GEORGE W

GEORGE W. BUSH: BAD FOR NATIVE AMERICANS

President Bush has failed to fight for the more than four million Native Americans. Bush has proposed budgets that cut funding to Native American educational programs and has failed to provide adequate funding for Native American housing, safe drinking water, and the Indian Health Service. Under Bush, the federal government has also failed to protect sacred Native American lands. Finally, Bush has opposed affirmative action programs beneficial to Native Americans and worsened a sad legacy of Trust Fund mismanagement.

THE BUSH RECORD:

Bush has rarely mentioned Native Americans while in office.

Cut education funding through the Bureau of Indian Affairs by 10 percent.

Eliminated all federal funding for the United Tribes Technical College.

Froze service levels for the Indian Health Service.

Failed to protect sacred tribal lands.

Proposed hiring 15 additional attorneys to fight tribal trust fund lawsuits.

BUSH HAS MENTIONED NATIVE AMERICANS TWICE, AND ONCE WAS TO ATTACK THEM:

Bush Attacked Native Americans in One of Only Two Times he has Spoken About Them. A search of White House documents relating to Bush's speeches and public remarks finds that Bush has spoken about Native Americans exactly twice while he has been in office. On one of the two instances, Bush attacked Native Americans for getting preferential treatment at the University of Michigan. Prefacing his statements by explaining that giving numerical benefits in college admission, or "extra points," to Native Americans was "unconstitutional," Bush continued, "some.Native American students receive [extra points] not because of any academic achievement or life experience, but solely because they are.Native American." [White House, www.whitehouse.gov; Bush Discusses Michigan Affirmative Action Case, 1/15/03]

BUSH ADMINISTRATION MAY HAVE CHARGED TRIBE FOR ACCESS:

California Tribe, Ignored by Interior, Gets Meeting After $100K Contribution and RNC Intervention. The Agua Caliente band of California contributed $100,000 to the Republican National Committee before getting a meeting with Interior Secretary Gale Norton. RNC officials have denied any impropriety, but documents uncovered during a court case indicate that RNC officials helped the Agua Calientes get the meeting after researching the band's past contribution history. [AP, 5/29/03]

Agua Caliente Band Thanked RNC, Noting That the Meeting Had Been Scheduled. Two months after the $100,000 RNC contribution, the Agua Caliente thanked the RNC officials they had met with, noting that Interior officials were open to scheduling a meeting with the band. A note written to the RNC deputy director Jack Oliver by his assistant directed Oliver to call the Department of Interior and "see if this has been done & can [he] see if [he] can get it to happen." [AP, 5/29/03]

BUSH BUDGET HURTS NATIVE AMERICAN EDUCATION:

Bush Budget Cuts Higher Education Funding For Native Colleges. While Native American colleges are experiencing record enrollments, Bush has cut or held funding flat for key programs. The Bush 2004 budget cuts education funding through the Bureau of Indian Affairs by 10 percent. Bush proposed cutting college grants by 17 percent from the level of funding in the 2003 appropriations bill. And Bush's 2003 budget contained an increase of only $650,000 in funding for the Strengthening Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities program, barely enough to maintain purchasing power. [Indianz.Com, 2/10/03; National Indian Education Association, 2/4/02]

Despite Promise, Bush Eliminates All Funding For Native American College. In his last two budgets, Bush has sought to eliminate all $3 million in federal funding for the United Tribes Technical College in North Dakota. The college, which serves students from over 40 tribal nations, would face closing or major downsizing because the Bush cuts constitute 53 percent of the college's operating budget. The cuts came in spite of assurance from Bush's Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb. UTTC president David Gipp said, "He [McCaleb] told me the budget for United Tribes would be in place. We remain greatly dismayed by the Department of the Interior." [The Bismarck Tribune, 2/4/03; KFYR-TV News, 2/18/03]

Previous Bush Budget Froze Funding For Native American Education. The 2002 Bush budget froze grants to local education agencies and special programs for Native American children. The budget also cut funding entirely for several important Indian education programs, including Indian Fellowships, Gifted and Talented Programs, grants to tribal education departments, and adult education. Furthermore, the Bush budget does not provide an increase in purchasing power to rebuild Native American schools; the Administration has also failed to update the construction priority list for Native American schools for the past two years. [Friends Committee on National Legislation, Open Letter, 5/17/01; Indianz.Com, 2/10/03]

BUSH BUDGET CUTS FUNDING FOR VITAL NATIVE AMERICAN PROGRAMS:

Budget Freezes Funding for Indian Health Service. Bush has repeatedly sought to freeze service levels for the Indian Health Service. The 2004 Bush budget freezes funding for the Indian Health Service at $3.6 billion, the level needed to maintain current program service levels. While the budget increases funding for diabetes prevention, other program service levels will have to be reduced. The 2002 Bush budget had increased funding for the Indian Health Service by only 3 percent, the minimum level needed to keep on pace with inflation. [House Budget Committee Minority Staff Report, 2/7/03; Friends Committee on National Legislation, Open Letter, 5/18/01]

