deliver speciality care e.g. alcohol detoxification, observation and management of acute psychotics. The following describes the minimum numbers and qualifications of personnel necessary to develop such a program. STATEMENT OF FLOYD R. CORREA, GOVERNOR, LAGUNA, N. MEX. Mr. Chairman, On behalf of the Pueblo of Laguna, I would like to speak to you about two specific appropriation items, one of them dealing with health matters, the other with education matters. The health matter concerns a project which we have discussed with the Indian Health Service. In carrying out the Congressional mandate of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act of 1976, the Indian Health Service has made plans for the provision of better health care for handicapped Indian children. One of the problems with which the Indian Health Service has been concerned is the matter of identifying the handicaps of Indian children early enough to allow them to respond to appropriate treatment. The problem of diagnosing handicaps and prescribing treatment is, therefore, very important. It would be extremely difficult and costly for the Indian Health Service to find trained personnel to visit all the Indian reservations on which handicapped children can be found to diagnose them and prescribe treatment. It is for that reason that the Service has given thought to the idea of establishing a diagnostic center to which the children would be brought, where they would be tested and observed and a prescription for treatment prepared. After that they would be returned to their communities. Most children would be expected to stay at such a facility for not in excess of 60 days and none of them for more than 90 days. It was our understanding that the Indian Health Service was interested in a site for such a facility on an Indian reservation, centrally located as far as concentrations of Indian population are concerned, and close to a university, whose staff could be used in working in the facility. When we heard about this idea, we expressed great interest and have proposed our Reservation as the location for the facility. We have picked a site which would be most suitable to the Indian Health Service, located centrally with regard to the Indian population and only about 25 miles from the campus of the University of New Mexico. It would unquestionably be an ideal site. This project was approved by the Senate last year, but was dropped by the conference committee. We understood that this did not reflect opposition to the project itself but concern about some specific questions which had been raised. Let me speak to them now. One question which has been raised is whether the proposed project would be a residential treatment center. The answer is absolutely and definitely "no". The purpose of the center is diagnostic and prescriptive only. A youngster will be observed and tested and a decision will be made as to how he or she would be treated. After that taken place, the children will be returned promptly to their home communities, with the staff of the center following up to make sure that the prescribed treatment is indeed being provided. has the Under last year's proposal, we offered to build center and then lease it to the Indian Health Service. We are told that your Committee prefers the Government build the facility for its own account. We are happy to Cooperate either way. If the facility is to be built by the Government for its own account, about $3,500,000 will be needed. We are prepared to lease the needed tract to the Government, so that the project can go forward. It is our sincere hope that this project will meet with your approval. It is not only important from the point of view of being humane by providing a service for children who are now being neglected. It is also costeffective, because proper diagnosis and early treatment can make a productive citizen of a person who might later to be institutionalized if timely treatment was not provided. have item. budget. Let me now add a few words about the education I am referring to the school construction request for which $10 million have been placed in the President's As you know, there is now a very substantial backlog of desperately needed school construction projects. So happens that on our Reservation our high school is badly overcrowded and our children's education suffers as a result. If the present rate of appropriation is to be maintained, it will take another seven years before a Middle School for our Reservation is built. It It is our sincere hope that you will agree to put sufficient funds into the education appropriation to catch up with the backlog at a much faster pace.. STATEMENT OF THE CONFEDERATE TRIBES OF THE WARM SPRINGS RESERVATION, OREGON Mr. Chairman, members of the committee: of Data and information The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation Oregon have concluded a study funded in part by the Department of Energy which has shown that it is feasible to develop hydroelectric power at the already existing Pelton Re-regulating Dam on the reservation. regarding the project has been furnished to your subcommittee staff. dollars, which represents about 20 percent of the capital of the project so as to bring it into a favorable economic balance. cost We request an appropriation of five million We feel this is an attractive project in many respects and is consistent with the national energy policy adopted by Congress last year. 60-400 0 - 80 - 8 The project will provide