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Following the Commissioner's address, the meeting was opened with a question-and-answer period, as follows: 

JUSTICE JOHNSON: We are always glad to have different schools of thought expressed in any connection in any place. As Judge for many years, I know there are two sides to every question. Advocates appear and advocate certain policies, advance arguments in support of their particular side. Now, we as Indian people ought to get the truth. We should have open minds and hear both sides of every question. We are most fortunate in having the Commissioner here. He has just given you some of his views and some of his arguments in support of those views and the policies he has adopted. I know you will courteously present to him any questions you might have, because you have open minds. You are American citizens. You may ask him questions with the thought that you might satisfy yourself on some matters that so vitally concern you.

QUESTION: In my recent visit to various reservations one of the most frequent remarks was on the problem of health, and I would like to get your opinion as to what you intend to do with the health problem of American Indians. There seems to be dissatisfaction with the present plan. Health is a most important thing in the lives of all people. 

COMMISSIONER: There is no item of human interest that comes closer to us than the matter of health. Therefore, this is not surprising. It concerns all of us. First of all -- and I say this without apology -- generally speaking, I think the Indians when it comes to services involving health care are getting on the whole better services than are some of our other people. There are some areas where they are not. Because of the isolation of these areas, we have not been able to develop the kind of public health service that should be provided. It is harder to maintain the kind of medical care we would like to because the problem of maintaining personnel in those isolated areas. Our position briefly is this: in carrying out our responsibility for the health of the Indians, we are doing the best we can with what we have. Now the other part of the question: with health services, as with other services, as we find ways and moans of transferring these services to local governments or to the Indians themselves, we hope to do so because we think they can be handled better that way. I don't think we should do anything which others can do just as well and as cheaply as we can. I think that is about as well as I can summarize our position. Our budget on health, education and welfare was quite a bit more than half of our total budget. That budget is getting larger as year after year there is a good deal of interest manifested in these activities. Our budget for these services has expanded every year even though others have been cut. 

QUESTION: What is going to be done about the TB situation among the Indians of the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico? The situation is so critical that it can well be considered an emergency.

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