Deb Haaland

Thank you for the opportunity to be here today and offer this testimony, and I look forward to our continued partnership, and I look forward to the conversation that we are going to have today.

If you recall when I first came into Congress, shortly before I was sworn in, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights came out with the Broken Promises report and pretty much laid that out over decades and decades that tribes have been…

Generally, if tribes don't have to worry about certain parts of their budgets, then they are free to work on things that they know will help their communities.

So I would like you to talk a little more about how living up to our trust and treaty responsibilities by treating these as mandatory will not only help right wrongs in Indian Country but will also help engage all the important work that…

I understand the issue. I understand what tribes are saying, and I respect tribal laws.

The previous administration had stopped all the work on a new 5-year plan in 2018.

I believe very strongly that stakeholders deserve to be heard.

President Biden has charged us all with an 'all of Government' approach to Indian Country.

Absolutely putting tribal consultation as a priority is something that we feel very committed to.

What does the administration need from this subcommittee so that we can be good partners to you in this effort?

We are talking about literally relocating entire communities.

I want to just emphasize the sheer need and the importance of urgent and bold action.

So climate change and coastal challenges are real threats, and they also threaten significant cultural landmarks and heritage.

I said many times that our public lands belong to every single American, and so we felt the need to include significant reforms that would benefit taxpayers.

I appreciate your interest and the committee's interest in this issue.

It is important for me to make sure that people know we care about this issue.

We are incredibly grateful for the $7 million in the 2022 funding.

Tribes have been on this continent for millennia, for tens of thousands of years, and they know how to take care of our land.

In this time of climate change bearing down on us, indigenous knowledge about our natural world will be extremely valuable and important to all of us.

The funding for tribal courts is so extremely important when you are dealing with, you know, holistic, wraparound approaches

For too long, the Gulf Coast has been treated as a sacrifice zone.

Reducing emissions from fossil fuel production has been an area of bipartisan agreement on this Subcommittee, and I hope that we can discuss that shared goal during today's hearing.

The stakes are just too high for the health of our planet and future generations for us to maintain the status quo.

While many of my colleagues and I are passionate supporters of the administration, we will continue to push them to follow the science and use the tools at their disposal to reduce emissions from America's public lands and waters.

I strongly disagree with the Department's decision-making around this sale and found it particularly disappointing given the extensive commitments to addressing climate change that were made in Glasgow at the COP26 Climate Conference.