Joseph T. Burns: “we have increased Indian Health Service this year quite a lot at $135 million. I agree with my colleague from North…”

“we have increased Indian Health Service this year quite a lot at $135 million. I agree with my colleague from North Dakota--it does not cover all the bases. It is one of the places we have increased the funds in this year's budget and this year's appropriation. Committees also provided $82 million over the administration request for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The increase comes at a time when all other agency budgets in the bill are not growing. In fact, many are declining. The EPA is reduced by $144 million below their current year level. The Forest Service is $648 million below theirs. The National Park Service is $51 million below theirs. I mention these reductions saying we have done everything this committee could do to channel more money into the places needed. We did that with regard to the Indian Health Service. There are seven reservations in my State. We are very much aware of the shortcomings. We have one reservation we are trying to work awfully hard with right now because there is a shortfall in health services. Of course, we are trying to take care of that, protect the integrity of the tribe and also their budgets and their expenditures. We are trying to do that now. We have a real job on our hands as to how we balance the act. Right now, the offset the Senator from North Dakota has proposed is not correct as CBO will not score that. This $1 billion, of course, comes under another category.”