- White House Tribal Nations Conference « President Obama Remarks
President Barack Obama
Tribal Nations Conference
U.S. Department of the Interior
Washington, D.C.
November 13, 2013
3:57 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.)
Thank you, everybody. Everybody, please, have a seat. Thank
you,
Karen, for the kind introduction.
A couple of people I want to introduce, or at least acknowledge.
First
of all, give it up for our outstanding new Secretary of the Interior,
Sally Jewell. (Applause.) We’re joined by several other
members of my
Cabinet, which reflects how much my administration values your
partnership, the partnership with your communities. I want to
thank
the members of Congress who are here.
I want to give, also, a special shout-out to one of my closest
advisors, one of my oldest friends. But he's also a great friend
to
all of you, and he doesn’t get a lot of credit because he hates credit;
he just likes to work behind the scenes. But he worked with many
of
you when he worked in the Senate. He has been a key advisor on
Native
American affairs for me throughout this process, and I could not be
prouder of him -- Mr. Pete Rouse. So give Mr. Pete Rouse a big
round
of applause. (Applause.)
Now, most of all, I want to thank all of you, especially the tribal
leaders who are here today. And I understand, actually, we've got
more
tribal leaders here than we ever have at any of these
conferences. So
it just keeps on growing each year, which is wonderful news.
(Applause.) You represent more than 300 tribal nations, each of
you
with your own extraordinary heritage, each a vital part of a shared
American family. And as a proud adopted member of the Crow
Nation, let
me say kaheé -- welcome -- to all of you.
Now, after I became President, I said that given the painful chapters
and broken promises in our shared history, I'd make sure this country
kept its promises to you. I promised that tribal nations would
have a
stronger voice in Washington –- that as long as I was in the White
House, it would be your house, too. And for the past five years,
my
administration has worked hard to keep that promise –- to build a new
relationship with you based on trust and respect.
And this new relationship wasn't just about learning from the
past. It
was also about the here and now –- recognizing the contributions that
your communities make to enrich the United States every single
day.
Native Americans are doctors and teachers and businessmen and women,
and veterans and servicemembers. And they get up every morning
and
help make America stronger and more prosperous and more just.
And I want to build on our true government-to-government relationship
as well. So I’m proud to have Native Americans serving with
dedication
in my administration, including Assistant Secretary of the Interior for
Indian Affairs, Kevin Washburn of the Chickasaw Nation; my Senior
Advisor for Native American Affairs, Jodi Gillette of the Standing Rock
Sioux Tribe -- (applause) -- our [inter]governmental affairs office,
we've got Charlie Galbraith of the Navajo Nation. And I look
forward
to -- (applause) -- so they worked so incredibly hard to make this
conference possible, and I look forward to it every year.
I had the privilege of some of you coming to the White House
yesterday. As we made clear in the Executive Order earlier this
year
that established the White House Council on Native American Affairs, we
have a unique legal and political relationship, one that’s been
affirmed many times in treaties, in statutes and in the
Constitution.
That’s the unique relationship we honor today. That’s the
relationship
we're called upon to sustain for the progress of all of our
peoples.
And while we should be proud of what we’ve achieved together in recent
years, we also should be focused on all the work that we still have to
do.
I know we've got members of the Iroquois nation here today. And I
think we could learn from the Iroquois Confederacy, just as our
Founding Fathers did when they laid the groundwork for our
democracy.
The Iroquois called their network of alliances with other tribes and
European nations a “covenant chain.” Each link represented a bond
of
peace and friendship. But that covenant chain didn’t sustain
itself.
It needed constant care, so that it would stay strong. And that’s
what
we’re called to do, to keep the covenant between us for this generation
and for future generations. And there are four areas in
particular
where I think we need to focus.
First, let’s keep our covenant strong by strengthening justice and
tribal sovereignty. We’ve worked with you in good faith to
resolve
longstanding disputes like establishing the Land Buy Back Program to
consolidate Indian lands and restore them to tribal trust lands.
We’ve
reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act, so tribes can prosecute
those who commit domestic violence in Indian Country, whether they’re
Native American or not. (Applause.) I signed changes to the
Stafford
Act, to let tribes directly request disaster assistance, because when
disasters like floods or fires strike, you shouldn’t have to wait for a
middleman to get the help you need. (Applause.)
But there’s more we can do to return more control to your
communities.
And that’s why I’m urging Congress to reauthorize the Native American
Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act -- because your
communities know your affordable housing needs better than Washington
does. (Applause.) It’s why we’ll keep pushing Congress to
pass the
Carcieri fix, so that more tribal nations can put their land into
federal trust. (Applause.) And we’ve heard loud and clear
your
frustrations when it comes to the problem of being fully reimbursed by
the federal government for the contracted services you provide, so
we’re going to keep working with you and Congress to find a
solution.
(Applause.) That’s all going to be part of making sure that we’re
respecting the nation-to-nation relationship.
