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BUDGET OF THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS FOR

FISCAL YEAR 1980

MONDAY, MARCH 5, 1979

U.S. SENATE,

SELECT COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS,

Washington, D.C.

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 1:05 p.m., in room 5110, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Senator John Melcher (chairman of the committee) presiding.

Present: Senators Melcher, Inouye, and Cohen.

Staff present: Roy M. Whitacre, staff director; Alan Parker, chief counsel; Max Richtman, assistant chief counsel; and Michael Cox, minority counsel.

Chairman MELCHER. The committee will come to order.

This is a meeting of the committee to examine the budget of the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the coming fiscal year.

We would like to hear from Mr. Gerard, the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs about the plans and the justification for the budget.

Some of us may wonder where the money is going to come from for some of the programs that we think are underfunded. Perhaps we will have some reason to think that there might be some corrections or additions made.

I realize the constraints on Assistant Secretary Gerard in responding to questions directed along that line for reasons of upholding the administration's budget, but we would like to have as much candor and frankness as is possible in explaining the budget which has been submitted by the President.

Senator Inouye or Senator Cohen, do you have any remarks at this time?

Senator INOUYE. No, Mr. Chairman.

Senator CоHEN. No, Mr. Chairman.

Chairman MELCHER. Please proceed, Mr. Gerard.

STATEMENT OF FORREST GERARD, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, ACCOMPANIED BY RICK C. LAVIS, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY; MARTIN E. SENECA, JR., ACTING DEPUTY COMMISSIONER; JOSEPH W. GORRELL, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT; AND LAFOLLETTE BUTLER, ASSISTANT TO THE ACTING DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS

Mr. GERARD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Before reading my statement, I would like to introduce the other witnesses at the table with me.

On my immediate left is Mr. Rick Lavis, Deputy Assistant Secretary. On my immediate right is Martin Seneca, who is the Acting Deputy Commissioner of Indian Affairs. To his right is Joe Gorrell, the Assistant Director, Financial Management, of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. On the far right is LaFollette Butler, who is the Assistant to the Acting Deputy Commissioner.

Mr. Chairman, we welcome the opportunity to be here today.

The committee has asked me to address the subject of current goals and objectives of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and our budget to accomplish these.

I would like to begin with a brief explanation of several organizational changes that have been made in the Bureau of Indian Affairs during the past year.

The Secretary of the Interior has reinstated the Office of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The position remains a Presidential nomination with Senate confirmation required.

The person to fill this position is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Bureau. Recruitment is currently underway. During the interim, Mr. Seneca is serving as the Acting Deputy Commissioner.

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, on the other hand, has been transferred to the Office of the Secretary. My staff and I are responsible for policy and planning for the Bureau as a part of the overall program for the Department.

We are fully involved in, and committed to, this extensive effort to develop systems, resolve long-standing problems, and organize so that we may effectively and efficiently manage our responsibilities. The management and protection of Indian and Native trust resources and the delivery of services to tribal governments and their citizenry are our primary responsibilities.

We have realized for some time that to properly carry out these responsibilities, we must make substantive and substantial improvements. We must make major changes in our systems, structures, and management.

In that regard, Mr. Chairman, I recently released to the Congress, the Indian community, and the Indian media a special management improvement report which I would like to leave for the record, if it can be included.

Chairman MELCHER. Without objection, we will insert that material in the record at this point.

The material referred to follows:]

SPECIAL REPORT on the MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM IN THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS

(By Forrest J. Gerard, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior)

FOREWORD

The Bureau of Indian Affairs was established in 1824 in the Department of War, and later moved to the Department of the Interior upon its creation in 1849. Over its century and a half history, the BIA has served as the instrument for implementation of Federal-Indian policies set by the Congress, the Courts, the Executive and by public opinion. Thus, the BIA has existed through the Indian wars, operating under misguided and failed Federal-Indian policy directives arising from the eras of extermination, assimilation and termination-all of which have been rejected in the Courts and repudiated by every Congress and Administration since the 1950s.

As a result of the history of conflicting policies and countervailing forces in the dynamic field of Indian Affairs, the BIA has been both used and viewed as the focal point for criticism of the Federal-Indian relationship, while the agency itself has been in a serious state of upheaval and neglect and in dire need of reform. With the Congressional reformation initiatives of this decade, the BIA has undergone significant operational and functional change in its dealings with the American Indian and Alaska Native governments and peoples. These changes result primarily from the mandates of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 and the public call for governmental efficiency and greater local control.

Today, the largest agency in the Department of the Interior, in terms of budget and personnel, is the BIA-as befits this unique agency which serves some 496 Federally-recognized Indian and Alaska Native tribes, nations, pueblos, villages, bands and rancherias. As the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, I view my obligations to the Indian and Alaska Native people and to the Administration and the Congress as consistent and compatible: to oversee and provide policy direction for an agency that is effective in its trust and related service-delivery system; efficient in its use and control of money and financial-management systems; and ethical in its dealings with the Indian people.

I take these responsibilities most seriously. In meeting these obligations, I have initiated a series of management-improvement actions to effect institutional change in the functions, structure, policies, procedures and services of the BIA. As Assistant Secretary and as an Indian tribal member, I am committed to meeting the highest standards in the fulfillment of these obligations, to organizing the BIA, and to setting in motion processes and systems that will serve the Indian people long past my own administration.

It is with these thoughts that I share this report on certain managementimprovement steps taken during my first year as Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. I welcome your comments on these initiatives, thanking you for your attention to this aspect of Indian Affairs.

