[applause] has been mac thank you. what a beautiful room and don't you just love having the flags of all of the nations?

l-lima posting you in our building but please, yes six sits down. we are doing renovations. we hope that in a couple of years when you come back you will be able to drink the water and not worry about your health. the building is undergoing renovations but it's great to welcome you here and far end mostly far. i know you are a little sleepy. we are so blessed to have your presence with us today. thank you. in the spirit and strength the strength of the obama administration to the country the opportunity for all 566 federally recognized to come together to have a face-to-face meeting with members of the president cabinet and vice

president. and i will tell you there is a lot of work that goes into preparing this. so before i see a few more thoughts but i would like to do is recognize a few people that have been amazing. jody does incredible work alongside us and her partner at the white house the associate director for intergovernmental affairs let's give the white house folks a round of applause. [applause] i also want to quickly acknowledge my colleagues from the department of the interior led by kevin and larry roberts. but there are a lot of people pulling all nighters. they've been doing this to make

sure the conference is great so can we give the white house a round of applause clicks thank you all of you. [applause] >> so, no better way to kick off this conference and the young man we heard from. this has a special focus this year and that is supporting the use and youth and next generation of leaders. i know that the two young men did a beautiful job. could we just give them applause for their brand of courage. they are in the back corner. well done. [applause] it's clear that language and culture is involved for a lot of the young men. so, we changed up the conference. we made longer and doubled the

number of breakout sessions. but more importantly i would say that our work together has helped us understand that this is not just about working to support your good work and listen to you in the conference today. it's about working to support you every single day and that is a commitment that we have had in this administration. i was asked to chair the council and council and it is a daunting task because there are lots of issues and it's clear to me they do not always coordinate well together. it is more rare than normal and you've helped me understand that. but what i i want to convey to you is that this cabinet and this administration does care and we are working together like never before so you will see my cabinet colleagues able to join. he had flight problems he was

supposed to be with the secretary of state could instead he's going to be here with you which is fantastic. they are all working to listen to your concerns. last time we had a council meeting and i hosted all of you on the phone and you gave your thoughts and insights into vietnam and was in the meeting those in the meeting agendas and we will continue to do that so this cabinet is fully engaged and we share a commitment and we will see many more cabinet members in the coming year. i've had the privilege of being hosted by you on over 20 visits across the country from alaska to south florida and many places between. i want to thank you for sharing with me not only your needs and thoughts but also your cultures and traditions.

it helps me understand. arnie duncan, the secretary and i have had an opportunity to meet together and visit the schools in wyoming and maine. we have made visits to many schools across the country trying to understand what we can do so that we have more like those we heard from this morning who embrace and are proud of the traditions and culture and get who do well in their academic programs and can bring support to their reservations and people for many years to come. so we are doing a lot around the indian education. we are working with congress to address those challenges that we are all aware exist. i would also say one of the biggest challenges we face in

the world is climate change and there are no people more effective by climate change in the united states than native people. why? for lots of reasons. i have seen the cultural sites wash away and changes in the cycles that are in fact in the system. as you go along the coast you see the ocean and certification and acting shellfish and as you are reliant on the fish you see that in the changing to pitchers in buttress in the water and the droughts that we have in areas like california and nevada. in florida we have saltwater encroaching on the traditional aquifers and in the great lakes and the contacts on the wild rice and so many of the cultural traditions that have been going on so we are aware of these things and you will hear from the cabinet panel today on

climate change and energy because that is also very important. how do we work with you to stand up and energy profits that not only support your tribe but also provide a source of economic opportunity for your people and that means economic growth. energy isn't far but the trust reform and a treaty obligations, restoring the tribal homelands are important to you and important to us. i was with the enough donation as we signed the largest settlement agreement. this administration says we have a lot of wrongs in the past. if you read the report given by the white house, you will see that there is an acknowledgment that we want to move forward for these young people in the audience for a future that isn't looking in the past at the wrongs that may have happened in the government and look to the future on how we can work together on a brighter future. so those 81 settlements say was

in the past as in the past. let's move forward. i was with the trial and they are very committed to taking the land into trust leveraging the settlement as many of you have been able to do and bringing them back into the trust for the tribe so that you can make good smart decisions for economic development. the citizens in oklahoma, which is working with us on the act and reforms that allow you to take control of your assets to lease your land which we are not very good at. so i do appreciate that you know what is best. the administration is committed to self-governance and communication and we are working with the tools we have in our toolbox to help you achieve your objectives. so, i want you to know that the time that i have spent with you

has made an enormous difference deepening my commitment to the country and supporting your vision for a strong and prosperous future, something i share with the president of the united president of the united states and vice president will hear from susan and the rest of the administration. the visit you will will hear about was powerfully moving to him. but i am so appreciative that he now understands what you all understand which is what is at stake for your people and how important it is to work together because the issues are complex. so the actions now whether they are on education or climate change can't trust reform they are all with an eye to the health and prosperity of the next generation. thank you young people for being here and picking up the mantle of leadership which you have already picked up following in the footsteps of your elders. i think we have some not so talkers. the warriors that. the flag and the indian country is so powerful in our military

and armed forces representing what we all depend on for freedom. if so, so, after a visit every day in this job has deepened my respect and admiration and the leaders of the first america. thank you for what you do in the next generation and for your support of what we need to do. i very much appreciate this and i look forward to spending the day with you and i hope you have a fantastic conference. thank you. [applause] ladies and gentlemen welcome the secretary of health and human services, sylvia burwell. [applause]

good morning and thank you all for being here. very happy to be here. we have a strong contingent. we have doctor yvette, william sparks who is with us and it's our commissioner for the administration for native americans. we have stacy who many of you know as well as lives clark from the office of intergovernmental affairs. we are hearing full force a reflection of the importance of our relationship and the many broad range of issues that we all work on together and for those of you that i am meeting for the first time, this is a few of you had the opportunity to meet with the staff i want to take this opportunity to tell you how much i do look forward to working with you to help the

folks throughout the indian country obtain the building blocks of healthy and productive lives. i have the opportunity to work towards these goals when i was leading the wal-mart foundation and the work we did with the tribes during my time at the bill and melinda gates foundation i had the chance to work on these issues as we tried to increase the connectivity to the chapter houses in the navajo nation. and i also have some of university office of management and budget where i had the chance to work on the budget issues and the funding of the indian health service which also recognized the importance of these health services. so i've had the other chances in forms but very excited about the breadth of what we get to do at hhs to work with you on these issues. i am fully committed to a strong limited government relationship with the tribes. it is important to me that you continue to be our full partners

during the design and implementation of the policy programs and initiatives that we find and advance at the department of health and human services. knowing that actions often speak louder than words, shortly after i became the secretary i visited the tribe near seattle. the chair man sullivan and his staff did a great job of showing me how health and human services programs are delivered at the tribal level. we had a great visit, learned about a lot of things and had an opportunity to meet with the group working on a very promising foster care effort which is helping with funds from hhs to help find a children the children safe and supportive homes in the community. so i had the chance to see firsthand how we are able to deliver impact when we worked together. on this trip the issue came up

of whether or not individuals who are eligible to receive healthcare at the indian health service tribal or urban health care provider will be able to claim an exemption from the shared responsibility payment through the tax filings with the irs and right after that came back at that time was the irs and we worked through it so that those who are eligible can claim the exemption through the irs. so when i continue to work that's why going and listening to the issues, these are things we can try and work on together. to maximize our potential for impact together, i to get there, i know i'm going to count on our departments secretarial tribal advisory committee and what we call the stack at hhs for their input and impact a meeting with them this friday and we will continue to seek their guidance and leadership as we work through programmatic and critical issues.

