Patsy T. Mink: “The inclusion of the Native American in Alaska and Hawaii in this list of 31 programs that are to be block granted is…”

“The inclusion of the Native American in Alaska and Hawaii in this list of 31 programs that are to be block granted is wholly inappropriate and basically inexplicable. The whole purpose of this list, as I have been able to rationalize it, is that presumably those programs were to have some national perspective and, therefore, lumping all of the monies in these programs into one block grant and allowing the States to make a decision as to which ones they wanted funded was the purpose of the legislation. Unfortunately, in drafting the list of 31 programs, the majority included the Alaska Native Education Program and the Hawaii Native Education Act. And it makes no sense, because these two programs are designated specifically for the Native American population in these two States. To take the monies away from this program and put it into a block grant making the total dollars available for the entire Nation and sacrificing these two designated programs is absolutely untenable. The Native Hawaiian Education Act was established by Congress in 1988 and it was part of the Federal Government's assumption of responsibility for the Native Americans that were in the State of Hawaii. That was true also for the Alaskan native peoples as well. The program is comprised of 6 programs and is funded in fiscal year 1998 at $18 million.”