[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 122 (Thursday, July 19, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H6577]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1200
                  SOVEREIGNTY OF TRIBES IN OUR NATION

  (Mr. RUIZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Speaker, the United States Constitution defines Tribes 
in our Nation as sovereign governments with a unique relationship with 
the United States Federal Government. Many treaties and Supreme Court 
cases show legal precedent that they are sovereign nations, and the 
United States has a trust responsibility to ensure they have Social 
Services like healthcare in exchange for taking their land.
  The Trump administration is not recognizing the legal right Tribes 
have. They are solely considering Tribes as a racial group as their 
justification to impose Medicaid work requirements that we know will 
disproportionately result in less healthcare for Native Americans. This 
is wrong, illegal, and a dangerous precedent.
  What happened to the treaties our government signed? What happened to 
the Federal trust responsibility? And what other social and legal 
responsibility will they negate next?
  I will not stand by and watch the sovereignty of our Nation's first 
people attacked, and neither should you, Mr. Speaker.

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