Thread: American Indians could reap almost $3B in stimulus

American Indians could reap almost $3B in stimulus
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By MARY CLARE JALONICK/Associated Press Writer

Wednesday, Jan 28, 2009 - 08:11:37 am CST

WASHINGTON — American Indians stand to gain almost $3 billion as part of the economic stimulus moving through Congress, money that could help some of the nation’s poorest communities rebuild roads, improve health care and boost employment that has lagged behind the rest of the country for decades.

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday included $2.8 billion for Indian tribes in its portion of the nearly $900 billion economic stimulus bill, and a House version to be voted on Wednesday includes a similar amount. That includes hundreds of millions of dollars for schools, health clinics, roads, law enforcement and water projects.

Dante Desiderio, an economic development policy specialist at the National Congress of American Indians, which has lobbied for the money for the past year, calls the bill a “once in a lifetime opportunityâ€

Part of American Indians get ignored.

Americans owe the Indians health care, the US Government signed treaties agreeing to that in exchange for the Indians living on reservations.

The rest of it needs to have conditions attached, like tribal members increasing their education and reducing drug and alchohol use. If not it will just be a waste of money.