House Resources Committee Hearing — June 21, 2006 — S1003

Please note this is only the testimony section from Panel 1.

Panel 1 (William Ragsdale, BIA, and Paul Tessler, ONHIR)

Mr. Ragsdale: Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on Senate 1003. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, my name is Pat Ragsdale. I am pleased to be here today to discuss the bill, the Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Amendments of 2005. With your permission I will summarize my testimony and request my official statement be included in the committee record.

Chairman: Without objection. So ordered

Mr. Ragsdale: To date, all Hopi families that were residing on Navajo land have been relocated. A number of Navajo families are still in some stage of relocation process. As the committee knows the history behind this issue goes back to the 1800s with the establishment of the respective Navajo and Hopi reservations by the federal government, and all three branches of the federal government have been very much engaged in the process of resolution of this issue for a very, very long time. We testified before the Senate of Indian Affairs Committee in July 2005 on S 1003. While most technical concerns raised by the department with the bill have been addressed some issues remain. The department is concerned with the terminating of the Office of Navajo-Hopi Indian Relocation, which would occur on September 30, 2008, and transferring any remaining responsibilities of the relocation office to the Secretary of the Interior. We request that Congress clarify that it does not intend to establish an office of relocation within the Department of the Interior but instead that Congress intends to transfer the responsibilities of the office to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The BIA is preparing with the Navajo, Hopi, and Relocation Office to transition and carry out the normal responsibilities that the Bureau has such as range management and leasing if provided the level of resources currently involved, currently provided to the Office of Relocation. We are hopeful the relocation process has completed by the expiration date of September 30, 2008, provided in the bill. However, until we know exactly what responsibilities will remain regarding relocation when the relocation office is terminated we are unable to assure Congress that we can successfully absorb those functions. This concludes my prepared statement.

Chairman: Thank you very much, Mr. Ragsdale. Now, Mr. Tessler, we’d appreciate you summarizing your statement.

Mr. Tessler: Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, good morning.

Chairman: And Mr. Tessler, if I can just intervene for a second, make sure we put the microphone directly in front of you so there will be an accurate and long lasting record of your time here today.

Mr. Tessler: I’ll start again to be sure, Mr. Chairman. Members of the committee, good morning. First let me apologize that the executive director, Chris Bavasi could not be with us today. His parents are 90 years old, in San Diego, and needed his help. He had to be there. He told me to tell you, if need be, he’d be back here. All you need is to ask. I appreciate the opportunity to come before you and provide testimony and answer any questions you may have regarding the Office of Relocation and its position on the pending legislation. On July 21, 2005, the Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation presented testimony before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs regarding Senate 1003. The testimony stated that the Office was in agreement with the legislation’s projected date for completion of relocation and transfer of any remaining function to the Department of the Interior. The testimony also recommended certain changes, which addressed the efficient and timely completion of our task. These changes have since been incorporated into S 1003 as passed by the Senate. We understand the Department of the Interior has remaining concerns with the bill, and we defer to the Department on these concerns. However, the Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation would like to work with Interior to resolve all remaining issues. We agree with Interior that anything less than a well-planned transition of responsibilities would not serve the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe or the federal government. I’m ready to answer any questions you might have.