Thank you for the invitation to tell my story.

And a reality that we can't deny. We can't erase. We can't rewrite. We just have to expose to begin the process of healing, reconciliation, and understanding.

The Congress must pass H.R. 5444 and establish the Truth and Healing Commission that addresses boarding schools in the United States.

This Congress must confront our stories and the painful history of boarding schools.

we need to achieve both of those things to not only right the wrongs of the past, but to try to achieve some kind of healing so that we can emerge together as one society.

Subpoena authority, while it might serve the goal of truth, might be adversarial to the goal of healing.

I think this legislation deserves to be bipartisan.

I think we need to be very clear about the taxpayer resources that are being expended here.

We have a responsibility... to acknowledge it, and with the highest level of respect and candor begin the process of healing and reconciliation.

You can't sugarcoat the reality. You can be bold. And I think this Congress should be bold, step forward, pass this bill, and move it on.

It is time to set a policy of this dark and atrocious chapter, not to forget it.