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Customized and Focused Washington, DC Advocacy and Communications
An American Indian Owned and Operated Business
In an effort to keep people informed, it's important to know what legislation has been enacted and who were the champions in Congress supporting the measure. Thunderbird Strategic also tracks pending legislation on both sides of the Hill, so decision makers can have a sense of what's on the horizon.
Enacted Legislation American Indian Legislation
S. 982 (H.R. 2438): Not Invisible Act of 2019
This bill increases the coordination of efforts to reduce violent crime within Indian lands and against Indians. Specifically, the Department of the Interior must designate an official within the Bureau of Indian Affairs to coordinate prevention efforts, grants, and programs related to missing Indians and the murder and human trafficking of Indians. In addition, Interior and the Department of Justice (DOJ) must (1) establish a joint commission on violent crime within Indian lands and against Indians, and (2) submit a written response to the recommendations developed by the joint commission. The joint commission must develop and make publicly available recommendations to Interior and DOJ on actions to combat violent crime against Indians and within Indian lands, including recommendations for identifying, reporting, and responding to instances of missing persons, murder, and human trafficking.
Enacted on Oct 10, 2020
Sponsor: Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto [D-NV] (Companion Bill Sponsor: Debra Haaland (D-1-NM)
S. 209 (H.R. 2031): PROGRESS for Indian Tribes Act
This bill replaces the Tribal Self-Governance Demonstration Project with the Tribal Self-Governance Program. Under the program, Native American tribes or organizations may receive grants to plan for participation in self-governance and to negotiate the terms of participation. In addition, the bill revises the Department of the Interior's process for approving self-governance compacts and funding agreements with tribes. Interior must negotiate contracts and funding agreements to maximize implementation of the self-governance policy. The bill sets forth requirements for tribes participating in self-governance with respect to conflicts of interest, audits, redesign and consolidation of programs, retrocession of programs, non-duplication of funding, and records. Funding agreements must include provisions for Interior to monitor the performance of trust functions by the tribe and to reassume a program and funding under specified circumstances. Tribes participating in self-governance may elect to assume some federal responsibilities with respect to certain construction projects. The bill prohibits obligating a tribe to continue performance of a compact or funding agreement that provides insufficient funding.
Enacted on October 21, 2020
Sponsor: Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) (Companion Bill Sponsor: Debra Haaland (D-NM-1))
S. 227 (H.R. 2733): Savanna’s Act
This bill directs the Department of Justice (DOJ) to review, revise, and develop law enforcement and justice protocols to address missing or murdered Native Americans. The bill requires DOJ to provide training to law enforcement agencies on how to record tribal enrollment for victims in federal databases; develop and implement a strategy to educate the public on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System; conduct specific outreach to tribes, tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations regarding the ability to publicly enter information through the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System or other non-law enforcement sensitive portal; develop regionally appropriate guidelines for response to cases of missing or murdered Native Americans; provide training and technical assistance to tribes and law enforcement agencies for implementation of the developed guidelines; and report statistics on missing or murdered Native Americans. Tribes may submit their own guidelines to DOJ that respond to cases of missing or murdered Native Americans. Additionally, the bill authorizes DOJ to provide grants for the purposes of (1) developing and implementing policies and protocols for law enforcement regarding cases of missing or murdered Native Americans, and (2) compiling and annually reporting data relating to missing or murdered Native Americans. Federal law enforcement agencies must modify their guidelines to incorporate the guidelines developed by DOJ. Finally, the Federal Bureau of Investigation must include gender in its annual statistics on missing and unidentified persons published on its website.
Enacted October 10, 2020
Sponsor: Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) (Companion Bill Sponsor: Norma Torres (D-CA-35))
117th Congress Proposed Legislation
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
Title: A bill to amend the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act of 2016 to ensure that federally recognized Indian Tribes are consulted before the sale or transfer of certain Federal civilian real properties, and for other purposes.
S.1735 - ADDED 5/26/21
Title: A bill to establish an Office of Native American Affairs within the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes.
