Resolution #SAC-12-031
TITLE: Creation of NCAI Task Force on NAHASDA Reauthorization
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 health, safety and welfare of the Indian people, do hereby establish and submit the following resolution; and
WHEREAS, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) was established in 1944 and is the oldest and largest national organization of American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments; and
WHEREAS, in the early 1990s, Indian tribes, tribal housing authorities, and others, came together to craft a new vision of how housing and housing related community development programs and services should be administered in the era of Indian self-determination and self-governance; and
WHEREAS, the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA) is the main legal authority for the United States to fulfill its trust obligations to low-income American Indian and Alaska Natives to provide safe, decent, and sanitary housing; and
WHEREAS, through NAHASDA the federal government acknowledged that, “the Congress, through treaties, statutes, and the general course of dealing with Indian tribes, has assumed a trust responsibility for the protection and preservation of Indian tribes and for working with tribes and their members to improve their housing conditions and socioeconomic status so that they are able to take greater responsibility for their own economic condition;” and
WHEREAS, NAHASDA establishes the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) and authorizes funding for housing and housing-related infrastructure and community development in American Indian and Alaska Native communities; and
WHEREAS, NAHASDA is comprised of housing programs for Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages, and is due for reauthorization by Congress by September 2013; and
WHEREAS, the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC), the only national organization solely representing the housing interests of Native people who reside in Indian communities, Alaska Native Villages, and on native Hawaiian Home Lands, was instrumental in shaping the debate and in drafting what became the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996, and facilitated a process to create a unified position on subsequent reauthorizations of NAHASDA in 2002, and 2008; and
WHEREAS, the NAIHC conducted a comprehensive outreach effort that included meetings comprised of countless hours of discussions by hundreds of individuals and tribes, and these outreach meetings provided input from tribal housing programs to be included in a consensus-based position on NAHASDA reauthorization to be provided at the onset of the 113th Congress; and
WHEREAS, professionals and individuals working in tribal housing management possess the extensive experience necessary to assess NAHASDA’s original intent and to take the lead in discussions on best practices and barriers that Indian housing programs face on a regular basis; and
WHEREAS, the spirit of NAHASDA recognizes that the decision making authority for the housing services and programs lies with the tribal governments, and tribal leadership are essential to the development of federal Indian policy with regards to housing; and
WHEREAS, NCAI believes that tribal leadership should be actively involved in the process for reauthorization of NAHASDA and recommends the creation of a joint NCAI Task
Force on NAHASDA reauthorization to facilitate involvement of tribal leadership.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the NCAI, the largest and oldest national Indian organization, shall create a NCAI NAHASDA Reauthorization Task Force which will be tasked with developing and advocating in consultation with tribes and tribal housing programs around the country proposed additions and amendments to the NAHASDA; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that involvement on the NCAI NAHASDA Reauthorization Task Force be reflective of the diverse tribal representation across Indian Country, and that membership in NCAI is not a requirement; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NCAI NAHASDA Reauthorization Task Force will operate strictly through consensus; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NCAI NAHASDA Reauthorization Task Force shall advance with the United States Congress all consensus positions developed in coordination and consultation with the tribes and tribal housing programs; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NCAI recognizes the work and efforts of the NAIHC to develop and provide a consensus-based position on the NAHASDA reauthorization for consideration in the 113th Congress and will actively participate in this process; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that this resolution shall be the policy of NCAI until it is withdrawn or modified by subsequent resolution.
CERTIFICATION
The foregoing resolution was adopted by the General Assembly at the 2012 Annual Session of the National Congress of American Indians, held at the Sacramento Convention Center from October 21-26, 2012 in Sacramento, California, with a quorum present.
President
ATTEST:
Recording Secretary