Senator MELCHER. Please proceed, Mr. Cleveland.

STATEMENT OF ROY CLEVELAND, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE NAVAHO HOUSING AUTHORITY; ACCOMPANIED BY CARL TODACHEENE, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE NAVAHO HOUSING AUTHORITY; JAMES NAHKAI, JR., SECRETARY; AND JOHN H. SCHUELKE, COUNSEL

Mr. CLEVELAND. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for inviting us to testify before the committee. Before I go any further, I would like to introduce my colleagues. Mr. Carl Todacheene is the chairman of the Board of Commissioners. To his left is James Nahkai, Jr., Secretary to the Board of Commissioners. To my right is John Schuelke, the legal counsel for the Navaho Housing Authority.

I would like to request that Carl Todacheene be the spokesman for this hearing. Thank you.

Mr. TODACHEENE. Mr. Chairman, we know that you are in a hurry. We will submit three statements from the Navaho Housing Authority on behalf of the Navaho Nation. I want to summarize what I think some of the problems are.

Senator MELCHER. Without objection, the statements will be made a part of the record at the end of your testimony.

Mr. TODACHEENE. I think one of the biggest problems is the apprenticeship training program. If we could only put the control of that in the Navaho Nation, under its own organization, I think we could get more people trained, whether it is operated by union or nonunion. As of now, we have no control. Thus far, it seems like we are forever lacking skilled people, and that is reflected in our labor costs.

We wish that there were an agreement between HUD, Indian Health Service, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. I think that, maybe by legislation, the Department of Labor should be included because of various factors. Davis-Bacon wages is brought forth through the Department of Labor, yet, they are not tied to the agreement. At the reservation level it becomes kind of shattered. It is not focused to bring about basic economic improvement. The control should be within the agencies and the Navaho Nation; that would bring about better economic costs. One other thing: The reason why we are having problems, as of now, is that HUD does not seem to be honoring our tribal laws as stipulated under the Self-Determination Act of Congress. In the Navaho Nation we are about 1 year behind because HUD would not approve our preferential clauses in the law plus our, what we call, the Navaho Labor relations. If they could give us the latitude of judgment to handle some of our affairs, we could have constructed at least 500 units of housing. Last, the veterans: I wonder if your committee, sir, could legislate where the Navaho veterans-somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 to 10 thousand of them need housing. They cannot get housing under the Veterans' Administration because of the trust status of the land. If the legislation could be allowed, maybe under this program, our veterans could be housed. We wish that your committee would promulgate a law so our veterans, who are without housing as of now could be handled in that manner. The Veterans' Administration cannot seem to do anything about it. Of course, some of these veterans have been eligible more than 30 years.

Thank you, very much.

Senator MELCHER. Thank you, Carl.

I am not so sure that a VA loan would be more advantageous. If it would be more advantageous for a Navaho veterans or any other Indian veteran on their own reservation, we would want that to be available. We will find out. If the only impediment is the trust status of the land, we will try to work that out with the Veterans' Administration and see whether there is something that we can do, whether it is changing the law, or whatever. But we also want to be sure that it is more advantageous for the veteran. We would like to have that option available for Indian veterans on their own reservation. I am not convinced, right at this time, whether it would make a more attractive loan for an Indian family. But, I think is a very valid point that you bring up. We will see what we can do about it.

Mr. TODACHEENE. Thank you, sir.

Senator MELCHER. Yes?

Mr. CLEVELAND. Mr. Chairman, before we adjourn here, I would like to inform the committee that on page 4 of my statement I would like to have a correction included. In the trading centers we have major supply points. It pays Albuquerque, N. Mex. The last column, distance from trading center to supply point; it should be 136 miles next to Albuquerque. And, Farmington to Denver should be 483 miles. Senator MELCHER. Thank you for those corrections.

Thank you all very much.

[The prepared statements follow:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF CARL TODACHEENE, CHAIRMAN, BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS, THE NAVAJO HOUSING AUTHORITY

I have been Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Navajo Housing Authority for 13 years. During this time I have endeavored to guide the authority so as to build decent, safe, and sanitary dwellings while simultaneously providing apprenticeship training, jobs for our people, and business opportunities for Navajo entrepreneurs.

The Federal Government espouses self-determination for Indians, yet places conditions in programs which effectively defeat the initiative of Indian tribes. For example, the Navajo Tribe enacted laws which created the Office of Navajo Labor Relations and the Navajo Small Businessman Contract Preference. Both with the intent of helping implement self-determination. Both are laws of the Navajo Nation. When the housing authority required compliance with these laws, the Department of Housing and Urban Development refused to allow the authority to enforce the provisions of these laws. Housing production was halted for a period of nine months while lengthy negotiations ensued before HUD finally allowed the authority to proceed with enforcement of the two laws. The result was a loss of 1 year's building on the reservation. We are a sovereign nation and as such, our laws should be obeyed, just as the laws of the United States must be obeyed.