this week based on the request from the tribe, we are actually releasing a proposed rule that would allow indian health facilities to pay lower medicare rates to outside providers. this will save money for medical referrals and expand access to quality healthcare and provider services. we look forward to working closely with tribal leadership during the comment period as the proposed rule goes forward. i do want to say a few words about two of the many issues that we work on together and one is behavioral services and the second is the affordable care act. as we all know too well, mental and substance abuse disorders continue to hit the country and disproportionate levels among the youth. it is unacceptable that native youth have the highest lifetime prevalence of major depressive episodes. it's unacceptable that native children are 70% are likely to

be identified in schools as having an emotional disturbance. and it's unacceptable that the rate of suicide among the native male youth is two and half times the national rate. we have made addressing these issues a priority throughout the entire administration. the affordable care act and the rule that the services for mental health and substance abuse issues on par with other physical health has made access to important services more widely available than ever. we've also continued to support the new grant program to help prevent and address suicide and substance abuse among the youth in the indian country. we want to continue to work with you to get there so that we can work to close these disparities. one of the most important ways to address these disparities is to make sure everybody gets affordable, quality coverage

from our people and as you know the affordable care act offers significant benefits and protections to american indians and alaskan native communities. now, even though < and renewals are available all year to travel members, now it is a particularly important time to encourage everyone in your communities to get coverage. so there will be a lot of public attention we hope over the next three months and energy around signing to signing up for coverage over the next three months so this is the best possible time to do it. we want to remind folks in the indian countries that even though you can sign up year-round, you don't want to wait. even if you can get your care through indian health service, there are many benefits to having health insurance coverage. many americans indians and native alaskan natives will be able to get quality healthcare services beyond their local indian health care provider.

this increased protection provides security and peace of mind. this goes for both marketplace insurance and medicaid coverage, which you also can't sign-up year-round if you're eligible. with medicaid expansion, more people are eligible for coverage than ever before and we are hopeful that all states will come into the fold and decided to expand. we placed some information on your package as well as listed events on open enrollment and a list of resources that you and your community can drag the access. as you talk to members of your community, it's important to remind them that even if they already have insurance, they may find that they have more choices this year with 25% more issuers in the marketplace there may be a new plan that's available that saves them more money coffers more services or includes more doctors.

learning about their options has never been easier. we even have windowshopping now that you can just go on and enter a zip code. and for most consumers who are renewing their coverage, up to 90% of the form will already be pre- populated so you don't have to keep entering in your name and address from last year. so we hope you'll join you will join the tribal action that we have planned. during the first travel day of action which was november 24, we highlighted the importance of affordable care to the indian country including a blog that was done by the tribal health administrator for the northern cheyenne tribe who found quality affordable coverage for himself and his family of five through the marketplace. the next travel day of action is wednesday, december 17 which will be dedicated to the youth in your community. i hope you will be able to spread the word about the

options available and host in rome and activities throughout the indian country. thank you for the opportunity to join today. president obama says that one day we will be able to look back on these years and recognize them as a moment that we can put a stop middle-class indian country. a time when we begin building a better future that welcomes every native american into the american dream. thank you and i look forward to working with you to build a future together. thank you very much. happy to be here and i look forward to working with you all. [applause]

>> everyone can remain seated for a few minutes while we await the arrival of the vice president. thank you. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome debra parker. [applause] ♪ ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen the vice president of the united states, joe biden. he is at

♪ ♪ [applause] good morning. my name is debra parker. my ancestry on aim i am a citizen and councilwoman for the community tried. as many of you are aware of the work we do on behalf of our indigenous people, mother earth, and our surroundings is no easy task. in fact it also feels as though the work we do is never ending and quite often is tragic which

is why a strong partnership nation to nation is critical if we are going to sustain real and timely progress. partnerships with people like the vice presidential biden. on several occasions, tribal leaders vice presidential biden on issues surrounding the justice and indian country. most notably the violence against women act. where the vice presidential biden led the movement in the united states to help protect women against rape and domestic violence. [applause] last year with the work and support of tribal leaders and advocates a vice presidential biden helped pass a much-needed provision to advance protection of native american women.

while this is only a beginning we must continue to protect our women and children found a long legacy of abuse. vice president joe biden coming you are correct when you say no means no. no more of these. our late kenneth moses stated we must walk arms together if we are going to truly change anything. honorable tribal leaders and distinguished guests, it is a great honor that i introduce to you the vice president of the united states, joe biden. [applause] thank you very much. she's been a friend for a long

time. the secretary since i got to see you backstage and there you are it's a delight to be with you. i was telling debra that the secretary is not only smart but she's tough and gets things done and it is a delight to work with her and all of the tribal leaders here today it is an honor to be back here with you. you know, i am here for one reason for the same reason the president is probable a few together for the past six years. we understand, the president and i and our administration we understand and respect the words in the niche and mean something. it's a simple proposition. as the president said, tribal nations do better when they make their own decisions and for well over a century you've not been able to make your own decisions. one of the earliest votes as a young senator is 34-years-old

and it was to separate the indian self-determination and education assistance act. i came to the senate as a 29-year-old kid and to be honest with you they have educated me a little bit but quite frankly, i learned how bad things continue to be when i got here. i learned about the abuse in the state child welfare system that resulted in over a quarter of children being sent off to live somewhere other than the indian country. so i was proud to support the indian child welfare act and at the wall the wall that has had an enormous impact of the last four years. it's hard to believe that it was ever different. as i said i friend opened up my eyes to the challenges in the country and it was an honor to work with them to help pass the

repatriation act as well as the legislation established in the museum of the american indian. as the chair of the judiciary committee i look out and see familiar faces. i don't see as many women as old as i am but a couple of guys. i don't know how this happened there is no women as old as any man. i don't know how that happened but it's just that's just the way that it's worked. you think i'm kidding, i i'm not. [laughter] that i work with many of you on the judiciary committee on the issues of tribal sovereignty and i know that overall respect for u.s. nations is central to the very being of everyone sitting here in this audience today. but beyond that i know the issues that you focus on very from nation to nation.

one of the things that offends me is they say everything is the same. it's different from the east coast to west the central part of the country to the southwest. not everyone has the same problems or concerns. there are concerns on your agenda as you meet here this week. we recognize the difficulties you sometimes work with your state government to secure federal disaster recovery funds. that's why the recovery improvement act and after hurricane cindy that's why we named it the stafford act. you could go directly to the president to request president requested disaster declarations in times of need. we know the importance of preserving sacred lands and that's why we took action in the great cultural significance like in colorado or the desert peaks in new mexico.

we also respect the right of the sovereign governments to provide for their people and that's why the president signed the tribal general welfare exclusion act so your members no longer have to take to make a pay taxes with certain benefits to the indian nations and we want to do everything we can to promote economic development on tribal lands. not all are equal in the sense of the economic circumstances. some are in a real need. all are in need as we are in this country. that's why the president traveled to indian country talk about expanding access to capital, spurring investment, investment in education on the tribal lands. we will be speaking with you later today about these issues as well as critical issues of importance like the situation of youth on reservations, something

that he came back from his june visit fired up about doing something about. but today i want to talk about an issue i've been engaged by interest and concern for the bulk of my career. ..

