DU this budget protest!! And support our returning soldiers!!!

[NVMojo]

Reservation Life Worse Than Iraq? (3/16/05)








Too many Native American soldiers returning from Iraq come home to subpar living conditions in their reservation communities. Yet, the Bush administration’s budget for fiscal year 2006 proposes cutting funds for reservations. How harsh. How unfair.

These returning servicemen, along with advocates for American Indian and Native Alaskan families, are beginning to ask some tough questions.



Why is it that the U. S. can afford unlimited amounts for destruction and reconstruction on the other side of the world but cannot afford resources for people who have been historically mistreated within its own borders?

Why would the Congress cut infrastructure money for disadvantaged communities at home while billions in reconstruction money can “disappear” in Iraq?

Why is it fair to run up the deficit giving tax cuts to the very rich and then decide to reduce that deficit by hurting the poor?


Those in Congress who are aware of the living conditions of poor tribes agree that the proposed cuts for Indian programs in the 2006 budget make little sense. Fiscal conservative Senator John McCain (AZ) says the dramatic cuts proposed will do nothing for the country at large but will cause much harm to the most vulnerable and deprived people in Indian Country. In his words:

“The federal government has continually reneged on its trust and moral obligations to meet the educational, healthcare and housing needs of Indians and these needs far outweigh the imperceptible contribution that the proposed cuts will make to reducing the deficit.”

Act Now

Your representative and senators will be voting on a budget resolution this week. Urge them: PLEASE DON’T VOTE TO CUT PROGRAMS THAT ARE BRINGING NATIVE AMERICANS OUT OF POVERTY. Tell them that medals and parades and honors are hollow thanks if Native American soldiers return to environs and conditions as bad or worse than they experienced living in Iraq. Put your address in the "Take Action Now" box and click "Go" to write your Congress members.

Background

The following factual picture is drawn from information provided by the National American Indian Housing Council, the National Indian Health Board, the Native American Rights Fund, and the Navajo Nation. We call your attention to reservation distress.

A Navajo soldier who built infrastructure in Iraq may face these circumstances at home:



Only 2,000 miles of roads in 25,000 square miles of countryside, many dirt and gravel

Housing in short supply; in some cases, 10 people live in a one-bedroom home

Some people live in buses.

Utilities lacking in 85 percent of homes, many lacking plumbing

No telephones in 40 percent of homes

Wood fire stoves, which too often brings on asthma and respiratory problems, but ventilators are not an option because there is no electricity

Grocery stores as much as 40 miles away

Drinking water hauled in 50-gallon drums

Extremely high unemployment

Inadequate schools

A health system that provides half as many care dollars as are spent on other poor citizens

A trust system where those with Individual Indian Money accounts get little of the money owed them from the land and leases that the federal government “manages” for them.



Links for More Information:

To read the details on soldiers returning from Iraq to Indian Country, go to http://naihc.net/NAIHC/files/ccLibraryFiles/FILENAME/000000000454/Native%20Veterans%20Returning%20from%20Iraq%20Ask.doc

To read the details of Sen. McCain’s statement in support of keeping funds flowing to tribal governments and Indian programs, go to http://indian.senate.gov/2005hrgs/021605hrg/McCain.pdf

To obtain demographic information on Native American children in your state, go to http://www.aecf.org/kidscount/pubs/american_indian_pocket_guide_2004.pdf

To read more about the trust fund scandal, go to http://www.fcnl.org/issues/item.php?item_id=1222&issue_id=93