Support for the codification of all hhs federal/tribal advisory committees
WHEREAS, the National Indian Health Board (NIHB), established in 1972, serves all federally recognized American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) Tribal governments by advocating for the improvement of health, behavioral health, and public health services to AI/ANs and the fulfillment of the federal government’s trust responsibility to AI/AN Tribal governments; and
WHEREAS, NIHB seeks to reinforce the sovereign rights of all federally recognized Tribal governments, to promote the highest levels of health for AI/AN people, and to advise the Federal government in the development of responsible health care and public health policy; and
WHEREAS, Indian nations and Tribes were sovereign independent nations long before the formation of the United States of America; and
WHEREAS, Tribal nations entered into hundreds of treaties, requiring the federal government to assume specific, enduring, and legally enforceable fiduciary obligations to the Tribes; and
WHEREAS, the terms codified in those Treaties – including for provisions of quality and comprehensive health resources and services – have been reaffirmed by the United States Constitution, Supreme Court decisions, federal legislation and regulations, and even presidential executive orders, and collectively form the basis for the federal trust responsibility; and
WHEREAS, it is the policy of the United States to support self-determination, self-governance, and self-sufficiency as outlined in the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 (ISDEAA) as amended, the Self-Governance Act, and other federal laws; and
WHEREAS, the 2021 Presidential Memorandum on Tribal Consultation and Strengthening Nation-to-Nation Relationships, President Biden noted that, “[h]istory demonstrates that we best serve Native American people when Tribal governments are empowered to lead their communities, and when Federal officials speak with and listen to Tribal leaders in formulating Federal policy that affects Tribal Nations”; and
WHEREAS, the United States utilizes Tribal consultations and federal Tribal Advisory Committees (TACs) as mechanisms to engage with Indian Tribes, on a nation to-nation basis, to advance the federal government’s trust obligation to provide quality health services and to address policies specific to the respective agency; and
