WHEREAS, the National Indian Health Board (NIHB), established in 1972, serves all Federally recognized American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) Tribal governments by advocating for the improvement of health care delivery to AI/ANs, as well as upholding the Federal government’s trust responsibility to AI/AN Tribal governments; and

WHEREAS, Section 106(a) of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA) provides that tribes and tribal organizations entering into contracts to carry out programs and services pursuant to that Act are entitled to contract support costs (CSC) for the reasonable administrative and overhead costs of carrying out those programs and services; and

WHEREAS, in the last decade, the U.S. Supreme Court has twice held that the United States government’s promise to pay full CSC under ISDEAA contracts is legally binding and enforceable, and that such liability is not affected by limits on the amounts of discretionary funding made available for payment of CSC; and

WHEREAS, as a binding legal obligation of the federal government that is governed by the criteria set forth in the ISDEAA, the right to full payment of CSC is an entitlement under substantive law and constitutes the type of obligation that is normally funded by the federal government on a mandatory basis; and