of that section, and if it appears to be, we can certainly redouble our efforts to emphasize that that's not the case.

Senator INOUYE. We would appreciate a response on this.

Mr. McMANAMON. We'll be happy to provide it.

[Information provided in Ms. Stevenson's prepared statement which appears in appendix.]

Senator INOUYE. You have indicated that the Department of the Interior is currently considering proposed regulations to implement the civil penalty provisions under section 10 regarding non-compliance with the act. When do you anticipate that these proposed regulations will be published?

Ms. STEVENSON. Section 9 of the statute authorized the Secretary to assess civil penalties. Regulations required to ensure due process have been developed in consultation with the Review Committee. The Department is considering issuing these procedures as an interim rule that would effect immediately to guard against museums avoiding an assessment because the statute of limitations expired.

For example, the Office of the Solicitor has estimated that one civil penalty case from initial investigation to final appeal could cost the Department $100,000 in staff time and resources, so we're anxious to get these done as quickly as possible.

Senator INOUYE. How will your Department, the Department of the Interior, work with Indians tribes to determine the disposition and treatment of unidentified human remains? Are there any proposals presently under consideration?

Ms. STEVENSON. May I ask Dr. McManamon to answer?
Senator INOUYE. Please.

Mr. McMANAMON. Thank you. The Review Committee, Mr. Chairman, has considered this particular question of how to treat culturally unidentifiable Native American human remains, and they are considering a set of recommendations that they will eventually be making to the Secretary of the Interior about how best to handle the treatment of this particular category of remains.

I think the Review Committee representatives who are here are probably going to talk about this in some more detail.

We have circulated an initial draft of those recommendations, and we received something like 120 written responses to it, which the Review Committee considered at their last meeting in Anchorage. The plan now is for them to consider a second draft of those recommendations and to have further discussions on it at their next meeting.

So the issue is seen as a serious one, one that needs consideration, and those considerations are being taken into account at this time.

Senator INOUYE. I can assure you that the committee is pleased to hear that.

Thank you very much.

Senator Dorgan.

STATEMENT OF HON. BYRON L. DORGAN, U.S. SENATOR FROM

NORTH DAKOTA

Senator DORGAN. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much.

I have two other hearings that are now in progress in other committees, so I am unable to stay for the entire proceedings today.

When I was a Member of the House of Representatives I was involved in the enactment of the legislation that creates the circumstances that brings us to this hearing today. And I felt then and feel now that the circumstances under which both public sector and private sector institutions have warehoused, in effect, human remains and other objects-especially the human remains of Native Americans-in come cases for well over a century, that it really called for a process by which those remains could be given back to the tribes and the tribes could give them the proper respect and burial that they choose to do.

When we got involved in this originally in passing a piece of legislation, we did not feel that this was rocket science, especially when you have institutions that have had these remains for nearly a century, and then we have people say to us, "But we need time to study them." You take a look at a century of warehousing, and you figure if there is any study to have been done, you'd have thought most of that study would be completed and that this could move forward then expeditiously after the law was passed.

There is a substantial amount of frustration that we will hear today from witnesses about the general pace of compliance with this law. Some of it may be that enough resources aren't available. I don't know that. Some of it may just be foot-dragging. Some of it may simply be the bureaucratic system that doesn't move very fast.

But some of the frustration I think is certainly meritorious, from meeting deadlines to making appointments on time, publishing regulations on time.

Tribal Chairperson Jesse Taken Alive, from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, will be testifying today, and he's accompanied by Tim Mentz, who is a representative on the NAGPRA Review Board, and I have reviewed Chairman Taken Alive's testimony, and he, I think, will testify to what a lot of others feel about the frustration of this process.

We want to get this moving and do it in the right way. And especially there is going to be frustration expressed about the lack of input by tribes in the development of regulations, and our anticipation in the spirit of this legislation was that we would have full input and cooperation and a spirit of partnership along the way, and I think some of the testimony that you will hear today, Mr. Chairman, will demonstrate that a lot of folks feel that there has not been adequate cooperation.

