At yesterday's House Natural Resources Committee hearing, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) questioned Interior Sec. Deb Haaland.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight, Mr. Gosar.
00:02 Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
00:04 As the first indigenous woman to serve in your position,
00:07 I know that the health and safety of young Native students
00:10 is a top priority of yours, especially as it is highlighted
00:14 not only in your testimony today,
00:16 but also in the DOI budget.
00:18 That is why I would like to take some time today
00:20 to bring to light a situation that is taking place
00:24 at Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas.
00:26 For those who do not know,
00:28 Haskell University is a Bureau of Indian Education school,
00:32 which ultimately reports to the BIA,
00:34 and their secretary is their boss.
00:38 That is why I was disturbed to learn about students
00:42 making very serious allegations of things like harassment,
00:45 bullying, theft, sexual assault, fraud, and more for years now.
00:49 It is my understanding that the BIE investigated
00:53 some of these claims,
00:54 and then they went to great lengths to hide them,
00:57 until recently when media reports made the findings public.
01:00 My first question, Secretary Talen, yes or no,
01:05 given your very strident and understandable support
01:07 for the Native community,
01:09 do you agree that the Bureau of Indian Education and BIA
01:12 was slow to respond to the concerns of these students?
01:14 Congressman, I do want to say that I have visited
01:20 Haskell Indian Nations University.
01:22 We care deeply about every single student.
01:25 My question is, were they slow in reporting this?
01:30 I don't have a timeline, Congressman.
01:32 Okay, well I got so many things to ask you,
01:34 so I'm just going to leave it at that.
01:35 Madam Secretary, yes or no,
01:37 do you believe that the students at Haskell University
01:40 deserve better than what they've been presented by the BIE?
01:43 And as the ultimate administrator,
01:46 you have a role in ensuring that they receive
01:48 the answers they deserve.
01:49 I believe that every single Native child
01:53 at any of our BIE schools deserves a quality,
01:56 culturally relative education.
01:59 And you accept the role as being the ultimate person
02:01 overseeing the BIE?
02:03 Tony Dearman, the BIE director, is very...
02:07 I know, but you're ultimately the boss, right?
02:09 Absolutely.
02:10 I care about every single student.
02:14 I got a number of things.
02:15 Were you convinced that you would work to make things better
02:17 at the school on behalf of the students?
02:19 I work every day to make things better for everybody, Congressman.
02:23 And certainly for our students.
02:24 I hear you.
02:25 Now, let me ask you a question.
02:26 You know, one of the things I represent
02:28 is Northwestern Arizona.
02:32 Enrique, are you familiar with the Radiation Exposure
02:35 Compensation Act?
02:36 Yes, I am.
02:39 Is there anything you do in this administration
02:42 to get that exposure that was limited
02:45 to Southeastern Clark County
02:48 and Northwestern Mojave County?
02:50 They were excluded by administrative fiat.
02:52 This is the Hualapai tribe.
02:54 This is a whole bunch of different individuals
02:56 that had been excluded for years.
02:58 Is there anything you could do to help us compensate
03:00 that with this administration?
03:01 Congressman, we'd be very happy to take a look at that.
03:05 I know that there are a lot of communities in New Mexico
03:10 as well who have been working to be acknowledged
03:13 for a very long time.
03:14 I appreciate knowing that, and we will take a look at...
03:17 Yeah, this was an administrative mistake.
03:18 Congress wanted to have all of Nevada and Arizona
03:22 placed in there.
03:22 And they did not.
03:23 Somebody made an administrative mistake.
03:25 Okay.
03:26 I appreciate your concern for our tribal communities,
03:29 Congressman.
03:29 Number two, I know that we helped settle
03:33 the Bill Williams water settlement with the Hualapai,
03:37 but they haven't had any adjudication along those lines.
03:40 Would you be very receptive to looking
03:42 at an old infrastructure aspect
03:45 to form a consortium of water up in Northern Arizona?
03:48 Would you be interested in kind of knowing more about that
03:50 so that we have a mix of the tribes
03:53 with local stakeholders like cities and towns
03:58 to work together to form a co-op
03:59 that will benefit the whole Northern part of Arizona?
04:01 We absolutely want to always work together
04:06 with tribes and local communities,
04:07 and we will be happy to reach out
04:10 to the Hualapai on this issue.
04:12 Thank you.
04:12 Now, I assume you agree that transparency
04:17 in our government is better than secrecy.
04:19 Would you agree to that?
04:20 Transparency?
04:22 Yeah, transparency.
04:23 Absolutely.
04:24 Okay.
04:25 So is it fair to say that you would consider
04:28 Citizens United to be wrongly decided?
04:31 Citizens United, the Supreme Court case?
04:36 Yes.
04:36 I don't necessarily have an opinion on that
04:40 at a budget hearing here, Congressman.
04:41 Okay.
04:42 So would you consider that all NGOs,
04:46 that if they take federal money,
04:47 they should disclose all their supporters?
04:52 First of all, I want to say that if we're involved
04:58 with any meetings, grant requests, anything like that,
05:02 there is a process that we follow.
05:05 It's closely monitored by our solicitors department,
05:09 and we follow all the rules.
05:11 But you agree that if they take federal money,
05:13 they should be able to expose,
05:14 put out all their donors?
05:16 I think people should represent themselves
05:19 in a correct manner.
05:21 Absolutely.
05:22 I thank the gentleman.
05:23 I yield back.
05:24 Gentlemen, time has expired.
05:26 Mr. Chair, I ask unanimous consent
05:28 to enter into the record.
05:30 I'm trying to be nice.