BUDGET MUST ADDRESS INDIAN INEQUITIES
Friends and like minded people should be deeply concerned about the values reflected in the federal budget. It is truly a dismal state of affairs when some of the first Americans live in physical circumstances comparable to front line conditions in Iraq.
On February 16th, severa lNative American veterans argued against housing cuts in the budget for fiscal year 2006. Former Army Specialist Gerald Dupris, 22, described his mother's neighborhood inside the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in Eagle Butte, S.D., as "a lot worse than what I left in the military in Iraq." Navajo and former Staff Sgt. Julius Tulley added, "The U.S. has been restoring electricity to Baghdad and other Iraqi towns, yet in Blue Gap, where my mother and aunties live now, only 15 percent of the people have utilities - I mean water and electricity"
A greater percentage ofAmerican Indians have served in the military than any other ethnic group. Does the government honor their service by providing public services to reservations? Does the government care about elderly people coping with such living conditions?
If Congress ignores people in want, systematically year in and year out, it perpetuates human suffering and creates structural economic violence. Battlefields are not the only place where people die and are scarred.People can be scarred and can die-indirectly and sometimes invisibly-from societal and governmental neglect at home.
ACT NOW:Ask your representative and senators to stand up for the poorest of our citizens. As they consider budget cuts, urge your members of Congressto remember the past and present contributions of Native Americans. Budget amounts should be increased, not cut, for basics in Indian Country. Go to our website to write your congressional members an email or send a fax,
http://capwiz.com/fconl/issues/alert/?alertid=7105906&type=CO, its easy!
Just enter your zip code in the "Take Action Now" box and click "Go"
Background: There are documented disparities in health, housing, plumbing, telephones, and schools between what many in Indian Country have compared to the general public. Yet, the President proposes a budget that would cut rather than enhance basic programs that address such compelling needs.
* This budget cuts funds for Indian housing and community development
* This budget cuts funds for construction of health facilities
* This budget cuts funds for tribal colleges.
The President's budget includes cuts of $107 million in funding forIndian housing and community development. Yet Native Americans are three times more likely to live in overcrowded housing, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, and nearly 12 percent of Native Americans lack complete plumbing, compared with 1.2 percent of the general population.
In testimony to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, the chairman of the primary Indian Housing advocacy group Chester Carl stated, "I believe I speak for all members of the National American Indian Housing Council when I express my frustration and anger that a national priority shift and aid to a people in need thousands of miles away is being paid for by those in America who can least afford it. While assistance in theMiddle East is admirable, America seems to have never understood the urgency of the need to lift people from poverty and ignorance and despair here at home in order to strengthen this country. The poverty rate for Native Americans, which continues to hover at about 26 percent, is more than double the poverty rate for the general American population."
See Chester Carl's full testimony at
http://indian.senate.gov/2005hrgs/021605hrg/carl.pdf
Read Senator McCain's opening statement on the effect of the budgetrequest on Indian country,
http://indian.senate.gov/2005hrgs/021605hrg/McCain.pdf
Read FCNL's article on structural economic violence (registrationrequired), http://www.fcnl.org/now/htm_final/jan05_economic-violence.php
------------------------------------
CONTACTING POLICY MAKERS
Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
Rep. ________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Sen. ________
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
President George W. Bush
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
White House Comment Desk: 202-456-1111
Fax: 202-456-2461
president@whitehouse.gov
FCNL Native American Legislative Updates are intended as a supplement toother FCNL materials and do not reflect FCNL's complete policy positionon any issue, nor do they include all pertinent facts on any topic. Formore information, or to request the FCNL Indian Report and otherbackground documents, please contact the FCNL's Native American AdvocacyProgram: (202) 547-6000, 245 2nd St. NE, Washington, DC 20002;
Indian@fcnl.org Or visit http://www.fcnl.org/issues/nat/natindx.htm
Your contributions sustain our Quaker witness in Washington. We welcomeyour gifts to FCNL, or, if you need a tax deduction, to the FCNLEducation Fund. You can use your credit card to donate money securelyto FCNL through a special page on FCNL's web sitehttp://www.fcnl.org/suprt/indx.htm FCNL also accepts credit carddonations over the phone. For more information about donating, pleasecontact the Development Team directly at development@fcnl.org. Thankyou.