an average energy production of 81,135,000 kilowatt hours per year. This translates into a potential saving of 135,000 barrels of oil per year and a welcome addition to a region facing serious shortfalls of energy in the next decade. at The capital cost of this project is estimated $25,831,000 if it is built on a reasonable time schedule to be completed in 1982. One hundred percent financing by the Confederated Tribes through commercial lending institutions would now involve an interest rate at ten percent interest or more. At that interest rate the project is economically marginal. We have investigated the various avenues of financing which conceivably could help us with such a project but have had unsatisfactory results. The Department of Energy has said this project is attractive to them and is very much in line with the small hydroelectric program of the National Energy Act, but they only have two million dollars available for demonstration projects in 1979 for which they foresee two or three dozen applicants. For the 1979-80 budget the small hydroelectric project program does not have any money included even though 100 million dollars per year was authorized for three years. The Economic Development Administration has told us certain provisions in their act would probably prevent them from providing funds for a generating facility, and even if it did allow them to, they say they have insufficient funds for such a project or for a low-interest loan. The Rural Electrification Administration in the Department of Agriculture was also considered but we find that this project does not fit within that agency's statutory authority. Also, current FMA regulations do not permit funding of electric generating facilities. Another possibility explored was the Indian Financing Act of 1974 which provides a vehicle for a grant or for a low-interest loan, but the Bureau of Indian Affairs has told us that program is grossly under-funded already and would need a reauthorization to handle a project of this magnitude. Another desirable alternative would be through the Indian Tax Status Act which would allow Indian tribes to issue tax-exempt bonds similar to local governments. However, Congress has failed to enact that legislation. In summary, after exploring all these alternatives, we find the agencies recognize this as a good project in line with the national energy policy, but for one reason or another, funds are not available. We have concluded the only remaining solution is to ask for a five million dollar appropriation as an add-on in the Bureau of Indian Affairs budget so that the project can get started and be successfully completed in a timely manner before escalation increases the costs even further. If you have any questions, we will be glad to respond. We earnestly request your positive consideration for this needed hydroelectric project. STATEMENT OF PENOBSCOT INDIAN NATION, INDIAN ISLAND, MAINE This presentation relates to the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs Fiscal Year, 1980 budget request ($948,120,000 federal funds), and specifically to a requested increase in the FY' 80 BIA budget for the Penobscot Indian Nation of, $3,733,000. Today as never before Indian Tribes are assuming expanded responsibilites in the provision of governmental services, the administration of law and policy, and the conduct of long-range planning for increased self-determination through economic development and resource management. This highly desirable trend in Tribal government capacity building parellels a trend of state governments, and denotes the desire of units of government, other than the federal government, to adminstrate and control activities at the local level. Unlike state government not all Indian Tribes have had the opportunity or means, to establish an economic base upon which the Tribes could exercise a degree of funding independence of the federal government. The policy of the federal government for many years, was to encourage dependency of the Tribes, by having them look to Washington, D.C. for guidance and decision making, through limiting funds and decision making policy and procedures. Since only the beginning of this decade have Indian Tribes, through the self-determination concept, been able to show their capabilities through operation and administration of Bureau of Indian Affairs programs and services. Now for Fiscal Year 1980, Indian Tribes are informed that the BIA budget is to be 6.47% less than the Fiscal Year 1979 budget. For the Penobscot Indian Nation, having received federal recognition for less than two years, a cut in our funds when we are just gearing our direction to the self-determination concept, is a step not to be understood nor to be tolerated. In our presentations of the two previous years, we have submitted letters and other documentation regarding the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Interior, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the pass-back activity, and the action of each in regard to the Penobscot budget requests. The BIA FY' 78 budget request for Maine Indians was $4,507,000. The Penobscots were and continue to be linked with the Passamaquoddy Tribe and are dividing the Maine BIA budget on a basis of 57% for Passamaquoddy and 43% for Penobscot. If full funding had been received in FY' 78, the Penobscot share would have been $1,938,010 less non-contractable trust items and BIA expenses, leaving approximately $1.5 million to be contracted by the