Issue Position: Indian Country

Issue Position

Issue Position: Indian Country

Indian Country

I take great pride in working with, representing, and defending the sovereignty of our nation's American Indian communities. As a member of the House of Representatives, I served as a Vice-Chair of the Congressional Native American Caucus and today I serve on the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. My aim is to help Indian Country build sustainable economies and vibrant businesses. I am working to ensure that we provide Native communities with increased educational opportunities, dependable health care, adequate housing, and access to clean water, electricity and basic telephone and internet service.

Increasing Water Access

After a decade-long effort, this year we finally enacted the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Settlement as part of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act. This settlement is vital to providing a quarter of a million people living on the Navajo Nation, the City of Gallup and the Jicarilla Apache Nation access to clean, safe and reliable water. Today, I am also working with other members of the New Mexico delegation to ensure resolutions to the Aamodt and Abeyta water settlements.

Improving Indian Health Services

Reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act is more than a decade overdue. We need to make sure that the needs of Native communities are taken into account as part of the larger debate on health insurance reform. I am working to secure Indian health care options with increased access and an emphasis on preventive care. I'm also committed to tackling what has become an epidemic of suicide among young people in Indian Country.

Improving Public Safety

It's essential that every tribal community in New Mexico be a safe environment for the next generation of Native children to grow up in. Through improved coordination between the federal and tribal governments, we can work to guarantee federal obligations to improve public safety.

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