[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 83 (Tuesday, June 27, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S5935]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE POLICY OF INDIAN SELF-DETERMINATION

  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
now proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 611, S. Res. 
277,
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 277) commemorating the 30th 
     Anniversary of the Policy of Indian Self-Determination.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to 
this resolution be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 277) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 277

       Whereas the United States of America and the sovereign 
     Indian Tribes contained within its boundaries have had a long 
     and mutually beneficial relationship since the beginning of 
     the Republic;
       Whereas the United States has recognized this special legal 
     and political relationship and its trust responsibility to 
     the Indian Tribes as reflected in the Federal Constitution, 
     treaties, numerous court decisions, federal statutes, 
     executive orders, and course of dealing;
       Whereas Federal policy toward the Indian Tribes has 
     vacillated through history and often failed to uphold the 
     government-to-government relationship that has endured for 
     more than 200 years;
       Whereas these Federal policies included the wholesale 
     removal of Indian tribes and their members from their 
     aboriginal homelands, attempts to assimilate Indian people 
     into the general culture, as well as the termination of the 
     legal and political relationship between the United States 
     and the Indian tribes;
       Whereas President Richard M. Nixon, in his ``Special 
     Message to Congress on Indian Affairs'' on July 8, 1970, 
     recognized that the Indian Tribes constitute a distinct and 
     valuable segment of the American federalist system, whose 
     members have made significant contributions to the United 
     States and to American culture;
       Whereas President Nixon determined that Indian Tribes, as 
     local governments, are best able to discern the needs of 
     their people and are best situated to determine the direction 
     of their political and economic futures;
       Whereas in his ``Special Message'' President Nixon 
     recognized that the policies of legal and political 
     termination on the one hand, and paternalism and excessive 
     dependence on the other, devastated the political, economic, 
     and social aspects of life in Indian America, and had to be 
     radically altered;
       Whereas in his ``Special Message'' President Nixon set 
     forth the foundation for a new, more enlightened Federal 
     Indian policy grounded in economic self-reliance and 
     political self-determination; and
       Whereas this Indian self-determination policy has endured 
     as the most successful policy of the United States in dealing 
     with the Indian Tribes because it rejects the failed policies 
     of termination and paternalism and declared that ``the 
     integrity and right to continued existence of all Indian 
     Tribal and Alaska native governments, recognizing that 
     cultural pluralism is a source of national strength'': Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate of the United States recognizes 
     the unique role of the Indian Tribes and their members in the 
     United States, and commemorates the vision and leadership of 
     President Nixon, and every succeeding President, in fostering 
     the policy of Indian Self-Determination.

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