Senate Backs Tough Penalties for Abuse of Tribal-Housing Funds Story-Date: 05:05 p.m. PST Wednesday, July 23, 1997 Senate Backs Tough Penalties for Abuse of Tribal-Housing Funds BY DEBORAH NELSON AND ERIC NALDER, THE SEATTLE TIMES Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News SEATTLE--Jul. 23--The U.S. Senate sent a toughly worded message to tribal leaders by unanimously approving new penalties for anyone caught misusing money from the federal housing program for Native Americans. The measure would require the Department of Housing and Urban Development to bar offenders from the program for life and to recover any misspent money. ``Any tribal member or authority caught misusing taxpayer dollars in the future will be literally expected to pay the price of their actions,'' said Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., the provision's sponsor, in a statement after Tuesday's vote. Gorton said it was a major step against the ``waste, fraud and abuse'' documented in a Seattle Times series in December. The series described dozens of cases throughout the country in which housing aid intended for the poor was funneled by tribal leaders and officials to other purposes, in some cases enriching themselves. The proposed penalties apply to future abuses. They are in an amendment to HUD's fiscal year 1998 appropriation bill and still need endorsement of the House. A Gorton aide said that because of the strong Senate vote, no serious opposition is expected. Henry Cagey, chairman of the Lummi Tribe in Washington state, said the amendment is another move on Gorton's part to ``eliminate Indian tribes as we know them.'' Cagey, who chairs a national committee rewriting the rules for the tribal-housing program, said the tribal leadership, not HUD, should decide whether to bar individual tribe members from the program. Cagey will co-chair a meeting of tribal officials in Denver next month where the amendment and other housing issues will be discussed. Ted Key, director of HUD's Native-American program office in Washington, D.C., said the proposal ``gives additional teeth to HUD'' enforcement efforts. HUD's Native-American program is undergoing major changes since Congress last year approved changing it to a block-grant program. Some critics, including Gorton, say the grants would allow more abuses. Under the law passed last year, HUD could rescind or reduce a grant, or require a tribe to appoint a new housing authority. But HUD could not bar individuals from its programs. Gorton's amendment would change that. Some specifics are unclear, Key said, such as how serious a violation of rules would have to occur for a person to be barred. A spokesman said HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo had not yet seen the final version of the amendment but ``certainly welcomes additional tools that would be provided to enable HUD to continue to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse.'' Gorton applauded HUD for removing two top officials from their responsibilities for tribal housing. But he said the agency lacks enforcement muscle and cited examples of abuse from The Times' series: -- A 5,300-square-foot home was built for the executive director of the Tulalip Tribes Housing Authority in Snohomish County with HUD aid for low-income housing. -- Homes to be sold to low-income families were given away to tribal-housing officials and their families in Oklahoma. -- A tribal-housing official in New Mexico used $45,000 of a HUD grant earmarked for home repairs for the needy to extensively remodel his five-bedroom house. ``The American taxpayers deserve better than this,'' Gorton said. ``When we in the United States Senate tell them that their money is going to worthwhile programs to provide housing for the poorest Native Americans, it is our duty to ensure that it is.'' ----- ON THE INTERNET: Visit The Seattle Times Extra on the World Wide Web at http://www.seattletimes.com ----- (c) 1997, The Seattle Times. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. ------------------------------------------------------------