
Hud Press Release
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The following is an 8-6-98
press release, from the
Department of Housing and
Urban Development, HUD.
CUOMO ANNOUNCES OVER $30 MILLION IN AID
TO SIOUX TRIBES ON VISIT TO PINE RIDGE
AND LOWER BRULE
RESERVATIONS IN SOUTH DAKOTA.
At the direction of
President Clinton, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo
today visited South Dakota to announce over $30 million in assistance to
Sioux tribes and to meet with tribal leaders to discuss ways HUD can
help them expand opportunity and improve living conditions on
reservations.
Cuomo's announcement of the HUD assistance
to expand the supply of low-income housing and increase homeownership on
reservations came on the same day President Clinton delivered a major
address in Washington to tribal leaders from around the nation at the
Conference on Building Economic Self-Determination in Indian
Communities.
"I have asked HUD Secretary Cuomo to visit
several reservations to determine what more his Department and our
Administration can do to boost economic development," President Clinton
said. "A few weeks ago, he met with the leaders of 60 Alaskan Native
Villages and today, he is visiting the Pine Ridge and Lower Brule Indian
Reservations in South Dakota."
Cuomo, who was invited to South Dakota by
Senators Tom Daschle and Tim Johnson, announced final approval of $30
million in HUD assistance - and the expected approval of another $2.1
million - under the newly implemented Native American Housing Assistance
and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA). The Act gives tribes a much
greater role in determining how HUD funds are used on their
reservations.
"For far too long, the first
Americans have been locked out of the American Dream and have endured
some of the worst poverty, the worst unemployment and the poorest
housing conditions in this land," Cuomo said. "The Clinton
Administration wants to work in partnership with Indian Nations to end
this grave injustice, and to support the efforts of each tribe to find
its own solutions to the challenges it faces."
"The days when the federal government told
Indian Nations what to do, when to do it and how to do it are over,"
Cuomo said. "We are replacing paternalism with partnership. We are
acknowledging that Native Americans on the Pine Ridge, on the Rosebud,
on the Lower Brule and elsewhere in Indian Country know a lot more than
government officials in Washington about how to build better lives for
themselves and their children."
Cuomo announced approval of the
following assistance to Sioux tribes:
Oglala - $8,675,781.
Rosebud - $6,645,081. Cheyenne River -- $4,998,056. Standing Rock -
$4,045,931. Sisseton-Wahpeton - $3,156,488. Crow Creek - $1,477,099.
Lower Brule - $991,536.
In addition, Cuomo said the Yankton Sioux
Tribe is expected to receive $1,734,275 and the Flandreau-Santee Sioux
Tribe is expected to receive $354,776 in the near future, after HUD
completes its review of the tribes' assistance requests. Once this aid
is received, the Sioux tribes in South Dakota will receive a total of
$32.1 million.
Senator Daschle said: "I am very pleased
that Secretary Cuomo has come to South Dakota to see first hand the
housing challenges faced by Native Americans throughout the state. I
hope this visit is the beginning of a long-term commitment to addressing
the need for decent housing on Indian Reservations."
Senator Johnson said: "As a member of the
Senate Banking and Housing Committee, I appreciate Secretary Cuomo
demonstrating his leadership in this vitally important public policy
area by visiting South Dakota reservations. I look forward to future
oversight of the successful implementation of the NAHASDA and to working
with Secretary Cuomo to educate the Congress about the needs of South
Dakota tribes."
President Clinton announced at the federal
conference in Washington that HUD and the Treasury Department will
develop a pilot program on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona, New
Mexico, Utah and Colorado that would provide a one-stop mortgage center
to make it easier for reservation residents to obtain homesite leases
and home mortgages so they can become homeowners. The pilot will be
expanded to four or five reservations if it is successful and could then
be expanded further.
