Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Ms. Schakowsky.

I want to thank Mr. Markwayne Mullin for leading this effort, and Mr. Kennedy as well.

We support the STOP Act's increased penalties for violations of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)...

Despite protections in current law, the illicit trade in Native American tangible cultural heritage continues to pose a grave threat...

The HHS Inspector General's oversight activities are not enough to hold IHS accountable.

The exportation of cultural items and archaeological resources that are already protected from trafficking within the U.S. is illegal.

Congress should use its current oversight authority to compel IHS to provide the information currently outlined in this legislation.

We have many from all members, both sides, outstanding questions I think really need to be answered.

I sent a letter to the President in March urging him to continue the tradition of holding the White House Tribal Nations Conference.

We support the bill. Great Plains does and the United Tribes of North Dakota.

I do not think you can say oh, we are going to indefinitely postpone it. The message should go to the Secretary that he reconvene the Review Committee and continue its statutorily mandated mission, which is I think tremendously important.

the entire Federal Government has a trust responsibility to the tribes.

The problem with this is that is the entity to do the enforcement. If you are putting this in hiatus indefinitely, you have stopped the enforcement activities.

the idea of taxpayer money going to private companies to dig for information this Committee should be able to get from Federal agencies already strikes me as wasteful and duplicative.

We must work together to address the unique challenges faced by tribal nations.

USET SPF commends Senator Martin Heinrich, and cosponsors, for the introduction of the STOP Act.

We also extend our gratitude to Senator Martin Heinrich and the several sponsors who introduced the STOP Act.

I find it deeply troubling to learn that almost ten months into a new Administration that the Department of the Interior itself has not looked into what policy changes are necessary to stop the trafficking of sacred tribal objects.