{"id":30359,"date":"2023-01-04T20:11:05","date_gmt":"2023-01-05T01:11:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=30359"},"modified":"2023-01-04T20:13:29","modified_gmt":"2023-01-05T01:13:29","slug":"republicans-eager-to-rain-on-historic-funding-achievement-for-indian-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2023\/01\/04\/republicans-eager-to-rain-on-historic-funding-achievement-for-indian-country\/","title":{"rendered":"Republicans eager to rain on historic funding achievement for Indian Country"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Roselyn<\/a>
Roselyn Tso, center, serves as Director of the Indian Health Service. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0<\/a>)<\/figcaption>\r\n
Republicans eager to rain on historic funding achievement for Indian Country<\/div>\r\n
Wednesday, January 4, 2023<\/div>\r\n
By Acee Agoyo<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C. — For the second day in a row, Republicans have been unable to agree on a leader for their party in the U.S. House of Representatives<\/a>.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nBut GOP lawmakers of all stripes have found one target in common — and it’s not Rep. Kevin McCarthy<\/a> (R-California), the would-be Speaker of the House. Since the start of the 118th Congress this week, they have repeatedly slammed the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill that has brought historic levels of funding and long-overdue improvements<\/a> to Indian Country.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n“Twelve days ago, 4,000 pages showed up over here — $1.7 trillion in spending, 7,200 earmarks, 24 hours time to read it,” Rep. Scott Perry<\/a> (R-Pennsylvania) said of the measure on the floor of the House on Wednesday.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWhen Perry incongruously compared the appropriations package to “a Christmas tree right before Christmas” he rehashed a complaint that has unified Republicans as they have taken control of the House for the first time in five years. He described the bill, which became law less than a week ago, as something that “nobody outside of this town wanted.”\r\n

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\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Tribal\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\tTribal organizations statement on advance appropriations for Indian Health Service\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

\u201cIncluding advance appropriations for Indian health in the omnibus is a historic moment for Indian Country over a decade in the making,\u201d said William Smith, Chairman of the National Indian Health Board.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

\n\t\t\"COVID-19\t\tCOVID-19 in Indian Country\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nFor tribes and their advocates, the Republicans assessments couldn’t be further from the truth. That’s because H.R.2617<\/a>, otherwise known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2023, includes a major achievement — the new law funds the Indian Health Service<\/a> ahead of time for the first time in U.S. government history.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n“Including advance appropriations for Indian health in the omnibus is a historic moment for Indian Country over a decade in the making,” said William Smith, the vice president of the Valdez Native Tribe<\/a> who serves as chairman of the National Indian Health Board<\/a>.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n By funding the IHS ahead of time, the agency that provides health care to more than 2.5 million American Indians and Alaska Natives will be able to avoid potential shutdowns of the federal government. That actually happened when Republicans controlled the Congress and the executive branch, causing widespread chaos for tribes and urban Indians<\/a> barely a year before the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a> upended the entire system.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“The Indian Health Service is the primary source of health care programs and funding for most tribal nations and an essential part of the federal trust responsibility to Indian Country,” Chief Kirk Francis of the Penobscot Nation<\/a> said during the White House Tribal Nations Summit<\/a> last month. “Yet the IHS continues to be the only major federal health care program that remains subject to government shutdowns and stopgap funding.”\r\n

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