Brian Schatz: “the past 4 years have been historic for the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs by almost any measure. We secured the…”

“the past 4 years have been historic for the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs by almost any measure. We secured the largest investment in Native communities in American history, totaling more than $45 billion. We had the committee's most productive 4-year period ever, passing more than a dozen bills into law. And, just this month, we passed another 10 bills in the Senate that are waiting for action in the House. Taken together, these record investments and laws cover a wide range of priorities for native people--securing ancestral lands and waters, building safer communities for children and elders, and turning a new page on the boarding school era by promoting native languages, education, and healing. But the numbers alone don't tell the story because behind each of these statutes and investments are real, tangible benefits for Native communities everywhere--from the homes they live in to the roads they get around on to the water they drink every day--and I am proud that we have been able to deliver such important investments in Indian Country, on Hawaiian homelands, and in Alaska Native villages, whose needs have been so often overlooked or even sometimes harmed by the Federal Government. This progress means more people will have homes with working electricity and clean, piped water.…”