Schatz on the Dark, Shameful History of Indian Boarding Schools in the United States | Bills to Support Native Children Added to Appropriations Funding

 

U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Pushes Indian Boarding School Commission

U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs,and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), vice chair  of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, led a group of senators to speak on the dark history of Indian Boarding Schools and the progress being made on the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act, legislation that would establish a federal commission to investigate, document, and acknowledge past injustices due to the federal government's former Indian Boarding School policies.

“The history of Indian boarding schools is, without doubt, one of the darkest, most shameful chapters in our country’s history. For over 150 years, the United States government stole hundreds of thousands of Native children from their families and communities and forced them into federally-run and -supported boarding schools, often far away from their homes,” said Chairman Schatz.

Video of the remarks is available here and a full transcript as prepared for deliver follows.

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On Wednesday, the U.S. House Ways & Means Committee unanimously passed H.R. 9076, the Protecting America’s Children by Strengthening Families Act of 2024. This legislation would reauthorize Title IV-B of the Social Security Act through 2029, provide additional funding, and make updates to these critical child welfare programs. 

Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28) served as Vice Ranking Member and successfully included several of her bipartisan bills in the larger legislation, including:

• H.R. 8621 - Strengthening Tribal Families Act with Rep. Don Bacon (NE-02) to improve the implementation of the Indian Child Welfare Act by increasing data collection on the effectiveness of states’ ICWA implementation and providing technical assistance to states to improve outcomes for Tribal children
• H.R. 8921 - Tribal Child Welfare Support Act with Rep. Kevin Hern (OK-01) to increase the level of Title IV-B Part 1 funding that is set aside for Tribal child welfare services and allow Tribes to receive these funds directly from the federal government.