Federal regulations require contractors to provide, to the greatest extent feasible, an approved apprenticeship training program on all housing authority projects. There is only one approved apprenticeship training program on the Navajo Nation. It is through the AFL-CIO. Unless a contractor is signatory to a Union Collective Bargaining Agreement, he cannot participate in the training program. The housing authority cannot require a contractor to join the Union. Therefore, when a non-union contractor is building a project, there is no apprenticeship training program.

The Department of Labor is the department which must approve all apprenticeship training programs. In keeping with the spirit of Indian self-determination, the DOL and HUD should be required to cooperate and assist the Navajo Nation to establish an approved program to operate on the Navajo Nation, open to all Navajo people-union or non-union. The program should be of equal standing with any state program. The hiring halls should be on the reservation, not in

Albuquerque, New Mexico, Flagstaff, or Phoenix, Arizona. When a Navajo signs up in Flagstaff, he may not even get a job on his own reservation.

There are approximately 6,000 Navajo veterans residing on the reservation. When the Navajo was requested to fight for the United States of America, they responded without any excuses, but today when the veterans of the Navajo Nation requests benefits, they are given all kinds of excuses.

Housing programs are available to veterans through the Veterans Administration, but the Navajo veteran is not able to participate because he does not have the down payment or the ability to pay large monthly payments. A program should be created which would enable Navajo veterans to become home

owners.

PREPARED STATEMENT OF ROY J. CLEVELAND, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE NAVAJO HOUSING AUTHORITY

Mr. Chairman, the Navajo Housing Authority (NHA) was chartered by the Navajo Tribal Council in 1963 as an agency of the Navajo Tribe of Indians. The specific purpose was to enable the Navajo Tribe to participate in lowincome housing programs funded through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Prior to 1963, the federal government did not have low-income housing programs designed to benefit Indians living on Indian reservations.

It was determined in 1963 that there was an immediate need for 10,000 dwelling units on the Navajo Reservation alone. This was not surprising since the Navajo Reservation contains 25,000 square miles, approximately the size of the State of West Virginia, with a present population in excess of 155,000 persons. The goal of HUD was to achieve construction of 1,000 dwelling units per year. What has happened to this goal? Today there has been constructed and occupied approximately 2,288 units. This has been very disappointing to the Navajo people because the Navajo Nation is, in fact, losing ground on solving its housing needs. The birth rate on the Navajo Reservation, according to statistics compiled by the Indian Health Service, is far in excess of the national average.

The immediate question is why were the 1,000 dwelling units per year not constructed and occupied? There is no single answer. To attempt to answer the question, we must first examine the Navajo Nation and its people. In 1963, there were few modern conveniences on the Navajo Nation except for several population centers. The people were required to haul water and wood for heat a minimum of 10 to as far as 60 miles, one-way. They were also required to use either kerosene lamps or light from a wood fire for lighting, and modern plumbing was nonexistent. Children were sent to boarding school for their education 9 months out of each year. The Federal housing program offered to the Navajo people was utilized by the Federal Government as a panacea to the problems on the reservation. HUD through its low-rent and mutual help housing programs expected to provide job training for individuals and create job opportunities and work for minority contractors and subcontractors on the reservation. To construct decent, safe, and sanitary housing, it was necessary to bring electricity. water, sewer, and sometimes gas to communities in remote areas. In fact, the housing program was the vehicle used to build towns and communities and bring civilization to isolated areas. Today 45 percent of the Navajo population is unemployed. The income for the average family is far below the national average. All of these factors contribute to the failure to build 1,000 dwelling units per year. The answer to the question is, HUD did not adequately fund Indian housing programs. The reservation is not like an urban area. Before housing construction may commence, electricity, water, sewer, and gas must be brought great distances to each project site. There are no motels, hotels, or cafes, so workers must travel back and forth and bring their food with them. There are usually no trained workers available at the project sites. There is no public transportation on the reservation. The contractor must transport his materials and supplies great distances. For example, ready-mix concrete in Gallup or Farmington, N. Mex.. or Flagstaff, Ariz., may cost $50 a cubic yard. Hauled from any of these border towns 100 miles or more onto the reservation, the cost may ultimately become almost $250 per cubic yard.

