The federal government has a unique trust and treaty responsibility to provide education, public safety, and health care for Native Americans. It is a responsibility our nation has historically failed to uphold, whether through active efforts to eliminate or assimilate tribal nations or through simple neglect. In recent years, members of Congress have been working in a nonpartisan manner to reach out to tribes, improve our government-to-government relationship, and increase funding to meet the needs of Native-American communities. But overcoming centuries of broken promises and historic trauma, frequently inflicted by the federal government, will require a whole-of-government commitment.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Native-American communities faced significant disparities in health, education, housing, and economic outcomes. The coronavirus outbreak exacerbated these inequities and left tribes increasingly vulnerable.
As chairwomen of the House Appropriations Committee and its Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, we are on the frontline of the fight in Congress to make robust investments to protect the health, economic security, and well-being of our Native-American brothers and sisters.
In March, Congress passed and the president signed into law the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES Act. Among its provisions, the legislation provided more than $10 billion to help tribes through the crisis, with significant resources for health facilities and organizations, educational needs, housing, and food assistance including senior nutrition.
While this funding was an important step, far more resources are needed to help Native Americans through the coronavirus crisis.
The more than 5 million people who identify as Native American or Alaska Native, including Minnesota’s nearly 60,000 American Indians, are especially vulnerable to coronavirus, due to persistent poverty and disproportionate health burdens like heart disease, asthma, and cancer.
At the same time, many families live in close quarters and lack access to adequate health facilities. According to the National Institutes of Health, 13% of Native-American and Alaska-Native homes lack access to safe drinking water and sanitary sewage disposal. That compares to the 1% of the U.S. overall. These families cannot follow CDC guidelines to wash their hands without access to clean water.
As the House now turns to its next emergency relief bill, we are fighting to ensure that Congress provides strong additional support to meet the needs of Native-American tribes in Minnesota and across the country.
We must dramatically scale up programs that support food and water distribution, cleaning and sanitizing, telecommunications, and temporary housing. We need to help make up for lost revenue so tribal governments can continue operations and provide essential services. A significant funding boost is needed to help health facilities conduct testing, provide health care, establish mobile isolation units, purchase equipment and supplies, and meet other needs. We need to invest more to help the Indian Health Service and rural hospitals maintain staff and services and for health service providers and organizations to conduct public health activities.
Additionally, we must also expand assistance for tribal housing programs to provide safe and affordable housing so individuals and families can properly quarantine.
Bureau of Indian Education K-12 schools and tribal colleges and universities must also receive additional emergency resources to develop distance-learning curricula. This pandemic has highlighted the need for increased broadband infrastructure to ensure all children have access to a quality education. Coronavirus has severely disrupted the lives of students, and we must protect their ability to learn and prepare for successful careers.
And we should ensure tribal governments can support those who have experienced disruptions in employment or in their businesses.
As we continue to work on additional emergency coronavirus relief, we will keep fighting for strong investments in Indian Country and for our Native-American brothers and sisters. These communities are particularly vulnerable to coronavirus. We have an obligation to support them, especially in this time of great need.
Betty McCollum of St. Paul represents Minnesota’s Fourth Congressional District and is chairwoman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies. Nita M. Lowey represents New York’s 17th Congressional District and is chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee. Both are Democrats. They wrote this for the News Tribune.
