WASHINGTON DC –
U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) will chair a Senate Indian Affairs Committee field hearing at United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) in Bismarck on Thursday, February 23, 2006, at 10:30 a.m. to assess the needs and priorities in the Fiscal Year 2007 budget for North Dakota Indian reservations. Senator John McCain chairs the Committee and Dorgan serves as Vice Chair.
Dorgan said the budget proposal, which the President sent to Congress earlier this month, includes cuts to many Indian housing, health and education programs. The budget provides zero dollars of Bureau of Indian Affairs funding for UTTC. Dorgan said he is holding the hearing to get first-hand accounts from North Dakota tribal chairmen about how their communities could be affected by the proposed budget.
Tribal members from across the state and region, and the general public, are invited to attend.
Details below:
WHO:
U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Vice Chairman of Senate Indian Affairs Committee; Ron His Horse Is Thunder, Chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe; Tex Hall, Chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes; Ken Davis, Chairman of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa; Myra Pearson, Chair of the Spirit Lake Tribe; and James “JC” Crawford, Chairman of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Tribe.
WHY:
To gauge the potential impact of cuts in funding to programs affecting Indian country, particularly as they pertain to education, health and housing issues, and to assess the needs and priorities of the North Dakota tribes.
WHAT:
Hearing of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs to examine the impact of the President’s Fiscal Year 2007 budget on Native Americans.
WHEN:
Thursday, February 23 – 10:30 AM CT
WHERE:
United Tribes Technical College
Jack Barden Student Technology Center
3315 University Drive
Bismarck, North Dakota