inactivity. >> so your question relates to the function of congress and, you know, there's plenty of examples, historically, whether it was the creation of social security or medicare where it was done on a national level, and while it wasn't an enumer e enumerated power, it was one that is implied through the constitution. and that would be the basis on which the affordable care act would be upheld constitutionally. we'll certainly have the opportunity to have the supreme court in action on this. >> and finally, this twitter comment for you, and this rick goes by the tag communist dog by the way. representative spear, if the democrats win back the congress, will they let the bush tax cuts expire? >> i think the bush tax cuts are going to expire this year, and it will still be this congress.

it will be a lame duck session of congress, but i do believe that these tax holidays that were put in place by president bush will in fact retire. but the question is whether we put into some protections for those making over 1,2 $200,000 year. >> jackie spear represents san mateo county out in california. thank you for being on the washington journal. >> my great pleasure. >> up next on cspan 3, back live on capitol hill, waiting for a start on the hearing on the president's proposed 2013 budget and how it will affect indian tribes. the hearing has been pushed back a number of times this afternoon, that's because of votes on the floor of the u.s.

senate, amendment votes relat relateding to the transportation bill. as a matter of fact a few minutes ago they rejected the approval of the keystone pipeline. that would have mandated construction of the keystone oil pipeline, they needed 60 for approval. the obama administration had been lobbying democrats not to vote for that amendment. it looks like they are wrapping up a procedural vote in the senate. and word is from the committee that the hearing should get under way shortly. we will have it live for you when it starts here on cspan 3. until then, back to this morning's washington journal. >> fred barnes, when mitt romney woke up on wednesday morning, did he feel that he had a successful supertuesday? >> of course he did. he won more of the contests, six out of ten on supertuesday, we won something like 400,000 more votes than the under up, mitt romney. he won a lot more delegates, he

actually gained, not gained, but he pulled further ahead of rick santorum and newt gingrich and g delegates. certainly winning oklahoma, to the surprise of everyone, not that we pay attention to the north dakota caucuses, but he won there. it helped romney but it also solidified the view that rick santorum is the real challenger to mitt romney. >> when you look at the field, the current field of four republicans still in, what's the strengths and the weaknesses of this field? >> well, you know there,'s still a great deal of yearning among conservatives in particular, for someone else to get in the race, i don't think it's going to happen, the chances are slim to none. but the -- one of the problems with -- everyone says that mitt romney is a weak upfront-runner

and usually he is. the party would have unified behind him. partly it's because of the way the primaries were set thup year and caucuses. to deny winner take all in most of the early primaries. and romney, i think there's still some residual date about him from the 2008 race and particularly in regard to the press, i think a lot of reporters and commentators thought he was -- i think he has gotten better as a candidate, but he still hasn't generated the common touch with voters. rick santorum is running on being a conservative. a pretty hard-nosed conservative at that. it's something you do during the

primary and when you get the nomination, you move more towards the center. newt gingrich, he's sort of up and down, and i personally never know what he's going to say, we saw some of his -- he won georgia, his home state. he'll have to win mississippi -- >> all of washington journal is available any time on cspan.com. at this indian affairs committee hearing, witnesses include the assistant interior secretary of affairs and the bureau of indian education. and the chairman seat, senator daniel icaca of hawaii just getting underway here on cspan 3. >> the committee will come to order.

aloha and welcome to this hearing on the president's fiscal budget for native programs. in these difficult economic times, the president's budget requests for fiscal year 2013 reflects a continued commitment to strengthen tribal nations, advance in education and support and expend health care services. however, it is important to remember that the federal government has a trust responsibility to indian tribes. even during an economic recovery. this responsibility is especially important to remember

if this sequester occurs at the beginning of 2013 if there's a cut across the board in the programs of government agencies. this is going to have a devastating affect on tribal programs which are chronically under funded even during prosperous time. to address the fixing the decision remains a top priority of the committee and the administration. righting this wrong will cost no money and will in fact be instrumental in saving and creating jobs. and bringing economic development opportunities in indian country.