not only thought that it was offensive, my dad taught us that we had an obligation when we observed abuse to intervene. intervene. i know it's, i'll get in trouble for saying this here, but it's not about vigilantism. it's about intervening. if you can stop it, stop it when you see. to me it's the definition of manhood. it's not about standing by and say, well, that's a family affair. that's how i was raised. that's how -- [applause] >> some of the men and women up in this ballroom know that the most horrific prison on earth is the four walls of an abused woman's home.

far too many native american women, far too many, that's a daily reality. they are four walls of their own home. women on tribal lands face the highest rates of domestic violence and domestic abuse in all of america. more than half of the native american women experience physical violence by intimate partners over their lifetime. women like lisa brunner who him as a four year old, on a reservation witnessed her mother beaten with a shotgun by her white husband, and grew up and face the same abuse at the hands of her own white husband. the homicide rate against native american women in some areas is more than 10 times the national average. one in three native american women will be raped. it's an epidemic, not only to

the in danish is that in the country. an epidemic that cuts to the very core of how we measure ourselves in society. when i began looking at this issue, violence against women, decades ago, few people thought of it as a national epidemic. a lot of people tried, a lot of good women and men tried the two decades ago to do something about it and raise it up. we have gotten nowhere. no one denied that kicking your wife in the stomach or smashing her face against a wall, pushing her down the stairs in public was repugnant, but our society basically turned a blind eye, hardly anyone ever directly intervened. that's why my father taught us. almost no one called it a crime.

it was called a family affair, a cultural matter. when i began working on the violence against women act in the late '70s, it really come the mid '80s, i was told that my efforts would cause the family to disintegrate. it would generate disintegration of the family, my trying to pass national walls relating to the right of them in two races hand to a woman. we talked for giving those women a way out, shelter, which we now have in the violence against women act it i was told by a series of people, and it was written, that what i was doing was establishing indoctrination centers. for radical feminization. there was no hotline like we

have today where over 3 million women have called for help. few police officers, prosecutors, even judges, they were not trained to understand that this was not a family affair. i hate the term domestic violence. it makes it sound like it's a domesticated cat. it's the ugliest form of violence that can occur in large part because of the fundamental violation of trust that is engaged. everyone seemed content to keep this dirty little national secret hidden away in the closet, even our legal system. as a matter of fact, we learned there were scores of states, my own included, that it written into their laws the basic presumption that if a woman was

raped or beaten or abused by her husband or someone she knew, she must have done something wrong. in my state of delaware, you could not be convicted of first degree rape if he raped someone on a date, as a few good as it was stranger rape, he jumped out of an alley to the inherent presumption, a law that has been in our system for over 600 years, the system was the you knew me and i did something horrible to you, you were partially responsible. you could be convicted of second degree rape but not first degree. that was the background when i wrote the violence against women act in 1990. i was convinced then as i remain convinced now, and i think we have proven it, that we had to rip the band-aid off, force americans, decent americans and

anti-munitions, and throughout the country to look at the reality of what was happening. so we call forward some brave survivors who testified with the whole nation listening. made people look at the ugliness of what was happening. because i was convinced the vast majority of us are decent and honorable. we would do something if we had to face it. i was convinced the basic decency of the american people would lead them to demand change. 1994 we accomplish as much as we could. what about the violence against women act we knew there was much more we should be doing, but it was much as the market would bear. we made a great deal of progress in 20 years since the first passage of violence against women act, domestic violence rates dropped from 64% from

1993-2010. we saved millions of dollars -- [applause] we save millions of dollars and a bird of social cost, medical costs, loss in productivity. we have higher rates of conviction because of special victims unit's and fundamental reforms and state laws and police activity. we set up the first national domestic violence hotline, 3.4 million women and men have received help from the hotline. we knew that the first law left much unfinished business on the table. and the success of the law gave us the credibility that every time i to reauthorize, if we could add from additional provision when you should've been involved in the first place. in 2000, for example, we added the definition of dating violence, to protect women from

violent boyfriends, as we did more than 30 states come as we did that more than 30 states followed. in 2005 we add new training programs for health care providers to screen their patients for domestic abuse because we know long-term psychological and physical health of the woman of an abuser, excuse me of used, continues to linger over periods of time. the cdc has shown now that there are long-term effects well after the beatings stop. chronic diseases result. it used to be, you know, seven out of 10 women walked into an emergency room with a bruised or broken bone, or they were there because of the hand of a mentor doctors would note that they did want to do anything about. they would say i ran into the door, again. medical profession is decent an

article. they did want to get involved either. now that's all changed. we knew that the greatest piece of unfinished business remained. we knew back then, ma and we have known for 36 years, that non-native american men were free to abuse their wives and girlfriends on tribal lands with impunity, immune from prosecution, i tribal courts. people like deb, and all those abuse in this room, where relentless. you kept up the fight. last year, you all spoke as one, men and women, all nations. you spoke as if one standing shoulder to shoulder with leaders in congress like patty murray. we owe her a debt of gratitude. and cox and tom cole of oklahoma who said, it's all or nothing.

all or nothing. [applause] >> they understand as long as there's a single place where the abuse the power is excused as a question of jurisdiction, or tolerated as a government affair, no one is truly safe and we cannot define herself as a society which is civilized. tribal government have an inherent right, it's about effect they have an obligation to protect their people. and all people -- [applause] all people deserve to live free of fear. all people. and things to your effort, and i mean this sincerely from the bottom of my heart, thanks to your efforts we took a big step forward for protecting those rights when the president signed the violence against women act reauthorization into law last year. but there's more to do.

and started on march 7 of next year, tribal governments will have the power to investigate and prosecute, convict and sentence non-native americans who assault their wives and girlfriends on tribal land. [applause] you know, it's not within my power. i apologize for taking so long, so many women, damaged in the meantime. it also makes it crystal clear that tribal governments have the right to issued and enforced real protection order, order protections, stay orders, so when a tribal police get a call from a woman who was isolated in a stretch of reservation, her voice friendly with fear, you heard her say, i see, i see his truck and i can hear. i know he is coming.

