Political Quotes

“I rise today to speak about legislation that will streamline and modernize the Bureau of Indian Education. The Bureau of Indian Education school system includes 183 elementary and secondary schools, and it serves roughly 48,000 students. Part of the school system falls under a cumbersome bureaucracy burdened with needless red tape. This has led to staffing and administrative issues at these schools, as well as problems with neglect at the facilities themselves. A lack of defined leadership at the Bureau of Indian Education has led to schools falling through the cracks. In the past 36 years, there have been 33 Bureau of Indian Education directors. Stability and clear structure are needed. Last May, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, which I chair, held an oversight hearing on this topic. We heard testimony from Government Accountability Office officials that more accountability is needed at the Bureau of Indian Education to help students succeed. That is why I am introducing the Reforming American Indian Standards of Education--or RAISE--Act. The RAISE Act separates the functions of the Bureau of Indian Education from the Bureau of Indian Affairs into an independent agency under the Department of the Interior. This agency would be led by a president-appointed and Senate-confirmed director and two assistant directors.…”