# 119-s-761: Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act of 2025

119-s-761, Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK] (R-AK); status in_committee (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-761
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-761
- Congress: 119
- Title: Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act of 2025
- Status: in_committee
- Introduced: 2025-02-26
- Sponsor: Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK] (R-AK)
- Cosponsors: 26
- Policy area: Native Americans
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Establishes a federally funded Truth and Healing Commission to investigate the history and long‑term harms of Indian boarding schools and to center survivor testimony and healing.** It creates a Survivors Truth and Healing Subcommittee and two advisory committees, requires culturally informed convenings and archiving, and designates funding to support the work. - Survivors and communities: Creates structured, trauma‑informed hearings and convenings so survivors, descendants, and communities can give testimony, influence memorialization, and guide handling of burial sites and artifacts. - Tribal and Native organizations: Requires meaningful consultation with Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations and forms a 19‑member Native American Truth and Healing Advisory Committee to help collect records and shape the Commission’s reports. - Federal agencies and religious institutions: Sets up a 20‑member Federal and Religious Truth and Healing Advisory Committee to coordinate records and submissions and exempts certain committee records from FOIA and the Privacy Act. *Designates $90.0 million, drawn from specified prior appropriations, to carry out the Commission and related activities.*

## Cosponsors (26)

- Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (D-MA), 2025-02-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI] (D-HI), 2025-02-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hickenlooper, John W. [D-CO] (D-CO), 2025-02-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Smith, Tina [D-MN] (D-MN), 2025-02-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV] (D-NV), 2025-02-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA] (D-WA), 2025-02-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] (D-CT), 2025-02-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO] (D-CO), 2025-02-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] (D-IL), 2025-02-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] (I-VT), 2025-02-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Rosen, Jacky [D-NV] (D-NV), 2025-02-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Kelly, Mark [D-AZ] (D-AZ), 2025-02-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM] (D-NM), 2025-02-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA] (D-WA), 2025-02-27T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] (D-MN), 2025-02-27T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ] (D-NJ), 2025-02-27T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM] (D-NM), 2025-03-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI] (D-HI), 2025-03-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] (D-MA), 2025-03-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] (D-OR), 2025-03-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI] (D-WI), 2025-03-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH] (D-NH), 2025-03-11T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] (D-IL), 2025-04-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Alsobrooks, Angela D. [D-MD] (D-MD), 2025-09-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] (D-OR), 2025-10-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Gallego, Ruben [D-AZ] (D-AZ), 2026-02-11T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Hearings, reports, and burial searches: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would require the Commission to hold hearings and culturally appropriate convenings, including at least one in each of the 12 BIA regions and Hawaiʻi and quarterly testimony meetings starting one year after enactment. If enacted, convenings must be announced 30 days ahead and p…
- Commission pay, contracts, and support: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would let Commission members be paid a daily GS‑5 rate for Commission work for up to 10 days per month and get travel and per diem at federal rates. If enacted, the bill would let the Commission sign contracts, accept volunteer services, and get General Services Administration…
- Creates boarding school commission and funding: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would create a Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School policies in the legislative branch. If enacted, the bill would set aside $90 million (one time) from cited authorizations to carry out the Commission's work. If enacted, the Commission would be appointed with…
- Repatriation, reburial, and co-stewardship: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would make clear that NAGPRA applies to cultural items tied to Indian Boarding Schools so those items can be returned under NAGPRA rules. If enacted, federal agencies would have to permit reburial on federal land for repatriated items when the relevant parties agree. If enacted…
- Survivors and Native advisory panels: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would create a 15‑member Survivors Truth and Healing Subcommittee and a 19‑member Native American Truth and Healing Advisory Committee. If enacted, Survivors Subcommittee members could be paid a daily GS‑7 rate for up to 10 days per month and Native Committee members could be p…
- Privacy and legal limits for committees: mixed, low. If enacted, the bill would create a Federal and Religious Advisory Committee whose records and communications are exempt from certain Privacy Act and FOIA rules and would not be covered by the Federal Advisory Committee Act. If enacted, the bill would also specify that nothing in the Act creates a…

## Related bills

- 119-s-2837: Protect America’s Workforce Act
- 119-s-1032: Major Richard Star Act
- 119-sres-913: A resolution relating to the death of the Honorable Nancy Kassebaum, former United States Senator for the State of Kansas.
- 119-sres-897: A resolution honoring the life, service, and legacy of the Honorable Jon Llewellyn Kyl, former Senator for the State of Arizona.
- 119-sres-801: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of the Honorable Lindsey Olin Graham, a Senator from the State of South Carolina.
- 119-sres-755: A resolution honoring the life of the Honorable Donald W. Riegle, Jr., former Senator for the State of Michigan.

## Sources
- [119-s-761 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/761)

## Related
- [119-s-2837: Protect America’s Workforce Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2837)
- [119-s-1032: Major Richard Star Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1032)
- [119-sres-913: A resolution relating to the death of the Honorable Nancy Kassebaum, former Uni…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-913)
- [119-sres-897: A resolution honoring the life, service, and legacy of the Honorable Jon Llewel…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-897)
- [119-sres-801: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of the Honorable Lindsey Olin Graham,…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-801)
- [119-sres-755: A resolution honoring the life of the Honorable Donald W. Riegle, Jr., former S…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-755)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-761 (as of 2026-04-21).