Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act of 2025

# Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act of 2025 **What the bill does:** This bill would create a new federal commission to investigate the historical Indian Boarding School system, where the U.S. government forcibly removed American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children from their families and placed them in boarding schools—a practice that lasted over a century. The commission would study the long-term impacts of these policies on Native communities today and develop recommendations for addressing ongoing harms. **Who it affects and key provisions:** The bill primarily affects Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities.

The commission would focus on three main areas: protecting unmarked graves at former boarding school sites and the surrounding land; supporting efforts to repatriate remains and identify which tribes the children came from; and preventing state agencies from continuing to remove Native children from their families through foster care and adoption systems. The commission would investigate both historical impacts and modern-day effects on Native communities. **Current status:** The bill was introduced in the 119th Congress by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and is currently in committee, meaning it has not yet been voted on by the full Senate.