John Hoeven

I wanted to get to the floor today to say thank you to some colleagues that are truly deserving of it. There are three of them here. My understanding is that Senator Shelby, or ``The Chairman,'' as I call him, has not yet made his farewell…

Does HHS and its agencies and offices currently confer with Urban Indian Organizations on an informal basis?

I am wondering what impact formal consultation would have between HHS and Urban Indian Organizations.

I guess my first question would be in regard to the infant formula situation.

Welcome to our guests. I apologize for being tardy. But thank you very much for being here.

But obviously that has been a real concern.

Streamlining the Indian Health Service to operate as a healthcare system as opposed to individual operations is critical.

In 2017, IHS was listed on the Government Accountability Office's GAO High Risk List, 2017.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would like to acknowledge the absence of Vice Chairman Murkowski who could not be here with us today.

I really think that is an area where you can have a big impact.

The health disparities faced by Native Americans must be addressed with urgency and commitment.

We can't be--we are the only dual nuclear base, and we are behind everybody else, and we keep getting pushed back. That is not acceptable.

In other words, you are going to continue on?

And once it is out, we would like you to have somebody get out there with us, and talk to the livestock groups, or in this case the commodity groups, the farm groups, so we can explain it, if that would--if that is something that you would…

We appreciate the working relationship. The emergency livestock relief assistance is out there for the livestock producers.

Okay. And so when do you anticipate funding announcements then for round three?

Okay. Well, we are concerned it is going to take you above that range, and so again we want to make sure that that--you know, that those increases do keep it in that range, and we are not getting above it.

Livestock Indemnity Program, again, we appreciate that, we have had blizzards, we have had some calf mortality, not only in our state but other places.

The Department of AG touches the lives of all Americans every day, and in every way.

I have asked if you would work on adjustment there.

You don't need to explain what it is to me. My question to you is when the Administration lifts it and you're already at more than a million illegal encounters this year, what are you going to do because that number's going to go up…

The statistics would say otherwise. 1.7 million illegal encounters last year, more than one million so far this year.

Your Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection professionals will tell you that they could secure the border if you would enforce the tools and the laws that you have. You're not doing it.

I am confident that--perhaps I shouldn't be--that at least some colleagues would not want us to return all Cubans that we encounter at the border because of their claims of fear of persecution by reason of the authoritarian regime there.