It should be noted that the three trading centers near the Navajo Reservation are, in fact, supplied as follows:

All of the factors recited herein contribute to the higher cost of Indian housing programs.

The Navajo Housing Authority has studied the lack of adequate funding to achieve the construction goals and would suggest a new, realistic approach to Indian housing programs should be considered. The Navajo Nation was created by the treaty of 1868. The reservation extends into portions of the States of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, but it is one nation. Presently, HUD and the Department of Labor (DOL) treat the reservation as parts of the three States in establishing prototype costs and Davis-Bacon wage rates.

The Davis-Bacon wage rates are established partially through the efforts of the Department of Labor. The Department of Labor is not a party to the interdepartmental agreement on Indian housing. The DOL controls certain aspects of Indian housing programs, such as apprenticeship training programs, determination of Davis-Bacon wage rates, and has the responsibility of compliance enforcement as it pertains to certain affirmative action programs. DOL should be a party to the interdepartmental agreement on Indian housing with their obligations and responsibilities set forth in detail in the agreement.

The housing authority is charged with the responsibility through housing programs of providing apprenticeship training, Indian preference in contracting and insuring affirmative action programs availability.

It is no wonder that Indian housing costs substantially more than non-Indian housing in metropolitan areas. It is only reasonable that, being charged with these additional obligations and responsibilities and providing housing in such remote areas, that Indian housing programs should be funded to a much greater degree than non-Indian programs.

The present funding formulas are not adequate to build decent, safe, sanitary housing, and fulfill all the other needs outlined above. If the present approach to funding is unalterable, then it is encumbent upon the Federal Government to provide adequate funding for modernization and rehabilitation of housing units which are presently being constructed because the units will not last 25 years without such programs.

Attached hereto for your information is a chart which graphically portrays that the average cost of housing on a national average is greater than the amount being spent on Indian housing. It should be the reverse.

Today there is an immediate need for rehabilitation of streets in existing housing authority projects. The estimated cost is $10.5 million. The housing authority has no source of funding to accomplish street rehabilitation. The Bureau of Indian Affairs does not have such funds available, nor does the Navajo Tribe of Indians.

Recommendations of the Navajo Housing Authority are as follows:

1. The Navajo Nation should be treated as one nation, not parcels of three separate States, in establishing Davis-Bacon wage rates and prototype costs. 2. The prototype cost limitations should be based upon actual bids received than on estimates of HUD personnel.

3. The DOL should be required to become a signatory to the interdepartmental agreement, since they control Davis-Bacon wages rates and apprenticeship training programs and affirmative action programs.

4. The DOL and HUD should cooperate to establish job training centers on the reservation to create a skilled available work force and require contractors and subcontractors to utilize the training centers.

5. Proper funding for rehabilitation and modernization of existing units should be provided by the Federal Government. The estimated cost to rehabilitate existing units is approximately $54 million.

6. More authority and additional personnel should be at the field offices, rather than in San Francisco, which is approximately 1,200 miles from Window Rock, Ariz., the capital of the Navajo Nation.

7. Post-bid negotiations with the lowest qualified bidder should be allowed, provided his bid is not more than 110 percent of the available funding.

8. The Bureau of Indian Affairs should be required to construct all-weather roads to project sites when requested by the Navajo Housing Authority after a project is funded.

9. The Bureau of Indian Affairs should be required to maintain all roads to the projects sites and all streets within the projects. The Federal Government should fund the Bureau of Indian Affairs to enable it to repair the streets in the existing projects, which will cost approximately $10.5 million.

10. The Federal Government should designate one department as a lead agency having power to require the enforcement of the interdepartmental agreement between HUD-Department of Interior (Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (Indian Health Service).

11. Scattered site housing is needed on the Navajo Reservation. The concept of moving everyone into clustered housing is contrary to the way of life of some of the Navajo people. A program should be developed which would enable the sheepherder and his family to continue to reside where their family has lived for generations. The problem with scattered site housing has been that there is no available water or sewer facilities. The Federal Government should fund the Indian Health Service adequately to enable the installation of proper water and sewer facilities to accommodate scattered site housing to allow the Navajo to continue his pastoral way of life.

12. A new approach should be developed to allow the housing authority to grant a priority to veterans so they may qualify and obtain early occupancy of decent, safe and sanitary dwelling units on the Navajo Nation.

The Navajo Housing Authority appreciates the committee reading this testimony and requests serious consideration be given to the recommendations contained herein.

The chart is the relation between the average cost of housing construction in thousand dollars (vertical axis "Y") and a 10-year time span starting in 1968 to 1978. The national and Indian lines passing through the points representing pairs