Blake Moore: “Let me thank again all of the partners in getting this legislation to the floor. I do want to make mention of someone…”

“Let me thank again all of the partners in getting this legislation to the floor. I do want to make mention of someone who is not a part of this debate, the gentlewoman from Minnesota, Representative Betty McCollum, who is the cochair of the Native American Caucus. She wanted to make sure that she weighed in during this discussion about the extraordinary need to deal with Native American housing. So many of us believe that Native Americans often are involved in gaming and that they are wealthy and rich, but as the ranking member mentioned, they are subjected to some of the poorest housing conditions in our country. Although we are reauthorizing NAHASDA, none of us should be fooled at all that this will in any way deal with the tremendous need for affordable housing within Native American communities. I, again, am very, very empathetic with the issues, particularly that the ranking member has raised, and I am really hopeful that many of these issues, particularly the issue of the Cherokee Freedmen, will be dealt with. It seems promising to me because of some of the decisions that have been made in courts so far. We do seem to have a Cherokee chairman who is more open, it would seem, to providing membership and retaining membership of the Cherokee Freedmen. I, again, am happy that the Native Hawaiians are in this bill.…”