Tom Udall

Withholding would hurt the tribes.

this amendment calls for legislation to fully and permanently fund the Payment in Lieu of Taxes Program. Senator Heinrich and I have long called for this solution. Rural counties in New Mexico and other States across the West and across…

Thank you, Madam President, for the recognition. Madam President, today I wish to talk a little bit about something very obscure that is buried in this budget bill, but it is something that is very, very important to me. First, before I…

I ask unanimous consent that Melanie Thornton, a congressional fellow in my office, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the 115th Congress. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Senator McCain and Uncle Mo's efforts to pass this landmark legislation were a true showing of bipartisanship, one we need to see more of today.

As I mentioned in my opening, Indian gaming is an important economic engine.

Interior owes Indian Country no less than to meet in and with communities that will be hardest hit by this Administration's proposed changes.

Together, they ushered in a new era for tribal self determination with a law that continues to provide economic opportunities to Indian Country.

I am joined today by my colleague from New Mexico, Senator Heinrich. We thought we would come to the floor together and talk about Senator Domenici, our former colleague who passed away recently. Pietro Vichi Domenici was born to Italian…

I am honored to serve alongside one of the architects of that Act, Senator John McCain.

I do not think we should ever want to hear the excuse that tribes are doing well with gaming, now we do not need to help them anymore.

Indian gaming has stood the test of time as a proven economic driver.

Can I have your commitment that you, as the highest ranking political appointee in Indian Affairs at Interior, that you will ensure meaningful tribal consultations occur in the spirit of that Executive Order?

I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Johnson). Without objection, it is so ordered.

It affirmed the tribes' right to regulate gaming on tribal lands.

We are preparing to implement this change officially starting October 1, 2017 and do not expect this change to cause significant disruption.

This is a step in the right direction, but stakeholder coordination is key to improving efforts to combat issues like human trafficking.

let me thank my colleague Senator Heitkamp for her great advocacy today for Native Americans. I have known her for a long time. In every public service job she has had--whether it was the State tax commissioner of North Dakota or the…

If you ask someone are you a victim of trafficking, are you Native American and you do not have services to follow up, then it can potentially cause more harm.

We must remain vigilant to ensure that any future health care bill does not cut into the health care needs of human trafficking victims in Indian Country.

I think it is up to us who work in this arena and work on the issue itself to begin just that process much like what happened on the Navajo Nation in helping them realize it is important that they buy in on this and we all work together on…

We have to have a way to communicate with our police and first responders collectively.

The Cassidy repeal bill would have slashed funding to Medicaid services provided under Medicaid.

If HHS can provide this information without compromising the identity of victims would it be possible to require the same type of reporting uniformly across all agencies?

I say to Senator Cortez Masto, thank you so much. Thank you for bringing the statements forward from Chairwoman Torres. She has every right to be concerned. The short answer to her question is, yes, we don't want to go back. Chairwoman…