WASHINGTON – The president’s fiscal year 2007 budget is an attack on Indian country and reflects skewed priorities, according to some U.S. senators.
“What is lacking is not the money; what is lacking is the political will. Native Americans deserve better than that kind of low priority,” said Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D.
Johnson joined Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota in an attempt to restore $1 billion to the budget for Indian country. The measure was defeated along a party-line vote, Johnson said. He added that the administration can’t afford the $1 billion at the same time it awards tax cuts to those who earn more than $1 million.
The two most egregious cuts in Bush’s budget, according to Johnson, are the zeroing out of the Johnson-O’Malley and urban Indian health programs.
“The Johnson-O’Malley program was already underfunded in last year’s budget, but now we are fighting just to maintain those levels since the president has zeroed the program out. Budgets are about priorities, and education shouldn’t be an afterthought,” he said.
The Johnson-O’Malley grant program serves about 93 percent of all American Indian students in public schools in 23 states.
Johnson, during a recent news conference that focused on American Indian budget programs, criticized the administration and promised to work to restore some of the cuts.
According to the Department of Interior, the Johnson O’Malley program was shifted from the BIA education program to the Department of Education.
“There are efforts in the Bush administration to move programs from one box to another. They are trying to kill 42 education programs and they claim a different department will run the program. They moved the box but took away the funding. It is very unlikely it would be funded.
“Budgets are about priorities, and the president’s are backwards,” he said.
Johnson, in a letter to Sen. Conrad Burns, chairman of the subcommittee on Interior and other agencies, encouraged the senator to support continued funding of the Johnson O’Malley program.
“If the federal government is committed to promoting self-determination in Indian communities, we cannot cut funding for programs critical to the education of Indian children.
“At a time when tribes are working hard to improve the status of their communities, the president’s FY ’07 budget requests for the Bureau of Indian Affairs calls for a $65 million decrease from FY ’06. Indian communities cannot afford the loss of the JOM grant program as well. If Indian communities are to succeed, Indian children must succeed in their education. The tutoring, counseling and other special resources provided to Indian students through JOM grants are critical to Indian children’s success in grade school,” Johnson said.
In addition to cuts in some education programs, additional funds will be required to reorganize the BIA programs by eliminating line officers at the local level and combining the duties with regional officers. The proposal is estimated to cost an additional $14 million and is opposed by the tribal governments.
“The Bush administration is doing this administratively and the South Dakota tribes are adamantly opposed. To move education people away from local communities and schools works against responsiveness.
“They are going about this with no meaningful consultation. They spring initiatives on us without listening to the tribes themselves and then there is no meaningful consultation.”
Johnson said it will be difficult to change the plan because it is an administrative move, which is difficult to legislate against.
“The process is wrong as well. Bush needs to spend more time listening to the tribes,” he said.
Another issue facing Indian country that needs more funding to combat is the rise in the use and distribution of methamphetamine on the reservations.
“Indian country is hit especially hard; it extends beyond [the] user and hurts the entire community.”
Within the Patriot Act reauthorization is legislation based on the Combat Meth Act of 2005. This provision limits access to large quantities of cold medicines that contain pseudophedrine.
“We must do all we can to stem the tide on this drug. We need to make sure the bill is implemented and fully funded.”
Training is available for tribal law enforcement officers through the Department of Justice to combat the growing use of meth. Again, Johnson said, underfunding law enforcement creates an environment where the limited number of officers are overworked.
The Bush administration proposes to help fund education with revenues acquired through the sales of 300 million acres of public lands. Most of Indian country will be affected by this proposal, whether it involves the sale of taken lands or lands located within a tribe’s original homeland.
“I am opposed to the Bush proposal; it’s only a proposal and I will do all I can to make sure doesn’t occur. To sell off part of our heritage for a one-time windfall … we need a way to fund all education, but not by selling off the land.”
