House Hearing: Contract Support Costs within IHS and BIA

Excerpt:

Statement of Representative Don Young: The consistent failure of Federal agencies (IHS and BIA) to fully fund – contract support costs has resulted in financial management problems for tribes as they struggle to pay for federally mandated annual single-agency audits, liability insurance, financial management systems, personnel salaries, property management and other administrative costs. Congress must remember that tribes are operating Federal programs and are carrying out Federal responsibilities when they operate self-determination contracts. Tribes, in some instances, have had to resort to using their own financial resources to subsidize contract support costs. It is the Committees’ belief, and the House and Senate Interior Appropriations Committees’ belief that tribes should not be forced to use their own financial resources to subsidize Federal contract support costs.