Editorial: Byron Dorgan honored responsibilities to Indian nations

Tuesday, January 4, 2011  

"When Republicans take control of the U.S. House this week, their first order of business will be to read the U.S. Constitution aloud.

Dorgan’s presence would remind House members that the Constitution does more than establish limited government and the separation of powers. In particular, the Constitution spells out the rules governing our country’s relations with American Indians.

And more than almost any other member of Congress in decades, Dorgan tried to make sure the U.S. government honored these neglected rules.

Dorgan is retiring from the Senate this week and will be remembered for a great many accomplishments. But of all of them, the most noble might just be his insistence that America remember the Constitution’s Article I and Article VI.

For those are the articles that give Congress the power to “regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes,” and declare that “all Treaties made … shall be the supreme Law of the Land.”

“The supreme Law of the Land.” The fact that the Constitution describes treaties in this way is inconvenient for people who’d like to see Indian reservations go away. But that’s too bad, because the language is plain, and the Founders’ intentions are clear."

Get the Story:
OUR OPINION: Dorgan honors first principles, First Americans (The Grand Forks Herald 1/4)
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