i know he is coming. please, please, please help me. come with me to the hotline, and you will hear minute after minute calls like that coming and not just in tribal lands but all over america. now on tribal lands they can actually do something about it. several tribes already are part of a pilot program and to putting these authorities into practice. in fact, one tribe may report an abuser confidently told the arresting officer that he couldn't touch them under the law. until the officer informed him the law has changed, jack. you've got a problem. [applause] you have got a big problem. and we're determined to do everything in our power to every tribal government secure the resources they need to put this

law into effect. that's what i'm calling on congress to make good on the $25 million pledge in tribal grants authorized under the law so we can make this work. [applause] attorney general holder, into chant of tribal sovereignty, whom you will hear from later, we'll continue working with you law enforcement officers to make sure that the needs of the abuse are being met, and officers have the resource to enforce the law. but as each of the tribal leaders here have been on and supported from the beginning, there's the need for due process. it is endemic to we are as a culture. endemic to indian culture that this process be fair. and there's still some tribes that will have to implement these due process requirements before the law can take effect in indian nations. that's what the justice department is available to help

in that process. but once this authority is restored, tribes have a responsibility to use it, have the responsibility to use it to enforce it, enforce the law, prosecute, stand for the women who have for too long endured, not just in justice, but indifference. my mother used to say the worst of all sins is indifference. we need to continue to change the culture all across america whether it's in indian country or at the state capital. i believe as i said as a measure of any society how civilized, the extent to which a toy to my father considered a cardinal sin of all sins. we are still tolerate much too much. much too much. we are still falling short of the standard we espouse. as lisa gruner put it, our

tribal officers have jurisdiction for the first time to do something about certain crimes, but it is just the first sliver of the full moon that we need to protect us. we need to expand that men. you need to expand the moon by giving the nation's of alaska the same authority to protect their people they were extending to all other nations. [applause] you need to extend the moon by giving nations the right to prosecute and convict strangers who hurt or rape the dems on tribal lands. we need to expand the moon. [applause] changing the culture that tolerates the abuse of a woman by a man, native or non-native, we need to expand the moon fundamental changing the way domestic violence is talked about in indian country. we need people to speak up and

speak out because violence against women, violence against women is not a woman's issue of the. it is a man's issue. it's on us to do something about it. [applause] it's on all of us to change the culture. a culture, a culture that asks the wrong questions. it's never the right question for a woman to ask, what did i do? it's never, never appropriate. the question should be, why was it done to me? and, will someone do something about it? [applause] folks, we need to expand the moon. while we will never completely eliminate domestic violence, we have succeeded, and was succeeded, when there's not a single woman in, native american woman whose first instinct after the abuse is to ask, what did i

do? that's what we found out in 1000 hours of hearings on health. the culture was what did i do? was my skirt too short? did i not have dinner on the table on time? did i use the wrong inflection in my voice? never, never i say to all of your women and your daughters, never, never is a justification for a man to raise his hand, and never should be asked by a woman, what did i do ask and we will have succeeded, when there's not a single man among us in america who thinks he has a right to raise his hand to a woman anywhere for any reason, other than self-defense. never. we will still have violence, and that's when the culture will have changed, when no man thinks in the back of his mind he has a right to raise his hand. and when the woman, no matter

what her mistake was, says, well, maybe if i hadn't done that i wouldn't have had this done to me. when we finally get there, it will be because of people like you, people in this room, people who fought for this law and continue to fight for the authorities to ensure justice and fairness for everyone in your nations. it's an honor to be by your side as we fight for that full moon. there's an old chinese proverb my sister uses all the time and a couple of editorial writers to choose that is worth remembering. it says, women hold of half of the sky. women hold up half of the sky. and you are entitled to have the every single solitary opportunity. every single solitary opportunity to every single solitary protection of law that men are your i know we will get

there. because i know how far we have come in such a short time. and i promise you, as long as i'm around, as long as the president is around, even after we're no longer holding office, we will continue to fight to make sure that our daughters and granddaughters and our great granddaughters are freer and freer and freer. and our sons understand their obligations and with the real definition of manhood is. god bless you all. may god bless the native american indian nations, and may god protect our troops. thank you very much. [applause]

>> tonight and h. director francis collins discusses the promise and challenges facing cancer research. he described an environment of unprecedented innovation paired with shrinking federal resources. you can see those comments tonight starting at eight eastern on c-span. on c-span2 its booktv in prime time with authors and books by former obama administration officials.

>> c-span2 providing live coverage of the senate floor proceedings and key public policy events. editor weekend the tv now for 15 years the only television network devoted to nonfiction books and authors to c-span2 created by the cable tv industry and brought just a public service by your local cable or satellite provider. watch us in hd, like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. >> we have more now from the recent tribal nations conference in washington with remarks from attorney general eric holder and transportation secretary anthony foxx. the conference provide leaders from the 566 federally recognized tribes and opportunity to meet with the present members of the white house council on the american affairs. this is about one hour. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome attorney general eric h.

holder, jr. [applause] >> good morning. >> good morning. >> it's good to have you all here in washington, d.c. i wish we could have gotten you some better weather. but i want to thank president obama for hosting this very important white house conference. it is a pleasure for me to be here today and the privilege to join so many distinguished public servants, passionate activists, dedicated leaders, and really just good friends as we celebrate vital achievements, as we discuss ongoing and critical challenges, and as we renew our shared commitment. all of the leaders in this room, and some and others across the country, our indispensable partners their efforts to fulfill the promise of the united states governments relationship with sovereign

tribes. you are critical allies in our ongoing work to move this country closer to its most treasured ideals of equality, opportunity, and justice under law. and you continue a proud tradition of tribal leaders who have stepped to the forefront of efforts to preserve cultural values, to enforce treaty obligations that have to often been ignored, and to secure the rights and benefits to which all american indians and alaska natives are entitled. i know this responsibility has rarely been easy. but it is a solemn obligation at you and your ancestors have carried for generations, through in justice, through violence, through deprivation, through broken promises, through deferred action and through denial of rights. over the issue seeing avenues into prosperity that was foreclosed by bigotry. using opportunities curtailed by deplorable discrimination. and you've held firm even at

times in past decades when the federal government insisted that the men and women of tribal nations forsake their culture and heritage, and the slowly, painfully, grudgingly assimilated, while there tribal governments were neglected or even terminated. together, and you and your predecessors faced down tremendous adversity to safeguard your lands, protect your cultures, and strengthen your ability to choose your own future. and particularly in the last half-century or commitment has finally been that by at united states government that is prepared to acknowledge the failures and injustices of the past, and to work with and to empower you to chart a new course. that's why during the earliest days of the obama administration, 2009, i traveled to st. paul, minnesota, for historic tribal nations listening session, to directly from tribal officials about the actions we can take together to build a relationship of coexistence and operation.

i was joined at the time by roughly 100 department of justice officials representing more than 20 different components, as well as more than 400 tribal leaders and representatives from around the nation, some of whom are here in the audience today. we discussed the epidemic of violence that cut a vicious path through indian country, where violent crimes -- violent crime rates reached two, four, and sometimes over 10 times the national average. we spoke about the vital needs of women on tribal lands, faced a shocker reality in which one out of every three american indian or alaska native women would be sexually assaulted in her lifetime. we spoke about children who are brought up in poverty, in the midst of uncertainty and rampant abuse. as i listened during that visit, i heard the pain in the voices of the people that i was meeting with, people whose parents and grandparents had made indelible contributions to this country,

but to have been shut out of the process of self-determination, and denied access to opportunities for success. i felt even then a deep and powerful comprehension of the magnitude of discrimination that tribal communities have faced. discrimination that bore a distressing recent much to the experience of millions of people of color throughout our history, including those brave pioneers i remember watching as a young child, on a black and white television in the basement of my family's home in new york city, as they marc marched 40 qualityd rallied for the opportunities that should have been there birthright. i recognized on a basic, human level the desire for empowerment and the need for mutual trust and understanding that i encountered during my listening session in indian country. and i left st. paul both inspired and invigorated by a firm commitment to the work we must do together. after that converts i announced that only an intention to work

closely with you to move in a positive direction, but the desire to take concrete steps forward and to implement a fundamentally new approach that emphasized collaboration between sovereign tribes and the federal government. i announced the creation of a tribal nations leadership council to advise me on matters critical to indian country, a council made up of men and women not selected by the federal government, but elected by their own peers. i stated my determination to work with congress to pass important legislation like the tribal law and order act in order to provide tribal governments with more the authority, resources, information they need to appropriate hold to account those who commit crimes in indian country. i directed the department to increase the engagement of united states attorneys offices with tribes in the districts and work to expand indian country prosecutions. i called for the swift reauthorization of a revised and strengthened violence against women act, including revisions recommended by the justice

department that would, for the first time in decades, protect and empower indian women against abuse by non-native men. i'm proud to say that thanks to the hard work and dedication of many of the men and women in this room today, every single one of these goals has been met. and all of these commitments -- [applause] and all of these commitments have been fulfilled. in every instance, progress was made possible by our sheer determination to overcome the effects of what my predecessor, former attorney general robert f. kennedy come once called the tragic irony of american indian oppression. ..

