Congressman Blumenauer has been a leader in Congress to preserve the sovereign authority of Native American tribal governments. He supports the Sovereign Protection Initiative and other efforts to halt and reverse the erosion of tribal sovereignty. He successfully fought to secure funding for tribal transportation infrastructure in keeping with the National Congress of American Indians' recommendations.
During the 107th Congress, independence of Native Americans was repeatedly threatened. These attacks came through the guise of tax codes, the federal tribal recognition process, and, in some cases, through proposals to actually remove lands from reservations. The proposals would have rolled back many of the Native Americans' hard-earned accomplishments. These efforts reflected a very basic misunderstanding of the fact that Native American tribal governments are now and will continue to be sovereign nations.