Yesterday, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies concluded three days of hearings as part of their American Indian and Alaska Native Public Witness Hearings. Witnesses included Tribal Leaders and heads of Tribal Organizations, including NAFOA’s Executive Director Cory Blankenship. NAFOA’s testimony focused on trust and treaty obligations, federal funding to Tribes, and parity for Tribal Nations and their enterprises. Blankenship urged Congress and federal agencies to uphold their commitments to Tribes.
“Recent decisions and actions within federal agencies essential to fulfilling the United States’ trust and treaty obligations have raised significant concerns among Tribal Nations. Tribes across the country have reported challenges with access to critical systems, a lack of information from federal agencies, and considerable uncertainty about the potential impact of such decisions and actions, both temporary and prolonged, on their ability to provide essential services within tribal communities.
We recognize there are varying degrees of impact on Tribal Nations regarding federal funding, but any pause in federal funding, whether temporary, prolonged, or permanent, impacts the ability of tribes to offer crucial programs and services to tribal citizens. Most recently, Tribal Nations have raised concerns about the impact of staff reductions across federal agencies critical to managing trust and treaty obligations.
We applaud and encourage Congress to continue to seek clarity on matters of importance to Tribal Nations just as Congressman Cole of Oklahoma and the Chickasaw Nation did in encouraging OPM to consider trust and treaty obligations in recent actions aimed at streamlining federal agencies through reductions in force.”—Cory Blankenship, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
NAFOA Executive Director
The Appropriations Committee will focus on a March 14th deadline, when the current FY 2025 appropriations run out, and a new funding authorization will be required. The House and Senate have approved FY25 budget resolutions that must be reconciled before they can be acted on.
For any other questions or concerns, please contact Nicholas Lovesee, Director of Policy, at nicholas@nafoa.org