On February 16th, severa lNative American veterans argued against housing cuts in the budget for fiscal year 2006. Former Army Specialist Gerald Dupris, 22, described his mother's neighborhood inside the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in Eagle Butte, S.D., as "a lot worse than what I left in the military in Iraq." Navajo and former Staff Sgt. Julius Tulley added, "The U.S. has been restoring electricity to Baghdad and other Iraqi towns, yet in Blue Gap, where my mother and aunties live now, only 15 percent of the people have utilities - I mean water and electricity"
A greater percentage ofAmerican Indians have served in the military than any other ethnic group. Does the government honor their service by providing public services to reservations? Does the government care about elderly people coping with such living conditions?
If Congress ignores people in want, systematically year in and year out, it perpetuates human suffering and creates structural economic violence. Battlefields are not the only place where people die and are scarred.People can be scarred and can die-indirectly and sometimes invisibly-from societal and governmental neglect at home.
ACT NOW:Ask your representative and senators to stand up for the poorest of our citizens. As they consider budget cuts, urge your members of Congressto remember the past and present contributions of Native Americans. Budget amounts should be increased, not cut, for basics in Indian Country. Go to our website to write your congressional members an email or send a fax,
http://capwiz.com/fconl/issues/alert/?alertid=7105906&type=CO, its easy!
Just enter your zip code in the "Take Action Now" box and click "Go"
Background: There are documented disparities in health, housing, plumbing, telephones, and schools between what many in Indian Country have compared to the general public. Yet, the President proposes a budget that would cut rather than enhance basic programs that address such compelling needs.
* This budget cuts funds for Indian housing and community development
* This budget cuts funds for construction of health facilities
* This budget cuts funds for tribal colleges.
The President's budget includes cuts of $107 million in funding forIndian housing and community development. Yet Native Americans are three times more likely to live in overcrowded housing, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, and nearly 12 percent of Native Americans lack complete plumbing, compared with 1.2 percent of the general population.
In testimony to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, the chairman of the primary Indian Housing advocacy group Chester Carl stated, "I believe I speak for all members of the National American Indian Housing Council when I express my frustration and anger that a national priority shift and aid to a people in need thousands of miles away is being paid for by those in America who can least afford it. While assistance in theMiddle East is admirable, America seems to have never understood the urgency of the need to lift people from poverty and ignorance and despair here at home in order to strengthen this country. The poverty rate for Native Americans, which continues to hover at about 26 percent, is more than double the poverty rate for the general American population."
See Chester Carl's full testimony at
http://indian.senate.gov/2005hrgs/021605hrg/carl.pdf
Read Senator McCain's opening statement on the effect of the budgetrequest on Indian country,
http://indian.senate.gov/2005hrgs/021605hrg/McCain.pdf
Read FCNL's article on structural economic violence (registrationrequired), http://www.fcnl.org/now/htm_final/jan05_economic-violence.php
------------------------------------
CONTACTING POLICY MAKERS
Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
Rep. ________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Sen. ________
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
President George W. Bush
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
White House Comment Desk: 202-456-1111
Fax: 202-456-2461
president@whitehouse.gov
FCNL Native American Legislative Updates are intended as a supplement toother FCNL materials and do not reflect FCNL's complete policy positionon any issue, nor do they include all pertinent facts on any topic. Formore information, or to request the FCNL Indian Report and otherbackground documents, please contact the FCNL's Native American AdvocacyProgram: (202) 547-6000, 245 2nd St. NE, Washington, DC 20002;
Indian@fcnl.org Or visit http://www.fcnl.org/issues/nat/natindx.htm
Your contributions sustain our Quaker witness in Washington. We welcomeyour gifts to FCNL, or, if you need a tax deduction, to the FCNLEducation Fund. You can use your credit card to donate money securelyto FCNL through a special page on FCNL's web sitehttp://www.fcnl.org/suprt/indx.htm FCNL also accepts credit carddonations over the phone. For more information about donating, pleasecontact the Development Team directly at development@fcnl.org. Thankyou.
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