Over Last Four Years, Schatz, Democrats Secured More Than $45 Billion For Native Communities

WASHINGTON – During his tenure as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs from 2021-2025, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) led the passage of 26 Tribal-specific bills and helped secure over $45 billion – making historic investments in health care, housing, education, languages, infrastructure, and public safety – that will benefit Native communities for generations to come.

“Together, Senate Democrats made historic progress over the past four years, helping pass dozens of bills and delivering significant funding for a wide range of Native priorities,” said Vice Chairman Schatz. “I’m proud of the progress we’ve made over the past two congresses – but we still have a lot more work to remedy the generations of neglect and help Native communities determine their own futures.”

Highlights of his term as Chair include:

1. Passed the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act in the Senate
2. Advance Appropriations for the Indian Health Service for the first time ever, preventing potentially life-threatening service disruptions due to government shutdowns or funding lapses
3. Billions more for Native housing to address historic underfunding in Native housing program
4. Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization and a restoration of Tribal jurisdiction over non-Indians who commit crimes against Tribal officers and youth
5. $3.5 billion for Indian Health Service sanitation projects to close the water divide on Tribal lands
6. $3 billion for the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, providing access to affordable high-speed internet
7. More than $2.1 billion to address public safety needs, including the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People and fentanyl and opioid abuse in Native communities
8. $2.5 billion to complete enacted Indian water rights settlements, and committee consideration of 12 Indian water rights settlement bills, totaling more than $12 billion in need
9. Restored over 6,171 acres to Tribal homelands by enacting 11 bills
10. Nearly $2 billion in climate funding for Native communities

A full review of funding and legislative achievements under Chairman Schatz’s leadership is available here.

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