Title: To restore an opportunity for tribal economic development on terms that are equal and fair, and for other purposes.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Title: A bill to establish a Native American language resource center in furtherance of the policy set forth in the Native American Languages Act.
Title: To enhance protections of Native American tangible cultural heritage, and for other purposes.
Title: A bill to amend the Native American Languages Act to ensure the survival and continuing vitality of Native American languages, and for other purposes.
EDUCATION
Title: A resolution designating the week beginning February 28, 2021, as "National Tribal Colleges and Universities Week".
Title: A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish State and Indian Tribe grants for community colleges and grants for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Minority-Serving Institutions, and for other purposes.
Title: To expand opportunity for Native American children through additional options in education, and for other purposes.
Title: To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a Native VetSuccess at Tribal Colleges and Universities Pilot Program.
FEDERAL INDIAN RELATIONS
Title: An original resolution authorizing expenditures by the Committee on Indian Affairs.
Title: A bill to repeal the Klamath Tribe Judgment Fund Act.
Title: A bill to amend title 23, United States Code, to modify the distribution of funds under the tribal transportation program, and for other purposes.
Title: A bill to amend the Grand Ronde Reservation Act, and for other purposes.
Title: A bill to direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish a new Tribal priority window for the 2.5 gigahertz band, and for other purposes.
Title: A bill to grant a Federal charter to the National American Indian Veterans, Incorporated.
Title: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to recognize Indian tribal governments for purposes of determining under the adoption credit whether a child has special needs.
Title: To amend the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act.
Title: To provide direct funding to local, Tribal, and territorial governments to establish Green New Deal programs and initiatives, and for other purposes
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Title: To authorize the President to provide disaster assistance to States and Indian Tribes under a major disaster recovery program, and for other purposes.
Title: To support clarity and consistency with regard to the exercise of criminal jurisdiction and authority in Indian country, and for other purposes.
Title: To repeal certain obsolete laws relating to Indians.
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
Title: To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Indian Health Service, to acquire private land to facilitate access to the Desert Sage Youth Wellness Center in Hemet, California, and for other purposes.
Title: A bill to amend the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act to extend the deadline for a report by the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children, and for other purposes.
Title: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to the collection and availability of health data with respect to Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations, and for other purposes.
Title: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide best practices on student suicide awareness and prevention training and condition State educational agencies, local educational agencies, and tribal educational agencies receiving funds under section 520A of such Act to establish and implement a school-based student suicide awareness and prevention training policy.
Title: To amend the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to expand the funding authority for renovating, constructing, and expanding certain facilities.
Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives to recognize the crisis of violence against Native women.
Title: To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to exclude certain payments to Alaska Native elders for determining eligibility for certain programs, and for other purposes.
Title: To direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish a demonstration program to adapt the successful practices of providing foreign aid to underdeveloped economies to the provision of Federal economic development assistance to Native communities in similarly situated remote areas in the United States, and for other purposes.
Title: To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to States, political subdivisions of States, Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations, community-based entities, and primary care and behavioral health organizations to address behavioral health needs caused by the public health emergency declared with respect to COVID-19.
Title: To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make certain improvements relating to mental health and suicide prevention outreach to minority veterans and American Indian and Alaska Native veterans, and for other purposes.
Title: To allow certain State and Tribal permitting authority to encourage expansion of broadband service to rural and Tribal communities, and for other purposes.
Title: To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to require a Federal medical assistance percentage of 100 percent for urban Indian organizations, and for other purposes.
Title: To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to require that equitable distribution of assistance include equitable distribution to Indian tribes and tribal organizations and to increase amounts reserved for allotment to Indian tribes and tribal organizations under certain circumstances, and to provide for a Government Accountability Office report on child abuse and neglect in American Indian tribal communities.
Title: To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to add access to telecommunications and information services in Indian country and areas with high populations of Indian people to the universal service principle relating to access to such services in rural, insular, and high cost areas.
Title: Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2021.
