WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Senate Indian Affairs Committee Chairman Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) successfully offered motions on the Senate floor to ensure the government honors treaties with Indian tribes and preserves their ability to govern themselves.

Campbell’s first action was an amendment replacing the means-testing section with a requirement to maintain the current level of funding, while providing additional funds for small and needy tribes. The amendment also states that any excess funds will be distributed based on recommendations from a task force made up of federal and tribal officials.

His second action was a motion to strike the section requiring tribes to waive their sovereign immunity before receiving funds they use for basic governmental services.

“Sections 120 and 118 of this bill are broad policy changes matters that should not be included in a spending bill,” Campbell said. “They should have the benefit of hearings so that the tribes can testify about their effect. I offered these amendments so that Indian people will have a voice in the Senate.

“There have been 374 treaties with the Indian tribes ratified by the Senate. All 374 were broken -- not by the Indians. Most of what they lost was either at gunpoint or through some subterfuge. Even today, Indians are trying are trying to find their way, to make a better life for themselves and their children. It is a uphill battle because the government has not been responsive to their needs. These proposals would have been a step backward.”

In a Sept. 4 letter, Campbell, Vice-Chairman Daniel Inouye and three other members wrote that the tribal sovereign immunity waiver would violate specific promises made to Indian tribes in their treaties with the United States. It would also have required the federal court system to deal with an unlimited number of cases and controversies, many of them involving internal matters like questions of tribal membership. Campbell wrote in a separate letter than any change in the way funds are distributed to the tribes should be based on unmet needs.