{"id":35906,"date":"2023-01-06T04:50:33","date_gmt":"2023-01-06T09:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/rounds-respect-headed-for-presidents-desk\/"},"modified":"2023-01-06T04:50:35","modified_gmt":"2023-01-06T09:50:35","slug":"rounds-respect-headed-for-presidents-desk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/rounds-respect-headed-for-presidents-desk\/","title":{"rendered":"Rounds\u2019 RESPECT headed for President\u2019s desk"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Senator Mike Rounds meeting with Indian Education delegates in 2016 (Cheyenne River Chairman Harold Frazier at Right) addressing the initial stages of the RESPECT ACT. (Photo courtesy of Indianz.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) has sponsored a new bill, the RESPECT Act (Repealing Existing Substandard Provisions Encouraging Conciliation with Tribes\u00a0) and he minces no words in explaining why the repeal of these antiquated laws are long overdue: \u201cWhile we cannot rewrite the past, we need to acknowledge it and continue to strive for a more perfect Union. It\u2019s long overdue to remove these immoral, discriminatory federal laws from our books. Throughout history, Native Americans have been subjected to unfair treatment from our federal government, including the forced removal of their children from their homes. Clearly, there is no place in our legal code for such measures, and it is appalling these laws are still in our federal code. I am pleased this bipartisan, commonsense legislation is heading to the president\u2019s desk to be signed into law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local politicians like Rounds are always in search of legislation that can genuinely impact Indian Country in a positive way, but do not incur the ire of their political base. There is a large area of potentially beneficial legislation that meets this criteria.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0RESPECT Act repeals 11 outdated federal laws which are a roadmap for the calloused assimilation and mistreatment common to that history, and the laws persisted on the books because policy long ago rendered them to a dusty shelf, but they were technically still law, and had any unsavory party elected to pursue their intent, they could have been technically absolved from prosecution because they would have broken no law.<\/p>\n

Oglala Tribal President Frank Star Comes Out issued the following statement: \u201cI commend Senator Mike Rounds for his leadership in sponsoring the RESPECT ACT to repeal several outdated federal statutes codified in Title 25 of the United States Code.\u00a0 Repealing these federal statutes\u2014which are based on racists, paternalistic federal policies of the late Nineteenth Century and early Twentieth Century\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Co-sponsors of the RESPECT Act are Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-N.M.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) Cramer\u2019s inclusion as a sponsor is interesting given his unapologetic opposition to most Native related issues in the past. If tribes can get Cramer supporting even one of their issues, it is a positive development worth noting.<\/p>\n

Helping the Act along in the House were Representatives Tom O\u2019Halleran (D-Ariz.), Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Tom Cole (R-Okla.).<\/p>\n

The Great Plains Tribal Chairmen\u2019s Association (GPTCA) and the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) also support the RESPECT Act.<\/p>\n

In a related development, pertaining to a recent Keystone XL pipeline\u00a0leak in Kansas (the largest in the history of the pipeline, with cleanup expected\u00a0to\u00a0take weeks), Judith LeBlanc (Caddo),\u00a0executive director of Native Organizers Alliance, said: \u201cTo date, the Keystone\u00a0pipeline has leaked more oil into our sacred lands than any other pipeline\u00a0since 2010. More than 588,000 gallons\u00a0of oil are poisoning our waters and\u00a0landscape, and continuing to threaten the lives of everyone living in the path\u00a0of the pipeline\u2026Congress must act\u00a0immediately to codify the protections promised in our treaties and government\u00a0agreements. We need Congress to\u00a0pass the RESPECT Act, and ensure that tribes\u00a0are part of the decision-making process and informed about any use of our\u00a0lands,\u00a0waters, and natural resources. Tribes must give or deny consent at all\u00a0phases of future development and infrastructure projects that\u00a0impact Indigenous\u00a0lands. Until free, prior, and informed consent is required by all federal\u00a0agencies, and strong systems of consultation\u00a0are implemented, we will continue\u00a0to see the disastrous results of fossil fuel extraction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the laws the RESPECT Act would repeal are:<\/p>\n