Moving in the Right Direction

Today, the White House is welcoming leaders from the more than 550 federally recognized Native American tribes for its 2015 Tribal Nations Conference. The event is intended to “strengthen the government-to-government relationship with Indian Country,” an important goal policymakers on both sides of the aisle share.
 
That’s why House Republicans are championing a bipartisan measure to protect tribal sovereignty from overreach by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Introduced by Rep. Todd Rokita (R-IN), the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act (H.R. 511) will prevent the NLRB from exerting its jurisdiction over tribal businesses operated on tribal lands, returning authority over labor relations to tribal leaders. As Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN) said, the bill is “based on a simple premise: Tribal leaders should be free to set labor policies they determine are best for their workplaces.”
 
A number of these tribal leaders have described the legislation’s importance, saying:

• “It should be the right of any sovereign government to make decisions that are best for their people. H.R. 511 simply allows tribal governments to make those decisions … We seek to be treated just like every other sovereign under the [National Labor Relations Act] – nothing more – nothing less.” – Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Nation
  
  

• “H.R. 511 clarifies tribal governments’ rightful place in America as coordinate sovereigns that are just as capable of regulating public employment relations as any State or local government.” – Jefferson Keel, lieutenant governor of the Chickasaw Nation
  
  

• “H.R. 511 builds upon a principle that has been amply demonstrated by Indian tribes across the country: when tribal sovereignty is respected and acknowledged, economic success follows. [The bill] will prevent an unnecessary and unproductive overreach into the sovereign jurisdiction of tribal governments.” – Brian Cladoosby, president of the National Congress of American Indians
   

• “[The Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act] promotes and acknowledges Tribal sovereignty, recognized by the Constitution, the courts, and numerous laws, by respecting a Tribe’s ability to self-govern within its own jurisdiction.” – Brian Patterson, president, and Kitcki Carroll, executive director, of the United South and Eastern Tribes
  
  

The president says he is committed to a real nation-to-nation partnership with Native American tribes. Unfortunately, as Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) wrote in the Wall Street Journal, the administration “pays lip service to tribal self-determination” but “has proven that it will go to great lengths to control Indian affairs.” 
 
With the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act, the federal government has an opportunity to make good on a promise to build a future that “honors old traditions and welcomes every Native American into the American Dream.” It’s now up to Congress and the president to seize it. 

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