Budget Fails To Help Native Americans Provide Safe Housing and Drinking Water. Bush's budget cuts tribal housing subsidies and loan guarantees by 50 percent, or $1 billion. However, the National Indian Housing Council calculates that this funding will be needed to relieve housing shortages and homelessness. The budget also cuts the Clean Water State Revolving Fund by $362 million. The fund is intended to help tribes and states build drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities. [Indianz.Com, 2/10/03]

Bush Underfunds Job Training Despite High Unemployment. Republican Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (CO) has criticized the Bush Labor Department for underfunding vocational job training. While unemployment rates exceed 50 percent on some reservations, the Bush FY 2003 budget failed to provide funding for vocational training. Senator Campbell said, "I don't know how, frankly, we can justify some of these cuts. I'm hopeful we can find the resources we need for these important services," Campbell said. Deputy Assistant Labor Secretary David Dye responded, "We do the best we can with what we have." [Associated Press, 3/6/02]

BUSH ADMINISTRATION FAILED TO PROTECT SACRED NATIVE LANDS:

Bush Agencies Fail To Protect Sacred Native American Sites. Federal agencies conduct projects that can threaten or destroy sites sacred to Native Americans. In particular, the Army Corps of Engineers undertakes large water projects that frequently threaten sacred Native sites. Deputy Assistant Army Secretary George Dunlop, who oversees the Corps, said that his agency "can do better" in respecting Indian sites. Energy projects also threaten Native lands; the Bureau of Land Management proposed drilling of an oil well in Montana near a sacred rock art collection and meeting location for tribes. [Associated Press, 6/5/02]

Bush Budget Contains No Funding For Task Force To Protect Native Sites. The Missouri River Task Force was formed to develop a plan to protect Native American sites and preserve the Missouri River. Although Congress passed legislation allowing $50 million in funding for the task force, the Bush budget contains no funding. [Aberdeen American News, 2/7/03]

Bush Administration Has Threatened Sacred Sites By Opening Lands To Development. Sacred land preserved under the Clinton  Administration has been cleared for development under Bush. Bush has opened land for energy and resource extraction, and has failed to fight for the "Native Americans Sacred Lands Act." The Act would allow Indian tribes to petition the federal government to prohibit activities that would harm sacred lands. ["Opinion: House Resources Committee to Eye Trust Fund Reform," Nick J. Rahall, Indian Country Today, 2/12/03]

BUSH OPPOSES AFFIRMATIVE ACTION:

Bush Opposes Affirmative Action. Native Americans benefit from affirmative action programs in government agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, and at numerous universities. Elimination of affirmative action in California and Texas has reduced the number of Native American students. Bush has consistently opposed affirmative action. Recently, Bush opposed the University of Michigan's affirmative action program, and directed the government to oppose the program before the Supreme Court. Bush also appointed numerous officials opposed to affirmative action, including Attorney General John Ashcroft, Labor Secretary nominee Linda Chavez, and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao. [New York Times, 1/16/03; Los Angeles Times, 8/11/01; Los Angeles Times, 12/15/00; Chattanooga Times, 7/27/98; Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity Management: National Institutes of Health; University of Michigan Affirmative Action Facts]

BUSH ADMINISTRATION FAILED TO PROPERLY MANAGE INDIAN TRUST FUND:

Bush Budgets Requested Funds To Fight Tribal Suit and Underfunded Trust Reform. Although the Indian Trust Fund has a legacy of mismanagement, the Bush Administration has worsened the problem. The Bush 2004 budget requested 15 additional attorneys to fight tribal trust lawsuits. Native American Rights Fund attorney Keith Harper responded that the administration's strategy may be to further delay Native lawsuits. "It looks like they are going to continue to battle on every front instead of looking for a reasoned way to resolve things. They will do what they did in Cobell and delay and delay. They need these attorneys to file brief after brief," Harper said. In his 2003 budget, Bush requested $83.6 million for trust fund reform. National Congress of American Indians president Tex Hall said that the Interior Department did not listen to Native American input when formulating the budget. "To me, that's a very small portion of what it should be," Hall said of the Bush trust fund reform budget. [Legal Times, 2/10/03; Associated Press, 2/3/02]

Bush Interior Secretary Failed To Consult Native Americans On Trust Fund Reform. Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton succumbed to pressure from U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth and agreed to appoint an assistant interior secretary to direct and manage the Indian Trust Fund. Norton failed to consult Native Americans when creating the bureau, however. Norton's own Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb acknowledged, "It was incomplete. We've been apologizing since Nov. 15, and we should apologize." [Washington Post, 11/16/01; Associated Press, 2/3/02]

Bush Appointed Trust Fund Head In Spite of Mixed Reviews From Tribes. Bush appointed Ross Swimmer to be special trustee for Native Americans in spite of significant opposition from Native American groups. The National Congress of American Indians unanimously opposed Swimmer when he was appointed as temporary director of the trust office. The Sioux Falls Argus-Leader wrote of Swimmer's nomination, "There's one problem: Native Americans have no faith in him when it comes to the trust fund." Elouise Cobell, who led the trust fund class-action lawsuit, protested that Swimmer is ill-suited for the job. Cobell opposes Swimmer's support of trust account privatization and privatization as, "an attempt to wipe the slate clean through privatization in violation of the most fundamental rights of individual Indian trust beneficiaries." [The Daily Oklahoman, 2/13/03; Argus-Leader, 1/5/03]