William R. Richardson: “I strongly object to language included in the report accompanying H.R. 1977, the Interior appropriations bill for fiscal…”

“I strongly object to language included in the report accompanying H.R. 1977, the Interior appropriations bill for fiscal year 1996, which directs the Bureau of Indian Affairs [BIA] not to distribute self-governance tribal shares of central office and pooled overhead funding to Indian tribes despite the fact that the distribution of these tribal shares is required by law, namely the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. Even the committee's report admits that distribution is required by law. And as the U.S. Supreme Court has stated in the Tennessee Valley Authority and Oklahoma Press Publishing Co. cases, committee reports cannot change or amend the plain intent of statutes. But we must not also forget that Congress passed the Indian Self-Determination Act and created the self-governance program in order to enable tribes to achieve self-sufficiency, eliminate unnecessary layers of bureaucracy, and reduce governmental red tape and inefficiency by turning over the operation of Federal Indian programs to the tribes themselves. This act was passed with strong bipartisan support and represents the foundation of our policy toward Indian tribes. The transfer of tribal shares from central office operations to the tribes is part of this effort and has successfully resulted in concrete reductions in the Federal bureaucracy that exist at the central and area office levels of the BIA.”