Simpson Remarks at American Indian and Alaska Native Public Witness Day 1, Afternoon Session (As Prepared)

The committee will come to order.

Good afternoon and welcome to the second session of our public witness hearing specifically focused on American Indian and Alaska Native programs. 

I would like to welcome all the distinguished Tribal elders and leaders here today and thank our witnesses for appearing before the Committee to share their perspectives on these important topics.

In terms of hearing logistics, I will call each panel of witnesses to the table one panel at a time. 

Each witness will have five minutes to present testimony.  The full written testimony will be included in the record, so please don’t feel pressured to cover everything in five minutes.

We will be using a timer to track the progress of each witness; when the light turns “yellow,” the witness will have one minute remaining to conclude their remarks.  When the light turns red, I will have to ask the witness to stop to remain on schedule. 

We’ll hear from every witness on each panel before Members will be provided an opportunity to ask questions.  I request that we try to keep things moving so we can stay on schedule and respect each other’s time. 

If we have votes later this afternoon, we will briefly recess to allow Members to vote and then resume the panels when Members return. 

I also want to note that Committee rules prohibit the use of outside cameras and audio equipment during these hearings.  The hearing can be viewed in its entirety on the Committee’s website, and an official hearing transcript will be available at GPO.gov.

I’m now happy to yield to my friend, Ranking Member Pingree, for any remarks she may wish to make.