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INDIAN TRUST REFORM

S. HRG. 109-16

HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

ON

VIEWS OF THE ADMINISTRATION AND INDIAN COUNTRY OF HOW THE
SYSTEM OF INDIAN TRUST MANAGEMENT, MANAGEMENT OF FUNDS
AND NATURAL RESOURCES, MIGHT BE REFORMED

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INDIAN TRUST REFORM

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2005

U.S. SENATE,

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS,

Washington, DC.

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 11 a.m. in room 485, Senate Russell Building, Hon. John McCain (chairman of the committee) presiding.

Present: Senators McCain, Akaka, Cantwell, Dorgan, Inouye, Johnson, Murkowski, Smith, and Thomas.

STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN MCCAIN, U.S. SENATOR FROM ARIZONA, CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS The CHAIRMAN. We will now begin our hearing on trust reform. Our first witness is Jim Cason, who is the acting assistant secretary for Indian affairs. He is accompanied by Ross Swimmer, special trustee for American Indians, Department of the Interior.

The subject of Indian trust management reform has been an issue of considerable issue to Congress and to this committee for over a decade. In 1994, Congress enacted the American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act with the expectation of bringing order to at least one aspect of the Federal Government's trust responsibility to Indian people, the management of tribal and individual Indian moneys held in trust accounts.

About 2 years later, the Cobell case class action lawsuit was filed. In the years since then, we have all learned just what a sorry state the trust fund management system was in. The reasons for this are manifold, I am sure, but most people would agree that for many decades the Federal Government has not been held accountable for its management practices.

This hearing is not directly about the Cobell lawsuit, although trust reform should be a component of any legislation to resolve the case and problems that led to it. The purpose of today's hearing is to listen to the views of the Administration and Indian country of how the system of Indian trust management, management of funds and natural resources, might be reformed. I am interested in hearing from the Administration on what it has done to improve trust management and what additional steps it intends to take, because it is no secret that many in Indian country are not satisfied in whole or in part with the Administration's approach and have different views about the direction we should be going in reforming the system.

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