Washington Report - Tuesday March 1

The National Indian Health Board is a dedicated advocate in Congress on behalf of all Tribal Governments and American Indians/Alaska Natives. Each weekly issue contains a listing of current events on Capitol Hill, information on passed and upcoming legislation, Indian health policy analysis, and action items. To view all of our legislative resources, please visit www.nihb.org/legislative/washington_report.php.

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Today's Must Dos!

Join The National Indian Health Board's Intertribal and Inter-organizational Letter On Advance Appropriations

Meet Alabama's Congressional Leadership

Learn How to Support Tribal Behavioral Health Legislation Through Advance Appropriations

News From Capitol Hill

Indian Health Care Funding and Advance Appropriations: Making Progress, Not Done Yet

Congress continues to work on the final government spending package for FY 2022 before the temporary spending measure expires on March 11, 2022. Tribes, the National Indian Health Board (NIHB), and the Biden Administration have pushed for Indian health care funding at no less than the House-passed level of $8.114 billion and advance appropriations. According to administration officials, progress has been made to include Advance Appropriations in the final spending bill, but it there is still much work to do to get it in the final bill.

Now is the best time to reach out to members of congress for support. It would be helpful if your member of congress can also personally reach out to congressional leadership and Appropriations Committee leadership to get their support in including (1) advance appropriations and (2) no less than the House-passed level of $8.114 billion for Indian health care in the final Appropriations bill for FY 2022.

Tribes and friends of Indian health can still join the NIHB joint letter to Congress TODAY. Please contact Ciara Johnson, NIHB Congressional Relations Associate at cjohnson@nihb.org to join in this effort.

Why does this matter?

The Indian Health Service (IHS) funding provides critical health care services to American Indian and Alaska Native people, without which they might not have access to care.

These services are chronically underfunded so the House-passed level of $8.114 billion would help increase access to care.
Government shutdowns and temporary funding – such as a continuing resolution – result in only partial or no funding to the IHS and Tribal health programs. This situation effectively reduces access to care. Advance Appropriations would shield these services from the harmful impacts of temporary funding measures and government shutdowns.

Contact and find your Member of Congress here.

For further questions or information, please contact Erin Morris, Congressional Relations Manager at emorris@nihb.org or Ciara Johnson, Congressional Relations Associate at cjohnson@nihb.org.

NIHB Board of Directors Takes Action on Critical Indian Health-Related Issues

The Board of Directors for the National Indian Health Board (NIHB) commenced its First Quarter and Annual Board Meeting of the year from February 23-24, 2022. NIHB held an election for the Executive Committee. The positions of Vice Chairperson, Treasurer and Member-At-Large were up for reelection. NIHB Portland Area Representative Nickolaus Lewis of the Lummi Nation was re-elected to be the Vice Chairperson. NIHB Bemidji Area Representative Sam Moose of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe was re-elected to be the Treasurer. NIHB Oklahoma City Area Representative Marty Wafford was re-elected to be the Member-At-Large. NIHB Chairman William Smith and NIHB Secretary Lisa Elgin both will continue their terms on the Executive Committee.

During the meeting, the Board adopted six new resolutions affirming positions of the NIHB including:

Resolution 22 – 01: Boarding School Healing Resolution
Resolution 22 – 02: Support for the Appointment of a Director of the Indian Health Service
Resolution 22 – 03: Reiterating the Importance of Tribal Engagement and Tribal Leadership in the Development of HHS Tribal Consultation Policies
Resolution 22-04: Support for the Codification of All HHS Federal/Tribal Advisory Committees
Resolution 22 – 05: Increasing Funding for the Indians Into Medicine (INMED) Program
Resolution 22-06: Contracting with Event Venues that Allow for Commercial Tobacco Smoking in Common Areas

Resolutions adopted by NIHB’s Board of Directors in past years may be accessed here.

Meet Your Member

Alabama

Representative Jerry Carl (R-AL-1)

Representative Carl represents Alabama's First Congressional District and is currently serving his first term when he was elected to the U.S House of Representatives in January 2020. The First Congressional District includes the Poarch Creek Indians homelands - the only federally recognized Tribe in Alabama. Representative Carl advocates for economic development, lower taxes, job creation, national security, and to protect and promote Alabama's natural resources.

Committees: House Committee of Natural Resources and the House Committee on Armed Forces.

Tribal Advocacy:

The Poarch Band of Creek Indians requested Representative Carl to co-sponsor H.R. 1884 Save Oak Flat in a letter to protect the Traditional Cultural Property in Tonto National Forest, Arizona from foreign mining companies but did not co-sponsor.
Representative Carl co-sponsors H.R 4352 which amends the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 in order to take land into trust regardless of when a Tribe became federally recognized.
He co-sponsors H.R. 5735 State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Fiscal Recovery, Infrastructure, and Disaster Relief Flexibility Act which authorizes funds under the American Rescue Plan to be used for natural disasters and infrastructure programs. This bill directs the Secretary of Treasury to allocate $250,000,000 between eligible Tribes under certain economic conditions.

Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL)

Senator Tuberville is currently serving his first term and was elected to the U.S Senate in 2020. His top issue areas include supporting law enforcement and the armed forces, veterans' affairs, and decentralization of government.

