WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) were formally elected as chair and vice chair, respectively, of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.
“None of our achievements last Congress would have been possible without this Committee’s bipartisan commitment to Native people in Indian Country, in Alaska, and in Hawaiʻi,” said Chairman Schatz. “Our longstanding tradition of bipartisanship is our strength, so I am truly proud to serve, for the second consecutive Congress, in leadership alongside my good friend, Senator Murkowski.”
“The 117th Congress proved to be a remarkably productive time for the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. We navigated part or all of close to 20 measures jurisdictional to us into federal law. We made strides in early 2021 with the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill, which contained nearly $13 billion in historic investments for Native people. We continued the success with the inclusion of our Tribal Title in the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization. And we closed out 2022 with the passage of 12 bills that touched on Native languages, water settlements, and much more,” said Vice Chairman Murkowski. “I thank Chairman Schatz for being a great partner and for working with me to find bipartisan solutions to the issues that came before us. I also thank the members of the committee for their contributions and our staffs and I look forward to good work in this new Congress.”
The Committee also adopted its rules for the 118th Congress and its funding resolution for operations. The rules, as adopted, are available here.
The full video of today’s organizing meeting is available here.
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