Tribes. However, only $860,000 was appropriated in FY' 78 with the Penobscots being able to contract for approximately $250,000. In the past 0.M.B. has drastically cut the Penobscot budget request, after discussions with State of Maine officials. The reasoning for such action was that Maine officials informed 0.M.B., that they were providing such services as housing management, road maintence, school and other education operations (scholarships, etc.), health, welfare, utilities, fire protection, sanitation, transportation and other social services. The Maine officials failed to inform 0.M.B., that the funding was not adequate nor that Maine intended to eliminate any and all type of funding in the near future. We make the Committees aware, that in FY' 81 the BIA budget will be substantially higher to reflect the Penobscot service population which is much higher than the on-reservation population upon which Maine's funds were allocated. See attached Tribal population chart It is obvious that the Penobscots have not been allowed, to obtain near or full annual funding of BIA programs and services. We can not allow nor afford to not reach our fair annual share of BIA funding, because of the desire to establish a balanced overall federal budget. To do so at our expense would constitute negligence on the part of the federal government in its obligations and responsibilities to the Penobscot Indian Nation. The Penobscot further request, urge, and recommend a 5% increase in the following items of the overall budget of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. School operations, Johnson O'Malley Educational Assistance, Housing, Self-Determination Services, Business Enterprise Development, Employment Development, Forestry and Agriculture, Facilities Management, Building and Utilities, Road Construction, and Eastern Indian Land Claims. From the Building and Utilities the Penobscot require and request $3,500,000 for construction of a new school facility for grades K- · 9. The current school is over 100 years old, and very overcrowded due to a doubling of the reservation population over the past seven years. The 5% recommended increase reflects only, an additional $36,671,400 to be added to the Bureau of Indian Affairs budget. The Penobscots thank the Committee members for their recommended support. The presentation relates to the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Public Health Service, Indian Health Services budget ($587,000,000, and specifically to the requirements of the Penobscot Indian Nation ($315,000). Since only October, 1978 have funds been made available from the Indian Health Service, for the first ever implementation of comprehensive health care for the Penobscot Indians. Although the term comprehensive has been used, gaps in sanitation facilities and environmental health have yet to be addressed. We are concerned that there will not be budgeted for the IHS, for Fiscal Year 1980, funds for sanitation facilities for existing housing projects. Secondly, and of primary concern for the Penobscots, is the failure to recommend funding for special sanitation projects which would cover emergency funds for flooding. The Penobscot Reservation consists of islands, located with the confines of. the Penobscot River. The main inhabited island has a long history of flooding, and high water problems. Major floods in 1926, 1938, 1954 and 1973 have inundated major portions of the reservation, flooding homes and public facilities. High water is a chronic threat each spring as the ice melts on the Penobscot River, often leaving enormous chunks of ice blocks on or near the reservation. some In 1973 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed a flood control program which included the building of dikes, and of the flooding problems have been alleviated, but the threat of high water covering roads, and some homes still remains. In environmental health, funds from the State of Maine are to eliminated for waste water treatment plant operations, as of June 30, 1980. In fact, Maine is eliminating all funds to the Penobscots. In summation, the requested Penobscot increase for FY '80 is $15,000 for environmental health, $150,000 for sanitation facilities for existing housing projects, and $150,000 for special sanitation projects for emergency problems. The requested funds are to be used for July, August, and September 1980 after, State of Maine funds are eliminated. We thank the Committees for their recommended support. STATEMENT OF THE WASHOE TRIBE OF NEVADA AND CALIFORNIA I am Mr. Chairman, Subcommittee Members, Ladies and Gentlemen. Robert L. Frank, Chairman of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California. Today, I am speaking on behalf of a group of selected leaders who have experience with and interest in the Indian Action Program. With me today are: Mr. Edward T. Arviso, Tribal Chairman, Rincon Indian Reservation, San Diego, California and Mr. Kenneth 0. "John" Tiger, Chairman, Eastern Region, Indian Action Program Contractor. We will preface our remarks regarding the accomplishments of Indian Action by saying that there is broad-based support among tribal governments for the continuation of Indian Action. All 129 governments participating in Indian Action feel that it is one of the most beneficial initiatives ever implemented for providing services to Indians. To enumerate some of the reasons for the popularity of Indian Action: Ultimate responsibility for the success or failure of Indian |