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Law360 (March 6, 2020, 5:45 PM EST) -- A group of 27 U.S. senators has urged Vice President Mike Pence to approve coronavirus emergency funds for Native Americans following congressional passage of a bill that includes $40 million for tribes.
U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, led the group in asking Pence to "meaningfully engage" with indigenous people, saying his leadership of administration efforts to combat the virus comes as the U.S. has already confirmed COVID-19 cases in states where tribes and urban Indian communities are located.
"The U.S. government has specific trust and treaty responsibilities to provide American Indians and Alaska Natives with comprehensive quality health care," the senators wrote in a letter to Pence. "While the Indian Health Service serves as the primary agency charged with provision of AI/AN health care, all federal health care-related programs and initiatives — including the COVID-19 response — share equally in the requirement to fulfill these trust and treaty obligations."
The senators called on Pence for help after Congress passed a coronavirus emergency supplemental appropriations bill that would provide $40 million for tribes if signed into law.
Udall's office said in a statement that Native Americans have experienced difficulties in the past when attempting to win federal funds to fight outbreaks of deadly illnesses including the Zika virus, Ebola and SARS.
In addition to saying they seek up-to-date information about the presence of COVID-19 in tribal communities, the senators asked Pence to promise he would include an IHS representative on the administration's coronavirus task force.
"As the IHS noted in its Feb. 24 announcement, the state of the COVID-19 threat 'is a rapidly evolving situation, and information is likely to become dated quickly.' As such, it is incumbent on the administration to keep Indian tribes, tribal health departments and urban Indian health programs apprised of any relevant developments in real time," the letter said.
Twenty-four Democrats, two Republicans and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., signed the letter.
The senators who signed, in addition to Udall and Sanders, are Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska; Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc.; Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.; Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.; Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.; Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Kamala Harris, D-Calif.; Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.; Patty Murray, D-Wash.; Gary Peters, D-Mich.; Jack Reed, D-R.I.; Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.; Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii; Tina Smith, D-Minn.; Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.; Jon Tester, D-Mont.; Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; and Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
Representatives for Pence and Udall could not be reached for further comment Friday.
--Editing by Alyssa Miller.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
