'Yes Or No?': Paul Gosar Rapid-Fire Questions Deb Haaland During Natural Resources Hearing

5 months ago

At yesterday's House Natural Resources Committee hearing, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) questioned Interior Sec. Deb Haaland.

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Transcript

00:00 Chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight, Mr. Gosar.

00:02 Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

00:04 As the first indigenous woman to serve in your position,

00:07 I know that the health and safety of young Native students

00:10 is a top priority of yours, especially as it is highlighted

00:14 not only in your testimony today,

00:16 but also in the DOI budget.

00:18 That is why I would like to take some time today

00:20 to bring to light a situation that is taking place

00:24 at Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas.

00:26 For those who do not know,

00:28 Haskell University is a Bureau of Indian Education school,

00:32 which ultimately reports to the BIA,

00:34 and their secretary is their boss.

00:38 That is why I was disturbed to learn about students

00:42 making very serious allegations of things like harassment,

00:45 bullying, theft, sexual assault, fraud, and more for years now.

00:49 It is my understanding that the BIE investigated

00:53 some of these claims,

00:54 and then they went to great lengths to hide them,

00:57 until recently when media reports made the findings public.

01:00 My first question, Secretary Talen, yes or no,

01:05 given your very strident and understandable support

01:07 for the Native community,

01:09 do you agree that the Bureau of Indian Education and BIA

01:12 was slow to respond to the concerns of these students?

01:14 Congressman, I do want to say that I have visited

01:20 Haskell Indian Nations University.

01:22 We care deeply about every single student.

01:25 My question is, were they slow in reporting this?

01:30 I don't have a timeline, Congressman.

01:32 Okay, well I got so many things to ask you,

01:34 so I'm just going to leave it at that.

01:35 Madam Secretary, yes or no,

01:37 do you believe that the students at Haskell University

01:40 deserve better than what they've been presented by the BIE?

01:43 And as the ultimate administrator,

01:46 you have a role in ensuring that they receive

01:48 the answers they deserve.

01:49 I believe that every single Native child

01:53 at any of our BIE schools deserves a quality,

01:56 culturally relative education.

01:59 And you accept the role as being the ultimate person

02:01 overseeing the BIE?

02:03 Tony Dearman, the BIE director, is very...

02:07 I know, but you're ultimately the boss, right?

02:09 Absolutely.

02:10 I care about every single student.

02:14 I got a number of things.

02:15 Were you convinced that you would work to make things better

02:17 at the school on behalf of the students?

02:19 I work every day to make things better for everybody, Congressman.

02:23 And certainly for our students.

02:24 I hear you.

02:25 Now, let me ask you a question.

02:26 You know, one of the things I represent

02:28 is Northwestern Arizona.

02:32 Enrique, are you familiar with the Radiation Exposure

02:35 Compensation Act?

02:36 Yes, I am.

02:39 Is there anything you do in this administration

02:42 to get that exposure that was limited

02:45 to Southeastern Clark County

02:48 and Northwestern Mojave County?

02:50 They were excluded by administrative fiat.

02:52 This is the Hualapai tribe.

02:54 This is a whole bunch of different individuals

02:56 that had been excluded for years.

02:58 Is there anything you could do to help us compensate

03:00 that with this administration?

03:01 Congressman, we'd be very happy to take a look at that.

03:05 I know that there are a lot of communities in New Mexico

03:10 as well who have been working to be acknowledged

03:13 for a very long time.

03:14 I appreciate knowing that, and we will take a look at...

03:17 Yeah, this was an administrative mistake.

03:18 Congress wanted to have all of Nevada and Arizona

03:22 placed in there.

03:22 And they did not.

03:23 Somebody made an administrative mistake.

03:25 Okay.

03:26 I appreciate your concern for our tribal communities,

03:29 Congressman.

03:29 Number two, I know that we helped settle

03:33 the Bill Williams water settlement with the Hualapai,

03:37 but they haven't had any adjudication along those lines.

03:40 Would you be very receptive to looking

03:42 at an old infrastructure aspect

03:45 to form a consortium of water up in Northern Arizona?

03:48 Would you be interested in kind of knowing more about that

03:50 so that we have a mix of the tribes

03:53 with local stakeholders like cities and towns

03:58 to work together to form a co-op

03:59 that will benefit the whole Northern part of Arizona?

04:01 We absolutely want to always work together

04:06 with tribes and local communities,

04:07 and we will be happy to reach out

04:10 to the Hualapai on this issue.

04:12 Thank you.

04:12 Now, I assume you agree that transparency

04:17 in our government is better than secrecy.

04:19 Would you agree to that?

04:20 Transparency?

04:22 Yeah, transparency.

04:23 Absolutely.

04:24 Okay.

04:25 So is it fair to say that you would consider

04:28 Citizens United to be wrongly decided?

04:31 Citizens United, the Supreme Court case?

04:36 Yes.

04:36 I don't necessarily have an opinion on that

04:40 at a budget hearing here, Congressman.

04:41 Okay.

04:42 So would you consider that all NGOs,

04:46 that if they take federal money,

04:47 they should disclose all their supporters?

04:52 First of all, I want to say that if we're involved

04:58 with any meetings, grant requests, anything like that,

05:02 there is a process that we follow.

05:05 It's closely monitored by our solicitors department,

05:09 and we follow all the rules.

05:11 But you agree that if they take federal money,

05:13 they should be able to expose,

05:14 put out all their donors?

05:16 I think people should represent themselves

05:19 in a correct manner.

05:21 Absolutely.

05:22 I thank the gentleman.

05:23 I yield back.

05:24 Gentlemen, time has expired.

05:26 Mr. Chair, I ask unanimous consent

05:28 to enter into the record.

05:30 I'm trying to be nice.

'Yes Or No?': Paul Gosar Rapid-Fire Questions Deb Haaland During Natural Resources Hearing

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