Senate Committee on Indian Affairs

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is responsible for dealing with matters related to the American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native peoples. A Committee on Indian Affairs existed from 1820 to 1947, but in the latter year it was folded into the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. A new Indian Affairs Committee was created in 1977, initially as a Select Committee, as a result of the detachment of indigenous affairs from the new Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, which had succeeded the old Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. The committee, which was initially intended to be temporary but was made permanent in 1984, tends to attract Senators from Western states, who have more Indian constituents.

Abramoff scandal
On June 26, 2007, J. Steven Griles, a former Department of the Interior official who pleaded guilty to lying under oath to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in March 2007, was sentenced to 10 months in prison. Griles lied regarding the access and influence he had given to Jack Abramoff on Indian casino issues.

Contact information
Committee Web site


 * Staff office - (202) 224-2251