Reznet

Bush Seeks to Cut Vital Indian Programs

By Kevin Abourezk

You couldn't hardly have scripted a more insulting response to last week's State of Indian Nations Address.

On Monday, President George W. Bush presented his budget for fiscal year 2009, which begins Oct. 1. In the final budget of his presidency, Bush proposed serious cuts in federal spending to many programs vital to Indian Country.

In his annual address last Thursday, President Joe Garcia of the National Congress of American Indians spoke about the need for economic development, health care reform, public safety funds and education reform for Indian Country.

"Through the eyes of a child, we see too much hurt, and regret, and loss," he said. "But through our own eyes, we can see opportunity, find answers and make lives better."

So it came as a slap in the face when Bush's budget Monday proposed cuts to many Indian programs, including:

• The Bureau of Indian Affairs education construction fund, which would be slashed by $177 million less than Congress appropriated for it this year, if Bush has his way. His budget sets aside just $140 million for that fund.

• The Indian Health Service's Urban Indian Health Program, which serves Indians in South Dakota communities like Sioux Falls and Pierre, would not be funded, and likely be eliminated, under Bush's proposed budget. Congress set aside $35 million for the program this fiscal year.

• The Indian Health Facilities fund, which would see a $22 million decrease under Bush's proposed budget and receive just $362 million for the next fiscal year. That account supports construction, repair and improvement of Indian Health Services facilities.

• Three Department of Justice programs that service Indian Country, which would be zeroed out under Bush's plan. Those programs provide for incarceration on tribal lands, tribal courts and grants for tribes. Congress provided $33 million for the programs for the current fiscal year.

• Two U.S. Department of Education programs that provide financial support to tribal colleges, universities and technical institutes would see none of the more than $30 million that Congress appropriated to them this fiscal year under Bush's budget.

• The Native American Housing Block Grants program, which Congress funded for $681 million this fiscal year, would see $54 million less under the president's budget.

Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., sounded the alarm Monday about Bush's proposed cuts to Indian programs.

"The President's budget ... ignores the treaty and trust responsibility of the federal government," the senator said in a news release. "I will use my seat on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee to work to restore these programs this year."

While Bush has never been considered a friend to Indian Country, it's difficult to recall a time when the president has so blatantly shown his disdain for Native people as he has in recent weeks.

Coupled with his threatened veto of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act last month, Bush's proposed budget cuts can be seen as nothing less than evidence of an Indian fighter displaying his true nature.

There was one project familiar to Indian people for which Bush proposed increased funding.

Under his budget, the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump in Nevada would see an additional $108 million in funding for the next fiscal year. Long opposed by tribes, the dump's elevated status in the Bush budget plan further demonstrates the president's lack of sensitivity to tribal concerns.

On the bright side, the president's budget is likely to see drastic changes before both Democratic-controlled Houses of Congress pass it.

And senators and congressional leaders friendly to Indians, like Johnson, already have vowed to seek fewer cuts to much needed social programs.

Kevin Abourezk, Oglala Lakota, is a reporter and editor at the Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star. He is a reznet assignment editor and teaches reporting at the Freedom Forum's American Indian Journalism Institute.

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