NCAI Resolution #ECWS-19-001: Support for Advance Appropriations for the Bureau of Indian Affairs

Summary

A National Congress of American Indians resolution, Resolution #ECWS-19-001, titled Support for Advance Appropriations for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Health Service. The page opens with the NCAI Executive Committee roster, naming Jefferson Keel of the Chickasaw Nation as President. The resolution's recitals state that NCAI was established in 1944 and is the oldest and largest national organization of American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments. They also state that treaties and federal laws created a fundamental contract between tribal nations and the United States and that the trust responsibility commits the federal government to the provision of social, medical and educational services for tribal citizens.

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Full text

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EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

PRESIDENT
Jefferson Keel
Chickasaw Nation

FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT
Aaron Payment

Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa

Indians of Michigan

RECORDING SECRETARY
Juana Majel-Dixon
Pauma Band Mission Indians

TREASURER
W. Ron Allen
Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe

REGIONAL VICE-
PRESIDENTS

ALASKA

Rob Sanderson, Jr.

Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of
Alaska

EASTERN OKLAHOMA
Joe Byrd
Cherokee Nation

GREAT PLAINS
Larry Wright, Jr.
Ponca Tribe of Nebraska

MIDWEST
Roger Rader
Pokagon Band of Potawatomi

NORTHEAST
Lance Gumbs
Shinnecock Indian Nation

NORTHWEST
Leonard Forsman
Suquamish Tribe

PACIFIC
Willie Carrillo
Tule River Tribe of California

Rocky MOUNTAIN
Darrin Old Coyote
Crow Nation

SOUTHEAST
Nancy Carnley
Ma-Chis Lower Creek Indians

SOUTHERN PLAINS
Zach Pahmahmie
Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation

SOUTHWEST
Joe Garcia
Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo

WESTERN
Franklin Pablo, Sr.
Gila River Indian Community

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jacqueline Pata
Tlingit

NCAI HEADQUARTERS
1516 P Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20005
202.466.7767
202.466.7797 fax
www.ncal.org

NATIONAL CONGRESS OF AMERICAN

INDIANS

The National Congress of American Indians
Resolution #ECWS-19-001

TITLE: Support for Advance Appropriations for the Bureau of Indian Affairs
and Indian Health Service

WHEREAS, we, the members of the National Congress of American Indians of
the United States, invoking the divine blessing of the Creator upon our efforts and
purposes, in order to preserve for ourselves and our descendants the inherent sovereign
rights of our Indian nations, rights secured under Indian treaties and agreements with
the United States, and all other rights and benefits to which we are entitled under the
laws and Constitution of the United States and the United Nations Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples, to enlighten the public toward a better understanding of
the Indian people, to preserve Indian cultural values, and otherwise promote the health,
safety and welfare of the Indian people, do hereby establish and submit the following
resolution; and

WHEREAS, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) was
established in 1944 and is the oldest and largest national organization of American
Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments; and

WHEREAS, treaties and federal laws have created a fundamental contract
between tribal nations and the United States: tribal nations ceded millions of acres of
land that made the United States what it is today, and in return tribal nations have the
right of continued self-government and the right to exist as distinct peoples on their own
lands; and

WHEREAS, the trust responsibility commits the federal government to the
protection of Indian lands; protection of tribal self-governance; and provision of social,
medical, and educational services for tribal citizens; and

WHEREAS, this fundamental contract — the federal trust relationship — ensures
that tribal governments and their citizens receive funding for basic governmental
services; and

WHEREAS, the federal budget for tribal governmental services is a reflection
of the extent to which the United States honors its promises to American Indian/Alaska
Native people; and

WHEREAS, in recent years, federal appropriation bills have not been enacted
in a timely manner, thus hampering tribal budgeting, recruitment, retention, provision
of services, facility maintenance, and construction efforts; and

WHEREAS, since Fiscal Year 1998, there has only been one year (FY 2006) in
which the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations bill has been
enacted before the beginning of the new fiscal year; and
NCAI 2019 ECWS Resolution ECWS-19-001

WHEREAS, the Indian Health Service (IHS) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) provide
core governmental services for tribal nations, including hospitals, schools, law enforcement, child
welfare programs, social services, and more; and

WHEREAS, for many tribal nations, most tribal governmental services are funded by federal
sources because tribal nations lack the tax base and parity in tax authority under federal case law to
raise revenue to deliver services; and

WHEREAS, until all tribal nations retain exclusive taxing jurisdiction within the exterior
borders of their tribal lands, federal support remains critical to ensure essential government services
are delivered to tribal citizens; and

WHEREAS, partisan debates affecting the appropriations process have an outsized impact
on the daily lives of American Indian and Alaska Native people who already face underfunding of
health care, education, and backlogs in physical infrastructure — all of which fall under the federal
trust responsibility; and

WHEREAS, advanced appropriations is a budgetary solution that would protect the treaty
and trust responsibilities from future government shutdowns and not count against spending caps;
and

WHEREAS, moving the BIA and IHS to the advanced appropriations process will protect
tribal governments and citizens from cash flow problems that regularly occur at the start of the federal
fiscal year due to delays in enactment of annual appropriations legislation.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Congress of Americans Indians
(NCAJ) urges Congress to authorize advanced appropriations for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
and the Indian Health Service (IHS); and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that NCAI requests that Congress include our
recommendation for IHS and BIA advanced appropriations in the budget resolution; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this resolution shall be the policy of NCAI until it is
withdrawn or modified by subsequent resolution.

Page 2 of 3
NCAI 2019 ECWS Resolution ECWS-19-001

CERTIFICATION

The foregoing resolution was adopted by the Executive Committee at the Executive Council Winter
Session of the National Congress of American Indians, held at the Capital Hilton, February 12, 2019,

with a quorum present.

J dttelsch Keel, President

ATTEST:

ecording Secretary

Page 3 of 3

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