William R. Richardson: “this is not a good bill. Even though there is an outstanding chairman, this is not a good bill. I think on a bipartisan…”

“this is not a good bill. Even though there is an outstanding chairman, this is not a good bill. I think on a bipartisan basis a lot of people are expressing concerns across the board about many provisions. I am going to cite the one that is most important to me and many of us that represent native Americans. Mr. Speaker, this bill cuts native American programs in education, health, housing by 11 percent. However, of all the programs within the Department of the Interior, here is the real pain: Forty five percent of these cuts are absorbed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. What this means, Mr. Speaker, is that thousands of native American people across the country are going to face cuts on many issues affecting reservations, law enforcement, services to the elderly, road repair, housing repairs, and social services. Here is the most devastating cut, Mr. Speaker. The elimination of the Office of Indian Education, which basically destroys our promise to native Americans that they will receive the same educational opportunities as the rest of our citizens. Four-hundred thousand Indian children are not going to get these educational opportunities. On the environmental side, the elimination of the biological service basically says that sound science and information about biological diversity and mining safety is not as important as it should be. At a time when 50 percent of our oil comes from foreign sources, the bill slashes energy conservation by 27 percent.”