:
WHO: U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Senator Byron Dorgan, Chairman, and other members of the Committee.
WITNESSES: Rachel Joseph, Tribal Co-Chair, National Steering Committee for Reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act; Ms. H. Sally Smith; Alaska Representative, Board of Directors, National Indian Health Board; Ron His Horse is Thunder, Chairman, Aberdeen Area Tribal Chairman’s Health Board and Standing Rock Tribe; David Rambeau, President, National Council of Urban Indian Health; Mickey Peercy, Executive Director of Health Services, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Andy Joseph; Chair Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board.
WHAT: Organizational meeting and hearing on “Advancing Indian Health Care.”
WHEN: 11:00 AM, Thursday, February 5, 2009
WHERE: 628 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C.
WHY: To complete the committee’s organizational work for the 111th Congress, and to receive testimony on a wide range of long and short-term ideas about how to improve access to, and quality of, Indian health care.