Thomas Daschle: “I should like to engage in a discussion with the distinguished chairman and ranking member of the subcommittee about a…”

“I should like to engage in a discussion with the distinguished chairman and ranking member of the subcommittee about a provision in this bill that is very important to the Indian tribes in my State. The committee report directs the BIA to spend $5 million from the Tribal Priority Allocation [TPA] to provide funds to Indian tribes that wish to run their own welfare programs in States where the tribal welfare caseload exceeds 50 percent of total caseload. I am very grateful to my colleagues for recognizing the unique situation that exists in my State. More than half of the welfare caseload in South Dakota is made up of native Americans. Poverty on South Dakota reservations is very high; in the last census poverty among the South Dakota tribes was greater than 50 percent. My State has the dubious distinction of having the poorest county in the country, and it is a reservation county. Unemployment is also very high. For the largest tribes, it was 44 percent in 1995. The number of native Americans in the potential labor force who are not working averages 68 percent and, on some reservations, is as high as 95 percent. The native Americans in my State do not want to be dependent on welfare. Representatives for the tribes have talked extensively with me about how they want to build their economies and help their people find good jobs.”