William R. Richardson: “I ask for support for the Obey- Richardson-Clayton amendment, and let me say that what is right now on the floor is the…”

“I ask for support for the Obey- Richardson-Clayton amendment, and let me say that what is right now on the floor is the Obey amendment. I have heard this Coburn amendment. Nothing has been offered, and I am not sure it is in order. Let me just say what we are doing with the decimation of the Office of Indian Education: We are affecting 32 States. Any Member here that has a native American in their district is affected. Now I am the former chairman of the Native American Subcommittee. The gentleman from American Samoa [Mr. Faleomavaega] is now the ranking member. He dealt with this issue for years. If the initiative of the Interior appropriations passes, 92 percent of Indian children in this country will not be served because they live off reservations. One of the myths that we have about the Indian people in this country is that they all live on reservations. They do not. They live in cities. They live in our rural areas. They live in all of our districts. So what we are doing, what the initiative of the appropriations was doing, was zeroing out the Office of Indian Education that serves 92 percent of Indian children, and what the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Obey] is trying to do, and the gentlewoman from North Carolina [Mrs. Clayton], and myself, and many others; and I think the gentleman from Oklahoma [Mr. Coburn] has some very good intentions; those of us that have Indian districts, is restore the funds for this vital program.…”