Title: To provide additional appropriations to the Indian Health Service, and for other purposes.
Title: To provide homelessness and supportive services assistance for Native Americans to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for other purposes.
Title: To amend the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to authorize additional funding for planning, design, construction, modernization, and renovation of hospitals and outpatient health care facilities.
Title: To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, to award grants to States, territories, political subdivisions of States and territories, Tribal governments, and consortia of Tribal governments to establish an unarmed 911 response program, and for other purposes.
Title: To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to require a Federal medical assistance percentage of 100 percent for Indian health care providers, and for other purposes.
Title: To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award additional funding through the Sanitation Facilities Construction Program of the Indian Health Service, and for other purposes.
Title: To amend the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 to secure urgent resources vital to Indian victims of crime, and for other purposes.
Title: To protect Native children and promote public safety in Indian country.
LANDS & NATURAL RESOURCES
Title: A resolution recognizing the critical importance of access to reliable, clean drinking water for Native Americans and Alaska Natives and confirming the responsibility of the Federal Government to ensure such water access.
Title: To authorize the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Title: A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to take certain land located in Pinal County, Arizona, into trust for the benefit of the Gila River Indian Community, and for other purposes.
Title: A bill to amend the America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 to expand the Indian reservation drinking water program, and for other purposes.
Title: A bill to convey land in Anchorage, Alaska, to the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, and for other purposes.
Title: A bill to provide for the conveyance of certain property to the Tanana Tribal Council located in Tanana, Alaska, and for other purposes.
Title: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permanently extend the depreciation rules for property used predominantly within an Indian reservation.
Title: Recognizing the critical importance of access to reliable, clean drinking water for Native Americans and Alaska Natives and confirming the responsibility of the Federal Government to ensure such water access.
Title: A bill to provide for the conveyance of certain property to the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium located in Sitka, Alaska, and for other purposes.
Title: A bill to amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to make a technical correction to the water rights settlement for Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation, and for other purposes.
Title: To authorize the Seminole Tribe of Florida to lease or transfer certain land, and for other purposes.
Title: To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to provide that Alexander Creek, Alaska, is and shall be recognized as an eligible Native village under that Act, and for other purposes.
Title: To provide for the conveyance of certain property to the Tanana Tribal Council located in Tanana, Alaska, and for other purposes.
Title: To convey land in Anchorage, Alaska, to the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, and for other purposes.
Title: To direct the Secretary of the Interior to take certain land located in Pinal County, Arizona, into trust for the benefit of the Gila River Indian Community, and for other purposes.
Title: To take certain lands in California into trust for the benefit of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, and for other purposes.
Title: To amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to authorize grants to Indian Tribes to further achievement of Tribal coastal zone objectives, and for other purposes.
Title: To take certain land located in San Diego County, California, into trust for the benefit of the Pala Band of Mission Indians, and for other purposes.
Title: To assist Tribal governments in the management of buffalo and buffalo habitat and for the reestablishment of buffalo on Indian lands.
Title: To take certain Federal lands in Tennessee into trust for the benefit of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and for other purposes.
Title: To transfer administrative jurisdiction of certain Federal lands from the Army Corps of Engineers to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to take such lands into trust for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, and for other purposes.
TRIBAL RECOGNITION
Title: To extend Federal recognition to the Waccamaw Indian People of Conway, South Carolina, and for other purposes.
Title: To extend Federal recognition to the Pee Dee Indian Tribe of McColl, South Carolina.
Title: To provide for the recognition of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, and for other purposes.
Title: To provide for the recognition of certain Alaska Native communities and the settlement of certain claims under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and for other purposes.
GENERAL NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS
Title: A resolution recognizing the heritage, culture, and contributions of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian women in the United States.
Title: Expressing the Sense of Congress that the Eagle Staff shall be recognized as the first flag of the sovereign Native American Tribal nations and the first flag of the Americas, and to encourage programs promoting the cultural significance of the Eagle Staff.
Title: Protecting Indian Tribes from Scams Act