Political Quotes

“I rise to discuss bipartisan legislation that I have introduced with Senator Lujan which would grant a Federal charter to the National American Indian Veterans, Incorporated, known as NAIV. The NAIV was chartered in 2004, with headquarters located on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Reservation in South Dakota. The NAIV was originally established as the result of a request by former Senators Akaka, Inouye, and Nighthorse Campbell during a Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee in 2004. At that time, no Native American veterans organization had ever received a congressional charter. Sadly, that remains the case today, nearly 20 years later. But that omission would be fixed by this legislation. The NAIV is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that operates solely for charitable, literary, educational, scientific, patriotic, and civil improvement purposes. It provides a voice to Native American veterans whose unique needs are not always represented adequately by other organizations. Native Americans are the highest serving race per capita in the U.S. Armed Forces, often serving at a rate five times over the national average, and have served with distinction in every U.S. conflict over the last 200 years. They also have some of the highest concentration of women servicemembers. According to a 2020 VA statistics report, there are over 140,000 Native American veterans across the Nation today.…”