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needy are exempt from the cuts, similar services on reservations aren't, said Amber Ebarb, a budget and policy analyst for the National Congress of American Indians.
• "Tribes have too little political clout, too small numbers for those same protections to be applied," she said. "I don't think it's the intent of any member of Congress. The ones we hear from, Republicans and Democrats who understand trust and treaty rights, think it's outrageous that tribes are subject to these across-the-board cuts."
• Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona said he doesn't believe Congress as a whole understands the potential impact to tribes and the duty that federal agencies have to meaningfully consult with them on major actions. He and Republican Rep. Don Young of Alaska are urging their colleagues to spare those populations from automatic budget cuts, particularly when it comes to health care.
• "It's not about creating a niche for American Indians. It's about addressing areas in which need is great," Grijalva said.
• Clara Pratte, director of the Navajo Nation's Washington, D.C., office, said regardless of the outcome of the budget talks, tribal leaders should press Congress to make funding for Indian programs mandatory, not discretionary.
• Nearly two-thirds of the Navajo Nation's $456 million budget comes from federal sources that go to public safety, education, health and human services, roads and infrastructure. The tribe is facing up to $30 million in automatic budget cuts.
• "A lot of these programs go to people that cannot lift themselves up by their bootstraps," Pratte said. "I'm talking about grandmas, grandpas, kids under the age of 10. We can't very well expect them to go to work."
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• FORT PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- A historic train depot is returning to Fort Pierre.
• KCCR and KGFX report that the train depot will return to the town after being used as a storage building on a Mud Butte area ranch since the 1960s.
• The depot was built in 1906 and used by the Chicago and NorthWestern Railroad system. It was moved to the ranch after Shirley Miller had purchased it. Miller recently gave permission to send the depot back to Fort Pierre to be used as a tourist and historic attraction.
• The depot is scheduled to arrive in Fort Pierre sometime early next week.
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