During a House Natural Resources Committee hearing earlier this month, Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-OR) spoke about the Department of Government Efficiency's cuts to tribal funding.
00:00Showing up, and now I recognize Ranked Member Dexter for her opening statements.
00:04Thank you very much to the chair and to our witnesses for joining us today.
00:09This is our fourth hearing on this topic in this subcommittee in recent years.
00:15When Democrats were in the majority, we held a hearing to understand the opioid crisis
00:19and what the federal government should do to address it.
00:22Since then, Republicans have used these hearings as a platform to talk about the border.
00:26In each of the hearings, tribal leaders told the subcommittee in clear terms
00:31that in order to combat the cartels and the damage they do in Native communities,
00:36they need the federal funding they were promised as part of the United States' trust and treaty obligations.
00:43That means real investment in law enforcement.
00:46That means real investment in addiction treatment services.
00:51What did they get from Republicans and Trump in return for coming to Washington, D.C.,
00:56to testify about the crises in their communities?
01:00Proposal after proposal to take away their funding instead of giving them more of it.
01:05Here's just a few examples.
01:07DOJ is closing 12 Indian Health Services offices and facilities across the country.
01:12Closures that tribal officials warn would worsen health disparities for Native Americans.
01:18Bureau of Indian Affairs Public Safety and Justice is funded at just under 13% of total need.
01:24An additional 25,655 personnel are required to adequately service Indian country.
01:32The Trump Administration's 2026 budget proposal requests a $900 million cut in funding for the Indian Health Service,
01:40which is already deeply underfunded.
01:43The IHS provides essential addiction treatment programs throughout Indian nations.
01:48The Trump Administration's proposal fiscal year 2026 budget requests a 35% reduction in funding for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program,
01:59a program that assists tribal communities in reducing drug trafficking.
02:04There's never a good time to defund the tribes that are trying to fight off the cartels, but doing it now is unconscionable.
02:12The fentanyl crisis in the United States is one of the most urgent public health emergencies in recent years,
02:18and its impact on Indian country is especially severe.
02:22The fentanyl that's being trafficked on tribal lands is killing staggering numbers of people on Indian nations,
02:29tearing families apart, upending lives, and tragically adding to the historical trauma that is already embedded in these nations.
02:36Addressing addiction to fentanyl is achievable.
02:40For the first time since the 1970s, the United States is experiencing a decline in overdose deaths.
02:47We have seen a 26.8% decrease in nationwide overdose deaths from February of 2024 to February of 2025.
02:55A primary reason for that is the expanded federal investments in public health programs
03:00and the work of harm reduction groups who are using naloxone or Narcan to an antidote to overdose to save lives.
03:09But while the national picture may be improving,
03:12we know that tribal communities are still being disproportionately harmed.
03:16According to the CDC, in both 2022 and 2023,
03:20the age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths was highest for American Indian and Alaska Native people
03:27compared to any other racial demographic in the country.
03:31The treatment and prevention programs run by tribes are effective and cost-efficient.
03:36I'm grateful to our witness, Chairman Anthony Hilaire of the Lummi Nation,
03:40who will help us learn about how federal investments,
03:43with federal investments, community members can receive effective treatment for fentanyl addiction.
03:48Treatment can give people their lives back.
03:51And what can ultimately save them?
03:54But it won't happen with hollow tariff threats and showy executive orders
03:58that give law enforcement authorities things that they mostly already had.
04:03Narcan isn't free.
04:05Neither is talented, caring staff at clinics
04:08or tribal law enforcement officers who frequently get paid less
04:13than their peers at state and local law enforcement offices.
04:16It requires funding, and funding our nation promised Indian nations and treaties.
04:21We have the money to meet their needs.
04:24If my Republican colleagues can find the money to give budget-busting tax breaks
04:28to their billionaire friends, surely they can find a fraction of that
04:32to help tribal nations with their fentanyl and sex trafficking crises,
04:37particularly when they invite tribal leaders to D.C. to talk to us about these problems.
04:44There are law enforcement jurisdictional changes that Indian nations need
04:47to help address cartels, and some do not involve new funds.
04:51I think we should see if there is a way for us to work together to address these requests.
04:55But until we address the massive funding shortfall,
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