INTRODUCTION

FORREST J. GERARD.

This Special Report from the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs describes the major corrective actions that have been instituted, and are ongoing, to address the documented deficiencies reported by:

1. Congressional Appropriation Committees.

2. General Accounting Office.

3. Civil Service Commission.

4. General Services Administration.

5. American Indian Policy Review Commission;

6. Department of the Interior Task Force on Bureau of Indian Affairs Reorganization.

Generally, the studies and the reports from these groups raised serious questions and deep-seated concern regarding the management and operations of the bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); the policies that govern the organization; the function,

STATEMENT OF FORREST GERARD, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, ACCOMPANIED BY RICK C. LAVIS, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY; MARTIN E. SENECA, JR., ACTING DEPUTY COMMISSIONER; JOSEPH W. GORRELL, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT; AND LAFOLLETTE BUTLER, ASSISTANT TO THE ACTING DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS

Mr. GERARD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Before reading my statement, I would like to introduce the other witnesses at the table with me.

On my immediate left is Mr. Rick Lavis, Deputy Assistant Secretary. On my immediate right is Martin Seneca, who is the Acting Deputy Commissioner of Indian Affairs. To his right is Joe Gorrell, the Assistant Director, Financial Management, of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. On the far right is LaFollette Butler, who is the Assistant to the Acting Deputy Commissioner.

Mr. Chairman, we welcome the opportunity to be here today.

The committee has asked me to address the subject of current goals and objectives of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and our budget to accomplish these.

I would like to begin with a brief explanation of several organizational changes that have been made in the Bureau of Indian Affairs during the past year.

The Secretary of the Interior has reinstated the Office of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The position remains a Presidential nomination with Senate confirmation required.

The person to fill this position is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Bureau. Recruitment is currently underway. During the interim, Mr. Seneca is serving as the Acting Deputy Commissioner.

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, on the other hand, has been transferred to the Office of the Secretary. My staff and I are responsible for policy and planning for the Bureau as a part of the overall program for the Department.

We are fully involved in, and committed to, this extensive effort to develop systems, resolve long-standing problems, and organize so that we may effectively and efficiently manage our responsibilities. The management and protection of Indian and Native trust resources and the delivery of services to tribal governments and their citizenry are our primary responsibilities.

We have realized for some time that to properly carry out these responsibilities, we must make substantive and substantial improvements. We must make major changes in our systems, structures, and management.

In that regard, Mr. Chairman, I recently released to the Congress, the Indian community, and the Indian media a special management improvement report which I would like to leave for the record, if it can be included.

Chairman MELCHER. Without objection, we will insert that material in the record at this point.

The material referred to follows:]

SPECIAL REPORT on the MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM IN the Bureau OF INDIAN AFFAIRS

(By Forrest J. Gerard, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior)

FOREWORD

The Bureau of Indian Affairs was established in 1824 in the Department of War, and later moved to the Department of the Interior upon its creation in 1849. Over its century and a half history, the BIA has served as the instrument for implementation of Federal-Indian policies set by the Congress, the Courts, the Executive and by public opinion. Thus, the BIA has existed through the Indian wars, operating under misguided and failed Federal-Indian policy directives arising from the eras of extermination, assimilation and termination-all of which have been rejected in the Courts and repudiated by every Congress and Administration since the 1950s.

As a result of the history of conflicting policies and countervailing forces in the dynamic field of Indian Affairs, the BIA has been both used and viewed as the focal point for criticism of the Federal-Indian relationship, while the agency itself has been in a serious state of upheaval and neglect-and in dire need of reform. With the Congressional reformation initiatives of this decade, the BIA has undergone significant operational and functional change in its dealings with the American Indian and Alaska Native governments and peoples. These changes result primarily from the mandates of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 and the public call for governmental efficiency and greater local control.

Today, the largest agency in the Department of the Interior, in terms of budget and personnel, is the BIA-as befits this unique agency which serves some 496 Federally-recognized Indian and Alaska Native tribes, nations, pueblos, villages, bands and rancherias. As the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, I view my obligations to the Indian and Alaska Native people and to the Administration and the Congress as consistent and compatible: to oversee and provide policy direction for an agency that is effective in its trust and related service-delivery system; efficient in its use and control of money and financial-management systems; and ethical in its dealings with the Indian people.

I take these responsibilities most seriously. In meeting these obligations, I have initiated a series of management-improvement actions to effect institutional change in the functions, structure, policies, procedures and services of the BIA. As Assistant Secretary and as an Indian tribal member, I am committed to meeting the highest standards in the fulfillment of these obligations, to organizing the BIA, and to setting in motion processes and systems that will serve the Indian people long past my own administration.

It is with these thoughts that I share this report on certain managementimprovement steps taken during my first year as Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. I welcome your comments on these initiatives, thanking you for your attention to this aspect of Indian Affairs.

INTRODUCTION

FORREST J. Gerard.

This Special Report from the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs describes the major corrective actions that have been instituted, and are ongoing, to address the documented deficiencies reported by:

1. Congressional Appropriation Committees.

2. General Accounting Office.

3. Civil Service Commission.

4. General Services Administration.

5. American Indian Policy Review Commission:

6. Department of the Interior Task Force on Bureau of Indian Affairs Reorganization.

Generally, the studies and the reports from these groups raised serious questions and deep-seated concern regarding the management and operations of the bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); the policies that govern the organization; the function,

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