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- By Native News Online Staff
WASHINGTON — In addition to articles already covered by Native News Online, here is a roundup of other news released from Washington, D.C. that impacts Indian Country recently.
House Bills Introduced to the 119th Congress
- H.R.41 - To provide for the recognition of certain Alaska Native communities and the settlement of certain claims under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and for other purposes.
- H.R.42 - To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to exclude certain payments to aged, blind, or disabled Alaska Natives or descendants of Alaska Natives from being used to determine eligibility for certain programs, and for other purposes.
- H.R.43 - To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to provide that Village Corporations shall not be required to convey land in trust to the State of Alaska for the establishment of Municipal Corporations, and for other purposes.
- H.R.103 - To provide Members of Congress lawful access to certain Indian land to assess the security of the international boundary between the United States and Mexico located on that Indian land, and for other purposes.
- H.R.165 - To direct the Secretary of the Interior to complete all actions necessary for certain land to be held in restricted fee status by the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and for other purposes.
- H.R.226 - To take certain Federal lands in Tennessee into trust for the benefit of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
HHS Tribal Consultation Announcement
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is inviting Tribal leaders to a virtual Tribal consultation on Proposed Modifications to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Security Rule to Strengthen Cybersecurity for Electronic Protected Health Information.
The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would revise the Security Rule to better protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic protected health information. It proposes robust cybersecurity standards to address:
- Significant changes in technology
- Changes in breach trends and cyberattacks
- HHS’ Office for Civil Rights’ enforcement experience
- Other cybersecurity guidelines, best practices, methodologies, procedures, and processes for protecting electronic protected health information
- Court decisions that affect enforcement of the Security Rule
The consultation will take place on February 6 from 2:00 - 3:30pm ET. Public comments on the proposed regulation are requested by March 7 via www.regulations.gov (Docket ID number HHS-OCR-0945-AA22). Tribal leaders are requested to register here.
Administration for Native Americans
According to a Federal Register notice set to be published January 13, the Administration for Native Americans (ANA) is seeking a three-year extension of its Project Outcome Assessment Survey, with comments due by February 12. The survey, which helps evaluate the effectiveness of ANA grant-funded projects, has been revised based on feedback from grantees to eliminate redundant data elements and clarify requirements.
The survey is completed once at the end of each project grant period and helps ANA meet congressional requirements to evaluate project impacts. Respondents include tribal governments, Native American nonprofit organizations, and tribal colleges and universities. Officials estimate the survey takes about six hours to complete, with approximately 85 respondents annually, according to the notice.
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