Byron Dorgan: “as of this month, it has been 2 full years that the position of Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department…”

“as of this month, it has been 2 full years that the position of Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior has been vacant--2 full years. There has been a Federal position specifically assigned for the responsibilities for Indian affairs since the year 1806. In the year 1849, that position was transferred from the Defense Department--or then the Department of War--to the Interior Department. The Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs and the Department of the Interior is responsible for managing the BIA, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and all of the programs that are important to the trust responsibilities and the fiduciary obligations the U.S. Government has to tribes. We do indeed have obligations to tribes through treaties and through other approaches, trust responsibilities. This Congress, and previous Congresses, and future Congresses, have obligations to tribal governments that we must meet. Those obligations are important. As I said, it has been 2 full years since we have had a person in the position of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs in the Interior Department.”