[Dialogue] Senator Hillary Clinton ignores Indian vote

[Harry Wainwright]

From: Sunny Walker [mailto:swalker at CERTRedEarth.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 12:46 PM
To: dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net
Subject: FW: Senator Hillary Clinton ignores Indian vote

 

Something to note.

 

Sunny Walker

Senior Facilitator

Council of Energy Resource Tribes

303-282-7576; cell: 303-587-3017

FAX: 303-282-7574

695 S. Colorado Blvd.

Denver, CO 80246

 

  _____  

Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 9:25 AM
Subject: Senator Hillary Clinton ignores Indian vote

 

 INDN's List Education Fund

 

Below is a copy of the press release we sent out today in response to    
Senator Clinton's refusal to meet with tribal members from across 
America  at Prez on the Rez:                                              
                                                               
                                                                           
Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton today became 
the  first and only candidate to refuse an invitation to speak at a 
first-ever  candidate forum in Indian Country. The forum, called Prez on the


Rez by its organizers, the INDN's List Education Fund (ILEF), will be August
23, 

on  the reservation of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians in Cabazon ,
Calif.  

Senator Clinton was invited to Prez on the Rez more than six months ago.    
 

 

Kalyn Free, president of the Tulsa-based ILEF, said, "Hillary Clinton's     
willingness to ignore Indian voters on the campaign trail has made it 
clear that she lacks the courage to change lives in Indian Country."

                                                                        
 

"I'm both disappointed and astonished that Senator Clinton has turned 
her back on American Indians. By refusing to participate in this historic

event, she lost an opportunity to inspire an entire generation of American  
Indians to engage in the democratic process. Sadly, that reflects the     
hollowness of her rhetoric and the narrowness of her vision," said 
Free.  "Just as tribes are gaining recognition for building political power 
in key states throughout the country, Senator Clinton is ignoring the needs
-    
large and small - of Indian People. We demand a president who truly cares   
about who we are, who has the courage to change the shameful state of 
life  in Indian Country and throughout America , and who has the vision to 
build a society all Americans can be proud of. I'm disheartened to say that 
Senator Clinton has proven she is not that leader."

                                                                          
 

Free said Senator Clinton made "starting a conversation" about              
strengthening the middle class, making healthcare more affordable, and      
bolstering the lives of children and families, the centerpieces of her      
campaign. On each of these counts, reflected in a staggering array of       
statistics, Indian Country falls far behind the rest of the nation, 
yet her proposals - detailed over the past two weeks - reflect the
priorities 
of  her campaign: they ignore Indian Country entirely.

 

 

On Memorial Day, Senator Clinton declared expanded healthcare coverage 
"a moral imperative," and proposed a solution involving investments in

modernizing medicine and eliminating waste in the industry. While these     
improvements may cut costs for the majority of Americans who already 
have access to adequate healthcare, it will do nothing for the 30 percent 
of  Indians who lack health coverage and the millions more whose 
reservations improve. The waiting list for new "priority" healthcare
facilities in   
Indian Country is nearly 60 years. Tribal citizens need champions that 
are  not afraid to increase funding for tribal health programs. The need 
for  this health funding is staggering: life expectancy of Native Americans 
is  nearly six years less than any other race or ethnic group in America 
and  13% of Native deaths occur in citizens under 25, a rate three times 
higher  than the average U.S. population.

 

 

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights reported in 2003 that "American 
Indian  youths are twice as likely to commit suicide. Native Americans are 

630  percent more likely to die from alcoholism, 650 percent more likely to 
die  from tuberculosis, 318 percent more likely to die from diabetes, and 
204  percent more likely to suffer accidental death compared with other 
groups.  

"In a plan Senator Clinton outlined the following day, the Democrat         
proposed strengthening the middle class by protecting workers, reining 
in  federal spending, punishing corporations that move jobs overseas, and

supporting higher education. Yet outsourced jobs can hardly account 
for the 46% unemployment rate in Indian Country, where one in four live in 
poverty. 
 

 

Clinton 's indifference to Indian Country extends to the women and 
families that comprise its future. Free argues that Clinton should take a
look 
at  the lifelong disparities that face American Indians as they age, both 
on and off the reservation. A recent publication issued by Amnesty

International reported one in three American Indian women will be 
raped at  some point in their lives, a rate that is more than double that
for         
non-Indian women. "The crisis of children and families in Indian 
Country continues to limit the opportunities for American Indians to build a

better future, while Senator Clinton's willingness to ignore the state of 
Indians  ensures the continuation of a terrible status quo," Free said.

                                                                   

 

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