March 31, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 63 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          MIDDLE CLASS HEALTH BENEFITS TAX REPEAL ACT OF 2019

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                               speech of

                          HON. DAVID P. JOYCE

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 27, 2020

  Mr. JOYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, as we prepared to appropriate 
supplemental funding for Indian Country through the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs budget, my colleagues and I became keenly aware of the need to 
mitigate the hardships that this pandemic has caused for Tribal 
governments who have to rely on business revenues--rather than taxes--
to fund essential services for their Tribal members. In addition, 
Tribal governments are often the largest employers on reservations, 
where unemployment rates are already significantly higher than the rest 
of the country.
  For these reasons, this bill directs that not less than $400 
million--nearly 90 percent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs supplemental 
appropriation--shall be made available to meet the direct needs of 
Tribes. For these same reasons, this bill directs that not less than 
$450 million of the Indian Health Service supplemental appropriation be 
distributed to directly operated programs and to Tribes and Tribal 
organizations by utilizing existing contracts, compacts, and other 
agreements to speed up the process.
  In addition, I was pleased to see and support an additional $8 
billion for payments to Tribal governments through the Coronavirus 
Relief Fund in this bill. Because of the Federal Government's unique 
government-to-government relationship with Indian Tribes, providing 
these funds to Tribes directly--rather than through the States--is the 
right approach. It is critical that the Secretaries of the Treasury and 
the Interior consult with Tribal leaders immediately to determine the 
most expeditious, transparent, and fair method of allocating these 
funds.

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