one of my favorite examples is system, aled nuka primary care system for alaskan natives. it is team-based community focussed prevention-focused, education-up with health care. it uses every resource patients and families can bring to their care. it thinks the best hospital bed is an empty one. many alaskan natives have very high levels of chronic illness and social stress, but in six years, nuka cut hospital days by 53%, emergency room visits but it to%, specialty consultations by 60%. they even cut primary care provisions by 60%, and they have the best health care quality scores you can find and the best patient satisfaction you can find. it builds bridges to where the need is. chronic illness care, prevention, spiritual help, family health, behavioral health. it offers love and respect to people who thought they were unlovable and invisible. i can give you dozens of examples like nuka. in pockets all over the world, and they hold the best possible solution to the immense problem of health care costs in america that president clinton referred to. the best possible soluti

alaskan native, american indian and native hawaii have high unemployment rate. since 1998, american native people have relied crucially on funding from the work force investment act to provide the necessary resources to educate their work force and help reverse these trends. my amendment would guarantee the tribal funding continues. i urge a yes vote on the amendment and reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusetts rise? mr. tierney: madam chair, i rise to claim time in opposition but will not. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. tierney: i reserve time but i do note in the gentleman, mr. young's letter regarding this matter, he notes that the underlying bill does not accommodate the needs of this particular population and that's why the necessity existed for him to bring this amendment that we support to the floor but it's another example of how the process should have improved this bill all along had it been done in a bipartisan consultative manner as w

37.5% woog the following way. 25% of that amount would go to local governments. 25% would go to alaskan native villages and regional corporations which are similar in some respects to indian country in the lower 48 but much different in how they operate but provide services to alaska native communities. and 10% would go directly to tribal governments. and the remaining 40% for the state of alaska to deal with the impacts. this bill also requires 15% of the federal share of royalties be directed to the land and water conservation fund. why is that important? because that not only touches coastal states, it touches every state, almost $900 million annually would be directed for the purposes of land and water conservation all throughout this country. finally, a percentage, 7.5% of the federal share would be dedicated directly, directly, to deficit reduction. you know, again as i read the letter, they make it sound very evil like it's some monster lurking in the waters. this doesn't sound so evil. this is just about a fairness, it's a treatment for our state and any coastal state that develops oil

of defense and the small business administration and "the washington post" ran a series on the alaskan native corporation contracting. last year, the government accounting office found that the department of defense expeditiously awarded two $500 million ten-year contracts using the same provision in a past appropriations bill. several of us in the armed services committee and the senate homeland security and government affairs committee have been trying to ensure that contracts to a.n.c.'s undergo extra scrutiny. it doesn't help that this bill is working against the american taxpayer, while congress should be working to make sure the department of defense acquires what it truly needs as economically as possible through competition. there is $48 million in funding for the defense department to do research dealing with parkinson's disease, neurofibrometosis and hiv-aids research. this research is important. it has no place in a department of defense bill. it should be funded by the national institute of health, not the department of defense. madam president, i ask unanimous consent for a long

long-standing debate in the senate about whether to expand the notion of native contracting to include native alaskans and native hawaiians. senator inouye who chaired it and unfortunately passed away a few weeks ago believed that the minority status for contracting should include their native tribes people and they fought for it, and it was included, and i know the senator from arizona perhaps took dpoaption that and debated with them. to renew debate is appropriate but it is not a new provision in the bill. it is something that has been there for sometime. i welcome the debate. i think it is an important one of the you about i wanted to say that for the record. this is the house republican bill, and the measures which i senator from arizona raised, some are new to me. i am going to have to look more closely, and i should, to find out the merits of the provisions. before we go any further, without -- mr. mccain: could i respond briefly? mr. durbin: if i could just use, any time that we use now until the managers arrive on the floor be for debate only. i ask unanimous consent toker that purpose. the p