Political Quotes

“I rise today to speak about legislation I introduced that will improve safety on roads across Indian Country. Roads and bridges in Indian Country are in desperate need of improvement. According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, only 17 percent of the roads are considered to be in acceptable condition. The remainder are considered to be in poor and unacceptable condition and many are simply unpaved. According to the National Congress of American Indians, ``These roads are among the most underdeveloped and unsafe road networks in the Nation, even though they are the primary means of access'' throughout these tribal communities. The Centers for Disease Control lists motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death for Native American children. Meanwhile, Indian infants, under the age of 1 year old, are eight times more likely to die in a vehicle-related crash than other children. That is why I am introducing the Tribal Infrastructure and Roads Enhancement and Safety Act, or TIRES Act for short. The TIRES Act supports increasing the safety of roads throughout Indian Country by: streamlining the process to start and complete safety projects, increasing available funding for tribal road programs, and reinstating the tribal facility bridge program. This legislation will reduce the administrative fees that the Bureau of Indian Affairs charges tribes for road work and will speed up the time such projects take to get approved.…”