Pete Domenici: “I, first, congratulate Senator Gorton. Everything considered--the pressure of the closing, the politics of this…”

“I, first, congratulate Senator Gorton. Everything considered--the pressure of the closing, the politics of this season--I think he produced a very good bill and I compliment him. I would like to quickly talk with him about three issues because they have been very dear to me and we have finally come around to solving all three of them in this bill. First, the American Indian people will thank us because for the first time we are making the case for replacing Indian schools. They are so much in disrepair that nobody would send their kids to them, but there are no other schools to go to; they are out in Indian country, and we, the Government, happen to own them. There has been a dramatic increase this year. Thanks to this committee, we will add six new schools, and we will do a very large amount of maintenance on buildings that desperately need it. If Congress will heed what was discussed, they will do this for 5 or 6 years and get rid of the entire backlog. Senator, you have heard me for years ask the administration to give us a multiyear budget proposal to take care of Indian schools because if we don't pay for them nobody will. They are ours. This year the President put such language in his budget after consultation with a number of us. It is a little late, but nonetheless the Indian people can finally say, ``We see some daylight,'' with reference to adequate schools for our kids.”