(a) Establishment of formal panel; members

(1) The Commissioner shall establish a formal panel review process for purposes of—

(A) evaluating applications for financial assistance under sections 2991b and 2991d of this title; and

(B) determining the relative merits of the projects for which such assistance is requested.

(2) To implement the process established under paragraph (1), the Commissioner shall appoint members of review panels from among individuals who are not officers or employees of the Administration for Native Americans. In making appointments to such panels, the Commissioner shall give preference to American Indians, Native Hawaiians, other Native American Pacific Islanders (including American Samoan Natives), and Alaska Natives.

(b) Duties of panel
Each review panel appointed under subsection (a)(2) that reviews any application for financial assistance shall—

(1) determine the merit of each project described in such application;

(2) rank such application with respect to all other applications it reviews for the fiscal year involved, according to the relative merit of all of the projects that are described in such application and for which financial assistance is requested; and

(3) submit to the Commissioner a list that identifies all applications reviewed by such panel and arranges such applications according to rank determined under paragraph (2).

(c) Notice to Congressional committee chairman; information required
Upon the request of the chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate or of the chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives made with respect to any application for financial assistance under section 2991b or 2991d of this title, the Commissioner shall transmit to the chairman written notice—

(1) identifying such application;

(2) containing a copy of the list submitted to the Commissioner under subsection (b)(3) in which such application is ranked;

(3) specifying which other applications ranked in such list have been approved by the Commissioner under sections 2991b and 2991d of this title; and

(4) if the Commissioner has not approved each application superior in merit, as indicated on such list, to the application with respect to which such notice is transmitted, containing a statement of the reasons relied upon by the Commissioner for—

(A) approving the application with respect to which such notice is transmitted; and

(B) failing to approve each pending application that is superior in merit, as indicated on such list, to the application described in subparagraph (A).