Committees: Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, Armed Services Committee, Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and the Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Tribal Advocacy:

Senator Tuberville co-sponsors Senate companion bill S.1901 to H.R. 4352 which Representative Carl also co-sponsors on the House side.
He has publicly support the sovereignty of the Poarch Band Creek of Indians' tribe in his comments on the Alabama State Senate's bill that would legalize casino gambling in Alabama.
Non tribally-related, Senator Tuberville has introduced twelve bills most of which cover topic areas of veterans' affairs and armed forces. S.2189 Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Access Act which gives hyperbaric oxygen therapy to veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury was introduced on June 23, 2021.

Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL)

Senator Shelby is a senior Senator that was first elected to the U.S Senate in 1986 and is currently serving his sixth term. Senator Shelby is retiring and is not seeking re-election for the November 2022 Congressional elections. His top issue priorities focus on second amendment rights, economic growth for the state of Alabama, and decentralization of government.

Committees: Ranking Member on the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the Environment and Public Works (EPW), the Rules and Administration, and the Joint Committee on the Library.

Tribal Advocacy:

In the 117th Congress, Shelby sponsors eight bills including S.3443 MOWA Band of Choctaw Indian Recognition Act introduced January 5, 2022. This bill would federally recognize the MOWA Band of Choctaw Tribe of the Washington and Mobile County area of Alabama.
The National Indian Health Board wrote a letter to Ranking Member Senator Shelby and Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to request support for advance appropriations and house-passed appropriation funding levels for fiscal year 2022 for the Indian Health Service. Read the letter here.

CONGRESSIONAL SPOTLIGHT

Pathways To A Healing Future Through Behavioral Health

Congress has an opportunity to advance behavioral health on several fronts. The Native Behavioral Health Access Improvement Act, H.R. 4251/S.2226, is legislation that provides important base funding for Tribal communities to address behavioral health issues. The bill would create behavioral health programs for Tribes to develop cultural-appropriate solutions for prevention, treatment, and recovery.

In addition, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act, H.R.5444/S.2907, would establish a Commission to investigate and document the detrimental Indian boarding school policies and historical trauma resulting from those policies and to make recommendations, among others, for federal resources and assistance to aid in healing from that trauma.

The National Indian Health Board's Board of Directors took action on January 25, 2022 on Resolution no. 22-01 which encourages the U.S government to accept responsibility for the board school policy, provide direct non-competitive funding to Tribes, assist with healing from historical and intergenerational trauma from the boarding school policies, provide resources for programmatic services that encourages reclamation of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) languages, pass the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act, Read the resolution here .

On February 9, 2022, S.3623 Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022 (VAWA) was introduced in the Senate. Senator Feinstein (D-CA) sponsored the bill along with 18 other original co-sponsors, including Senator Murkowski (R-AK), Senator Schatz (D-HI), Senator Murray (D-WA), Senator Collins (R-ME), Senator Cramer (R-ND), and Senator Wyden (D-OR). Senator Cortez-Masto (D-NV) was added as a co-sponsor on February 10, 2022. This bill is pending on the Senate General Calendar - pending on the Senate floor. Since there are 11 republican co-sponsors, it is anticipated that this bill will be considered and passed by the Senate as early as March, 2022. In addition, it is also anticipated that the House of Representatives will then take up this bill for consideration and passage.

On March 17, 2021, the House bill H.R.1620, the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2021, was passed by the House of Representatives. The House bill is still pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee which held one hearing on the bill on October 5, 2021.

The Indian provisions of the Senate bill is Title VIII – Safety for Indian Women. Title VIII empowers Tribal governments through the following key provisions:

It reaffirms Tribal sovereignty by maintaining the special Tribal criminal jurisdiction over certain crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians, as provided for in the 2013 reauthorization of VAWA. Those crimes include dating violence, domestic violence, and violations of Tribal civil protection orders.
It expands the special Tribal criminal jurisdiction by adding additional crimes of child violence, sexual violence, sex trafficking, stalking, obstruction of justice, and assault on Tribal justice personnel to the list of crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians that may be prosecuted and adjudicated by Tribal governments.
It authorizes increased funding, from $5 million to $25 million per fiscal year, to assist Indian Tribes in strengthening their criminal justice systems and implementing the VAWA Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction under Title 8.
The bill also establishes a pilot program for Indian Tribes in Alaska to exercise the special Tribal criminal jurisdiction over certain crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians within Alaska Native villages. It limits participation in the pilot program to only 30 Indian Tribes, with certain exceptions. The bill otherwise maintains the current jurisdictional authorities of the U.S., the State of Alaska, and Indian Tribes in Alaska.

The VAWA legislation is intended to strengthen Tribal authority to seek justice for native victims for certain violent crimes committed by non-Indians. Justice is an important step toward healing and recovery for victims and communities.

Much more is needed. Violence reduction and prevention efforts must also focus on the victims’ trauma and the underlying behavioral health problems contributing to violence.

Sufficient resources remain an issue. Without advance appropriations for health care, Tribes can lose behavioral health care providers during Continuing Resolutions and shutdowns, leaving these traumatized victims without treatment.

Bold and aggressive investments in behavioral health prevention and treatment are needed to confront these problems. Join NIHB is advocating for these investments and Advance Appropriations for Indian health care and, in so doing, secure a more promising future for Native people and their children. The advocacy tools are included here.