The House Committee on Natural Resource meets virtually to markup relevant portions of S.Con.Res.14, the federal government’s budget resolution for fiscal year 2022.

The committee’s portion [PDF] includes provisions affecting the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service. Other sections affect management of federal lands within ancestral and sacred tribal territories, with the reconciliation outright canceling plans for a huge copper mine on sacred Apache land at Oak Flat in Arizona.

The provisions, as well as the budget reconciliation, are considered to be a part of the Build Back Better Act that was purposed by President Joe Biden. Democrats in Congress are supporting the agenda, which includes billions of dollars for Indian Country.

“Our piece of reconciliation puts our country on a more sustainable economic and environmental path, creates millions of jobs and directly confronts the damage being done by climate change all at the same time. It’s the best investment we’ve made in our country in a long time,” Democrats on the House Committee on Natural Resource said in a blog post.

According to the post, the investments include:

  • $1 billion for tribal climate resilience and adaptation
  • $500 million for a Tribal Civilian Climate Corps
  • $100 million for tribal wildfire management
  • $2.7 billion for Indian water rights settlements
  • $2 billion for health facility construction, maintenance and improvement in Indian Country
  • $500 million for tribal housing improvements

A separate blog post explains the ways in which revenues will be raised by the U.S. government to pay for the historic investments in Indian Country and in other areas. The revenues cited will come from energy industry development.

The markup is scheduled to begin at 10am Eastern on Thursday morning.

House Committee on Natural Resource Notice
Full Committee Markup (September 22, 2021)