Sponsors (18)
Introduced February 3, 2026 by Tom Cole · Last progress February 3, 2026
The bill creates a funded, Congress‑established Commission and advisory structure to document boarding‑school harms, promote healing, repatriation, and agency accountability for Native survivors and tribes, while imposing federal costs, administrative burdens, possible privacy and oversight tradeoffs, and limits on private legal recourse.
Survivors, descendants, and Native communities gain formal federal recognition and a Congress-established forum to document Indian boarding school harms, creating an official record and platform for truth‑telling and cultural restoration.
Survivors and affected communities can access trauma‑informed, culturally appropriate healing supports and services through Commission guidance and required trauma‑informed convenings.
Tribes, descendants, and federal agencies get clearer authorities and tools for repatriation and site stewardship: NAGPRA protections for boarding‑school items, ability to re‑bury on federal land when agreed, and authorization for co‑stewardship agreements over cemeteries and former school sites.
Federal taxpayers and agencies face direct costs from authorizing up to $90 million plus potential long‑term fiscal obligations if recommendations lead to programs, compensation, or other federal actions.
Survivors and descendants may be retraumatized by testimony, investigations, and public documentation of abuses, creating short‑term harms even as the process seeks truth and healing.
Federal findings that past policies included sexual, physical, and psychological abuse could prompt legal claims or demands for compensation, exposing the government (and potentially taxpayers) to liability and enforcement costs.
Based on analysis of 10 sections of legislative text.
Creates a congressional Truth and Healing Commission to investigate Indian boarding school policies, collect records, support repatriation/reburial, and make federal recommendations.
Creates a congressional Truth and Healing Commission to investigate the histories, policies, and lasting harms of Indian boarding schools in the United States, document records, develop recommendations for federal action, and support healing for survivors, descendants, and communities. The bill also sets up two advisory bodies (one Native American and one federal/religious), defines key terms (including what counts as an Indian boarding school and Indian Boarding School Policies), requires certain consultations and nominations from tribes and Native organizations, and clarifies how NAGPRA applies to related cultural items, reburials, and cemetery co-stewardship. The Commission has defined appointment processes, terms, and a 6-year termination timetable; advisory committees end shortly after the Commission issues its final report.