U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin
Indian Country, just like the rest of America, has a choice to make in this election.
One party wants to roll back excess regulation, shrink the administrative state, and promote personal agency and individual responsibility; the other side wants big government to dictate nearly every aspect of American life — from the car you can drive to how you can use your own land.
In my view, as a member of the Cherokee Nation, our Native values of tribal sovereignty and self-determination are best aligned with President Donald J. Trump and the Republican Party.
I have spent my entire life in Indian Country. My wife and I are proud to be raising our six wonderful children here. In total, 39 federally-recognized tribes call Oklahoma home. As a kid, I used Indian Health Services without realizing there was anything unique about it. Growing up in Oklahoma, I didn’t know there was anything different, or “special,” about being Native until I got to Congress.
Shortly after being sworn in, my friend, Congressman Tom Cole, a Republican in Oklahoma and an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation, told me that we had just doubled the size of the Congressional Native American Caucus — to two. Years later, I now find myself one-of-one in the U.S. Senate.
To say there has been a historic disconnect between Indian Country and Washington, D.C., would be the understatement of the century. Indian Country only represents about four percent of the voting population — and within that, only about 40 percent of eligible tribal voters participate in general elections. For years, Native communities have been forgotten by both political parties. That is, until Donald Trump entered office.
Donald Trump understands the importance of recognizing tribes as sovereign with an inherent right to self-governance and self-determination. As president, he governed with that commitment in mind.
On January 29, 2018, President Trump signed a Republican-led bill to federally recognize more tribes than any other president in modern history: the Chickahominy, Eastern Chickahominy, Upper Mattaponi, Rappahannock, Monacan, and the Nansemond.
President Trump signed the CARES Act, which authorized $8 billion to address coronavirus preparedness, response, and recovery for Indian Country. The initial allocation was among the boldest investments in American history for Indian Country.
In 2019, President Trump and the President of Finland finalized an agreement to repatriate tribal ancestral remains culturally connected to the Mesa Verde region. The negotiation concluded with a September 2020 ceremony in the Oval Office – a strong demonstration of respect for Native culture, and the federal responsibility under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. But he didn’t stop there.
President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act created Opportunity Zones to spur economic development in tribal communities across the nation. Since then, investment tax incentives have been available and used by investors and businesses, located in or around tribal lands, across the United States.
For too long, energy companies have routinely “moved on” from proposed projects because the Bureau of Indian Affairs (among other agencies) wastes time on permitting approvals for reservation and trust lands. In 2017, President Trump signed desperately needed legislation to amend the Indian Tribal Energy Development and Self-Determination Act — granting tribes greater autonomy over the management and development of their own energy resources.
In 2018, President Trump signed a Farm Bill that contained the most dynamic expansion of self-governance authority in decades. The expansion of 638 contracting and compacting authority for tribes to administer their own USDA feeding programs was a historic moment. It was a crystal-clear demonstration — through action — of the Republican commitment to local autonomy, self-determination, and tribal sovereignty.
That year, President Trump also created the Department of Interior’s Joint Opioid Reduction Task Force to dismantle and disrupt opioid and heroin distribution networks in Indian Country. The Task Force made more than 840 arrests and seized more than three tons of illegal narcotics with an estimated street value of more than $32 million.
In November 2019, President Trump signed an Executive Order establishing the Operation Lady Justice Task Force, a multi-agency effort to enhance the operation of the criminal justice system, and address the staggering number of missing and murdered American Indian and Alaska Natives in tribal communities. At every turn, President Trump led from the front on issues essential to Indian Country.
With early voting already underway, and Election Day quickly approaching, Indian Country has the potential to make a tremendous difference in this race — especially in competitive swing states. Donald Trump has a proven record of fighting for tribal self-determination and sovereignty. In a second term, Indian Country can count on Donald Trump to deliver once again.
The vast majority of tribal communities agree upon one fundamentally conservative principle: the freedom to conduct business on their lands, as they see fit, outside of federal government interference. There is one choice for President of the United States who has and will continue to govern by that freedom. I encourage all tribal citizens who are eligible to vote to exercise their civic duty as soon as possible — the future of Indian Country is at stake.
