Jay Inslee: “Unequal treatment of American Indians and American Indian tribes is not an American value. I have great respect for…”

“Unequal treatment of American Indians and American Indian tribes is not an American value. I have great respect for those who resist this amendment because I believe they are acting in sincere good faith and trying to establish American values. But we need to pass this amendment to assure that the American value of fair treatment of American Indians, which has been denied them in certain times in our history, to our great shame, is not repeated in this bill. This amendment, when passed, will assure that we do not have special interest legislation just for non-Indian Americans. Indian and non-Indian Americans ought to be treated the same. That will not happen unless we pass this amendment. I will tell Members why I feel so strongly about this. About a year ago, I was driving through the Tulalip Indian reservation by Marysville, Washington. I spent a lot of time in my youth there. I noticed a new building that had just gone up. It was the first Boys and Girls Club on an Indian reservation in America. Today as we speak, there are kids there who are learning teamwork and new skills and getting new job training at that Boys and Girls Club. The reason that club is there is because of this industry, this legal industry. Let us not hearken back to the dark days of treating Indian tribes with less respect of law than other industries in America. Let us pass this amendment.”