So this hearing is, I think, a positive step. I think Chairman Taken Alive will probably echo that, as well. This is a positive step forward because we need finally to get these issues resolved.

These issues related to the State Historical Society and Museum in North Dakota that has human remains, the Smithsonian that has human remains. And when I got involved in looking at this I concluded what I think you concluded and many others have these ought to be returned, and they ought to be returned on an expedited basis in a reasonable way, and I hope this hearing now begins to unsnarl some of the knots that have occurred in the bureaucratic process by which we can finally get that done.

So, Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for holding these hearings. I welcome Chairman Taken Alive and my friend, Mr. Mentz, from the Standing Rocks.

[Prepared statement of Senator Dorgan appears in appendix.] Senator INOUYE. Thank you very much.

May I now call upon the chairperson of the NAGPRA Review Committee, Ms. Tessie Naranjo.

STATEMENT OF TESSIE NARANJO, CHAIRPERSON, NAGPRA REVIEW COMMITTEE, SANTA CLARA PUEBLO, ESPANOLA, NM MS. NARANJO. Thank you, Chairman Inouye.

I appreciate the opportunity to offer testimony as a member and chairperson of the National Review Committee for NAGPRA.

The individuals selected in the spring of 1992 to serve as Review Committee members have worked for 4 years, meeting at least twice each year, working on various aspects of NAGPRĂ, such as refining the regulations which implement the statute. These regulations have just been published in the "Federal Register."

Other activities of the Review Committee include consideration of five dispute cases, oral testimony from 93 individuals during 1992 to 1994, many of whom represented Indians tribes or are of Indians descent.

At our last meeting in Anchorage, AK, October 16-18 of this year, we discussed the 120 written comments received on our draft recommendations regarding the disposition of culturally unidentifiable human remains and associated funerary objects.

We have experienced frustrations over a number of issues. These frustrations and concerns became the recommendations in our 1993/1994 report to Congress, and I'll summarize the recommendations excluding the recommendation that the regulations be approved as soon as possible because they, in fact, have just been published.

No. 1, that Congress clarify the meaning of Indian tribe within NAGPRA in order to permit Native American groups not presently recognized by BIA, the BIA, to repatriate their human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony.

No. 2, that Congress appropriate at least $10 million for fiscal year 1996 to help Indians tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, museums, and universities in complying with NAGPRA directives.

No. 3, that Congress take steps to assure that the Smithsonian complies with all NAGPRA requirements.

No. 4, that Congress consider legislation to protect Native American and Native Hawaiian graves located on State or private lands from grave-robbing and other kinds of destruction.

Now I wish to make comments with regard to funding. For fiscal year 1994 and fiscal year 1995, the total number of NAGPRA grants was under $5 million, and the total request from tribes and museums was $30 million. The number of grant requests will increase with this coming fiscal year 1996 grant applications. We need increased funding for the grant program.

Increased funding is also needed for the costs involved in "Federal Register" notices due to the increased number of inventory notices of human remains and associated funerary objects.

One of the effects will be the inundation of work related to the documentation of these inventories of human remains by the NAGPRA administrative staff and the Review Committee.

We expect that, as the inventory notices increase, the number of disputes will rise. Disputes always prolong conflicts and involve the time of the limited NAGPRA staff. It also requires more consideration of dispute hearings by the Review Committee.

Additionally, more funding is needed by the NAGPRA staff to implement the civil penalties section currently being reviewed by the Department. This section deals with those individuals and institutions who are in noncompliance. Investigative work is a crucial process in determining noncompliance.

Our recommendation in our 1993/1994 report to Congress was that it appropriate $10 million in fiscal year 1996 to continue to implement the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. This amount is absolutely essential if we are to effectively carry out the intent of NAGPRA.

