HOUSE MEMORIAL 23

55th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2021

INTRODUCED BY

Rod Montoya and D. Wonda Johnson and Anthony Allison

and Georgene Louis

A MEMORIAL

URGING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND THE NEW MEXICO CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO COLLABORATE WITH NEW MEXICO INDIAN NATIONS, TRIBES AND PUEBLOS TO INCREASE INVESTMENT IN INFRASTRUCTURE AND REDUCE POVERTY AMONG NATIVE AMERICAN POPULATIONS.

     WHEREAS, in the United States, there are three types of reserved federal lands: military, public and Indian; and

     WHEREAS, approximately fifty-six million two hundred thousand acres are held in trust by the federal government for various Indian nations, tribes, pueblos and individuals; and

     WHEREAS, the federal government should support efforts of the Indian nations, tribes and pueblos to expand utility and broadband infrastructure, encourage economic development, increase entrepreneurship and reduce barriers toward those efforts; and

     WHEREAS, on the Navajo Nation, thirty-two percent of homes do not have electricity, thirty-one percent do not have indoor plumbing, thirty-eight percent do not have running water and sixty percent do not have telephone service or internet connectivity; and

     WHEREAS, according to the Navajo tribal utility authority, at the current electricity hookup rate, it will take thirty-five years and hundreds of millions of dollars to connect electricity service to the entire Navajo Nation; and

     WHEREAS, the poverty rate on the Navajo Nation is about forty-three percent, compared to the overall United States poverty rate of thirteen percent; and

     WHEREAS, the median income on the Navajo Nation is slightly more than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000), compared to nearly forty-two thousand dollars ($42,000) nationally; and

     WHEREAS, fifty-six percent of the Navajo Nation population twenty-five years of age or older has a high school diploma, while seven percent has a college degree;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the federal government and the New Mexico congressional delegation be urged to collaborate with Indian nations, tribes and pueblos to reduce poverty among Native American populations in New Mexico; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Mexico congressional delegation be urged to introduce legislation to assist the bureau of Indian affairs with expanding infrastructure accessibility, reducing poverty rates, increasing economic opportunity and improving educational access for Indian nations, tribes and pueblos in New Mexico; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the New Mexico congressional delegation, the members of the United States congress, the United States secretary of the interior, the director of the bureau of Indian affairs, the president and council members of the Navajo Nation council and New Mexico's twenty-three Indian nations, tribes and pueblos.

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