Title: To Oppose the Creation Within the Department of the Interior of Two Senior Executive Service Positions Without Regard to Indian Preference in Employment for the Important Functions of Policy, Management, and Budget of Indian Affairs

 

WHEREAS, we, the members of the National Congress of American Indians of the United States, invoking the divine blessing of the Creator upon our efforts and purposes, in order to preserve for ourselves and our descendants the inherent sovereign rights of our Indian nations, rights secured under Indian treaties and agreements with the United States, and all other rights and benefits to which we are entitled under the laws and Constitution of the United States to enlighten the public toward a better understanding of the Indian people, to preserve Indian cultural values, and otherwise promote the welfare of the Indian people, do hereby establish and submit the following resolution; and

WHEREAS, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is the oldest and largest national organization established in 1944 and comprised of representatives of and advocates for national, regional, and local Tribal concerns; and

WHEREAS, the health, safety, welfare, education, economic and employment opportunity, and preservation of cultural and natural resources are primary goals and objectives of NCAI; and,

WHEREAS, the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs is creating two Senior Executive Service (SES) level positions for policy, management, and budget of Indian Affairs within the Department of the Interior; and to oppose the creation within the Department of the Interior of two senior executive service positions without regard to Indian preference in employment for the important functions of policy, management, and budget of Indian affairs, putatively in reliance upon a single report of the National Association for Public Administration citing the Indian preference laws as a major impediment to competent administration of Indian Affairs within the Department; and

WHEREAS, these positions will not be subject to the general laws requiring Indian preference in the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Service within the Department of the Interior; and

WHEREAS, Indian preference in the clerical and administrative functions of the Indian Service of the Department of the Interior, common for more than a Century, failed to provide the perspective of Indian tribes in the formulation and execution of policy, management, and budgets for Indian programs; and

WHEREAS, Indian tribes and tribal organizations were not involved in, nor given an opportunity to respond to, the recommendations of NAPA to the Assistant Secretary; and

WHEREAS, the progress of Indian country in gaining active participation in the development and implementation of policies, management, and budget formulation and execution will be set back enormously if these important functions are made the province of new SES positions deliberately created to avoid Indian preference in employment.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that NCAI does hereby express its adamant opposition to the creation of SES positions within the Department of Interior with responsibility for policy, management, and budget of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the administration of the Department’s trust responsibilities and other federal Indian programs in circumvention of the federal laws regarding Indian preference in employment in Indian Affairs.

The foregoing resolution was adopted at the 2000 Mid-Year Session of the National Congress of American Indians, held at the Centennial Hall in Juneau, Alaska on June 25-28, 2000 with a quorum present.

_____________________________

Susan Masten, President

Juana Majel, Recording Secretary

Adopted by the General Assembly during the 2000 Mid-Year Session of the National Congress of American Indians, held at the Centennial Hall in Juneau, Alaska on June 25-28, 2000.