INDIAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE ADVANCES 25 BILLS TO FULL SENATE
March 6, 2025
Washington, DC –U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaiʻi), Vice Chairman of the Committee, led a business meeting of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in Washington, DC, to consider 25 bills before the Committee.
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MURKOWSKI, HEINRICH, SCHATZ, PETERS INTRODUCE BILL TO PROVIDE ESSENTIAL VETERINARY SERVICES IN RURAL, TRIBAL COMMUNITIES
FEBRUARY 21, 2025
Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA) and Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM), with the support of U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Vice Chairman of SCIA, and Gary Peters (D-MI) as original co-sponsors, reintroduced S.620, the Veterinary Services to Improve Public Health in Rural Communities Act. The bill, which Senator Murkowski originally introduced in June 2024, authorizes the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Indian Health Service (IHS) to provide Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations with veterinary services, including spaying and neutering of domestic animals. These services aim to help prevent and control severe and life-threatening zoonotic diseases (infections that spread between people and animals), in rural, Tribal communities. Studies show that Native children have the highest rate of dog bite injuries in the nation, and the highest rate of dog bite hospitalizations occur in rural Alaska and the Navajo Nation.
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HEINRICH, SCHATZ LEAD COLLEAGUES IN DEMANDING TRUMP’S DHS UPHOLD FEDERAL TRUST AND TREATY RESPONSIBILITIES TO TRIBAL NATIONS AND IMMEDIATELY END WRONGFUL ICE SEARCHES AND HARASSMENT OF TRIBAL MEMBERS
February 20, 2025
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), vice chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, led 13 of their Democratic colleagues in demanding that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) end wrongful searches and interrogations of Tribal members and uphold the United States’ trust and treaty responsibility with Tribal Nations and their citizens.
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BIA launches Operation Spirit Return to help solve Indian Country missing and unidentified person cases
Initiative focuses on identifying victims’ remains to reunite them with their families
February 20, 2025
WASHINGTON – The Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today that the Office of Justice Services has launched Operation Spirit Return, an initiative to help solve missing and unidentified person cases involving American Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States.
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Opening Statement from the 55th Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum
February 3, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Friday afternoon, Doug Burgum was sworn in as the 55th Secretary of the Interior. With a career rooted in leadership, innovation and service, Secretary Burgum expressed his gratitude and outlined his vision for the Department of the Interior’s future.
“Grateful to President Trump for the honor to serve as Secretary of the Interior,” said Secretary Doug Burgum. “We look forward to delivering on President Trump’s vision for Energy Dominance – which is the foundation of American prosperity, affordability for American families, unrivaled national security, and world peace.”
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Today, NATV was in attendance for the briefing addressing the collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and Army helicopter.
January 30, 2025
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SCHATZ STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT BIDEN COMMUTING LIFE SENTENCE OF LEONARD PELTIER
January 20, 2025
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, released the following statement after President Biden commuted Native American activist Leonard Peltier’s sentence. Peltier, now 80 years old, has been imprisoned for the past 49 years after he was convicted of murder in 1977 following a controversial investigation and trial, which many civil rights leaders and legal experts have called unjust, including the U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case.
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President Joe Biden commuted the sentence of Native American political prisoner Leonard Peltier as part of his last acts in office.
January 20, 2025
This morning, just moments before leaving office, President Biden commuted the life sentence of Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier. He will transition to home confinement, Biden said in a statement.
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Follow The Innaugural Events LIVE Here Courtesy of C-SPAN
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Secretary Haaland Delivers Farewell Speech, Highlights Enduring Progress During Biden-Harris Administration
January 15, 2025
WASHINGTON – Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland today delivered remarks during a program at the Department of the Interior to celebrate the historic and enduring progress achieved during the Biden-Harris administration.
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“The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices.”
President James Earl Carter Jr.
1924 – 2024
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Deb Haaland: The Impact of President Biden’s Apology to Indian Country
January 6, 2025
In a new blog on the Interior Department’s website today, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland shares her perspective about the impact of the Department’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative and President Biden’s apology to Indian Country.
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IN 2024, CHAIR SCHATZ LED PASSAGE OF BILLS TO SUPPORT NATIVE LANDS, TOURISM, WATER RIGHTS, BUFFALO RESTORATION, AND IHS SERVICES; SECURED CRITICAL FUNDING FOR NATIVE COMMUNITIES NATIONWIDE
16 Indian Affairs Bills Passed the Senate, More Than $15 Billion Invested in Native Communities This Year
January 1, 2025
WASHINGTON – Over the past year, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, led the passage of 16 bills and helped secure historic investments which will benefit Native communities nationwide. Specifically, Schatz worked to deliver record funding for Native housing, totaling more than $1.3 billion, as well as more than $7 billion to strengthen Native health care. Additionally, 4 bills were enacted into law, and several others – including the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act – advanced to the House for further consideration.
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