WASHINGTON D.C. –
Chairman Byron Dorgan (D-ND) announced Wednesday the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will conduct a hearing at 9:30 AM, Thursday, May 13, to explore a range of safety issues at schools operated by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). The hearing will take place in Room #628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, in Washington, DC.
The hearing, titled “Does Indian School Safety Get a Passing Grade?” will examine investigations which found dangerous and potentially dangerous conditions at BIE schools that often go unaddressed for years. The committee will examine the extent of such conditions, the effect they have on Indian children, and efforts to improve safety at the schools.
Details follow:
WHO: U.S. Senators: U.S. Senators Byron Dorgan, Chairman; John Barrasso (R-WY), Vice Chairman; and other members of the committee;
WITNESSES: Larry Echo Hawk, Assistant Secretary, Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of Interior, accompanied by Jack Rever, Director, Office of Facilities, Environmental and Cultural Resources, Us. Department of Interior; Mary Kendell, Acting Inspector General, U.S. Department of Interior; Quinton Roman Nose, Board Member, National Indian Education Association; Dr. Anthony Fairbanks, Superintendent, Pueblo of Laguna Department of Education; Charles Jaynes, Retired Bureau of Indian Affairs Safety Director, Albuquerque, New Mexico (via video conference);
WHAT: Congressional oversight hearing on safety at Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools: “Does Indian School Safety Get a Passing Grade?”
WHEN: 9:30 AM, Thursday, May 13, 2010;
WHERE: Room 628 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC;
WHY: To examine investigations which found dangerous and potentially dangerous conditions at BIE schools that often go unaddressed for years, the effect those conditions have on Indian children and efforts to improve safety at the schools.