today we will hear from the department of the interior, and the indian health service and the president's budget. and we will hear from several tribal organizations and the impact this budget will have on tribes in their area. this hearing impacts all tribal fans. two weeks from today. and i would like to invite our first panel. to the witness table, serving on our first panel is the honorable larry hickle hawk, sninassistanr

the department of public affairs. assisting is mike mr. mike smith. deputy director of indian affairs and keith moore, the director of the bureau of indian education. next we welcome the director of health services at the department of human services. >> let me just thank you for your patience and i have been looking forward to this hearing. so would you please proceed with

your testimony? >> thank you, chairman icacka. we have previously submitted a written statement, but i will summarize my statement to begin with. we thank you for this opportunity to provide the department a statement on the fiscal year 2013 president's budget request. the 2013 budget request for indian affairs within the department of the interior totals 2$2.5 billion in current appropriations, this is 4.6 million below this year's enacted level which amounts to a redp reduction of 2.1%. on the budget through the tribal interior budget council. and through this informed consultation with tribes, we

included in this budget request $43.8 million in program increases in priority areas such as contract support costs, rights protection implementation and law enforcement. and chairman icaca, there are some -- the indian affairs 2013 budget request continues to provide funding for two of the department's priority initiatives, strengthening tribal nations and a new energy frontier. this budget request seeks an increase of $43.8 million for strengthening tribal nations. within this initiative, we plan to advance nation to nation relationships by seeking $12.3 million in program mattic

increaskreecreases in continued the navajo gallop water project. we also plan to continue protecting indian country by seeking an additional $11 million in public safety funding. with that increase, $3.5 million will go towards hiring traditional tribal and affairs law enforcement personnel and 6.5 milli$6.5 million will pay increases. this request also supports the expansion of a highly successful pilot program launched in 2010 that saw a 35% reduction in violent crime for four reservations with high violent crime rates. the department also seeks an increase of $5.2 million for our

edg education activities. 2 million for tribal grant support costs at 125 tribally controlled schools and residential facilities. to continue with the new energy frontier initiative, the 2013 budget request provides a total of 8.5 million to supportal development on tribal lands, and $6.2 million is provided for energy projects and the remaining thremain $2.5 million in support of leasing activities on the reservation. we did have to make some difficult choices in this budget request we requested $19.7 million less from savings from eliminating duplicative and

overlapping functions. the reduction will come from anticipated management efficiencies. the department's reduction of 33.1 million is for program decreases which includes 2.16 million less for information resources, technology and other programs. in relationed activities we -- ispe funding to refleshlgt a slight decline in student population and we request 17$17 million less for new school funding. the budget provides $5 million for the indian guaranteed loan program which is a reduction of 2.1 million from the 2012 ena

enacted level. overall the 2013 budget reflects a fiscally responsible balance of the priorities expressed by tribes during the consultation together with the broadest objectives of the administration. the 2013 budget continues to focus on core responsibilities to indian tribes and alaskan natives through programs and services that are vital to indian country. this budget focuses on priority areas in indian countries and honors the president's -- the best example of this is by the inclusion of the fixed language in the 2013 budget request, just as it was requested in 2012. thank you very much, i would be happy to respond to questions. >> thank you very much. and the secretary of -- -- i'll

call on dpr after i recognize senator franken. he has to be back on the floor and i'm going to ask him for any opening remarks that he may have. >> thank you, mr. chairman, i thank you for your courtesy. unfortunately, i have to preside in 15 minutes so i would like to say a couple of things. each year this committee holds hearings on the needs of the indian country and what we choose to fund sends a powerful message to fribs got our priorities. in these times of tight budgets,

programs across -- i hope that as we examine this year's budget, we will all the -- the president's fiscal year 2013 budget has some good things, i'm very happy to see the proposed increases for end yang health services, contract support costs, public safety and enforcement. i know these were all things that were asked by the trirks.

i am deeply troubled by the zeroing out of school construction funding. school construction nunding is an issue i brought out in this committee over and over again. there is a $1.3 billion backlog for indian school construction and repair. but this year the president has only requested $53 million and none of that will go to construction. the budget at my home state of minnesota is in desperate need of replacement students and teachers, have to deal with leaky roofses, mold, rodent infestation. the facility doesn't meet safety

and fire standards. i want to thank deputy secretary eckel hawk and keith moore for coming in my office to discuss this the other day. i want to ask my colleagues on this committee, this question. would you count ten nance your children getting their education in a school that wasn't safe, in a school that had rodents running around, that had mold, that had leaks. when it rains, it's cold in the winter and sweltering on hot, humid days and i know the answer would be no. highway can we expect native children to succeed under these conditions? senator from minnesota, i have a

responsibility to every child in my state, every child and every parent. making sure that every child gets a good education. we know what the purpose of that is. we know why we need to do that.t is. we know why we need to do that. it benefits every child. it benefits, makes them more productive. it benefits our economy. we know the reasons to do this. but there's another reason too. and the reason and one of the reasons is that these are children. they are beautiful children. they are gifts. and they deserve to be educated in a place that is safe and that is comfortable and doesn't have rats and rodents. so, i will fight to restore funding for a place for school

construction and i hope i can count on support from other members of this committee. i want to thank the witnesses for coming today. i want to apologize because i've got to go, it's my turn to preside. and i've read your testimony, and i look forward to watching it later and i want to thank you, mr. chairman, for giving me this opportunity and for your indulgence and for the ranking members indulgence as well. >> thank you very much, senator franken, for your statement. now before we go to dr. roby, let me call on our vice chairman to give his opening remarks. >> thank you very much mr. chairman, and i appreciate the patience of the members of our panel as we went through a series of roll call votes.

