Floor SpeechBipartisan2024-12-20

TRUTH AND HEALING COMMISSION ON INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOL POLICIES ACT

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Context

On 2024-12-20, Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) delivered a floor speech titled "TRUTH AND HEALING COMMISSION ON INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOL POLICIES ACT" in the Senate. The speech addressed healthcare and also covered taxes, the environment. It referenced legislation including S7254, S7267, S1723, among other bills.

Full Text

TRUTH AND HEALING COMMISSION ON INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOL POLICIES ACT

Congressional Record, Volume 170 Issue 190 (Friday, December 20, 2024) [Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 190 (Friday, December 20, 2024)] [Senate] [Pages S7254-S7267] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] TRUTH AND HEALING COMMISSION ON INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOL POLICIES ACT Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, earlier this week, I spoke about the historic accomplishments of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs with my good friend and vice chair Lisa Murkowski over the last 4 years. I made it very clear that the foundation of this success--and continues to be--Native leaders, communities, and advocates sharing their priorities and telling us what is most important to them. I also emphasized that we cannot and will not rest on our laurels because our progress is still in progress. That is why, today, we have to pass S. 1723, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act. This bill would establish a Federal commission to investigate the Federal Indian boarding school era, when the Federal Government partnered with religious institutions in an attempt to assimilate Native children at so-called schools, often far from their homes and families, where they were stripped of their cultures, languages, and identities and beaten and abused, both mentally and physically. Thousands--likely more--died at those schools, and those who returned home were never the same. The Truth and Healing Commission would turn the page on this shameful era and help begin the healing process for Native survivors, descendants, and communities and those who continue to experience the generational trauma and lasting legacy of these policies today. S. 1723 passed out of the committee after extensive bipartisan debate. Since then, Vice Chair Murkowski and I have worked with the bill's sponsor, Senator Warren, the Native American Boarding School Coalition, and other advocates to refine the bill and to accommodate feedback. The current version of this legislation is the result of hundreds of hours--hundreds of hours--of drafting, redrafting, discussion, and tough negotiations. I will now turn it over to the vice chair for some remarks before I make a unanimous consent request. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska. Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I want to thank and acknowledge Senator Schatz, as well as his team on the Indian Affairs Committee, for their work as we have sought to advance S. 1723, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act. I also want to acknowledge Senator Warren for her help on this and, of course, the Native American Boarding School Coalition and so many of the advocates that really, really have helped us advance this. As the chairman of the committee has noted, we have worked this legislation over a long period of time, and it is a priority for us in the committee because, for too long--for far too long--this dark legacy of the Indian boarding school era has just kind of sat in the corner, unrecognized and unacknowledged. From 1819 to 1969, the U.S. Government forcibly removed Native children from their families and Tribes and placed them in boarding schools. These Indian boarding schools, as they came [[Page S7255]] to be called, were not just education institutions, but, oftentimes, they were viewed as tools to eradicate Native cultures, languages, and traditions to ``civilize'' Native American children--again, a very dark era within our government. So what we seek to do with this bill is to create a commission to bring light to the generational trauma caused by this time of Indian boarding schools. By allowing people's stories to be heard, we can help honor the experience of victims and their families, facilitate healing, and foster greater understanding and empathy among all people. I think this is a good step and an important step in helping the survivors of Indian boarding schools and the families and communities that were impacted, to help them find healing. We have heard stories--I have heard stories--of many in my State who attended boarding schools, some in the State of Alaska, some outside the State of Alaska, in the listening sessions that Secretary Haaland led, as Secretary of the Interior, on this very important issue. Again, these are stories that must be recognized. And, again, I thank those who have shared them because, at many times, they were very painful, uncovering scars from the past. But how we can offer ways to pursue healing is what this commission is all about. Again, my thanks to Chairman Schatz for being such a great partner on this legislation, as well as on so many other matters that we have been able to advance successfully through the committee. And my thanks to the chairman's team and to mine, as the ranking member on the committee. We have done good work. It has been a successful year for the committee. I am hoping--hoping--that there is a path somehow and that this legislation will actually be able to be taken up by the House of Representatives and signed into law. That would be a good and a fitting ending. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii. Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 432, S. 1723. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title. The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows: A bill (S. 1723) to establish the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States, and for other purposes. There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill, which had been reported from the Committee on Indian Affairs with an amendment to strike all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act of 2023''. (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings. Sec. 3. Purposes. Sec. 4. Definitions. TITLE I--COMMISSION AND SUBCOMMITTEES Subtitle A--Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States Sec. 101. Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States. Subtitle B--Duties of the Commission Sec. 111. Duties of the Commission. Subtitle C--Survivors Truth and Healing Subcommittee Sec. 121. Survivors Truth and Healing Subcommittee. TITLE II--ADVISORY COMMITTEES Subtitle A--Native American Truth and Healing Advisory Committee Sec. 201. Native American Truth and Healing Advisory Committee. Subtitle B--Federal Truth and Healing Advisory Committee Sec. 211. Federal Truth and Healing Advisory Committee. TITLE III--GENERAL PROVISIONS Sec. 301. Clarification. Sec. 302. Burial management. Sec. 303. Co-stewardship agreements. Sec. 304. No right of action. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds that-- (1) attempts to destroy Native American cultures, religions, and languages through assimilationist practices and policies can be traced to the early 17th century and the founding charters of some of the oldest educational institutions in the United States; (2) in June 2021, and in light of the long history of the assimilationist policies and practices referred to in paragraph (1) and calls for reform from Native peoples, the Secretary of the Interior directed the Department of the Interior to investigate the role of the Federal Government in supporting those policies and practices and the intergenerational impacts of those policies and practices; (3) in May 2022, the Department of the Interior published volume 1 of a report entitled ``Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report'' (referred to in this section as the ``Report''), which found that-- (A) as early as 1819, and until 1969, the Federal Government directly or indirectly supported approximately 408 Indian Boarding Schools across 37 States; (B) American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children, as young as 3 years old, were forcibly removed from their homes and sent to Indian Boarding Schools located throughout the United States; (C) Indian Boarding Schools used systematic, violent, and militarized identity-altering methods, such as physical, sexual, and psychological abuse and neglect, to attempt to forcibly assimilate Native children and strip them of their languages, cultures, and social connections; (D) the violent methods referred to in subparagraph (C) were carried out for the purpose of-- (i) destroying the cultures, languages, and religions of Native peoples; and (ii) dispossessing Native peoples of their ancestral lands; (E) many of the children who were taken to Indian Boarding Schools did not survive, and of those who did survive, many never returned to their parents, extended families, or communities; (F) many of the children who were taken to Indian Boarding Schools and did not survive were interred in cemeteries and unmarked graves; and (G) American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities continue to experience intergenerational trauma and cultural and familial disruption from experiences rooted in Indian Boarding Schools Policies, which divided family structures, damaged cultures and individual identities, and inflicted chronic physical and psychological ramifications on American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children, families, and communities; (4) the ethos and rationale for Indian Boarding Schools is infamously expressed in the following quote from the founder of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Richard Henry Pratt: ``Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.''; (5) the children who perished at Indian Boarding Schools or in neighboring hospitals and other institutions were buried in on-campus and off-campus cemeteries and un

