Tribal Nations Legislative Summit Speech

Aloha mai kakou. It is a pleasure to be with the NCAI board and members today. I have worked with President Jefferson Keel and Executive Director Jackie Johnson-Pata for several years. As the oldest and largest organization serving the broad interests of tribal governments and communities, you have seen that mountains can be moved through dedication, education and perseverance.

NCAI was instrumental in moving federal policy from-termination to self-determination. Your voice be needed to help usher in the next era of Native self-governance.

In my long career and advocacy for Native peoples, I remember the words of my kupuna, my ancestors, a'ohe hana nui ka alu'ia. No task is too big, when done together. Looking around, we see the truth in their wisdom, and I commend NCAI for embodying this principle.

Working together is an important tool in preserving the rights and communities of Native peoples. This tool will be most valuable to you in times of limited resources and diminishing budgets.

At the Committee, we recognize that tribes are sovereign governments and historically, the United States has not met its full responsibility to them. As a result, Native communities have suffered among the worst socioeconomic conditions in the nation, for generations.

As we head into budget season, I will remind my colleagues about our trust responsibility to Native peoples and renew efforts to protect federal programs and services that are mandatory to meeting that responsibility.

I continue to work diligently to ensure that my colleagues understand there are real people and communities relying on the promises the United States has made, and it is our responsibility
to keep them.

As many of you know, my top legislative priorities are the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act and the Carcieri Fix legislation. Both measures resolve ambiguity in federal law and ensure parity for our nation's first peoples. Both empower Native peoples to perpetuate their cultures, languages and traditions, and hand them down to future generations.

The well-being of any Native people is rooted in their continued sovereignty-and the security of their homelands.

Native Hawaiians are the only federally-recognized Native people without a government-to-government relationship, and the United States bears responsibility in the destruction of their government and suppression of their rights.

The Congress first exercised its Indian affairs powers in Hawaii by ratifying a treaty with King Kamehameha III in 1826. Then, in 1893, the United States violated five treaties of friendship by landing troops to aide in the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian government and Queen Liliuokalani.

Since then, the United States has apologized to the Native Hawaiian people and enacted over 150 laws to meet its trust responsibility, providing resources for health care, housing, education, and language survival, to name just a few.

My bill gives Native Hawaiians the same mechanisms of self-governance and self-determination that all tribes currently enjoy under existing federal law - and its passage is long overdue. Governmental parity for all of America's first nations is pono, or just, and I thank NCAI for its continued support of my top priority.

As I turn to my other top priority, we must remember that in the course of building this great nation, much land was taken from Native nations, and with it, their sacred sites, homelands and ability to thrive. It has been three years since the Supreme Court issued its decision in Carcieri, upending 75 years of established federal practice.

The impact of Carcieri becomes clear as the Congress turns its attention to issues like violence against women, transportation, and jobs. If left unaddressed, Carcieri hampers the progress tribes can make in these and other vital areas, and tribal communities will, once again, be left behind.

For example, access to capital and investment is a necessary component of economic development and job creation. Carcieri may stifle investment in Indian Country as lenders become reluctant to invest where the status of the land is uncertain. This can make economic recovery extremely difficult for tribal communities.

Law enforcement in and around Indian Country is also hampered by the Carcieri ruling. As the territorial bounds of tribal jurisdiction are disputed, state and tribal law enforcement do not always know who has the authority to act.

When law enforcement is hesitant to act, or when prosecutions are thrown out, cracks in the public safety net widen, guilty offenders to go free, and victims lose hope. Without effective law enforcement, the safety and security of all residents, Native and non-Native, is at risk.

It is time for Congress to act to make certain that all tribes can have lands taken into trust to restore their homelands, protect their families and develop their communities.

Vice Chairman Barrasso and I continue to lead the Committee in a bipartisan manner, working to advance Native solutions to Native concerns. Together, we have sponsored the HEARTH Act, the Indian Tribal Energy Development and Self-Determination Act, and the Tribal Law and Order Act extensions.

The Committee continues to advance other important measures as well. The Native CLASS Act empowers Native communities to implement strategies that produce strong educational outcomes for their children.

The SAVE Native Women Act ensures that tribes have the authority and resources to address issues of violence against women, regardless of who commits the crime.

I am happy that Chairman Leahy and Senator Crapo have included SAVE Act provisions in the bipartisan Violence Against Women Act reauthorization marked out of Judiciary last month. I want to applaud NCAI's VAWA Task Force for their energy and hard work on this issue.

I see a lot of very important people have spent time with you this week. I am pleased to see the Secretaries of Education, Health and Human Services, Labor, Homeland Security and Agriculture shared their priorities with you, and top officials from the White House, EPA, FEMA and OPM have joined you as well.

President Obama has made clear that every department serves Native communities, not just a few agencies. The participation of these top officials and other representatives from the Administration in your summit demonstrates action behind his words, and I commend the President-a son of Hawaii-for his commitment to all Native peoples.

Several of my Senate and House colleagues spent time with you this week to talk about the work they are doing to champion Native rights and the issues that impact all of you.

Protecting tribal sovereignty and your right to self-sufficiency is an effort that takes many hands. In Hawaii, we call this laulima. By working together, we advance self-determination. We enable the United States to fulfill its commitments to Native peoples, and ensure that Native communities have the resources and authority to meet their own needs.

In true Hawaiian fashion, I will close by returning to the beginning. Native Americans - American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians - have secured their greatest achievements when they stand on common ground and collaborate.

In times when it is most difficult to do so, we must cling to our values and stick together. I encourage you to remember to always holomua - to move forward together.

I am honored to work for Native peoples, and I will continue to listen to your concerns, support your ideas and advance your interests.

God bless you and your families, God bless the Native Nations, and God bless the United States of America. Me ke aloha, a hui hou.

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