ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held a roundtable in Anchorage to solicit feedback on a draft legislative package aimed at implementing recommendations from the Alice Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children. “This is our first event on the draft legislative package that we have pulled together in response to the Native Children's Commission's report,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski, chair of the committee, calling the draft “a living document.”

The draft, posted on the committee’s website, follows the commission’s February 2024 final report The Way Forward. Murkowski said the committee will accept public comments for an additional four weeks and will spend the fall reviewing input, revising text and consulting other senators before introducing legislation in the Senate. “We’re creating a record for the committee,” she said, adding that the goal is to produce legislation informed by lived experience, culture and community priorities.

Panelists at the roundtable included tribal leaders, health-care executives and advocates who advised the committee on sections addressing child welfare, behavioral health, housing and homelessness, nutrition, environmental health, education, research and tribal self-governance mechanisms. Gloria O’Neil, who chaired the commission, described six years of hearings, site visits and virtual testimony that produced 29 recommendations and emphasized the commission’s focus on cultural engagement and community control.

Speakers repeatedly urged flexibility for tribes, streamlined federal funding and consolidation mechanisms that allow tribal organizations to integrate services locally. The package includes provisions that would pilot tribal administration of federal programs, expand self-governance demonstration projects, authorize housing vouchers targeted to tribal survivors and establish technical and research capacity to improve data collection.

Murkowski framed the work as a long-term process that must not leave the commission’s report “on a shelf.” She said the committee’s staff will continue stakeholder consultations and hold additional hearings and roundtables before formal introduction. The roundtable record will be part of that process.

The session lasted roughly 90 minutes and featured speakers from Alaska Federation of Natives, Tanana Chiefs Conference, Bristol Bay Native Association, Association of Village Council Presidents, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Central Council of Tlingit & Haida, Southcentral Foundation, Arctic Slope Community Foundation and the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center.

The committee did not vote on any measures at the roundtable. Murkowski asked participants to submit written comments and said staff will incorporate the input into revisions this fall.