SENATE PASSES MURKOWSKI, SCHATZ BIPARTISAN RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF ISDEAA
April 7, 2025
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution led by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA), and Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI), Vice Chairman of the SCIA, Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA). In addition to Chairman Murkowski and Vice Chairman Schatz, the resolution is co-sponsored by Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), John Curtis (R-UT), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hoeven (R-ND), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Mike Rounds (R-SD), and Tina Smith (D-MN), and Dan Sullivan (R-AK).
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SCHATZ STATEMENT ON TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S DISRESPECT FOR PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS, INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE
April 7, 2025
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, released the following statement on offers that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) made to senior leaders across the Department to transfer to unspecified jobs in remote locations at the Indian Health Service (IHS), in an apparent attempt to oust them.
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MURKOWSKI, SCHATZ LEAD OVERSIGHT HEARING ON FEDERAL PROGRAMS THAT SUPPORT NATIVE AMERICAN STUDENTS AT THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
April 3, 2025
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaiʻi), Vice Chairman of the Committee, led an oversight hearing entitled “Native American Education – Examining Federal Programs at the U.S. Department of Education”.
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SCHATZ, CURTIS INTRODUCE TRIBAL ENERGY FAIRNESS ACT TO LOWER COSTS, STRENGTHEN TRIBAL ENERGY SOVEREIGNTY
Bipartisan Legislation Removes Barriers and Boosts Tribal Access to Federal Energy Resources
March 27, 2025
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and John Curtis (R-Utah) today introduced the Tribal Energy Fairness Act, bipartisan legislation aimed at expanding Tribal access to federal energy programs by removing unnecessary barriers and making technical fixes.
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Department of the Interior Announces Completed Land Transfer from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for Spirit Lake Nation
March 17, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of the Interior today announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has completed the transfer of 680 acres of land to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to be held in trust for the Spirit Lake Nation in Benson County, North Dakota.
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INDIAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE ADVANCES 25 BILLS TO FULL SENATE
March 6, 2025
Washington, DC –U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaiʻi), Vice Chairman of the Committee, led a business meeting of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in Washington, DC, to consider 25 bills before the Committee.
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MURKOWSKI, HEINRICH, SCHATZ, PETERS INTRODUCE BILL TO PROVIDE ESSENTIAL VETERINARY SERVICES IN RURAL, TRIBAL COMMUNITIES
FEBRUARY 21, 2025
Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA) and Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM), with the support of U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Vice Chairman of SCIA, and Gary Peters (D-MI) as original co-sponsors, reintroduced S.620, the Veterinary Services to Improve Public Health in Rural Communities Act. The bill, which Senator Murkowski originally introduced in June 2024, authorizes the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Indian Health Service (IHS) to provide Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations with veterinary services, including spaying and neutering of domestic animals. These services aim to help prevent and control severe and life-threatening zoonotic diseases (infections that spread between people and animals), in rural, Tribal communities. Studies show that Native children have the highest rate of dog bite injuries in the nation, and the highest rate of dog bite hospitalizations occur in rural Alaska and the Navajo Nation.
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HEINRICH, SCHATZ LEAD COLLEAGUES IN DEMANDING TRUMP’S DHS UPHOLD FEDERAL TRUST AND TREATY RESPONSIBILITIES TO TRIBAL NATIONS AND IMMEDIATELY END WRONGFUL ICE SEARCHES AND HARASSMENT OF TRIBAL MEMBERS
February 20, 2025
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), vice chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, led 13 of their Democratic colleagues in demanding that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) end wrongful searches and interrogations of Tribal members and uphold the United States’ trust and treaty responsibility with Tribal Nations and their citizens.
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BIA launches Operation Spirit Return to help solve Indian Country missing and unidentified person cases
Initiative focuses on identifying victims’ remains to reunite them with their families
February 20, 2025
WASHINGTON – The Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today that the Office of Justice Services has launched Operation Spirit Return, an initiative to help solve missing and unidentified person cases involving American Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States.
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Opening Statement from the 55th Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum
February 3, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Friday afternoon, Doug Burgum was sworn in as the 55th Secretary of the Interior. With a career rooted in leadership, innovation and service, Secretary Burgum expressed his gratitude and outlined his vision for the Department of the Interior’s future.
“Grateful to President Trump for the honor to serve as Secretary of the Interior,” said Secretary Doug Burgum. “We look forward to delivering on President Trump’s vision for Energy Dominance – which is the foundation of American prosperity, affordability for American families, unrivaled national security, and world peace.”
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Today, NATV was in attendance for the briefing addressing the collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and Army helicopter.
January 30, 2025
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SCHATZ STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT BIDEN COMMUTING LIFE SENTENCE OF LEONARD PELTIER
January 20, 2025
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, released the following statement after President Biden commuted Native American activist Leonard Peltier’s sentence. Peltier, now 80 years old, has been imprisoned for the past 49 years after he was convicted of murder in 1977 following a controversial investigation and trial, which many civil rights leaders and legal experts have called unjust, including the U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case.
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President Joe Biden commuted the sentence of Native American political prisoner Leonard Peltier as part of his last acts in office.
January 20, 2025
This morning, just moments before leaving office, President Biden commuted the life sentence of Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier. He will transition to home confinement, Biden said in a statement.
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