Happy Monday Morning!
Here are some of the articles you may have missed this past weekend:
Murkowski, Schatz Introduce Sweeping Bill to Improve Outcomes for Native Children
If enacted this bill could bring over $1.3 billion to improve the health, education, safety, and overall well-being of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children.
The Native Children’s Commission Implementation Act (S. 4976) is a comprehensive legislative package that translates recommenTrump Renews Push for SAVE Act, Drawing Criticism from Native Voting Advocatesdations from the 2024 report The Way Forward into federal policy. The measure represents the culmination of more than a decade of work led by Murkowski to address the unique challenges facing Native children and families.
The legislation is based on recommendations from the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children, which was created through bipartisan legislation championed by Murkowski and former U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp.
Trump Renews Push for SAVE Act, Drawing Criticism from Native Voting Advocates
President Donald Trump used a primetime address Thursday evening to revisit claims about past U.S. elections while renewing his call for Congress to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, legislation the White House has made a top election priority.
The speech had been promoted as revealing new evidence of election interference by foreign governments and other actors. Instead, Trump largely repeated previously aired allegations and claims that have been widely scrutinized. During Trump’s first term, then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe—now serving as CIA director—reported that while foreign adversaries attempted to influence public opinion surrounding the 2020 election, no foreign actor successfully altered “any technical aspect” of the election’s administration or outcome.
Rather than presenting new evidence of election tampering, Trump focused much of his remarks on advocating for the SAVE Act. Supporters of the legislation argue it would strengthen election security by requiring documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. Opponents say the proposal could create new barriers for eligible voters, including Native Americans, who may face challenges obtaining or presenting qualifying documents.
Opinion. A Trail of Broken Promises: The Farce that is Tribal Consultation
After generations of losing our lands, our language, and our way of life, we are now told that their resting places can be excavated, sifted through, catalogued, and displaced in the name of infrastructure.
That is not mitigation. That is another chapter of the same story.
For more than a decade my tribe, Bay Mills Indian Community, has fought to get Line 5 removed from the Straits of Mackinac and shut down permanently. The State permitting this tunnel project is just another example of how our voices have been ignored.
