Letter to Hon. Janet Yellen, Treasury Secretary - Establish Office of Tribal Affairs

Letter

Dear Secretary Yellen:
We write to ask that the Department of the Treasury establish an Office of Tribal Affairs.
The recent tribal consultations and interactions between Treasury and tribal nations underscore
the need for sufficient, dedicated, in-house expertise at Treasury on tribal policy matters. The
establishment of such an office has support from Indian Country and would improve Treasury's
ability to fulfill its trust responsibilities to respect the nation-to-nation relationship between the
federal government and tribal nations.

Treasury has long had a role in matters, including tax and finance issues, that have
seriously affected the welfare and sovereignty of some tribal nations. This role has increased
over time and has become extremely important during the COVID-19 pandemic, because
Congress has charged Treasury with the crucial responsibility of disbursing to tribal nations
billions of dollars in relief funds.1 The recent historic appropriation of federal funding for Tribal
governments via the Treasury Department has the potential to be transformative and life-altering,
which places a great responsibility on the Department to ensure that this consequential funding is
allocated fairly while guaranteeing that subsequent regulations are reflective of the realities that
tribal nations face. The Internal Revenue Service, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency,
the Community Development Financial Institutions Program, and the Office of Recovery
Programs are just some of the Treasury components that make decisions with enormous impact
on tribal nations, in such areas as COVID-19 relief implementation, tribal economic
development, taxation and tax incentives, capital finance and capital needs, and trade policy.

The recent work of Treasury during the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the
Department requires a more formalized body to interact with tribal nations. Treasury needs a
sufficient number of permanent personnel who can help improve the Department's tribal
consultation process, strengthen the Department's relationship with tribes, and provide more inhouse expertise on matters affecting tribal nations. The Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee
(TTAC), established under section 3(a) of the Tribal General Welfare Exclusion Act of 2014,
plays an important role, but this body is not a substitute for a dedicated Office of Tribal Affairs
with a sufficient number of full-time, in-house personnel. Indeed, an Office of Tribal Affairs
would likely help coordinate the TTAC's work.

President Fawn Sharp of the National Congress of American Indians has testified that "an
Office of Tribal Affairs is critically needed within Treasury to address tribal economic
development, tax, and capital needs; integrate tribal nations within Treasury policy making; and
facilitate tribal consultations." Recent events have confirmed President Sharp's statement.
Concerns about Treasury's interactions with tribal nations regarding pandemic relief funding
were also voiced during the last administration.

In light of President Biden's memorandum affirming the importance of tribal
consultation6--which states that it is his "priority" to make "regular, meaningful, and robust
consultation with Tribal Nations cornerstones of Federal Indian policy"--we believe Treasury
has an obligation to provide permanent personnel to ensure that the Department's tribal
consultations meet the goals set forth by the President. Treasury acknowledges this point as
well; the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury has "reiterated the importance of the nation-to-nation
consultation process." An Office of Tribal Affairs would help achieve this.

Although the pandemic has underscored the urgency of Treasury having proper in-house
capacity to address tribal issues appropriately, this need existed before the pandemic and before
this administration, and, absent institutional changes at the Department, it will continue to exist
after the pandemic and after this administration. Therefore, we urge the Department of the
Treasury to establish an Office of Tribal Affairs.

We respectfully request a response by October 13, 2021, regarding your plans on this
matter. Thank you for your consideration.