Referenced legislation: S1723, S1723

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TRUTH AND HEALING COMMISSION ON INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOL POLICIES ACT Congressional Record, Volume 170 Issue 190 (Friday, December 20, 2024) [Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 190 (Friday, December 20, 2024)] [Senate] [Pages S7254-S7267] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] TRUTH AND HEALING COMMISSION ON INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOL POLICIES ACT Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, earlier this week, I spoke about the historic accomplishments of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs with my good friend and vice chair Lisa Murkowski over the last 4 years. I made it very clear that the foundation of this success--and continues to be--Native leaders, communities, and advocates sharing their priorities and telling us what is most important to them. I also emphasized that we cannot and will not rest on our laurels because our progress is still in progress. That is why, today, we have to pass S. 1723, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act. This bill would establish a Federal commission to investigate the Federal Indian boarding school era, when the Federal Government partnered with religious institutions in an attempt to assimilate Native children at so-called schools, often far from their homes and families, where they were stripped of their cultures, languages, and identities and beaten and abused, both mentally and physically. Thousands--likely more--died at those schools, and those who returned home were never the same. The Truth and Healing Commission would turn the page on this shameful era and help begin the healing process for Native survivors, descendants, and communities and those who continue to experience the generational trauma and lasting legacy of these policies today. S. 1723 passed out of the committee after extensive bipartisan debate. Since then, Vice Chair Murkowski and I have worked with the bill's sponsor, Senator Warren, the Native American Boarding School Coalition, and other advocates to refine the bill and to accommodate feedback. The current version of this legislation is the result of hundreds of hours--hundreds of hours--of drafting, redrafting, discussion, and tough negotiations. I will now turn it over to the vice chair for some remarks before I make a unanimous consent request. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska. Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I want to thank and acknowledge Senator Schatz, as well as his team on the Indian Affairs Committee, for their work as we have sought to advance S. 1723, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act. I also want to acknowledge Senator Warren for her help on this and, of course, the Native American Boarding School Coalition and so many of the advocates that really, really have helped us advance this. As the chairman of the committee has noted, we have worked this legislation over a long period of time, and it is a priority for us in the committee because, for too long--for far too long--this dark legacy of the Indian boarding school era has just kind of sat in the corner, unrecognized and unacknowledged. From 1819 to 1969, the U.S. Government forcibly removed Native children from their families and Tribes and placed them in boarding schools. These Indian boarding schools, as they came [[Page S7255]] to be called, were not just education institutions, but, oftentimes, they were viewed as tools to eradicate Native cultures, languages, and traditions to ``civilize'' Native American children--again, a very dark era within our government. So what we seek to do with this bill is to create a commission to bring light to the generational trauma caused by this time of Indian boarding schools. By allowing people's stories to be heard, we can help honor the experience of victims and their families, facilitate healing, and foster greater understanding and empathy among all people. I think this is a good step and an important step in helping the survivors of Indian boarding schools and the families and communities that were impacted, to help them find healing. We have heard stories--I have heard stories--of many in my State who attended boarding schools, some in the State of Alaska, some outside the State of Alaska, in the listening sessions that Secretary Haaland led, as Secretary of the Interior, on this very important issue. Again, these are stories that must be recognized. And, again, I thank those who have shared them because, at many times, they were very painful, uncovering scars from the past. But how we can offer ways to pursue healing is what this commission is all about. Again, my thanks to Chairman Schatz for being such a great partner on this legislation, as well as on so many other matters that we have been able to advance successfully through the committee. And my thanks to the chairman's team and to mine, as the ranking member on the committee. We have done good work. It has been a successful year for the committee. I am hoping--hoping--that there is a path somehow and that this legislation will actually be able to be taken up by the House of Representatives and signed into law. That would be a good and a fitting ending. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii. Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 432, S. 1723. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title. The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows: A bill (S. 1723) to establish the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States, and for other purposes. There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill, which had been reported from the Committee on Indian Affairs with an amendment to strike all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act of 2023''. (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings. Sec. 3. Purposes. Sec. 4. Definitions. TITLE I--COMMISSION AND SUBCOMMITTEES Subtitle A--Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States Sec. 101. Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States. Subtitle B--Duties of the Commission Sec. 111. Duties of the Commission. Subtitle C--Survivors Truth and Healing Subcommittee Sec. 121. Survivors Truth and Healing Subcommittee. TITLE II--ADVISORY COMMITTEES Subtitle A--Native American Truth and Healing Advisory Committee Sec. 201. Native American Truth and Healing Advisory Committee. Subtitle B--Federal Truth and Healing Advisory Committee Sec. 211. Federal Truth and Healing Advisory Committee. TITLE III--GENERAL PROVISIONS Sec. 301. Clarification. Sec. 302. Burial management. Sec. 303. Co-stewardship agreements. Sec. 304. No right of action. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds that-- (1) attempts to destroy Native American cultures, religions, and languages through assimilationist practices and policies can be traced to the early 17th century and the founding charters of some of the oldest educational institutions in the United States; (2) in June 2021, and in light of the long history of the assimilationist policies and practices referred to in paragraph (1) and calls for reform from Native peoples, the Secretary of the Interior directed the Department of the Interior to investigate the role of the Federal Government in supporting those policies and practices and the intergenerational impacts of those policies and practices; (3) in May 2022, the Department of the Interior published volume 1 of a report entitled ``Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report'' (referred to in this section as the ``Report''), which found that-- (A) as early as 1819, and until 1969, the Federal Government directly or indirectly supported approximately 408 Indian Boarding Schools across 37 States; (B) American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children, as young as 3 years old, were forcibly removed from their homes and sent to Indian Boarding Schools located throughout the United States; (C) Indian Boarding Schools used systematic, violent, and militarized identity-altering methods, such as physical, sexual, and psychological abuse and neglect, to attempt to forcibly assimilate Native children and strip them of their languages, cultures, and social connections; (D) the violent methods referred to in subparagraph (C) were carried out for the purpose of-- (i) destroying the cultures, languages, and religions of Native peoples; and (ii) dispossessing Native peoples of their ancestral lands; (E) many of the children who were taken to Indian Boarding Schools did not survive, and of those who did survive, many never returned to their parents, extended families, or communities; (F) many of the children who were taken to Indian Boarding Schools and did not survive were interred in cemeteries and unmarked graves; and (G) American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities continue to experience intergenerational trauma and cultural and familial disruption from experiences rooted in Indian Boarding Schools Policies, which divided family structures, damaged cultures and individual identities, and inflicted chronic physical and psychological ramifications on American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children, families, and communities; (4) the ethos and rationale for Indian Boarding Schools is infamously expressed in the following quote from the founder of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Richard Henry Pratt: ``Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.''; (5) the children who perished at Indian Boarding Schools or in neighboring hospitals and other institutions were buried in on-campus and off-campus cemeteries and un Referenced legislation: S1723, S1723