Because land on reservations is tribally
owned and cannot be taken by lenders foreclosing on home mortgages that
default, Indians on reservations have found it nearly impossible to
obtain private mortgage financing. Currently, residents of reservations
seeking to acquire a homesite lease from a tribe and a residential
mortgage can be required to obtain approval from federal, tribal, state
and local agencies, as well as private organizations in different
locations.
Cuomo also said HUD is working with the
Bureau of Indian Affairs to continue expanding and improving a program
that began in 1995 to federally guarantee home mortgage loans on
reservations. The program guaranteed just 11 loans in 1995, but so far
this year has already guaranteed 163 loans.
This year HUD is distributing $590
million nationwide to over 575 tribes under the Native American Housing
Assistance and Self-Determination Act.
NAHASDA gives tribes more authority to
determine how to use HUD assistance and directs HUD assistance to areas
with the greatest needs. The Act reorganized the system of federal
housing grants to Native Americans and provides tribes with stability by
awarding them annual grants that enable them to plan their activities
with the knowledge of future funding. The Act allows tribes, for the
first time, to receive funds directly from HUD instead of through
regional housing authorities.
The goal of the Act is to help create and
support affordable housing and provide housing services for low-income
Indians in their own communities. In addition to enabling tribes to use
HUD funds for the first time for homeownership programs and for
transitional housing for homeless people, NAHASDA can fund new home
construction, job training, housing rehabilitation, energy auditing,
crime prevention and safety activities.
Here are details of how each Sioux tribe
plans to use the HUD assistance:
OGLALA - The $8,675,781 will be
used to develop up to 200 homes for rent and for homeownership
opportunities. The tribe will do this in partnership with other federal
agencies such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of
Agriculture, along with non-profit organizations such as the Lakota Fund
and Habitat for Humanity. In addition, a downpayment assistance program
will be developed to help tribal members become homeowners. Funds will
also be used to maintain and modernize existing housing.
ROSEBUD - The $6,645,081 will be
used to develop homes for rent and for homeownership opportunities, and
to improve the condition of existing substandard housing. In addition, a
new housing administration complex will be built to allow the tribe to
consolidate housing activities on the reservation.
CHEYENNE RIVER - The $4,998,056
will be used to build 125 homes, modernize 150 units of housing and
maintain additional housing. A new reservation-wide Tribal Housing
Coalition will be created to integrate reservation housing development
activities. In addition, housing will be provided for at least 10
low-income police officers in housing developments, and a program to
help single mothers become self-sufficient will be expanded.
STANDING ROCK -- The $4,045,931
will be used to maintain low-income housing and cover tenant counseling
and administrative costs.
SISSESTON-WAHPETON - The $3,156,488
will be used to maintain and operate low-income housing and for drug
elimination and crime prevention programs.
CROW CREEK - The $1,477,099 will be
used to: survey all housing on the reservation to determine how to
allocate NAHASDA funds; maintain work on current HUD-assisted housing;
provide leveraging for an application of funding from Low-Income Housing
Tax Credits to help finance housing construction; and fund housing
authority administration and planning costs.
LOWER BRULE - The $991,536 will be
used to maintain and operate existing low-income housing, renovate some
units and evaluate applications for individual housing assistance. Funds
may also be used to provide home loan grants to eligible families.
YANKTON - The tribe plans to use
the $1,734,275 it is expected to receive to develop 10 low-income rental
units, maintain existing low-income housing, and fight illegal drug use
and other crime. Marketing and education programs and a suitable legal
infrastructure will be developed to encourage the use of private
mortgage lending to low- and moderate-income tribal members. Whenever
possible, the housing authority will provide jobs to low-income
residents.
FLANDREAU-SANTEE
- The tribe plans to use the $354,776 it is expected to receive to
complete renovation on 13 homes, and to move and renovate up to 25 units
of surplus Air Force housing from Grand Forks Air Force Base in North
Dakota. In addition, funds will be used for anti-crime and drug
prevention programs.

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