U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
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The United States 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 Committee on Energy and National Resources, which had succeeded the old Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. The committee was initially intended to be temporary, but was made permanent in 1984. The committee tends to attract Senators from Western states, who have more Indian constituents.
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Members
The committee is chaired by Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona. The ranking Democrat is Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota. The members of the Committee are:
- John McCain (R-Arizona), chairman
- Craig Thomas (R-Wyoming)
- Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)
- Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma)
- Pete Domenici (R-New Mexico)
- Gordon Smith (R-Oregon)
- Mike Crapo (R-Idaho)
- Richard Burr (R-North Carolina)
- Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), ranking minority member
- Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii)
- Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota)
- Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii)
- Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota)
- Maria Cantwell (D-Washington)
Chairmen
Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, 1820-1947
- David Holmes (R-MS) 1820-1821
- Henry Johnson (R-LA) 1821-1823
- Thomas Hart Benton (R/D-LA) 1823-1828
- Hugh Lawson White (D-TN) 1828-1832
- George M. Troup (D-GA) 1832-1833
- Hugh Lawson White (W-TN) 1833-1840
- Ambrose Sevier (D-AR) 1840-1841
- James T. Morehead (W-KY) 1841-1842
- Albert White (W-IN) 1842-1845
- Ambrose Sevier (D-AR) 1845-1846
- Arthur Bagby (D-AL) 1846-1847
- David R. Atchison (D-MO) 1847-1853
- William K. Sebastian (D-AR) 1853-1861
- James Rood Doolittle (R-WI) 1861-1866
- John B. Henderson (R-MO) 1866-1869
- James Harlan (R-IA) 1869-1873
- William Buckingham (R-CT) 1873-1875
- William B. Allison (R-IA) 1875-1879
- Richard Coke (D-TX) 1879-1881
- Henry Dawes (R-MA) 1881-1893
- James K. Jones (D-AR) 1893-1895
- Richard Pettigrew (R-SD) 1895-1899
- John M. Thurston (R-NE) 1899-1901
- William Stewart (R-NV) 1901-1905
- Moses E. Clapp (R-MN) 1905-1911
- Robert J. Gamble (R-SD) 1911-1913
- William J. Stone (D-MO) 1913-1914
- Henry F. Ashurst (D-AZ) 1914-1919
- Charles Curtius (R-KS) 1919-1921
- Selden P. Spencer (R-MO) 1921-1923
- John W. Harreld (R-OK) 1923-1927
- Lynn J. Frazier (R-ND) 1927-1933
- Burton K. Wheeler (D-MT) 1933-1936
- Elmer Thomas (D-OK) 1936-1945
- Joseph O'Mahoney (D-WY) 1945-1947
from 1947 to 1977, Indian Affairs were the responsibility of the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, which was superseded by the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in 1977.
Chairmen of the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs, 1977-1993
- James Abourezk (D-SD) 1977-1979
- John Melcher (D-MT) 1979-1981
- William S. Cohen (R-ME) 1981-1983
- Mark Andrews (R-ND) 1983-1987
- Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI) 1987-1993
Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, 1993-present
- Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI) 1993-1995
- John McCain (R-AZ) 1995-1997
- Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO) 1997-2001
- Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI) 2001
- Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO) 2001
- Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI) 2001-2003
- Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO) 2003-2005, the only American Indian ever in the Senate
- John McCain (R-AZ) 2005-present