Washington - Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs David W. Anderson will address attendees at the 618t Annual National Congress of the American Indians Convention on Tuesday, October 12, 2004, in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The theme for this year's convention is "Renewing the Vision: Setting a New Course for Indian Country."
The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs will speak during the third general assembly held in the Grand Floridian at the Ft. Lauderdale / Broward Country Convention Center. He will provide the tribes with an update on the progress made by Indian Affairs in the areas of economic development, BIA Law Enforcement, education of Indian children, and other issues of interest to American Indians.
The Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs is responsible for fulfilling the department's trust responsibilities to individual and tribal trust beneficiaries, as well as promotes tribal self determination, self-governance and economic development for the nation's 562 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and their 1.8 million members. The Assistant Secretary also manages the BIA, the 180-year old agency that provides services to individual American Indians and Alaska Natives from the federally recognized tribes, and the BIA school system. The school system serves nearly 48,000 American Indian children in 184 elementary and secondary day and boarding schools found on or near 63 reservations in 23 states. The BIA runs one-third of these schools and the remaining two-thirds tribes run under BIA contracts or grants.
WHO: Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs David W. Anderson
WHAT: Speech to Attendees
WHERE: National Congress of the American Indian 618t Annual Conference in Orlando, FL Grand Floridian, Greater Fort Lauderdale / Broward County Convention Center
WHEN: 8:40 -10:00 A.M. Tuesday, October 12, 2004