Now, second, we’ve got to keep our covenant strong by expanding
opportunity for Native Americans. We’ve created jobs building new
roads and high-speed Internet to connect more of your communities to
the broader economy. We’ve made major investments in job training
and
tribal colleges and universities. But the fact remains Native
Americans face poverty rates that are higher by far than the national
average. And that’s more than a statistic, that’s a moral call to
action. We’ve got to do better.
So I said to some of you that I met with yesterday, growing our
economy, creating new jobs is my top priority. We’ve got to stop
the
self-inflicted wounds in Washington. Because for many tribal
nations,
this year’s harmful sequester cuts and last month’s government shutdown
made a tough situation worse. Your schools, your police
departments,
child welfare offices are all feeling the squeeze. That’s why I’m
fighting for a responsible budget that invests in the things that we
need in order to grow -– things like education, and job training, and
affordable housing and transportation, including for Native American
communities. And we’re going to work to make sure Native
American-owned businesses have greater access to capital and to selling
their goods overseas. So we’ve got to build the economy, create
more
opportunity.
Number three, we’ve got to keep our covenant strong by making sure
Native Americans have access to quality, affordable health care just
like everybody else. That’s one of the reasons we fought hard to
pass
the Affordable Care Act, and we’re working overtime to make sure the
law works the way it’s supposed to. For Native Americans, this
means
more access to comprehensive, affordable coverage. It permanently
reauthorizes the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, which provides
care to so many in your communities.
And let me just give you one example of how this law is already working
for tribal nations. Thanks to the ACA, the Puyallup Tribal Health
Authority in Washington State created the country’s first tribal family
medicine residency program. Patients are cared for in a
culturally
sensitive way, often by Native American staff. And we’re seeing
results -– a young physician caring for a revered Tribal Elder; a
doctor who has delivered babies in the community for years, and now his
son is also doing the same. And that’s creating more quality
health
care, but also sustaining bonds between generations. That’s
progress
that we need to build on.
And then the fourth area that we’ve got to work on is, let’s keep our
covenant strong by being good stewards of native homelands, which are
sacred to you and your families. I saw the beauty of Crow Agency,
Montana, when I was a candidate for this office. Next year, I’ll
make
my first trip to Indian Country as President. (Applause.)
The health of tribal nations depends on the health of tribal
lands. So
it falls on all of us to protect the extraordinary beauty of those
lands for future generations. And already, many of your lands
have
felt the impacts of a changing climate, including more extreme flooding
and droughts. That’s why, as part of the Climate Action Plan I
announced this year, my administration is partnering with you to
identify where your lands are vulnerable to climate change, how we can
make them more resilient.
And working together, we want to develop the energy potential of tribal
lands in a responsible way and in accordance with tribal wishes.
Over
the last four years, we’ve more than doubled oil and gas revenues on
tribal lands –- a big reason why the United States is now more energy
independent. So we’re working with tribes to get more renewable
energy
projects, like solar and wind, up and running. Your lands and
your
economies can be a source of renewable energy and the good local jobs
that come with it.
So standing up for justice and tribal sovereignty; increasing economic
opportunity; expanding quality health care; protecting native homelands
-- this is the foundation we can build on. This is the progress
that
we can make together.
And we don’t have to look far for inspiration. Some of you know,
Monday obviously was Veterans’ Day, a time to honor all who have worn
America’s uniform. (Applause.) I know everyone here
is proud that
Native Americans have such a high enlistment rate in our
military. And
we’ve seen generations of patriotic Native Americans who have served
with honor and courage, and we draw strength from them all.
We draw strength from the Navajo Code Talkers whose skill helped win
the Second World War. (Applause.) We draw strength from
Woodrow
Wilson Keeble, who many years after his death was finally awarded the
Medal of Honor for his heroism in the Korean War.
(Applause.) We draw
strength from -- and I want to make sure I get this right -- Lori
Piestewa, who during the Iraq war was the first known Native American
woman to give her life in combat for the United States.
(Applause.)
And we draw strength from all our men and women in uniform today,
including two pilots I rely on when I step onto Marine One -– Major
Paul Bisulca, from the Penobscot Nation, and Major Eli Jones, of the
Shoshone Bannock. And those guys are carrying me around, keeping
me
safe. (Applause.)
So on this Veterans Day week, even though it’s technically not Veterans
Day, I want to ask all the veterans in the audience –- including
several legendary Navajo Code Talkers who are here
-– if you can, please stand, accept our gratitude. (Applause.)
For generations, these men and women have helped keep our covenant
strong. So now we’ve got to keep strong what they’ve built, for
this
and generations to come. It falls to us to keep America the place
where no matter where you come from, what you look like, you can always
make it as long as you try, as long as you work hard. And I know
that
that’s what -- all of you are working hard. That’s what you
represent
as leaders of the communities that are represented here from coast to
coast. I want you to know that's what I’m working for.
That’s the
partnership that I cherish, and I will cherish as long as I have the
honor of serving as your President.
So thank you. God bless you. God bless the United States of
America. Thank you. (Applause.)
END
4:11 P.M. EST