Udall Secures Enactment Of 12 Indian Affairs Bills
U.S. SENATE News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, hailed final passage of 12 Indian Affairs-related bills.
The 12 bills will now go to the president to be signed into law.
Udall also cheered Senate passage of seven additional Indian Affairs provisions, which must be passed by the House of Representatives.
Udall led or cosponsored seven of the 12 Indian Affairs-related bills set to become law, including:
– The Health Care Access for Urban Native Veterans Act, Udall’s bipartisan bill to improve health care access for Native American Veterans by providing Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) coverage for care that Native American veterans receive at urban Indian health centers;
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Navajo families who don’t have running water use huge tanks like these to haul water to their homes. Some drive up to an hour multiple times a week to fill the tanks in Monument Valley and Bluff.
After years of negotiation and delays, the Navajo Utah Water Rights Settlement Act passed the U.S. House and Senate on Monday as part of a federal coronavirus relief package. President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill into law on Tuesday.
The settlement act gives the Navajo Nation the right to use 81,500 acre-feet of water from Utah’s Colorado River Basin apportionment each year, settling all future claims to water on the Nation in Utah.
Senator John Hoeven, chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, issued the following statement after Congress passed the Indian Community Economic Enhancement Act of 2020, legislation he authored to improve economic opportunity, provide regulatory relief and increase access to capital for Indian Tribes and native businesses. Hoeven introduced the bill with Senator Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) in January 2019 and secured its passage by the Senate later that year. It has now passed both chambers and will go to the president to be signed into law.
“This legislation provides regulatory relief and resources to better help Tribes attract investment, diversify their economies and create good jobs for their members,” Hoeven said. “This comes as part of our broader efforts to empower tribal communities to determine their own economic future.”
Thursday, December 17, 2020
The next time you walk through the doors at 1849 C Street, NW, the portrait above the security desk may well feature the first Native American Secretary of the Interior. As has been widely reported, Congresswoman Deb Haaland (D-NM-01) and former Interior Deputy Secretary Michael Connor are among several Native American candidates currently being vetted for the position.
As President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take the helm on January 20, his transition team is identifying landing teams, political nominees, policy agendas, and management plans for early action. For Indian Country, the Biden Campaign’s Plan for Tribal Nations serves as a useful framework for early action, with public safety and justice, infrastructure, access to capital, federal procurement, clean energy, climate change, environmental justice, land into trust, and conservation all featured prominently.