Marchand, Joseph take Colville's concerns to Washington D.C.
Following the testimony of Colville Business Council chair Dr. Michael Marchand, U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, issued to his fellow members of the U.S. House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee an invitation to attend the Colville Reservation’s Omak Stampede and World Famous Suicide Race.
“I don’t want to break the serious mood, but I just want to get it on the record: I watched a very exciting Kentucky Derby this weekend and it’s nothing compared to the Omak Stampede and Suicide Race,” said Cole, who attended the race in 2016 with Colville tribal attorney Brian Gunn. “You need to go see it. It’s a pretty spectacular event.”
The moment was one of reprieve in the room as tribal leaders from across Indian Country requested the House take into consideration the various issues facing the country’s first Americans as they draft their upcoming 2019 budget.
Of those tribal leaders Marchand and CBC member Andy Joseph Jr. testified outlining issues specific to the Colville Tribes and Northwest tribes.
Later, Marchand and Joseph would travel the other side of the hill to meet with U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, where they would discuss the Columbia River Treaty, proposed hydropower projects on the Columbia River, timber and Indian Health Services.
During his testimony in the House, Marchand specifically touched on points related to Indian Health Services funding for construction of new facilities, forest management and law enforcement.
Joseph testified nearly exclusively on IHS. The CBC Health and Human Services chair also serves as the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board chair and co-chair of IHS Tribal Budget Formulation Workgroup.
“We should not be at this place, asking year to year for the federal government to uphold its trust and treaty obligations to our people,” said Joseph in beginning his testimony. “The data along with the trust and treaty obligations require Congress to provide an adequate level of funding for the IHS budget and a commitment to fully fund IHS.”
Indian Health Services
Joseph’s testimony noted cuts against IHS in the proposed budget from
President Donald Trump, which was released by the Whitehouse in February.
Listing those changes Joseph noted the President’s budget has proposed to eliminate funding for Community Health Representatives, Health Education, Tribal Management Grants and cuts to Indian Health Professions and Self-Governance funding in FY 2019.
He also stated the President’s proposed budget requests a change in the funding structure of the Special Diabetes Program for Indians that would take the program out of mandatory funding and into discretionary funding.
Joseph’s final point noted a proposed decrease to IHS funding for services and facilities of $368 million, which does not include contract support costs.
The testimony mirrored a moment in earlier testimony from Jamestown S’kallam chair Ron Allen.
Allen stated, “There’s lots of issues we want to raise with you. Sometimes we get disappointed, like with the tax reform that just got passed... We’re disappointed, but we’re not discouraged.”
In response, committee chairman U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert, R-California, thanked Allen for the statement on the record.
“You made the point about the administration making recommendations and being disappointed,” said Calvert. “Sometimes we don’t agree with them either, so we will proceed as a legislative body, make determinations and move this process forward.”
Joseph requested the committee accept a suggestion from the tribal budget formulation workgroup of $32 billion to be phased in over 12 years.
“At a minimum, in order to maintain current services, IHS must receive funding of $268 million, not including fully funded contract support costs, to cover inflation and population growth above fiscal year 2018 enacted level and $300 million in program increases,” said Joseph, who read from prepared testimony.
Joseph also requested $50 million to Purchased and Referred Care and an increase of $150 million for Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services to address the opioid crisis.
The President’s proposed budget requests $10 billion in the upcoming budget cycle to fight opioids, however only $150 million of that for was requested for tribes.
Concerning IHS, Marchand specifically requested the federal government formulate a new Health Care Facility Construction Priority List.
According to Marchand’s testimony the current projects on the priority list have been locked since 1992.
“At the current level of funding for IHS health care facilities, it would take 20 years to complete construction of the existing list before any funding would be available to address the other $8.2 billion needed for facilities construction,” said Marchand.
Law enforcement
Marchand also addressed law enforcement, rejecting an executive branch proposed cut of $32.9 million from public safety for tribes.
“Instead, the CCT requests that the Committee provide a $20 million increase for the Criminal Investigations and Police Services account to enable tribes to hire more police officers,” said Marchand. “As the Committee is aware, large land-based tribes usually lack a sufficient number of tribal police officers. The Colville Tribes is no different. This often results in police response times in excess of four hours. There are occasions when the Colville Tribes has only a single officer on duty for the entire 1.4 million acre Reservation.”
Forestry
Both Marchand and Yakama Nation chair Delano Saluskin requested changes related to funding of forest management projects across Indian Country.
For the Yakama’s, Saluskin reported insufficient staffing within the Bureau of Indian Affairs has hindered their tribal forestry efforts.
Yakama Nation has an allowable cut of 140 million board feet, but with 33 vacancies within the Yakama Agency Branch of forestry no new timber sales were completed last year, according to Saluskin.
“We are leaving timber standing simply because the BIA can’t staff the necessary jobs,” said Saluskin.
Along with a request that the House reject the President’s proposed $4.9 million cut to BIA forestry and a second request to increase the BIA Forestry Projects Forest Development line item by $5 million for replanting and thinning,
Marchand also requested an increase by $5 million to enable tribes to hire additional foresters, similar to Saluskin.
Marchand noted the impact of the North Star and Okanogan Complex fires collectively in 2015 that burned more than 255,000 acres on the Colville Reservation.
“The BIA’s average annual reforestation budget, however, is approximately $3.2 million for tribes nationwide,” said Marchand. “The BIA’s entire $3.2 million budget for forest restoration would cover planting of less than 11,000 acres nationwide. At current funding levels, this would mean that hundreds of thousands of acres of forest land burned on the Colville Reservation in 2015 may not be replanted for decades, if ever.”
Along with Cole and Calvert in attendance this morning were Chris Stewart, R-Utah, Derek Kilmer, D-Washington, Betty McCollum, D-Minnesota, and Chellie Pingree, D-Maine.
McCollum serves as ranking member of the committee.
By: Justus Caudell
Source: Tribal Tribune