to languish and disappear. the sad result of the system in which the federal government and tribal officials collaborate. every u.s. attorney's office, indian country jurisdiction is now required to engage to develop operational plans to include public safety and prevent and reduce violence against women and girls. the review of the fiscal cases

filed show 34% increase from 2008 members. the year before the initiative began. since the bipartisan passage of the violence against women reauthorization act of 2013 the justice department announced three pilot projects to begin early implementation of the criminal jurisdiction which extends the tribal prosecution authority over the non-indian perpetrators of domestic violence for the first time in more than 35 years. [applause] as a result more than 20 on indians have been charged by tribal prosecutors and more than 200 defendants have been charged by the end hands statutes that includes more than 40 cases involving charges of strange elation or suffocation which

often is a precursor to domestic homicide. building on this work through the american indian sexual assault response team initiative under the leadership of our office is designed to strengthen the federal response in the tribal communities. just a few weeks ago i had the opportunity to meet with the coordination committee. i received a formal report and very concrete recommendations on improving federal agency responds and i pledge to them and i would read great today these recommendations will serve as a solid basis for the robust action as we seek to gain the trust of the survivors. to break the cultural change that prevents too many victims from coming forward. to build upon the exemplary work of the victim advocates across the country to help us turn the

tide against sexual violence. we are also expanding work to protect children to the task force. since it was established last year they've already made important progress was by the outstanding work of the advisory committee cochairs and the grammy-winning artist. as the task force moves ahead they will continue to court in a closely with leaders to support and strengthen where all of your leading through the tribal land. beyond these efforts, we have taken a collaborative approach to break the gridlock on these issues have been a source of contention to the tribal nations and federal administrations for decades. in 2010 the obama administration has a historic settlements totaling $3.4 billion that result.

a class action that had been pending for 15 years. since october of that year the united states settled trust claims of 81 federally recognized tribes putting an end to the decades of the bitter litigation providing over $2.6 billion across the country. these settlements with the snow conditions on the use of the funds have spurred tribal investment and long-term economic development initiatives and infrastructure in the expansion of tribal government services and as part of the agreement we established the improved communication avenues for the alternative dispute resolution so that in the future we can effectively collaborate on the trust funds and assets without costly long-running litigation. broadly we have worked to protect the water rights and natural resources on tribal land and we have expanded the

outreach to end and cooperation with indian tribes across the continent. institutionalizing the waist the waste to seek input on environmental concerns and critical insight into the environmental needs of the tribal nations from coast to coast. today i can announce that we are receiving a environmental strategy guidance outlining -- [applause] strategy outlines how we will work to use the environmental laws to ensure that all communities regardless of their income or demographics are protected from environmental harm across the board from the collaboration with and funding of the intertribal technical assistance working group which uses peer-to-peer education to enhance prosecution practices in the indian country to the formal conversations with sauber to the southern tribes to enforce the

voting rights including state and local administrators in the two agreed to include the tribal land to place at least one site in the location chosen by the tribal government. this administration. [applause] this administration is standing up for tribal sovereignty and government and power. we are defending the rights of men and women in the country to execute their own law, to implement their own practices and their own civic services and we will do everything in our power to ensure that in the effort to get to future efforts like this will become standard practice. to that end of last year i announced the justice department would take steps to draft a new statement of principles and follow the actions we take working with federally recognized indian tribes.

developed in consultation with leaders of 566 tribes that statement of principles meant to codify the intention to serve not as petri and that to the indian country to institutionalize efforts to reinforce relationships, reform the criminal justice system and aggressively protect civil rights and treaty rights. i'm proud to say that statement principle is now complete. it has taken effect. [applause] and it will serve as a guide for this administration and every administration as we seek to build a perfect union and a more just society that every individual deserves. all of these achievements are vital and many of them are nothing short of groundbreaking but like all of you might recognize the longevity of the accomplishments depends not only on the strength of our convictions upon the ability and

willingness of those that come after us to build upon the progress we have set in motion. after all for everything that has been achieved so far, a great deal of important life-changing work remains to be done and that's why the department of justice is committed to programs like the n country fellowship named for -- [applause] named for a extraordinary member of the justice department family and an enrolled member of the citizens nation of indians who worked tirelessly -- [applause] they worked tirelessly to advance the federal government relationships with sovereign tribes and to defend the interest of the alaskan communities from coast to coast. although he passed away this summer for two soon, the fellowship that bears the name

is creating a pipeline of legal talent and expertise to keep experiencing federal law, tribal law the indian country issues and i'm proud to say the very first country fellow has been selected in bristol bay alaska will be reported to the position in of the united states office of the district of arizona and she will be assigned to district indian country crime section and will also serve a portion of her appointment in the tribal prosecutor's office or for another legal entity within the district. in addition to establishing this vital fellowship to department of justice is reinforcing the staff of the office of tribal justice including experts with a deep understanding of the law impacting the indian country to make certain that the men, women and children have a voice in the policy and priority of the

united states department of justice and we are doubling our support of the indian child welfare act to protect indian children from -- [applause] to protect indian children from being illegally removed from their families can to prevent that further description of native traditions through force and unnecessary assimilation and to preserve the vital link between native children and the community that has been frequently suffered by those acting in bad faith. today i'm pleased to announce the department of justice is launching a new initiative with the indian child welfare act. under this important effort we are working to act and identify state court cases where the united states can file a breach opposing the unnecessary and illegal removal of indian jokes and from their families and from their tribal communities. [applause]

we are partnering with the department of the interior and health and human service tunic short that all the tools available in the federal government argues to promote compliance in this important law and we will join with those departments, tribes and welfare organizations across the country to explore training for state judges and agencies, to promote tribes of promote tribes of authorities to make placement decisions affecting tribal children to gather information about where the indian child welfare act is being systematically violated and to take appropriate target action to ensure the next generation of great tribal leaders can grow up in homes that are not only safe and loving but also have the proud traditions of indian cultures. ultimately these children and all of those in future generations represent the single greatest promise of our partnership. they will reap the benefits of the ongoing work or change.

