Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana) will hold his first hearing as the new chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee tomorrow.

The hearing focuses on early childhood education in Indian Country. It will be held at 2:30pm in Room 628 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building.

"At the oversight hearing the committee will hear testimony from the Administration as well as from community leaders who are operating early childhood programs in Indian Country," the committee said in a press release. "In addition, the Committee will receive testimony from a Duke University epidemiologist who studied the impacts of income supplements on Native youth."

"The testimony will focus on early childhood programs and the effectiveness of these programs. The federal government operates a myriad of early childhood development and education programs throughout the federal structure, with most of these programs being housed at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services," the committee said. "This hearing will identify these programs and determine if there are legislative solutions to improve the continuity of education and the coordination of federal resources."

The witness list follows:

Panel 1
•Ms. Linda K. Smith
Deputy Assistant Secretary and Inter-Departmental Liaison-for Early Childhood Development, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC

Panel 2
•MS. GINGER GOES AHEAD
Program Manager, Crow Head Start Program, Crow Agency, MT

•Mr. Danny Wells
Executive Officer-Division of Education, Chickasaw Nation, Ada, OK

•Ms. Barbara Fabre
Chairman-National Indian Child Care Association; and Director, Child Care/Early Childhood Program, White Earth Ojibwe Nation, White Earth, MN

•Ms. Jacquelyn Power
Superintendent/Principal-Blackwater Community School, Coolidge, AZ

•Dr. E. Jane Costello
Associate Director for Research-Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University, Durham, NC

Committee Notice:
Oversight Hearing to receive testimony on "Early Childhood Development and Education in Indian Country: Building a Foundation for Academic Success." (February 26, 2014)

Related Stories:
Sen. Tester wraps up tour in Montana as new chairman of SCIA (2/24)
Sen. Tester, new chairman of SCIA, asks tribes about priorities (02/20)
Senate Indian Affairs Committee schedules hearing on education (2/19)
Sen. Jon Tester: Education builds foundation for Indian Country (2/18)
Sen. Tester slated to lead Senate Indian Affairs Committee (1/29)