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opportunities for success. Through the determined efforts of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, under your leadership Mr. Chairman and under the previous leadership of the Honorable Senator Daniel K. Inouye and the Honorable Senator John McCain, this Committee has emerged as a major positive force in shaping Indian policies. It is entirely realistic to believe that, with a dynamic and creative tribal-federal partnership, Indian tribes at last can build vigorous, sustainable tribal economies that will be consistent with tribal traditions, religions, and respect for our homelands. Having said that, I will now briefly suggest some recommendations from the

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Before reviewing the survey answers and recommendations, I would like to suggest on behalf of the NTDA that this Committee sanction a Task Force of tribal leaders with the

participation of federal agencies and departmental heads to develop a interagency initiative which coordinates programmatic assistance from various federal agencies and develops creative funding mechanisms to construct the much needed physical infrastructures on Indian reservations. This type of federal/tribal partnership or interagency initiative can provide for the various needs of Indian Country rather than relying solely on the under-appropriated BIA.

The study revealed the primary obstacles in the development of physical infrastructures to support manufacturing and/or industrial operations which include: a need for technical assistance for planning purposes, such as, developing economic feasibility plans, labor force plans, design and construction plans, and adequate funding sources for planning and implementing the

development of physical infrastructures.

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TESTIMONY OF JOHN SUNCHILD, SR., EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,

1) National Policy Objectives:

In overcoming these obstacles, national policy objectives must include: strengthened tribal sovereignty and self-governance, support for funding economic development and physical infrastructure development priorities of tribal governments, access to federal economic benefit programs by establishing government-to-government partnerships or interagency initiatives, and developing sustainable economic and natural resources development policies which are

respectful of tribal traditional and cultural beliefs;

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To provide tribes with the opportunity for economic development, the federal government should insure that federal economic benefit programs are accessible to tribes in the development of physical infrastructures in Indian Country including:

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a)

b)

c)

d)

e)

restrictions must be removed from “private activity” bond financing to allow tribes the opportunity to issue municipal-type bonds for physical infrastructure financing under the same terms and conditions as states and local governments enjoy;

the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs should conduct regional hearings on the status of physical infrastructure development on Indian reservations nationwide and to ascertain the need for authorizations for technical assistance and financing;

federal funding should be made available for reservation work force education/training programs to provide the necessary trained labor force to sustain long-term economic development needs;

tribal colleges should be the focal point for federal funding to support a diverse academic program that includes teaching and research to maximize tribal human resources;

funds available through the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 ("ISTEA”) for road construction should be made available

TESTIMONY OF JOHN SUNCHILD, SR., EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,

3)

directly by federal authorization to tribes and Congress should fund the
Indian Reservation Road (“IRR”) Program at an absolute minimum of
$300 million annually and in fairness, a figure of $400 to $500 million
annually would be closer to a pro-rata allocation and would allow progress
in attacking the backlog of projects awaiting construction. Congress
should also fund $15 to $20 million annually for an Indian reservation
bridge construction and repair program. Those funds should come from
the national bridge repair programs and not from the IRR allocation.

Federal Agency and Program Commitments:

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b)

c)

d)

e)

Federal agencies must commit financial resources to the development of reservation physical infrastructures. This can be accomplished by allocating appropriate funding within each agency budget over a minimal five (5) year plan to resource all aspects of physical infrastructure development in Indian Country;

Federal agencies should commit to working together to fund the development of reservation physical infrastructure. The Bureau of Indian Affairs could work in conjunction with the Bureau of Reclamation in the development and improvement of reservation water resources and supplies. The BIA budget may not be able to provide for construction money so tribes should be able to access the BOR budget for construction money and the BIA can provide business development and training programs;

In addition to financing actual business projects, the funding for the BIA's community and economic development grants and the guaranteed loan program should be increased to provide funding for technical assistance to tribes in important areas such as business planning, accounting systems, obtaining and securing financing, and market evaluations;

The Administration for Native Americans (“ANA”) should redirect its program priorities to focus on training grants for tribes in the area of developing infrastructures with state-of-the-art knowledge on engineering and construction, financing construction projects, and technical assistance in business development; and

The Indian Health Service (“IHS”) should increase its capacity to provide water supply, sewage disposal, and fire protection systems for residential areas but also to include the same for tribal municipal-type buildings, i.e., tribal offices, educational facilities, health facilities, commercial buildings,

TESTIMONY OF JOHN SUNCHILD, SR., EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,

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Mr. Chairman and Committee members, I have suggested only a few of the many recommendations listed in the survey report and may I refer you to the report for the complete list of recommendations. I truly believe these recommendations, if implemented, will enhance significantly tribal efforts in developing reservation physical infrastructures in order to properly build self-sustaining reservation economies and homelands. It is blatantly obvious that our basic infrastructure needs are unfulfilled in Indian Country. A good example of this, is the uninet transportation needs because there are over 50,000 miles of roads that serve the many Indian reservations throughout the United States (approximately 25,000 miles of which were built by the BIA with the remaining 25,000 being county and state roads which are partially or wholly reliant on ISTEA for replacement funding). The most recent inventory indicates that 66% of those roads are not yet paved and located in bad weather conditions, over 30,000 miles of those roads are impassible. Not only does this lead to a significantly higher death rate involving automobiles on Indian reservations, but it is a major factor in keeping Indian people in poverty and without employment. By not being able to offer basic transportation infrastructures, businesses are reluctant to locate on Indian reservations. Things that most Americans take for granted, such as access to emergency services, including fire protection, availability of heating fuel and groceries, are not available to many reservation residents for many months of the year. This is just one example out of many showing the extreme unmet need in basic physical infrastructures which are prevalent in Indian Country and its resulting impact on the economic

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TESTIMONY OF JOHN SUNCHILD, SR., EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,

development potential for Indian tribes.

Mr. Chairman and Committee members, I appreciate the invitation to speak on a subject in which I wholeheartedly believe the United States federal government and Indian tribes can work together in a true government-to-government partnership to fulfill the unmet needs for the basic physical infrastructures in Indian Country. Federal/tribal interagency and intertribal initiatives, such as the EZ/EC program must be implemented in Indian Country in order to provide Indian Country with the technical assistance and other vital resources we need to development our reservation physical infrastructures, carry out our economic development plans, and take charge of our own destinies. If the NTDA or myself can be of any assistance, it would be a pleasure to work with you in developing and fostering these types of economic development initiatives needed on Indian reservations.

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TESTIMONY OF JOHN SUNCHILD, SR., EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,

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