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Bill Clinton On The Issues 1996 - A Record of Partnership With American Indians and Alaska Natives Bill Clinton 1996 On The Issues

A Record of Partnership With American Indians and Alaska Natives

"My administration has worked in partnership with tribal leaders...to protect American Indian religious freedom, promote tribal self-determination, preserve tribal natural resources and provide economic opportunity for Native Americans. I look forward to continuing this government-to-government relationship in order to build on the progress we have made in Indian Country.”

—President Bill Clinton

President Clinton is the first President to invite the leaders of all Federally Recognized Tribes to the White House. On this historic occasion, the President pledged that his Administration would work with Tribal leaders to establish a true government-to-government partnership. The Clinton Administration has delivered on this commitment by:

Strengthening the Relationship Between the Federal Government and Tribal Nations

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Hosting 100 Tribal leaders and directing all federal agencies to consult with Federally recognized Tribal Governments in formulating policies and programs that affect American Indians and Alaska Natives.
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Creating the Office of Tribal Justice and hired the largest force of Indian attorneys ever to promote government-to-government relations with Indian Tribes and to ensure aggressive representation of tribal sovereignty in the courts.
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Establishing the American Indian Environmental Office to work with Tribes to protect water quality and the environment in Indian Country.
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Creating a permanent White House working group composed of all Executive Branch Departments to advance Tribal sovereignty across the administration.
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Reaffirming the sovereign status of 225 Alaska Native tribes and extending federal recognition to 12 other Indian tribes.
 

Protecting Religious Freedom
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Signing an executive order to protect American Indian and Alaska Native sacred sites. This was the first executive order affecting American Indians and Alaska Natives since 1968.
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Successfully fighting for passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act Amendments and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, to protect the right of free exercise of Tribal religions.
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Directing federal agencies to ensure efficient collection and distribution of available eagle feathers and eagle parts to American Indians and Alaska Natives for traditional religious purposes.
Promoting Issues of Urban Indians
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Demonstrating a commitment to urban Indians by hosting the first ever meeting of the National Urban Indian Policy Coalition and an additional 9 sessions, and by providing this group access to federal agencies.
Promoting Tribal Self-Determination and Education
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Supporting passage and implementation of the Indian Self-Determination Act and the Tribal Self-Governance Act, which give Tribal governments control of most federal resources spent within Indian Country.
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Successfully fighting Republican attempts to penalize tribes for exercising their powers of self-governance and allowing states to tax Tribal governments on new trust lands.
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Developing a plan to increase attendance and graduation rates at, and increasing Tribal control over, Bureau of Indian Affairs schools.
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Providing family literacy services to more than 1,100 families at 22 Indian schools through the Family and Child Education Program.
Providing Economic Development Opportunities in Indian Country
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Vetoing Republican appropriation bills that would have drastically reduced funding for American Indian and Alaska Native programs.
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Approving 145 tribal-state compacts to allow gaming within Indian Country.
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Establishing 17 tribal business development centers at Tribal Community Colleges across Indian Country.
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Signing the Community Development Banking and Regulatory Improvement Act, which promotes more lending in Indian Country.
Protecting Tribal Natural Resources
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Establishing for the first time the right of Alaska Natives to fish for subsistence purposes.
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Completing settlements of Shoshone-Bannock, Yavapi-Prescott, and Northern Cheyenne Water Rights Claims and maintained aggressive efforts to settle water claimes of other Tribes.
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Supporting the exercise of Northwest Tribes' treaty fishing rights.
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Supporting legislation which recognized the rights of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and the Crow Tribe to their water and land.
Providing Safety for American Indians and Alaska Native Families
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Awarding $22 million in grants to over 100 tribes to improve police protection.
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Signing into law the Indian Tribal Justice Support Act to improve criminal law enforcement in Indian Country.
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Supporting funding for continued implementation of the Indian Child Welfare Act and tribal consensus amendments to protect Indian families and culture.
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Opposing Republican efforts to take away Tribal rights to protect children and their families.
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Allocating $5.2 million to the STOP Violence Against Indian Women Program for (FY) 1996.
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Continuing to work with Indian Tribes as governmental partners to strengthen reservation law enforcement and enhance tribal justice systems.


 

Building on Our Progress

The Clinton Administration will continue to work with American Indian and Alaska Native tribes on a government-to-government basis by:

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Continuing to support protection of Tribal natural resources and the rights of Tribes, guaranteed by treaties, to the beneficial use of those resources.
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Directing the Interior Department, Justice Department, and Environmental Protection Agency to identify and clean up environmental hazards within Indian country.
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Continuning to improve reservation economies and ensure that good housing is available to American Indians and Alaska Natives.
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Supporting the implementation of federal laws providing for increased Tribal control over delivery and administration of all governmental services within Indian Country.
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Continuing to promote measures such as the Indian Child Welfare Act to protect Indian children, their families and their culture.

Source: Bill Clinton for President 1996 Web Site

 

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