James Lankford

We have to be able to streamline this process.

Not only is it more expensive to then do production in Indian Country, not only does the permitting take five times longer, but now if you are interested in buying that well, you can't just go get the information.

Self-governance has proven to be an effective policy for the last 40 years.

That is unacceptable. I think the primary solution is to get as much of the decision-making as possible in the hands of tribes.

I think the primary solution is to get as much of the decision-making as possible in the hands of tribes.

That is important to know how that is being fulfilled.

We believe that encouraging voluntary cooperation with the private sector is the way to go.

It has been good. Thank you.

The focus cannot be off, obviously, international terrorism, which happened with ISIL and their plans and their intentional focus to try to penetrate the United States, but we know the narcoterrorists are penetrating us every single day.

It is a very strategic move that is happening, and it is extremely aggressive and seems to be accelerating.

Finding ways for us to be able to work together on this I think is extremely important.

We understand extremely well the threats that we face.

I guess the question is, given the transition out of D.C. into tribal leadership, they are able to make more of those decisions, how do you feel that is moving at this point?

That is a great asset to them for economic development and allows them to be able to diversify their tribe and also expand without the outdated, burdensome, antiquated belief that tribes need the Federal Government to give them permission…

I do appreciate the cooperation of the Committee in passing the bill to remove the Federal constraints that prevent the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma from freely buying and selling land they own but do not hold in trust.

We will follow up on this. I will share some individual examples with you and maybe we can work through this.

It is essential that we work together to address the challenges facing our tribes.

I want us to get to the appropriations process.

That is the fixable moment that we have to find a way to be able to add leverage basically to Congress.

That is not just a broken process; that is a shattered process, and it has got to be fixed.

The problem is, at the end of it, leftover funds need to be returned to the taxpayer and to what is happening in debt reduction rather than spent on flower pots.

So we will continue to explore that together in the days ahead.

Unfortunately, Congress has suggested zeroing out that program. We think that that would be a tragedy.

The good news--and I think it differs a little bit from what you--my view differs a little bit from what you have heard this morning--is that there is tremendous innovation afoot.

We need to be sure that we are holding institutions accountable to giving people the education that they need to make a living and pay back those loans.