It is important that as communities, we work together to solve our problems rather than fighting with one another.
Assuming we get this bill through sooner rather than later, do you have a plan to educate folks on what this bill does?
Montana has the same position as the Blackfeet Tribe, which is that we do support Pondera's request.
Thank you very much. Appreciate both your testimonies.
Where is the Governor in support of this bill?
I believe we all want to resolve our water rights issues in an expeditious manner.
They did such a good job that the State legislature ratified this compact in 2009, when they last met.
We believe reflects the benefits that we have sought and that we believe is a fair amount, yes.
It has been the policy in Montana and the United States to negotiate rather than litigate water rights.
We remain committed to that open dialogue. We do want to address their concerns.
We are very appreciative of all of the work that you have done on all the Indian water rights settlements that have come up from Montana.
At the appropriate time.
This legislation will bring clean water to reservation families, support tribal agriculture and provide long-term economic development.
It just underlines the urgency that we pass this very quickly.
The G-20 met recently and they set up a timeframe for deficit reduction.
Ultimately, we are going to have to make some tough decisions.
I want to step back to some questions that were asked earlier, and you said--I think it was in response to Chairman Dodd.
It takes a great deal of time to get new claims processors trained and contributing.
