[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 122 (Tuesday, September 15, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H7699]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

  (Mr. REDMOND asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. REDMOND. Mr. Speaker, as a Member from a State representing large 
Native American populations, I have taken a special interest in helping 
Native Americans and tribal businesses foster entrepreneurship and 
rigorous reservation economies.
  Too often our Nation's Indian policies stifle tribal economic 
development in favor of big government solutions that continue to 
retard the developments of viable reservation-based economies. More 
devastating is that the rules and regulations that come with Federal 
control discourage private enterprises from investing and establishing 
businesses on reservations. The absence of a private sector to create 
wealth and employment for Native American people remains one of the 
biggest problems tribal leaders must confront.
  I have risen today to join my colleagues to pay tribute to Chief 
Phillip Martin, whose belief in free enterprise and self-reliance 
inspired the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians to overcome its 
dependence on the Federal Government by creating a productive role for 
itself in the national economy.
  Chief Martin recognized long ago that the key to becoming a self-
governing tribe was in building a tribal government and educating and 
training their people.

                          ____________________