This bill would create a Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies to formally investigate the history and lasting effects of federal Indian boarding school policies on Native American and Native Hawaiian communities. The five-member commission, appointed by congressional leaders, would work alongside a Survivors Truth and Healing Subcommittee, a Native American Truth and Healing Advisory Committee, and a Federal Truth and Healing Advisory Committee to gather testimony, review historical records, locate burial sites, and develop recommendations for how the federal government should respond. Over its six-year existence, the commission must hold regional listening sessions, publish an initial report within four years and a final report before termination, and ensure survivors and their families have access to trauma-informed care during the process. The bill affects Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, boarding school survivors and descendants, and numerous federal agencies including the Departments of the Interior, Education, and Health and Human Services, which must respond publicly to the commission's findings. It authorizes $15 million annually for the commission's operations, funded by redirecting unused COVID-19 relief money originally allocated to the Indian Health Service, and separately rescinds $90 million in unused pandemic relief funds.
Take Action
Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.