in the last six years we've worked together in a shared effort and misunderstanding. to bring about a tribe of vision over the status quo of ingenuity and of progress over stagnation i think that we have laid the foundation to the four noble individuals and give them the tools they need not to leave their communities but to bolster them. not to abandon their much to abandon their ways of life but to strengthen them. and of course there are many challenges still before us and we have seen all too clearly that the barriers are moved over centuries of discrimination will not be surmounted overnight. we face a brighter future today because we have placed not the conflict or the division but in the cooperation and respect and the understanding that though we live in different cultures with different issues we share the

same values. we believe the sovereign nations have the right to protect the citizens from harm and no perpetrator of domestic violence shall be granted immunity because of the color of his skin. we understand the promises in the autonomy have meaning to become meaning and shouldn't be in the changing desires of different federal administrations. and we recognize any child in the indian country in oklahoma, from montana or new mexico is fundamentally different from an african-american kid growing up in new york city. and neither child should be forced to choose between their cultural heritage and their well-being. [applause] from the assurance of people's rights and equal justice to the power of democratic participation we are joined together by principles as old as time. principles embodied both by men and women whose ancestors lived

on this continent centuries ago and by those who have arrived on our shores. this is my pledge to you today. because of our partnership, because of the record we have established and because of the foundation that we have built no matter who sits in the oval office if we serve as the attorney general attorney general of the united states, america is the renewed enforcement to upholding the promises will be unwavering and unchangeable, powerful and the permanent. that is the legacy of the worked together not only of groundbreaking accomplishment that i have today that the dedication to partnership has been made impossible. although my time in the administration will soon come to an end we have a commitment to tribal justice in the fabric of the united states department of justice that will continue long after my departure. i will always be proud of the enduring positive and collaborative relationship that

we have built and is the life-changing work we have completed and the new era of progress we have begun. it is my sincere hope that in this department of justice great attention will be paid to be a compassionate and interacting with our native brothers and sisters. this has been a personal priority for me. i want to thank you all once again for your passion, your perseverance and steadfast devotion to the work of our time. i am humbled to stand with you today and everyday and i'm grateful for your friendship and i look forward to all of you will achieve together in the months and years ahead. thank you very much. [applause]

[inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] ladies and gentlemen please welcome the economic development plenary panel participants secretary of agriculture tom vilsack, secretary, secretary of housing and urban development, julian castro and administrator of the small business administration. [applause] please also welcomed the moderator the chairman. [applause] stomach respected tribal leaders, members of the panel. good morning. i am the chairman of the tribe

and president of the national congress of american indians and thank you for being here for this most important topic today. the purpose of our conversation is to advance our government to government relationship between the federal government and tribal governments. our subject matter this morning is a discussion about economic development. the question before us today is how do we work together to develop economies that produce jobs and prosperity for the tribal communities? we are working with the congress to make sure that the tax incentives stay in the standard proposal at the end of the session. we are focused on making sure the tribal governments are included in the marketplace act

as it moves through the legislative process. we will continue these efforts, but as the administration looks to what the legacy is going to be, we need to work together to insure that this administration has brought tribal economic development into the future. to some extent, we need to change the culture of the agency that focus on economic development and to make sure that the changes that are underway for generations to come. if we can't get in the marshall plan, maybe we can get an obama plan to convince to rebuilding the 21st century tribal economy and to rebuild the federal agency that supports the tribal governments in their efforts to build sustainable economies.

the foundation of the plan or the tribal economic development would be the commitment that this administration has made to the government to government relationship with all of the tribes in the great nation. we need to build on that its commitment to modernize the relationship, to expand the partnership and to revitalize the promises and our treaty. with that i will hand it over to the secretary of agriculture tom vilsack for some opening remarks to your stomach mr. chairman, thank you and it is certainly an honor to be here with all of the tribal leaders as well as my colleagues in the cabinet. we are very much committed to improving economic conditions in indian country. the u.s. department of agriculture has begun that process if you were with a down down payment this year investing over $660 million economic

opportunities. that included $162 million in expanded housing opportunities. roughly $50 million in water and wastewater treatment plant improvements. another $40 million in business development into $3 million in expanding broadband access come in expanding electricity and $9 million in expanding broadband access. we continue that today with a series of announcements. we are announcing today under the 2501 program approximately $2 million in grants to the 12 organizations to expand outreach to encourage a better understanding of the program and over 5 million-dollar grant to new mexico in the tribes to expand broadband access and $6.3 million in the 28 tribal colleges in the 1994 tribal colleges to expand under the facility grant program building and facilities in those

important tribal colleges. these resources will be added to an aggressive effort is underway at the usda to expand the economic opportunity. we want to make sure the tribal leaders are aware of the billion-dollar infrastructure fund was created recently as an opportunity conference last july sponsored by the bank it is an opportunity for the tribal leaders to work to address some of the infrastructure needs that are important in the country and of the 150 million-dollar investment company that was started with the usda approval and assistance through the farm credit administration. these are additional resources above and beyond what the government has available for the projects in the indian country. i also want to acknowledge and convoluted with a recognition of the important food both culturally and economically that local and regional foods can play in the indian country. we have admitted to trying to expand opportunity and access to

the locally produced foods into to encourage the school nutrition programs and to embrace the preferences and to encourage the use of the local food initiative under the farm bill and to expand opportunity in the country for the collection of local foods which are extraordinarily important not only to the culture economic conditions in the country but also to the health of the children in the andean countries so we are excited about the opportunities working collaboratively in the partnership and look forward to the opportunity in the dialogue today and once again i am honored to be here among all of the tribal leaders. >> thank you secretary vilsack and julian castro who has been on the job of a total of four months now as a member of the cabinet to give us a few comments. >> it is a pleasure to be here with you i have been on the job

about four months and during that time i had the opportunity to visit among other states of alaska, north dakota, south dakota and to get a sense of the wonderful opportunity and the challenges that exist as it was stated earlier by the attorney general with the needs and opportunities are. the most poignant visit that i had so far during my travels are in south dakota. there i had the chance to visit some of the members and i saw folks who were living in one house and in another home about 17 people living in a four bedroom home and i had the chance to hear about the housing

needs and also something that all of us across these agencies are working on its how is how do we approach this in a holistic way so that we hope to empower the tribal communities that create the greater economic development and quality of life across the board. i'm convinced one of the lasting legacies of the administration is going to be that kind of cooperation and also the understanding that it takes each of us working together across the silos to help empower the tribal communities and so for our part of course every year we make investments into the indian communities to the block grant and housing development that we want to work with the department of transportation and the usda and the small business administration to empower bringing up and lifting up the tribal communities. we were pleased to see this get through the house yesterday and

hopeful that it will get through the senate and that is a first step to greater economic development in the future. i look forward to the questions and to the work that is to come. thank you secretary. with that i will turn over to the secretary of transportation for some opening remarks. >> thank you it is a pleasure to be with you and again i want to share my pleasure of being with my colleagues today as well. the u.s. department of transportation we be the lead play fundamental role connecting people in the 21st century economy wherever they live in the borders of the united states and whether it be the indian country and we play a pivotal role in helping that happen. you are familiar with many of the programs that we have bible just kicked off a few that are relevant to the discussion today. first and foremost the tribal

transformation program annual program that today it's about $450 million into the indian country every year in terms of helping to build up the infrastructure. in addition to that we have the tribal transit program which is a 30 million-dollar annual program that's basically doubled over the last couple of years. and today i am also here to announce that we are making the public hour notice of funding availability for 5 million of the tribal transit program dollars that will go out very shortly and announcements will be made in the spring. but that program has that program has been a strong robust contributor to improving transportation options in the tribal communities across the country. i think last year 49 projects are funded in the 19 states just as an example. in addition to that, the entire

program has been a very integral part in how we have helped to build up infrastructure and we awarded to the tigers six this last round in the fall about $5.7 million to tribal communities to help improve the infrastructure there and the final component that we have worked on from a funding perspective went out back in the spring which enabled us to help support busing improvement for the transit programs in a couple of indian country communities across the country. but having said that, when i talk about the infrastructure deficit around the country there is no place that feels that more than the indian country and it is my mission and our mission to do everything we can to help close that infrastructure deficit and i will close with one final point.

