Native Americans face health disparities at almost every level.

I think actually it is even worse than you said. I think it is about three to one.

Senator McCain sits on this Committee. His medical care through the Veterans Administration is not taxed.

The role of the Indian Tribal Governments Office is only as wide as the responsibility of the Internal Revenue Service.

The situation cries out for a Congressional fix.

The Indian Health Service attempts to address these disparities by delivering health services to tribal communities.

We are hoping to educate people through you.

Is it the practice of the IRS to audit a State or local government without first providing some guidance or bulletin on the subject of the audit?

I would hope that that Tribal Office would see its mandate as reviewing all of these things and educating the Treasury Department, the IRS, and everybody within the Department.

So we need to put the resources behind the Indian Health Service. There is no doubt about that.

It is common in Indian country to hear the phrase, don't get sick after June.

It is well documented that we as the Federal Government are failing in meeting our obligation to provide health care to Native Americans.

One of the things I am wondering is, you have State and local governments and then you have tribal governments.

A better solution would be to bring wind and solar funding in line with other activities on BLM land.

We would also suggest including legislation along the lines of H.R. 2662, introduced by Rep. Heinrich, to dedicate a portion of the fees paid by renewable energy developers back to Interior.

I think that serves to underscore my point.

Creating a corps of agency staff whose sole responsibility is evaluating renewable energy applications should improve the efficiency.

H.R. 2662 would provide renewable energy with a benefit the oil and gas industry already enjoys.