Sponsors (21)
Official title: To establish the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 3, 2026 by Tom Cole · Last progress February 3, 2026
The bill creates a federally funded, Congress‑established Commission to investigate and address harms of Indian boarding schools—providing recognition, healing supports, repatriation rights, tribal co‑stewardship, and funded operations—while imposing federal costs, potential administrative burdens, limited private enforcement, and risks of retraumatization and reduced transparency.
Native American survivors, descendants, and tribes gain formal federal recognition and an official, Congress-established Commission to document boarding-school harms, gather testimony, and produce findings and recommendations.
Survivors and communities get greater access to culturally responsive, trauma‑informed healing services and supports, with the Commission mandating trauma‑informed convenings and regional outreach (including each BIA region and Hawai‘i).
Tribal nations and lineal descendants obtain stronger protections and practical authority over cultural items, ancestral remains, reburial decisions, and co‑stewardship of cemeteries and former school sites (including use of NAGPRA protections and co‑stewardship agreements).
Taxpayers face increased federal spending (the bill authorizes up to $90 million and could create additional long‑term fiscal obligations to implement recommendations), raising budgetary costs or requiring reallocations.
Participation, testimony, and disclosure during the investigation could reopen traumatic experiences for survivors and descendants; public disclosure (for example of burial locations or identities) may also create serious privacy and cultural‑sensitivity harms.
The bill prohibits private lawsuits related to these matters, limiting tribal and individual recourse and making enforcement and remedies dependent on federal agency action rather than private civil enforcement.
Based on analysis of 10 sections of legislative text.
Establishes a Truth and Healing Commission to investigate Indian boarding school policies, document harms, recommend federal actions, and enable repatriation, reburial, and co-stewardship.
Creates a Truth and Healing Commission to investigate the history, policies, and long-term harms of Indian boarding schools in the United States, document survivor and community experiences, and develop recommendations for federal action. The bill establishes two advisory committees (Native American and Federal/Religious), a survivors subcommittee, procedures for nominations and appointments, protections and administrative rules for committee members, and provisions to apply NAGPRA to boarding-school–related cultural items including reburial and co-stewardship options.