SUBCOMMITTEE ON INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE AFFAIRS
1334 Longworth House Office Building
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
2:00 p.m.

OVERSIGHT HEARING ON:

• "Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Request of the Indian Health Service and of the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians"

OPENING STATEMENT:

The Honorable Don Young
Chairman

WITNESSES AND TESTIMONY:

Panel I

Dr. Yvette Roubideaux, M.D., M.P.H
Director
Indian Health Service

Michele F. Singer
Acting Principal Deputy Special Trustee
U.S. Department of the Interior

Panel II

The Honorable Jefferson Keel
President
National Congress of American Indians

The Honorable Rex Lee Jim
Vice President of the Navajo Nation
NIHB Member-at-Large and Navajo Area Representative

The Honorable Michael Finley
Chairman
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation

Carolyn Crowder
Health Director
Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association Inc.

Jerry Isaac
President & CEO
Tanana Chiefs Conference
(Truth in Testimony Form)

Robert McGhee
Council Member
Poarch Band of Creek Indians

BACKGROUND:

The President's Fiscal Year 2013 budget request for Indian Health Service (IHS) is $4.4 billion (an increase of $116 million over the Fiscal Year 2012 enacted level). The increased budget accounts for funding six newly constructed Health Centers, including three Joint Venture projects at $50 million. $20 million has been requested for additional health care services provided under Contract Health Services. IHS would purchase approximately 848 inpatient admissions, 31,705 outpatient visits and 1,116 one-way transportation services. The Administration's Fiscal Year 2013 request for the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) is $146 million. This is $6 million below the 2012 enacted level, and $14 million below the 2011 level. The OST plays a critical role in implementing reforms begun under the Bush Administration to correct deficiencies in its trust responsibilities identified in the Cobell v. Salazar class action lawsuit and in separate lawsuits filed by approximately 100 tribes. Resolution of these lawsuits and claims has been expensive. The Cobell v. Salazar Settlement Agreement authorized by Congress in 2010 cost $3.4 billion and recent settlements of tribal claims have been in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Ongoing negotiations to settle additional lawsuits will add significantly to the total.