[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 108 (Wednesday, June 21, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2182-S2183]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING JOE A. GARCIA

 Mr. HEINRICH. Madam President, across more than five decades 
in public service, Governor Joe A. Garcia of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo was a 
leader among leaders, for his community and all of Indian Country. He 
was also a dear friend and close mentor. In so many ways, New Mexico 
will not be the same without him.
  Governor Garcia was a three-time Governor of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, 
where he oversaw the Self Governance Initiative, under which the Pueblo 
now runs all of its Bureau of Indian Affairs programs. He was serving 
as the Pueblo's Head Councilman at the time of his death.
  Governor Garcia served for two terms as the president of the National 
Congress of American Indians, the oldest and largest American Indian 
and Alaska Native organization serving sovereign Tribal Nations. He 
also served as the vice president of the Board of Trustees of the Santa 
Fe Indian School and as the chairman of the All Indian Pueblo Council--
now named the All Pueblo Council of Governors--which represents 20 
Pueblos located in New Mexico and Texas.
  In addition, Governor Garcia was a member of the Tribal Leaders Task 
Force, where he served as cochair for 3 years for the Federal 
Communications Commission. He was also a cochair of the Tribal 
Technical Advisory Committee for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
Services Administration--SAMHSA--and cochair of the Tribal 
Transportation Self Governance Program Negotiated Rulemaking Team.
  As a young man, Governor Garcia served in the U.S. Air Force. After 
his military service, he earned a bachelor of science in electrical 
engineering from the University of New Mexico. Governor Garcia worked 
on the technical staff at Los Alamos National Laboratory for 25 years, 
working on electronics design and development for data acquisition 
systems. He also taught courses in computers, electronics, lasers, and 
math at the Northern New Mexico College from 1979 to 1983.
  Governor Garcia fought to advance the mission of Tribal sovereignty 
over education through his leadership at the Santa Fe Indian School--
SFIS. The SFIS became the first former Federal Indian boarding school 
where a Tribal organization--the All Indian Pueblo Council--contracted 
for the education of their children.
  Since the signing of the Santa Fe Indian School Act in 2000, the 
Pueblo Governors have held the school's land in trust and established 
an educational program based on the right and responsibility to educate 
New Mexico Indian children in a way that supports their cultural and 
traditional belief system. Governor Garcia championed both increased 
funding and support for SFIS and the establishment of Tribally 
controlled educational systems across Indian Country.
  On a personal note, I was fortunate to be among the many who learned 
from Governor Garcia--his wise counsel and advice and the example he 
set

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for all of us to follow. I will never forget sitting down with him 
years ago when he first encouraged me to run for the U.S. Senate to 
represent our great State. My thoughts are with his wife, Oneva, his 
daughters Melissa and MorningStar, his six grandchildren, two great-
grandchildren, and all those in Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico, and Indian 
Country who knew and loved him.
  The legacy that Governor Garcia built over decades of steadfast 
advocacy for Tribal sovereignty, educational sovereignty, and the 
cultural preservation of Pueblo communities will be felt for 
generations to come.

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