I applaud the work of Senators Thune and Rounds in the Tribal Veterans Health Care Enhancement Act.

How these costs are covered shouldn't be a question for these heroes any more, is the bottom line.

the Johnson-O'Malley program benefits thousands of tribal students across the state of Montana.

You had shared a story with my office about a Native American veteran and the challenges he faced coordinating a heart valve insertion.

In my home State of Montana, we have one of the highest per capita veteran populations in the United States.

it's time to fix this problem by requiring our treaty health provider, the Indian Health Service, to start paying the VA based co-pays that our Indian veterans are entitled to.

I don't sense urgency in correcting this. What do we have to do to get this problem fixed quickly?

Providing tribal students with a strong education is an essential part of the U.S. trust responsibility.

There is an old saying in business: you get what you inspect, not what you expect.

It is critical that the department of Interior gather updated information to ensure that all eligible Native American students have the tools that they need to learn.

We must ensure that our tribal veterans receive the care they deserve.

Okay. So you want it left the way it is from an eligibility standpoint?

The impact would be basically that you would get less dollars per student.

Why wasn't it done in the fall? Why wasn't it changed?

Is that the way we do consultation?

I think it is critically important to utilize those, I will just tell you from my perspective, they can do a lot of legwork for you.

What would you do differently than the last two counts, if in fact you have folk who don't want to report because they are afraid their numbers are going to go down?

The trust responsibility of the United States is not limited to the Bureau of Indian Affairs or the Indian Health Services.