Past News Items

President Clinton's fiscal year 1994 budget for the Department of the Interior calls for significant new investments in National Parks and natural resource protection, as well as scientific efforts to help the nation protect endangered species without hurting local economies.

"I appreciated the opportunity to hear from tribal leaders from across the country. Their input provided an important picture of the economic benefits reservations have gained from Indian Gaming."

"I want to continue to gather information from parties interested in this issue, and I continue to believe these issues are best resolved by bilateral negotiations between states and tribes as intended under the Indian Gaming Regulation Act, and that the Act provides room for compromise."

"My meeting with the Governors today was a positive one, and I greatly appreciate their input. The Governors were clear in stating their positions, and I was equally clear in stating that I need to hear from other interests before deciding what, if any, policy changes are needed. I also made clear my belief that most ot these issues are best resolved by bilateral negotiations between states and tribes, as intended under the Indian Gaming Regulation Act, and that there is room for compromise. Our discussion was very helpful, but no commitments were made."

The Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) today announced that it will pay $541,951 to four Indian tribes as reimbursement of auditing costs for participating in the MMS's Cooperative and Delegated Audit Program during Fiscal Year 1993.

The Navajo Nation will receive $308,866; the Ute Indian Tribe, $87,600; the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, $93,000; and the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribe, $52,485.

The Lifetime Learning and Rebuild America economic stimulus package proposed by President Clinton will provide economic development opportunities, rebuild and maintain roads, repair schools, jails and juvenile detention centers, and provide funds to operate elementary and secondary schools on many of America's Indian reservations.

The total stimulus package calls for $102.4 million, with most of the funds to be spent by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for the benefit of Indians by the end of Fiscal Year 1993.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today signed an agreement implementing legislation to resolve a long-standing dispute over the water rights of the Fort McDowell Indian Community in Arizona.

"This settlement averts lengthy, costly litigation and uncertainty for the tribe and the Federal Government," Lujan noted. "Even more important is the fact that this settlement provides the opportunity for increased economic self-sufficiency and meaningful self-determination for the Community."

Department of the Interior Solicitor Thomas L. Sansonetti today issued a long-awaited legal opinion that explores the extent of Alaska Native village jurisdiction over land and non-village members.

The opinion concludes that Native village jurisdiction was significantly limited by Congress in 1971. The opinion, however, also reaffirms longstanding Departmental and Congressional actions which include Native villages as tribes for purposes of many programs of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and other federal agencies.

Sidney L. Mills, director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' office of trust responsibilities, has been appointed director of the BIA's area office at Albuquerque, New Mexico, Ross Swimmer, Interior assistant secretary for Indian affairs announced today.

Mills, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, served as the Albuquerque area director from 1978 to 1982, before coming to Washington for the position in trust responsibilities. Both positions are at the senior executive service level.

Interior Secretary Don Hodel today announced the appointment of LaDonna Harris, a nationally known enrolled member of the Comanche Tribe, as the U.S. representative "to the Inter-American Indian Institute (III.).

Interior Secretary Don Hodel today pledged to work with tribal governments so that Indian reservations can share in economic prosperity and not be "islands surrounded by the rest of America."

Addressing a joint meeting of the National Congress of American Indians and the National Tribal Chairmen's Association in Tulsa, Okla., the Secretary also said that he does not plan to abolish the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) or to establish an additional agency to take over Indian trust responsibilities now administered by BIA.