i want to thank you for holding this important hearing. congress is holding a budget request for all-important programs including indian programs. from an enormous and growing deficit we look at the issues facing our country as we see on both sides of the aisle an agreement that there is no avoiding the problem any more and most if not all agencies and programs will be called on to participate in the solution. we all recognize that the federal government has important responsibilities. safety, education, health care. we all know that carrying out these responsibilities requires money. this year and into the foreseeable future decisions will receive increasing crew tiny. i look forward to the additional testimony on how this budget advances federal

responsibilities in a meaningful and effective matter. so thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you very much, senator. i now call on dr. robert robideau. will you please proceed with your testimony but before you do, let me say that your full statements will be made a part of the record. >> thank you mr. chairman, mr. vice chairman, members of the committee. i'm very pleased to have the opportunity to testify on the president's fiscal year 2013 request, budget request for the indian health service. for my written statement, reviews in detail what his has

completed in funding that congress has appropriated for us in the past few years and since 2008 the his budget has increased and it's helped the indian health service make significant progress in our efforts to change and improve the organization as well as in addressing the priorities of our work. our partnership with tribes is fundamental to improving the health of our communities and each year we no core important rate tribal budget priorities into our budget requests. we're also making progress on reforming the indian health service with an emphasis on improving the way we do business and how we lead and manage our staff, setting a strong tone at the top, improving our financial controls, finding more efficient and effective ways to conduct our business matters and performance management and accountability have been very important to our progress.

for example, h.i.s. has been able to improve. our hiring times have improved and we're addressing pay dispatients to help with recruitment and retention. the health service program is how we pay for referred care has demonstrated accomplish mens in ihs reform through improved business practices and improving access to care. the health service budget has increased 46% since 2008. and as a result some chs programs are able to pay for more than priority one or life and limb referrals and services. while the overall need is still significant the funding increases are making a difference. we've also made significant progress in improving quality of and access to care with improvements in customer service, our improving patient care program, our use of health information technology, the

success of the special diabetes program for indians, and the early accomplishments of the methamphetamine and suicide prevention and domestic violence prevention initiatives. in fy-2011 we met all of our measurement goals. the ihs herlt facilities construction program has contributed to hirsch hs to increasing care and its partnership with tribes and helping us complete health facility construction projects. when i was first afoibtd the director of the indian health service i heard input from tribes, patients and our staff that we needed to change and improve the indian health service in many ways. and although we've made significant progress in addressing our priorities, much work remains to be done. the population we serve continues to grow and the challenges of providing health care in rural america are ever present. our data continues to show the

incredible need for services by the patients we serve and we continue to work hard to meet our mission with available resources. the increases in ihs funding over the past few years have helped us make progress but we still have much more to do. so the 2013 president's budget request for ihs will help us address these challenges and make progress. our agency priorities through tar get investments, to increased access to care, improved quality of care, support our oversight and accountability functions and address tribal management support costs. the budget request is $4.24 billion, an increase of $116 million over 2012. and that includes funds to support activities that are identified by tribes as budget priorities. so the budget request includes $34 million to increase inflation costs and $20 million for program costs for the

contract health service program or how we pay for preferred care and that's spent on expanding the purchase of health care from private-sector providers outside of the indian health system. an increase of 49 million is indelude staff and operate newly constructed health facilities including our joint venture facilities constructed by tribes. a $5 million increase is included for contract support cost as priority for tribes that asumed management of our health care programs. $1 million will help the agency continue its reforms and provide accountability and oversight in key administrative areas. we also include $6 million for health information technology to support the mandatory icd-10 implementation and $1 million in support for electronic dental record programs. for facilities we have $81.5 million budget to continue construction on two facilities in progress. and an increase of $1.7 million

will help us address routine maintenance and improvement needs. in closing we've shown our ability to make progress and improving and changing the indian health service. however we know there's still much more work to be done. we'll continue network in partnership with tribes to make these improvements and improve the quality of and access to care for the patients that we serve. the president's budget requests help us make progress in changing in a improving the indian health service. thank you for the opportunity to present on the 2013 budget. >> thank you very much, dr. roubideaux for your statement. secretary, the budget contemplate