Byron Dorgan: “This is a conference report that spends $19-plus billion on a wide range of issues--the National Park Service, the…”

“This is a conference report that spends $19-plus billion on a wide range of issues--the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife, Bureau of Indian Affairs, a portion of the Department of Energy, and the Forest Service. As you take a look at all of these issues--the National Endowment for the Humanities and Arts, the Smithsonian Institution--this is quite a remarkable subcommittee and the jurisdiction is broad and very interesting. I am going to vote for this conference report. There is much in it that represents progress, as far as I am concerned, in a range of areas, but I do say--and my colleague, Senator Burns, knows this--that I have great heartburn about the final provision in this conference report that deals with Indian trust land. I will talk about that in a moment. While I vigorously oppose that provision, I, nonetheless, will vote for the conference report.”