Political Quotes

“those of my colleagues who have Native American tribes located in their States will understand the importance of the Indian Reservation Road funding authorized as part of the our highway program. However, they may not be aware that the Indian reservation roads program does not treat all States equally. There are serious deficiencies in the inventory of road miles eligible for funding under the Indian Reservation Road--IRR--program. Yesterday, I filed an amendment intended to address this issue. I understand the National Congress of American Indians and other groups favor action on this matter, and I would certainly be willing to entertain any suggestions for improving the current amendment. Unfortunately, it appears the present situation may make it impossible for the Senate to deal appropriately with this important matter. In most areas of the country, the BIA had a reasonably complete inventory of roads and road needs by 1993, and these were incorporated into the IRR inventory. In Alaska that is not the case. The inventory numbers for Alaska are in no way complete, nor are they based on an actual count of road miles. They are based instead on a 1993 document that was never intended to serve as a complete inventory.”