back in august we almost went over the highway cliff as a result of the congress inability to figure out how to fund and pay for the transportation system overall. we are going to find ourselves back in the same place this coming may and the programs i just talked about will all be on the table as congress deals with those. i want you to know the president has a strong commitment to the indian country and our proposal to address this infrastructure deficit and to address the highway cliff is a proposal called the road america act and part of what that act would do is they would increase the tribal transportation program which is again for hundred 50 million today, over at the fourth year the program is 8,538,000,000. and we would also do more investments to ensure that we were building broadband and role areas for example and using the

opportunity when we build roads to dig once and get fiber-optic foldout so that folks can have access to the 21st century economy. [applause] so with that, we want to be part of the solution and part of the way that people get connected to the 21st century and it will be my mission as long as i'm the secretary to make that the case. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you secretary and rounding out the panel comments we have the secretary of the small business administration. >> imd waited to be here with you and see so many good friends i got to know why i was california secretary of business transportation and housing and i hope that you will recall the work we did.

the work that i set up on day number one inside to make sure that the sovereign nation could get access to transportation to connect people from downtown to uptown. and i really enjoyed the work that we did around all of the tribes that are settled in california. but now i find myself having received a call joining the president's cabinet and i can tell you that i have seniority on julian castro. i've been on for seven months. [laughter] i want to share with you that i've now been involved in a few events that i've never seen the kind of push from the white house icu with every member of the cabinet coming before you and the vi

we know the families are not starting with this 10 million-dollar loan.

so it is around this system that we are doing. we want to create new markets. as as we recently launched a new program and we are saying to corporate america that if you pay the nations first born in 15 days or less we will pay you in 15 days or less. we know that it's everything and when you are stretched out month on month on month, that doesn't help you grow jobs are provided or provide for your family so that program has taken hold and already, my goal is 100 i've only been working on this for three months, sign up to 57 corporations that we will continue to work on that until we get to at least a hundred and that is something the president is committed to but more important is committed to the small businesses in 15 days to make sure they can work their cash flow, whatever you want to call that cash flow and third,

what we are saying is that we want to make sure if you are in a historically underutilized business zone, and launched a program called destination that has more corporate and government spending in underserved communities and again we are seeing an uptick in not lending. finally, be accessible and that is fundamentally who i am. i am so committed to making sure that people like me -- i was born in guadalajara and i remember they told me about my indigenous roots and where we came from and that our first language. i am are the stories about our family generation and so i feel a conductivity area we look alike, we are alike, we speak the same language so i'm delighted to make sure that all the programs are accessible to everybody. as another example, 22% of the veterans are from the native

american communities and so we've launched a program to make sure that we are helping people in uniform transition into business life. let me just say the numbers are up and we have $100 million in lending that we put out in 2014 and 10 billion contracting and we will continue to do that work. thank you. [applause] >> thank you madam secretary. the indian country is very grateful for making the secretary is available so join me in thanking the panel. [applause] we have identified some tribal leaders who got some questions they would like to ask. you've are limited you are limited to four minutes and i'm being told this means you're done. [laughter]

[speaking native tongue] >> i'm vice president of the tribes in alaska and i have a question for secretary vilsack department of agriculture. in the agriculture act of 2014, the most recent farm bill is the access to broadband telecommunications services in several areas program that's reauthorized and establishes new procedures to compare applications and to set up funding priorities. as you know, the farm bill is essential farm bill is essential to the provision of infrastructure in the countries that support the facilities for the health service to the priest, telemedicine and broadband telecommunications resources that support economic development, education and tribal governments. broadband results in jobs. power in the rural and tribal communities in greater distances cause higher construction costs and sparse populations are problematic for the pay your sustainability requirements. and together it results in broadband availability in the

country of less than 10%. so without broadband, we cannot participate in the e-commerce. we can't build our economies were educated or children. we can't heal our people. can you please tell us about what opportunities there are in your administration for providing broadband which in my view is a trusted resource in obligation to deliver broadband services to our tribal governments and the tribal communities. thank you mr. secretary. >> that is a great question and it is an extraordinarily important question not just for the indian country but also an issue of all of america and we are committed to trying to address this very it's why i included in my remarks that in 2014 we did establish nearly $10 million of the contribution towards expanding broadband access and be committed to the

process in the farm bill provisions he referred to so that is now in the position to begin making the decisions. so it is a first project under the substantially underserved trust area provisions of the previous farm bill so that is about five and a half million dollars from the accessing of mexico. we are very much committed to this. i would say there are two specific ways you can address the issue. one is through the normal telemedicine program and now with the new farm bill rules we will certainly be prioritizing the areas most in need. and working to make sure that they put pressure on telecommunication companies to understand their responsibility not just to put broadband in the highly populated areas but also not to leave anybody behind in terms of the 21st century infrastructure. second i made reference to the infrastructure program that we

announced in july. that's $10 billion. they are looking for projects and working with the capital asset management to identify projects that they can invest in and partner in so i would encourage folks to take a look at the 10 billion-dollar infrastructure fund which is a part of the usda and also use our programs to potentially buy down the cost of the program. >> the next question please. >> good morning. i am with the nation out of kansas. thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak before you today. i think it is clear to everybody to be the future of the tribal nations lies within our youth. we also know tribal children are disproportionately and negatively affected by teen suicide, drug use caused domestic violence and high school dropout rates.

at the boys and girls club and other programs they work hard to reach out to the tribal youth and give them opportunities that will help them succeed in school and life that we need more. kids today are the innovators for tomorrow's business. we hear that the lenny also want to be entrepreneurs and develop innovative startups. the talent is there but it needs to be nurtured and the scope needs to be cultivated. the desire to succeed is in our youth but we need to make sure they see a path to success. we need dedicated funds and programs to help train, encourage and in power the youth to be the steve jobs of tomorrow. and i believe the next steve jobs can be a native youth given the right foundation. this will not only benefit the youth but also boost reservation and local economies and strengthens the nations as well.

i would ask how do you envision your agency increasing outreach and fun in to help the tribal youth become become hazardous and successful players in an increasingly global marketplace quite >> and i would probably start with you. >> i've decided to take that question. i can share with you that first i'm not sure. we would be delighted to expand on the program small business innovation research and its dedicated just to promulgating and promoting innovation. and so what i have done is launched a program for the youth and i was recently at a community college where i was able to announce this program that's dedicated just to the underserved youth. we have a little leverage over the finance institutions and that we designate them as preferred lenders and so i thought what's the point of

having that if they are not and each did the things we need them to do so we've reached out and asked them to help us develop a toolkit just for the young people so they could learn more about object of worship so we will be launching that very soon. is it that is one initiative and the second thing i wanted to share is what we do across the country as we in today to. we give out grants to those incubators that are there to help people think about their innovation, their idea to help them go from start to scale up and so we would be delighted to host a special session if you wanted us to where we could do something across the country to help young people understand what we are doing in this regard because we are seeing great success. the youth are the future and they think about innovation in different ways so i'm delighted to sit down with you and work with you on that further.

