Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

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Ms. WARREN. Madam President, I rise today in support of my bill, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act. If voted into law, this bill would begin the process of delivering long overdue justice to stolen Native children and to their communities.

The Indian Boarding School system was one of the most devastating Federal creations in American history. The scale was truly staggering. For over a century, the United States forced hundreds of thousands of children out of their homes and into over 500 ``boarding schools.'' These boarding schools were not unlike prisons.

At least 408 schools were federally funded. They were scattered across 37 States, including Alaska and Hawaii. By the 1920s, 83 percent of school-age indigenous children were in boarding schools--imagine, four out of every five Native children taken from their families, some never to be seen again.

The process was a waking nightmare. Armed officers were sent onto reservations to rip children as young as 4 from their families. Mothers and fathers who resisted could be severely punished.

Once at boarding school, kids were stripped of their heritage. Their hair was cut off, their clothing was burned, and they were given new names. Children who tried to practice even remnants of their Native cultures could be starved, whipped, and put in solitary confinement. Many children were farmed out to nearby properties for forced labor. Some were deployed to fight in war. Some were sexually abused.

Conditions at the boarding schools were deadly. Dormitories were overcrowded so that diseases spread easily. Documentation shows that hundreds of children died in these schools. It is estimated that the actual number of deaths was in the thousands or possibly even the tens of thousands. So far, 53 mass graves have been uncovered. Some are unmarked. Many children's remains were never returned to their families.

The boarding schools' motto was ``Kill the Indian, and save the man.'' This approach was part of a larger effort. By isolating children from their families and their cultures, it was possible to break down the fabric of Tribal nations and take land more easily. Decision makers calculated that it was ``cheaper to educate our wards than to make war on them.''

Congress funded the majority of these schools, often using funds held in trust accounts that were legally designated for the benefit of Tribal nations. Congress paid for the schools and then authorized law enforcement to take Indian children from their homes and their Tribes. It now comes to this Congress to do everything we can to begin to heal the damage that this body inflicted.

Make no mistake, the harms of the Indian boarding schools live on today. In my time working on this bill, I have heard countless harrowing stories from survivors and from their families. There isn't an indigenous community in this country that hasn't been affected. Survivors have faced chronic medical issues and psychological trauma. They have struggled to reconnect with their loved ones, their language, and their cultures. We cannot rectify that past until we face it head- on.

There is still so much that we don't know about these boarding schools. We don't know how many children died in boarding school custody. We don't know the full spectrum of the violence that occurred. We don't know all of the ways the schools affect survivors and descendants to this day. My bill would establish a Truth and Healing Commission to find those answers.

The Commission would formally investigate the Indian boarding schools to determine what happened and the lasting impact these schools have on survivors, their families, and their Tribal communities.

The Commission would hold hearings and convenings for victims to speak about their experiences, some for the very first time.

The Commission would have the authority to use subpoena power to gather witness testimony and to review documentation.

The Commission would be charged with making recommendations about how the history of the Indian boarding schools should inform Federal policy today.

It would address how the Federal Government should acknowledge its role in this systematic attempt to eradicate indigenous cultures and how to take that history into account when developing new Federal policies and budgets.

One last note. The boarding school policy ended just before 1970. Most of those affected have passed away, but there are remaining survivors in their sixties, seventies, and beyond. Every day that goes by, these survivors grow older, and their chance to tell their stories moves further away. These people have been harmed enough. Their wounds go deep, and they deserve a chance to stand before the U.S. Government and tell their stories in their lifetimes.

I urge my colleagues not to delay adoption of this bill. Our actions cannot make up for the harms that Congress inflicted, but by moving now, we can at least offer some token of care to those survivors who offered themselves up as living witnesses of a cruel chapter in American history.

Make no mistake, this work will be painful, but it will make us a stronger Nation. By telling the truth, we can give communities a better chance to heal, and we can begin to repair the U.S. Government's relationship with Tribal nations.

This bill has broad support. It is bipartisan. It is supported by boarding school survivors, and 32 Members of Congress have cosponsored the bill.

I urge my colleagues now to pass this bill. We should delay no longer.

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