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      WASHINGTON (AP) - By any measure, 2010 was a banner year on
Capitol Hill for American Indians.


      And a huge factor was the pending retirement of a lone senator -
North Dakota's Byron Dorgan.


      After years of trying, Congress passed several landmark bills
for Indians, including laws overhauling tribal health care and law
enforcement and settling a 15-year legal battle over lost royalties
for mismanaged Indian lands.


      Congress continued parceling out $2.5 billion in economic
stimulus money to tribes and resolved four long-standing water
disputes totaling more than $1 billion.


      Tribal leaders and advocates call the two-year session that
ended last week the most productive for American Indians in four
decades. They offer several reasons, including strong support from
the Obama administration, which has made tribal issues a priority.


      Dorgan, a Democrat, announced last January he wouldn't seek
re-election after almost 30 years in Congress. Dorgan, chairman of
the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said he then "focused like a
laser" on unfinished business, including the long-stalled bills on
health care and crime.


      "I was flat tired of working on these issues that were never
resolved," he said in a recent interview in his Capitol office,
which is adorned with Indian headdresses and tribal artwork. "I
said, 'We will get this done.' We can fix these issues by keeping a
few promises."


      Dorgan, 68, denies any attempt to craft a legacy, saying he
merely wanted to complete legislation he had worked on for years.


      "When children are dying and elders are dying, the time for
talk is past," he said, noting that many Native Americans still
"live in third world conditions in much of this country."


      Jacqueline Johnson Pata, executive director of the National
Congress of American Indians, the oldest and largest Indian
organization in the nation, said Dorgan's pending retirement
spurred action.


      "To be honest, we all knew Senator Dorgan wasn't going to run
again. There were things he felt very passionate about and really
wanted to get done," she said.


      Dorgan, she added, was "a consistent, energetic and persistent
advocate" willing to listen to other viewpoints and gain
bipartisan support. "I think that's why you see so many things
passed," she said.


      Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called Dorgan "a true champion"
for Indian nations and rural communities.


      The health care law, formally known as the Indian Health Care
Improvement Act, was included in the larger health care overhaul
passed by Congress last spring. It clears the way for more
preventive care, boosts mental health resources and addresses
recruiting and retaining physicians throughout Indian Country. It
also focuses on teen suicide - an epidemic on many reservations -
and improves treatment for diabetes, another chronic problem.


      Dorgan said he told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid he would
not vote for the larger health bill unless it included Indian
health care. "That's not a threat, just a statement of fact," he
said.


      Dorgan also championed the Tribal Law and Order Act, which aims
to give tribes more authority to combat crime on their
reservations.


      The measure authorizes more federal law enforcement officers and
makes federal agencies collect data on crimes committed in Indian
Country. It also requires the Justice Department to maintain
criminal data on cases that U.S. attorneys decline to prosecute for
various reasons, including a lack of evidence. A recent report
found that federal officials decline to prosecute more than 50
percent of violent crimes on reservations.


      On some reservations, fewer than a dozen officers patrol areas
the size of Connecticut.


      "If you report a rape, a cop might show up the next day,"
Dorgan said. "It's a full-blown scandal."


      Congress approved $3.4 billion to settle the lost royalties
case, which covers claims that Native Americans were swindled out
of payments for oil, gas, timber and grazing rights for more than a
century. As many as 500,000 American Indians will receive at least
$1,500 apiece; some will get significantly more.


      A total of $2 billion will be used to buy broken-up Indian lands
from individual owners willing to sell, with the lands turned over
to tribes. Another $60 million will go to a scholarship fund for
young Indians.


      The settlement was reached in late 2009, but was not approved by
Congress until the lame-duck session that ended just before
Christmas.


      A separate settlement with the Agriculture Department will pay
Indian farmers $680 million for improper denial of farm loans. The
settlements and new laws, Dorgan said, are a matter of honor.


      "We signed these treaties and made promises - in writing - and
then broke them all," he said. "This is about keeping the
country's promises."

Gallery

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North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan on life in Congress

U.S. Senate approves apology to American Indians

Politics and Government News

After years of trying, Congress passed several landmark bills
for Indians, including laws overhauling tribal health care and law
enforcement and settling a 15-year legal battle over lost royalties
for mismanaged Indian lands.

Retiring ND senator spurs action on Indian issues

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