President Bush has threatened to veto a bill that improve the medical care available to Indian people across the U.S. Doing so would be yet another miscarriage of justice. Five years ago, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights looked into the government's treaty obligations and found that the federal government was spending 50% less per capita on Indian health care than on felons in prisons and those on Medicaid.
A bipartisan bill to reshape the Indian Health Service is now under consideration in the Senate. Included in this bill are provisions for urban Indians (long neglected by federal agencies but accounting for 2/3 of the Indian population). Most urban Indians live much too far from IHS service centers to take advantage of them or, in some case, have been ruled ineligible for services. During the Bush years, the President has sought to cut the already underfunded Urban Indian Health Program. The current bill would address problems ranging from alcohol abuse, suicide, depression, diabetes, and heart disease.
The President claims that he wants to improve Indian health care! However, he has stated that much of the present bill is "objectionable," and has noted that the increase in funding for the Urban Indian Health Program would undercut other federally funded initiatives (read Medicare/Medicaid). Administration officials also see the construction of new clinics as tantamount to ear marks because it would force the federal government to pay construction workers prevailing wages--something they have been loathe to do even on the Gulf Coast!!
Since the signing of the first treaty with Indians, the U.S. has taken on the moral, legal, and ethical responsibility of caring for Indian people. In the past the nation has disregarded this sacred duty--that must end now! Congress must stand up for the rights of Indian people and pass the bill without thought of Bush's veto. Passed with a 2/3 majority, the Presidential veto would be meaningless, Congress MUST strengthen the IHS and send a clear message that they are on the side of righting centuries of injustice.
