WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven (R-ND), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA), today released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed five Senate bills that were previously considered favorably by the SCIA. All five pieces of legislation have now been approved by both the Senate and House, and will now go to the President to be signed into law.
“We appreciate the House of Representatives for passing five Indian bills, including my PROGRESS for Indian Tribes Act and Savanna’s Act, a bill that I have strongly supported since introduction,” said Hoeven. “The efforts of my House colleagues is appreciated and we anticipate that more of the Senate’s Indian Affairs Committee bills will move onto the President’s desk to be signed into law by the end of the year.”
The following SCIA bills were passed by the House of Representatives:
· S. 209, the PROGRESS for Indian Tribes Act;
· S. 227, Savanna’s Act;
· S. 294, the Native American Business Incubators Program Act;
· S. 832, A bill to nullify the Supplemental Treaty Between the United States of America and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of Indians of Middle Oregon, concluded on November 15, 1865; and
· S. 982, the Not Invisible Act of 2019.
There are seven bipartisan SCIA bills still pending in the House of Representatives:
· S. 46, the Klamath Tribe Judgment Fund Repeal Act;
· S. 199, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation Restoration Act;
· S. 212, the Indian Community Economic Enhancement Act of 2019;
· S. 224, A bill to provide for the conveyance of certain property to the Tanana Tribal Council located in Tanana, Alaska, and to the Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation located in Dillingham, Alaska, and for other purposes;
· S. 257, the Tribal HUD-VASH Act of 2019;
· S. 886, the Indian Water Rights Settlement Extension Act, which incorporated four SCIA bills into the substitute amendment; and
o S. 279, the Tribal School Federal Insurance Parity Act
o S. 1207, the Navajo-Utah Water Rights Settlement Act
o S. 1875, the Aamodt Litigation Settlement Completion Act of 2019
o S. 2365, the Health Access for Urban Native Veterans at of 2019
· S. 2071, the Repealing Existing Substandard Provisions Encouraging Conciliation with Tribes (RESPECT) Act.
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