>> thank you madam chair. the next tribal leader backs [applause] >> good morning. welcome to the economics of the panel. my question is the tribes need to be able to explore and expand economic development outside of gaming and in order to do that we need to support the support of several agencies to enable us to do this instead of hampering our efforts. one example is right now we have a high school project that we've got in grants through the department of interior in the same time we are having to deal with access to the site and we are having a tough time with so right now i hear the project is a priority of the administration but it's been pushed back by the

federal agencies of the economic development is another one of the drilling of oil and gas and it costs 6,000 on the indian land and in the states it costs 50 bucks to drill. 6,000 on indian land and we are saying it isn't public land. that's the way they've viewed it that so for example, if would cost 60,000 it would cost 500 so i'm just asking that federal agencies instead of hampering our efforts come to think of ways to support our efforts and economic developments and maybe an initiative that is available. i think a lot of the tribes the first time we heard some of the initiatives the task force on economic development where the tribes understand the initiative whether it be to the small business administration,

housing, transportation or any other agency to get together to discuss all of the opportunities because right now a lot of the tribes depend on the gaming that we need to look at ways to expand the economic development. >> that's one of the reasons we announced the program to encourage organizations to do a better job working with tribal leaders to get the word out about the various programs. for example, the sba mentioned a program of the fees on smaller loans but what we decided to do was create a small micro- loan program or agricultural producer up to $50,000 of low interest rates, long-term, very little security required. it's a great program that we obviously need to get the word out to make sure folks are aware of comes with the 2501 program is one way of getting at.

we had a made in native america conference recently which was another opportunity to get the word out that that is a very good comment to get more outreach. >> thank you very much. our time is up and as i said in my opening comments there was never a marshall plan for the indian country and these leaders in front of you represent individuals but still have some of the highest unemployment rates of any group in the nation. they have the lowest annual income producers of any of in the nation. so, i like what the chair man said. chairman said. to create a task force to come up with what i call the obama plan of economic development in indian country's where that could be part of his legacy going forward because once again that if the panel here at hand for joining us. " [applause]

it is amazing to see the

insights into the air coming out of all sorts of technologies we didn't have before. imaging you mentioned and giving us insight into how things work and how things go wrong sometimes the efforts to understand the sort of details of the clinical types into the advent of electronic health records. all these things are sort of coming together in a way that i would not have imagined would happen in my lifetime and yet, we are not nurturing that engine of discovery in the way that we could be. and a statistic that i think it's particularly is particularly troubling often times really discouraging to young scientists who are thinking about getting in this field is what is your chance if you have a great idea about cancer research and its preclinical. it's not something you are working in the company you are in an academic and division that have an idea where will you go to get funding? and what is the chance that it's

going to get funded it is about one in this. traditionally over much of the last 50 years it's been one in three. the cancer institute i think is one in ten. >> that was part of the conversation and alito nih director francis collins. you can see the remarks from tonight at eight eastern on c-span.

former senators bob kerrey abidjan danforth talk about congress and the federal budget. 20 years ago both senators or members of the bipartisan commission examining entitlement and tax reform committee and now the urge 2015 candidates to make the state of the budget a top priority. held by the bipartisan policy center but this is just over an hour. >> good afternoon everyone and welcome to the bipartisan policy center. i'm glad to see so many of you going through this weather to be here area iem here with the

bipartisan policy center and it is my pleasure to kick off this discussion this afternoon. the bipartisan policy center was established by four former senate majority leaders in 2007. senator bob dole, george mitchell, tom daschle and the late howard baker. throughout their time in the senate and in congress, they worked tirelessly to find a solution and challenges that come from to the country. they did this through what i think of as reasoned negotiations and respectable dialogue. that is in this organization that they established and that's why we have joined here the bipartisan policy center with the coalition. this first to yes first to look back on the 20th anniversary of the bipartisan commission on entitlement and tax reform but

more importantly to look forward on how these issues can paste the upcoming 2016 presidential elections and the congress coming in. we are joined this afternoon by the two very distinguished public servants, senator bob kerrey and senator jack danforth. both worked with the senate majority leaders i mentioned earlier and who founded this place. president clinton established the bipartisan commission on entitlement and tax reform by an executive order in november 1993. chairman terry and vice president danforth took on the task of carrying out the executive order and they were joined by ten other united states senators, two of them who are still serving the current majority leader harry reid and thad cochran.

tim congressmen, the last one who is just retiring from the house, john dingell and the 12 members of the public. senator domenici is they join us later was on that commission. but in the end, the commission couldn't reach consensus and instead its final report was accomplished in the competing proposals. both the two cochairmen advanced their own bold and rather brave proposal on social security and raising the retirement age to 70, cut the social security payroll tax with the money redirected into mandatory private accounts and adopting price indexing a mother among other changes and although the group wasn't able to agree on

any policy recommendations the commission is considered by the old budget to be a milestone in putting on the policy agenda for the future of the nation's entitlement programs. and the challenging future is very much still with us today as we will discuss later. i could also make the argument that it's even more difficult today than it was 20 years ago. i am now going to turn this over to my friend and fellow colleague who i have labored with for many years. he served here the bipartisan policy center on the domenici riffling debt reduction task force that i can say it reached a consensus but none of them more elected officials at that time. and bob is currently the executive director of the coalition where he has been since its founding in 1992 and again i would like to point out my bipartisan tool of the late

former senator in massachusetts and kuwait former senator joined by the secretary of commerce peter peterson. so i turn it over to you. >> thank you bill. it's always a pleasure to be here at the bipartisan policy center. thank you for hosting us today. as bill noted, 20 years ago, the two respective senators jack danforth and bob kerrey were appointed by president bill clinton to chair the bipartisan commission on entitlement and tax reform. during the reform. during the course of the reparations, they produced a report that declared current budget policies as unsustainable. current trends as unsustainable and they made certain key findings about the nature of the problem and the issues

policymakers would need to address in order to find solutions. it really was a remarkable report in the two respects. one, 30th 30 of the 32 members of the commission agreed on the second findings defining the problem, and essentially it is the nature of the problem in the intervening years. the second remarkable thing is that all of the findings unfortunately are still valid. when i was looking through them earlier this year i thought you could release these today and it would still be valid so that was the idea that i asked bob kerrey and jack danforth if they would like to do that because after the five presidential elections and ten congressional and at least four other bipartisan commissions, there were probably six or seven, those same fiscal

policies were still unsustainable for essentially the same reasons that the commission established. so before we head into yet another headed to yet another election and congressional cycle and before someone comes up with an idea for another bipartisan commission, we thought it would be a good idea to look at the second findings again to help explain why current policy is still unsustainable and why it matters for the nation's future and nations future and why it's an important issue for looking ahead in the 2016 presidential candidates to take up. the second findings i won't go into them in great detail. you have the report and i'm going to stick over to the slide is we have more time with the senators. but basically, they addressed the need to close the gap between government savings for government spending and revenues as kind of elementary but they also talked about the need to

improve savings in the nation to help grow the economy and the need to address rising health care costs. sounds familiar. ..