Absolutely, absolutely unacceptable.

It's going to be an uphill battle for this subcommittee to fully fund your proposal given the flat budget caps in 2017.

So when your children stand in front of you, stand in front of the adults and say stop it, enough is enough, it is well past time to act.

But more is clearly needed. Indian Country needs better access to clinical services.

We really need these kinds of things to happen in Indian Country.

This means that IHS can no longer bill for Medicare and Medicaid services and that in many instances tribal members will have to travel long distances to get care.

I continue to hear from tribal leaders in New Mexico, including the Mescalero Apache Tribe and others who are concerned for the well-being of their people.

The need is clearly there, and the community is desperate to maintain these life-saving services.

I think it's critical that we continue to make progress on these issues.

Madam Chairman, you've been a great champion for programs that are so critical to Native communities in both our States and throughout Indian Country.

I want to thank Chairman Murkowski for working with me to produce a very solid budget for the Service this year.

But that's just a temporary fix, and we must do more.

It's absolutely intolerable for any IHS emergency facility to close for any amount of time, and cutbacks to essential services like obstetrics are also unacceptable.

That's why I'm pleased to see we were able to provide a $10 million increase for alcohol and substance abuse treatment as part of the 2016 omnibus.

I've introduced a bill with the Chairman, Senator Murkowski, that will make the IHS Health Professions Awards Program exempt from a Federal income tax requirement.

How long will it take at current funding levels to complete work on the current priority list?

I support a permanent line item for the Office of Technology Transitions and its critical missions.

I am also very interested in this Mission Innovation that I think you and I have spoken about.