Blake Moore: “I thank the gentlewoman from New Mexico for yielding. I am so very pleased to join my colleague, Deb Haaland, as one of…”

“I thank the gentlewoman from New Mexico for yielding. I am so very pleased to join my colleague, Deb Haaland, as one of the first Native American women--it is about time--to join this body in celebrating Native American Heritage Month. It is fitting here in November, as we think about Thanksgiving, to celebrate Native American Heritage Month, considering the welcoming of foreigners to this land first inhabited by the Native peoples. This month really allows us the opportunity to formally remember the great contributions that Native Americans have made, and they continue to make to bridge our communities and to improve our Nation. All you have to do is walk right down the street to the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian to just get a glimpse of the many ways that Native Americans have contributed to the fabric of our Nation, despite the many hardships, the broken promises, and trials they have faced. {time} 1645 Indeed, as you walk through that museum, you will see the dozens and dozens and dozens of documentation of the treaties that have been executed and violated in this country. But the rich culture and heritage of Native Americans have still come through all of these hardships. They have been an indelible and undeniable impact on the American way of life. I am reminded of that every single day in my community.…”