Freshman U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd chairs his first subcommittee meeting on Indian affairs

By / / Top Stories, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice

If it takes years of tenure in Washington, D.C., to even earn subcommittee chairmanships, no one told U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, R-Grand Junction.

The freshman congressman from Colorado’s 3rd District on the Western Slope chaired his first subcommittee meeting Wednesday, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs under the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources.

“I’m honored to serve as the new chairman of the subcommittee, and look forward to working with our American Indian, Alaska Native and Insular partners,” Hurd began the subcommittee hearing.

The subcommittee was previously chaired by Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming.

The subcommittee oversees matters confronting 574 federally recognized Indian tribes with an estimated two million members.

“Republicans on the subcommittee are working to ensure freedom and economic development opportunity for Indian tribes across the country,” the subcommittee’s website reads.

The first meeting of the subcommittee in the 119th Congress heard four bills, of which Hurd read summaries into the record.

House Res. 410, by Rep. Nicholas Begich of Alaska, extends the land allotment program for Vietnam-era veterans in Alaska for five years, providing that time for the Bureau of Land Management to consider all eligible veterans.

House Res. 412, by Rep. Jack Bergman of Michigan, empowers Michigan’s Bay Mills Indian Community to make decisions related to its land without requiring approval of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

House Res. 504, by Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez of Florida, would add land, known as Osceola Camp and within Everglades National Park, to the Miccosukee Tribe.

House Res. 741, by Rep. Greg Stanton of Arizona, would seek to lift the position of director of Indian Health Service to Assistant Secretary for Indian Health within the Department of Health and Human Services.