Ben Ray Luján

My follow-up is what Federal services and benefits are they not eligible to receive despite having full tribal citizenship?

I support Senate Bill 2907.

The United States poured enormous resources into Federal Indian boarding schools. By comparison, the Federal Government has invested less than $400 million in recouping the very Native American languages they tried so hard to eradicate…

Mr. Chairman, thank you very much, Vice Chair Murkowski, thank you both for holding this important hearing today to examine the legacy of Federal Indian boarding school policies and to support legislation that moves us in the right…

We often hear in our communities, people will say, we lost our language. I say, no, we did not lose it; it was taken.

We need to ensure that we are protecting the rights of Native children and families.

As a commissioner in Maine, Chief Francis was right, everything led back to boarding school, everything, because that is where the first disruption took place of our families.

I urge my colleagues to support this call for a formal apology and thank these young leaders for their advocacy.

It does remind us that there is something that happens when the truth is spoken. It changes minds and changes hearts.

I appreciate that, Dr. Walensky. Madam Chair, as my time expires, I have a couple of questions also made into the record.

While I very much respect that people keep telling me 99.8 percent of control burns are always under control, I am more interested in the 0.2 percent that destroyed our state.

Dr. Walensky, will you commit to reconsidering CDC guidelines for the fourth COVID-19 shot to account for the risks of people fleeing from natural disasters who are forced into compact living conditions?

I remind them that this fire was started by the U.S. Government. It was a controlled burn started by Federal employees, by the U.S. Forest Service.

When the supply chain fails and essentials are not available, it is not merely an inconvenience, but a crisis for those living in rural and underserved communities.

Thank you all for holding this hearing on the nomination of Roselyn Tso to be the Director of the Indian Health Service.

I believe that Roselyn Tso will bring the necessary leadership to the Indian Health Service.

I certainly hope you are in a position to look at this across the Country.

What I don't want to see that Pueblos and tribes do not get any money in New Mexico or qualify for any grants because they didn't have that support or that technical expertise.

One of the areas I wanted to focus some time on is, there was an effort to elevate the tribal government affairs leadership to the rank of Assistant Secretary within the U.S. Department of Transportation.

I think it is important for the Committee to know what the staffing need would be in order to complete these.

Congress expanded the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to address some of the unique barriers to broadband buildout on Tribal lands by providing an additional $2 billion to the program.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is a historic opportunity to support our tribal communities.

I want to thank you for that as well. Thank you, Mr. Rounds, for that advocacy.

I am going to find every way that I can to stop this from happening.

It is a great privilege to introduce President Biden's nominee to be Chairman of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, Javier Saade.