On the recordFebruary 26, 2015
Mr. Chairman, I want to thank my colleague from the cold north of Minnesota for his very excellent amendment. We know in Minnesota, as we know across the country, that the state of many of these Indian schools are just absolutely deplorable. He described that very well. It is appalling that sometimes it has taken us 10 years to identify a problem, and we can't do anything about it. We are compromising the education of vulnerable children; we are compromising their health and safety, as my friend from Minnesota (Mr. Nolan) said; and we are certainly compromising their education and their hopes for a better future. That is why we have got to look more closely at this issue. That is why I did write the letter to the Director of the BIE to begin a dialogue. That is why we will hold, in the coming weeks, a hearing to dig into this. We are badly organized, shall I say, in the government sometimes and in the Congress. So one committee is looking at one thing, and then nobody is looking at another, and nobody is paying attention to something else, and we have let this deplorable situation develop. We have got to do better. The gentleman's amendment will help in this regard. I very much appreciate that he did it. I am very, very supportive of this amendment because it makes this bill a better bill. I yield back the balance of my time. The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Nolan). The amendment was agreed to. Amendment No.…





