McCollum Remarks at 74th Annual National Congress of American Indians Convention & Marketplace

Congresswoman Betty McCollum (DFL-Minn.), co-chair of the Congressional Native American Caucus and Ranking Member of the House Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, spoke this afternoon at the 74th National Congress of American Indians Convention and Marketplace. Congresswoman McCollum's remarks are below:

Gwen, thank you for welcoming all of us to your district! Congresswoman Gwen Moore is one of Indian Country's strongest allies in Congress. I'm delighted to stand with Gwen here today, and proud to stand with her every day as we fight to uphold tribal sovereignty and meet our federal treaty responsibilities.

As always, it is an honor and a real pleasure to gather with you all—the tribal leaders, Native youth, and advocates of the National Congress of American Indians.

I'm incredibly grateful for the partnership, education, and friendship that I've been blessed to share with many of you. NCAI is a tremendous resource for every Member of Congress who is committed to working with tribal nations.

That success wouldn't be possible without the dedication of President Cladoosby, Jackie Pata and her wonderful staff, and generations of tribal leaders — those here today, those who came before us, and those gaining the experience to lead in the future.

As the co-chair of the Congressional Native American Caucus, I'm committed to working with NCAI to elevate the voices of tribal leaders in the halls of Congress. And, as the Ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Subcommittee that funds the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service, I am proud of our nonpartisan approach on tribal issues. I work hand-in-hand with my Republican Chairman – Ken Calvert of California – to meet the federal trust and treaty obligations to your nations.

I have to admit: it's been really tough so far this year. House Republican leadership decided to cut our Interior-Environment Subcommittee by $824 million this year. But even facing that drastic top level cut, Chairman Calvert and I came together to increase funding for the BIA and IHS by more than $100 million.

Unfortunately, the Trump administration did not share our bipartisan commitment to Indian Country in their budget priorities. The President's budget would have cut IHS by $300 million. It proposed cutting the BIA by more than $370 million, including completely eliminating funds for replacement school construction within the Bureau of Indian Education.

President Trump proposed cuts to Indian Housing, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Education, and critical programs like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative that tribes here in Wisconsin rely on to protect their treaty rights.

But the Republicans and Democrats who know Indian Country best stood together to defend the funding that Indian Country needs. We rejected the Trump budget cuts.

That success is largely thanks to the united advocacy from tribal leaders and the relationships that you have built with Members of Congress over many years. We will still have to work out a final conference agreement with the Senate, but I am optimistic that we can keep that bipartisan support for Indian Country intact.

However, even if Congress stands together against cuts to Indian Country, we all know that much work remains.

We need to take on the health disparities facing Native Americans. That begins with addressing the problems with funding, access, and quality of care within the Indian Health Service.

I'm currently working with a dozen bipartisan Members of the House on an IHS Taskforce on precisely those issues. I'm also fighting against the GOP push to repeal the Affordable Care Act and slash Medicaid funding, which would be devastating for tribal health centers and hospitals.

And as this entire nation, including your tribal nations, faces the overwhelming and heartbreaking crisis of opioid addiction, I will work with you to ensure that tribal communities have access to the help you need.

We must also do better—much, much better— to secure the safety and justice our tribal nations deserve. Tribal law enforcement and tribal courts need more resources, and greater self-determination in how to put those resources to use in your communities.

This year, I worked with my co-chair of the Native American Caucus, Tom Cole, to pass an amendment that creates a flexible 7 percent set-aside for tribal justice systems from grant programs at the Department of Justice. Unfortunately, our other bipartisan proposal to secure access for tribal nations to the Crime Victims Fund was stripped out of the bill on the House floor by Republican House leadership.

Your outreach now is critical to press Speaker Paul Ryan to do the right thing, and to restore tribal access to the Crime Victims Fund in a final omnibus spending bill.

Ultimately, in all the issues Congress considers, I am proud to work with NCAI to uphold our trust and treaty obligations, and to fight for tribal sovereignty in all its forms.

Sovereignty means tribal governments being treated the same as state and local governments under the National Labor Relations Act. Sovereignty means getting tribal input on water quality standards and resource management decisions that impact your hunting and fishing rights. Sovereignty means legitimate consultation by the federal government on any proposal impacting your land or nation. And sovereignty means ensuring that decisions about the welfare of Indian children involve tribal courts.

Tribal sovereignty is something that all Members of Congress, and every Administration, must understand and respect!

Unfortunately, the Trump Administration has not shown an understanding of the nation-to-nation relationship in their first budget to Congress, or in administration actions like pushing forward the Dakota Access pipeline or proposing to shrink the Bears Ears National Monument.

So, the next few years are not going to be easy. We need to stand together, we need to work together, and we need NCAI and tribal leaders keeping the pressure on Congress and, especially, on this White House.

Thank you for the partnership, the friendship, and the leadership you have shown me over the years. I am honored to work to with each of you and I look forward to making your nations stronger and more successful.
I am also committed to working with you for greater justice, equality, and opportunity for our nation – the United States of America.

Miigwech.