April 27, 2009 – Today, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson announced that the Department of the Interior (DOI) will provide more than $800,000 to Nebraska to support construction and maintenance projects on tribal lands as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
 
“These funds will help to honor our commitment to tribal governments in Nebraska by ensuring that infrastructure on tribal lands is properly maintained,” said Senator Nelson. “By hiring from local communities, these projects will also provide a much needed economic boost for both the workers and their communities.”
 
The DOI will allocate $59,850 to Nebraska in order to repair Federal facilities on tribal lands like employee housing, detention centers, and tribal support facilities. These funds will go towards employing and training unemployed and underemployed Native American individuals from local communities. Since the work is largely labor intensive, an estimated 75% of the funds will go directly towards these workers, which will benefit their communities as well. The remainder of the funds will be used to procure the supplies needed for these projects.
 
An additional $746,012 will support maintenance and repair of federal roads and bridges throughout tribal lands in Nebraska, including $309,630 towards Omaha Tribe lands, $311,879 towards Winnebago Tribe lands, $39,242 towards Iowa Tribe lands, $31,371 towards Sac & Fox Nation Lands, and $53,890 towards Santee Souix Nation lands. These funds will be dispersed through the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) Road Maintenance program and will create and sustain jobs on Indian reservations.
 
Senator Nelson played a key role in the passage of the $787 billion stimulus bill. He worked with a bipartisan group of nearly 20 Senators to better focus The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on tax cuts for the middle class and job creation for millions of Americans. Senator Nelson led the group through the initial bill line by line, dollar by dollar, to reduce spending and cut out $108 billion of inefficient or less-stimulative spending. The bipartisan group helped the improved bill win congressional approval. President Obama signed it into law February 17, 2009.
   
  Senator Nelson is posting information about the release of stimulus finds on his website as it becomes available.  Visit http://bennelson.senate.gov/issues/stimulus/index.cfm for more information

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