Duties of the Commission

(a) Investigation (1) In general The Commission shall conduct a comprehensive interdisciplinary investigation of Indian Boarding School Policies, including the social, cultural, economic, emotional, and physical effects of Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States on Native American communities, Indian Tribes, survivors of Indian Boarding Schools, families of those survivors, and their descendants. (2) Matters to be investigated The matters to be investigated by the Commission under paragraph (1) shall include, at a minimum— (A) conducting a comprehensive review of existing research and historical records of Indian Boarding School Policies and any documentation, scholarship, or other resources relevant to the purposes of this Act from— (i) any archive or any other document storage location, notwithstanding the location of that archive or document storage location; and (ii) any research conducted by private individuals, private entities, and non-Federal Government entities, whether domestic or foreign, including religious institutions; (B) collaborating with the Federal and Religious Truth and Healing Advisory Committee to obtain all relevant information from— (i) the Department of the Interior, the Department of Health and Human Services, other relevant Federal agencies, and institutions or organizations, including religious institutions or organizations, that operated an Indian Boarding School, carried out Indian Boarding School Policies, or have information that the Commission determines to be relevant to the investigation of the Commission; and (ii) Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, Native Americans, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and Native Hawaiian organizations; and (C) conducting a comprehensive assessment of the impacts of Indian Boarding School Policies on Native American students and alumni, including the impact on cultures, traditions, and languages. (3) Research related to objects, artifacts, and real property If the Commission conducts a comprehensive review of research described in paragraph (2)(A)(ii) that focuses on objects, artifacts, or real or personal property that are in the possession or control of private individuals, private entities, or non-Federal Government entities within the United States, the Commission may enter into a contract or agreement to acquire, hold, curate, or maintain those objects, artifacts, or real or personal property until the objects, artifacts, or real or personal property can be properly repatriated or returned, consistent with applicable Federal law, subject to the condition that no Federal funds may be used to purchase those objects, artifacts, or real or personal property. (b) Meetings and convenings (1) In general The Commission shall hold, with the advice of the Native American Truth and Healing Advisory Committee and the Survivors Truth and Healing Subcommittee, and in coordination with, as relevant, Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and Native Hawaiian organizations, as part of its investigation under subsection (a), safe, trauma-informed, and culturally appropriate public or private meetings or convenings to receive testimony relating to that investigation. (2) Requirements The Commission shall ensure that meetings and convenings held under paragraph (1) provide access to adequate trauma-informed care services for participants, attendees, and communities during and following the meetings and convenings where the Commission receives testimony, including ensuring that private space is available for survivors and descendants of survivors, family members, and other community members to receive trauma-informed care services. (c) Recommendations (1) In general The Commission shall make recommendations to Congress relating to the investigation carried out under subsection (a), which shall be included in the final report required under subsection (e)(3). (2) Inclusions Recommendations made under paragraph (1) shall include, at a minimum, recommendations relating to— (A) in light of Tribal and Native Hawaiian law, Tribal customary law, tradition, custom, and practice, how the Federal Government can meaningfully acknowledge the role of the Federal Government in supporting Indian Boarding School Policies in all issue areas that the Commission determines relevant, including appropriate forms of memorialization, preservation of records, objects, artifacts, and burials; (B) how modification of existing statutes, procedures, regulations, policies, budgets, and practices will, in the determination of the Commission, address the findings of the Commission and ongoing effects of Indian Boarding School Policies; (C) how the Federal Government can promote public awareness of, and education about, Indian Boarding School Policies and the impacts of those policies, including through coordinating with the Native American Truth and Healing Advisory Committee, the Survivors Truth and Healing Subcommittee, the Smithsonian Institution, and other relevant institutions and organizations; and (D) the views of religious institutions. (d) Duties related to burials The Commission shall, with respect to burial sites associated with Indian Boarding Schools— (1) coordinate, as appropriate, with the Native American Truth and Healing Advisory Committee, the Federal and Religious Truth and Healing Advisory Committee, the Survivors Truth and Healing Subcommittee, lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Federal agencies, institutions, and organizations to locate and identify, in a culturally appropriate manner, marked and unmarked burial sites, including cemeteries, unmarked graves, and mass burial sites, where students of Indian Boarding Schools were originally or later interred; (2) locate, document, analyze, and coordinate the preservation or continued preservation of records and information relating to the interment of students, including any records held by Federal, State, international, or local entities or religious institutions or organizations; and (3) share, to the extent practicable, with affected lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs burial locations and the identities of children who attended Indian Boarding Schools. (e) Reports (1) Annual reports to congress Not less frequently than annually until the year before the year in which the Commission terminates, the Commission shall submit to the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a report that describes the activities of the Commission during the previous year, including an accounting of funds and gifts received and expenditures made, the progress made, and any barriers encountered in carrying out this Act. (2) Commission initial report Not later than 4 years after the date on which a majority of the members of the Commission are appointed under section 101(b)(1), the Commission shall submit to the individuals described in paragraph (4), and make publicly available, an initial report containing— (A) a detailed review of existing research, including documentation, scholarship, or other resources shared with the Commission that further the purposes of this Act; (B) a detailed statement of the initial findings and conclusions of the Commission; and (C) a detailed statement of the initial recommendations of the Commission. (3) Commission final report Before the termination of the Commission, the Commission shall submit to the individuals described in paragraph (4), and make publicly available, a final report containing the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the Commission that have been agreed on by the vote of a majority of the members of the Commission and 3⁄5 of the members of each of the Native American Truth and Healing Advisory Committee and the Survivors Truth and Healing Subcommittee. (4) Report recipients The individuals referred to in paragraphs (2) and (3) are— (A) the President; (B) the Secretary of the Interior; (C) the Attorney General; (D) the Comptroller General of the United States; (E) the Secretary of Education; (F) the Secretary of Health and Human Services; (G) the Secretary of Defense; (H) the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate; (I) the Chairperson and ranking minority member of the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives; (J) the Co-Chairs of the Congressional Native American Caucus; (K) the Executive Director of the White House Council on Native American Affairs; (L) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget; (M) the Archivist of the United States; (N) the Librarian of Congress; and (O) the Director of the National Museum of the American Indian. (5) Additional commission responsibilities relating to the publication of the initial and final reports (A) Events relating to initial report (i) In general The Commission shall hold not fewer than 2 events in each region of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and in Hawai‘i following publication of the initial report under paragraph (2) to receive comments on the initial report. (ii) Timing The schedule of events referred to in clause (i) shall be announced not later than 90 days after the date on which the initial report under paragraph (2) is published. (B) Publication of final report Not later than 180 days after the date on which the Commission submits the final report under paragraph (3), the Commission, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall each make the final report publicly available on the website of the applicable agency. (6) Secretarial response to final report Not later than 120 days after the date on which the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services receive the final report under paragraph (3), the Secretaries shall each make publicly available a written response to recommendations for future action by those agencies, if any, contained in the final report, and submit the written response to— (A) the President; (B) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate; (C) the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives; and (D) the Comptroller General of the United States.