Last, Mr. Chairman, I want to make mention that the Keepers of the Treasures, a national organization promoting cultural preservation of tribes, is in support of the efforts of the NAGPRA staff and the Review Committee and supports our request for $10 million for fiscal year 1996.

Thank you.

[Prepared statement of Ms. Naranjo appears in appendix.] Senator INOUYE. I thank you very much, Ms. Naranjo.

May I call upon Senator Campbell. Would you like to make an opening statement?

Senator CAMPBELL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'd just like to ask unanimous consent to introduce a written statement for the record. Senator INOUYE. Without objection.

[Prepared statement of Senator Campbell appears in appendix.] STATEMENT OF HON. BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, U.S. SENATOR FROM COLORADO

Senator CAMPBELL. We've got three bills being marked up in Energy, so I'm only going to stay a few moments, but, as a person who has been vitally interested in that, in fact, even before this legislation was dealt with in 1990, going back to our days when we worked on the Museum of the American Indian bill and modified that language to start a process by which we could return the remains that were housed over at a Smithsonian back to tribal groups that could claim them, I've been just as interested in this as you have and many Indian people in this country.

Čertainly, I'm somewhat concerned, too, at the slow progress that Interior has made in implementing NAGPRA, but I guess that part of that's our fault, because in times of budgetary constraints we probably haven't appropriated enough money to let them do the job.

I apologize for not being here to the Indian people that have already testified, and the Park Service, too, but I want to assure you, Mr. Chairman, that I look forward to working with you to try to make sure that this act is completely implemented, and at the earliest convenience.

Thank you.

Senator INOUYE. I thank you very much, and I can assure you that we are singing from the same hymnal.

Ms. Naranjo, as the primary sponsor of this bill, I can assure you that it was the intent of this committee to include all Indian tribes within the scope of the act's protection. I note that the official position of the definition of Native American is just for those federallyrecognized. If it requires amendment, I will propose such an amendment.

Ms. Naranjo, do you believe that the human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony of non-federally-recognized tribes should receive the protection of this act? Ms. NARANJO. I do.

Senator INOUYE. You have made several recommendations. One of them states that the Congress take steps to assure that the Smithsonian Institution complies with all requirements of the act. Are you referring to the National Museum of the American Indian within the Smithsonian, or other museums within the Smithsonian complex?

Ms. NARANJO. The Museum of Natural History is one of the museums that I'm referring to, one of the sections within the Smithsonian Museum that I'm referring to.

Senator INOUYE. You are not referring to the American Indian Museum?

Ms. NARANJO. I am also referring to the American Indian Mu

seum.

Senator INOUYE. Would it be possible for you to supply us with some further detailed information as to how you believe that these institutions are not complying with all the requirements of the act so I can personally call upon them for their responses?

Ms. NARANJO. Mr. Chairman, what I'd like to do is ask Mr. Dan Monroe, also on the Review Committee, to respond to that question.

Senator INOUYE. Fine.

Mr. MONROE. Mr. Chairman, the committee has had some concern regarding this issue, as has the museum community. At the time the act was passed-you may remember we discussed this together-we expected that the Smithsonian would adhere to all the provisions of NAGPRA.

Very briefly, the situation is that the Smithsonian is currently acting under different legislation, and that the Smithsonian has made ample investment and considerable progress, which I think we should note, in carrying out the general intent of NAGPRA.

However, the fact is that the Smithsonian Institutions, the separate museums, are operating under different policies. The Museum of the American Indian is operating under a "more liberal" policy than NAGPRA. The rest of the Smithsonian Institution is operating under somewhat different policies.

First of all, they have not filed inventories with tribes nor do they have to do so. They have not filed summaries, nor do they have to. And the process, very briefly, by which Native American people would interact with the Smithsonian does not mirror NAGPRA in a number of regards.

The committee's point is simply that the Smithsonian is the national museum. We again wish to recognize the very substantial in