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88 STAT. 2216

20 USC 644.

Appropriation.

25 USC 458a.

25 USC 458b.

25 USC 4580.

Rules and egulations, publication in Federal Register.

Publication in Federal Register.

25 USC 458d.

25 USC 452.

PREVICUSLY
PRIVATE

STILOLS

Pub. Law 93-638

- 14

January 4, 1975

(4) a description of the working relationship of the Department of the Interior with local or State educational agencies in connection with the contracting for construction, acquisition, or renovation of school facilities pursuant to this section; and

(5) the recommendations of the Secretary with respect to the transfer of the responsibility for administering subsections (a) and (b) of section 14 of the Act of September 23, 1950 (72 Stat. 548), as amended, from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to the Department of the Interior.

(g) For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this section, there is authorized to be appropriated the sum of $35,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1974; $35,000,000 for each of the four succeeding fiscal years; and thereafter, such sums as may be necessary, all of such sums to remain available until expended.

PART C-GENERAL PROVISIONS

SEC. 205. No funds from any grant or contract pursuant to this title shall be made available to any school district unless the Secretary is satisfied that the quality and standard of education, including facilities and auxiliary services, for Indian students enrolled in the schools of such district are at least equal to that provided all other students from resources, other than resources provided in this title, available to the local school district.

SEC. 206. No funds from any contract or grant pursuant to this title shall be made available by any Federal agency directly to other than public agencies and Indian tribes, institutions, and organizations: Provided, That school districts, State education agencies, and Indian tribes, institutions, and organizations assisted by this title may use funds provided herein to contract for necessary services with any appropriate individual, organization, or corporation.

SEC. 207. (a) (1) Within six months from the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, consult with national and regional Indian organizations with experiences in Indian education to consider and formulate appropriate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this title.

(2) Within seven months from the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall present the proposed rules and regulations to the Committees on Interior and Insular Affairs of the United States Senate and House of Representatives.

(3) Within eight months from the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall publish proposed rules and regulations in the Federal Register for the purpose of receiving comments from interested parties. (4) Within ten months from the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this title.

(b) The Secretary is authorized to revise and amend any rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to subsection (a) of this section: Provided, That prior to any revision or amendment to such rules or regulations the Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, consult with appropriate national and regional Indian organizations, and shall publish any proposed revisions in the Federal Register not less than sixty days prior to the effective date of such rules and regulations in order to provide adequate notice to, and receive comments from, other interested parties.

SEC. 208. The Secretary is authorized and directed to provide funds, pursuant to this Act: the the Act of April 16, 1934 (48 Stat. 596), as amended: or any other authority granted to him to any tribe or tribal organization which controls and manages any previously private

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Chairman ABOUREZK. The oversight hearings have been planned in two stages: Today, we will be receiving testimony from administration witnesses-BIA and IHS, and on June 24, we are scheduled to receive testimony from tribal witnesses at a hearing in Albuquerque, N. Mex. We project that review of administration testimony will enable the committee to specifically identify the significant policy and factual issues. On June 24, we will, consequently, be asking tribal witnesses to address their testimony to these identified issues and discuss preferred alternative solutions. Such solutions may take the form of amendments to the act, changes in the administration's regulations and/or adoption of different practices by the administration.

I would like to start out by welcoming the witnesses.

We have two panels of witnesses today. They are both from the administration. The first panel is from the Department of Interior and the second panel is from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

Mr. Raymond Butler, Acting Deputy Commissioner of Indian Affairs will be first.

STATEMENT OF RAYMOND U. BUTLER, ACTING DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ACCOMPANIED BY JOSEPH W. GORRELL, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS; LAFOLLETTE BUTLER, ACTING DIRECTOR, COMMISSIONERS SELFDETERMINATION STAFF, BIA; THEODORE KRENZKE, DIRECTOR, INDIAN SERVICES, BIA; AND DONALD ASBRA, CONTRACTING OFFICER, BIA

Mr. BUTLER. Mr. Chairman, on my far left is Mr. Joe Gorrell, Assistant Director of Financial Management; on his immediate left is Mr. LaFollette Butler who has been on detail to the Washington office working extensively on the implementation of Public Law 93638; to my far right is Mr. Don Asbra, our Chief of Contracting Services; and on my immediate right is Mr. Ted Krenzke, our Director of Indian Services.

Mr. Chairman, if I may this morning I will defer to your judgment whether to leave this on the record.

I will offer two apologies. One is that I sincerely, personally apologize for the lateness of our prepared witness statement. As you and I know there are other people who review our proposed statements and we still have a little educational process relative to our trust responsibilities.

Second, Mr. Chairman, I do apologize to you for the number of staff members that I have with me this morning. However, in my judgment this is a most serious piece of legislation. It has a serious concept and principle. It was my judgment that we needed the staff here. A number of them have worked on the implementation of this program since its inception. staff as you need so

Chairman ABOUREZK. I guess you have as many that is no problem. I do not even consider that an apology, but if you do I will accept it. I will object to the other one. [Laughter.]

Mr. RAYMOND BUTLER. Mr. Chairman, we welcome the opportunity to appear before this committee to answer questions relating to the administration of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975. We expect the hearings to assist in the eventual revision of the regulations implementing Public Law 93-638, as well as reviewing the practicalities of administration. We hope that this discussion will lead to close cooperation between the Congress, the Indian tribes, and the Department in working to implement the goals of the

act.

Public Law 93-638, signed into law on January 4, 1975, required that implementing regulations be promulgated within 10 months of enactment and contained prescribed benchmarks within that time. frame for Indian consultation, for presentation to the committees of Congress and publication as proposed rulemaking. The regulations were published in final form on November 4, 1975, and became effective on December 4, 1975. We have now had 18 months of practical experience in the administration of the act.

I am certain that in these hearings, the committee will be discussing the aspects of our administration. First, though, let me say a few words about the framework within which we think the act and Indian selfdetermination should be viewed.

We regard Indian self-determination as being synonymous with Indian self-government. Legally and historically the U.S. Government, and the colonial government which was its predecessor, has dealt with Indian tribes as governments. The Indian policies of the past had one constant, the treatment of Indian tribes as governments. But to recognize the special relationship of the Federal Government to Indians as being a relationship between governments, and to extol the virtues and values of self-government is one thing; to follow where the acceptance of these principles lead is quite another.

Let me quote here from the noted legal scholar, Felix Cohen, on Indian self-government. He said, "Not all who speak of self-government mean the same thing by the term. Therefore let me say at the outset that by self-government I mean that form of government in which decisions are made not by the people who are wisest, or ablest, or closest to some throne in Washington or in Heaven, but rather by the people who are most directly affected by the decisions."

We view the Indian Self-Determination Act as a commitment by the Nation to the principle of the Federal-Indian relationship as being one between governments and to the principle of Indian tribal selfgovernment. I think all of us need to realize that Public Law 93-638 is an all-important philosophy and spirit which should and will pervade the Nation's administration of Indian policy, a philosophy and spirit which should and will become a way of life for us.

However, in our implementation of the act, we have become aware of certain concerns of tribal leaders.

Although the act authorized us to waive any contracting law or regulation inconsistent with the purposes of the act, the assumption of operation of Bureau programs by a tribe is nevertheless through a contractual relationship. Such a relationship by its very nature may impose some limitations on the contractor, that is the tribal government, that may be inconsistent with the intent of the act. This needs further examination by the administration, the Congress, and the tribes.

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