MCN Ambassador Chaudhuri recommends solution for ‘Broken Promises Report’

For Immediate Release
Nov. 21, 2019 
Media Contact: Liz Gray
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MCN Ambassador Chaudhuri recommends solution for ‘Broken Promises Report’

Testimony delivered in front of Congress Subcommittee, calls for full funding of federal programs

WASHINGTON — Muscogee (Creek) Nation Ambassador Jonodev Chaudhuri testified in his role as a representative for the Nation in front of the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States for the House Committee on Natural Resources during an oversight hearing on “Reviewing the Broken Promises Report: Examining the Chronic Federal Funding Shortfalls in Indian Country,” Nov. 19 at the Longworth Building in Washington.

The Broken Promises Report is a brief provided by the United States Commission on Civil Rights Dec. 20 2018 and is a follow up of the 2003 report “A Quiet Crisis: Federal Funding and Unmet Needs in Indian Country,” which found that funding for services critical to Native Americans – including healthcare, law enforcement and education is disproportionately lower than funding for services of other populations.

In the 15 years since the initial report, the Commission examined Congress’ continued failure to fully fund treaty and statutory obligations.

The report details the crippling effects of federal programs intended to help Native Americans due to underfunding, poor data collection and lack of coordination.

Ambassador Chaudhuri addressed the subcommittee with the knowledge of the well-known failure between MCN and the United States and how the legacy of broken promises impacts every aspect of Mvskoke life.

“Today, the citizens of our nations face the highest rates of domestic violence and murder, they experience serious economic and health disparities, and their governments have been precluded from exercising jurisdiction to ensure their protection based on legal principles that directly contradict the treaties the United States has signed,” Chaudhuri stated in his introduction.

He provided a list of recommendations to remedy the problems identified in the report, concluding the United States government fully fund each and every one of its obligations to tribal nations.

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For Chaudhuri’s full testimony, visit: naturalresources.house.gov/imo/media/doc/Chaudhuri_Muscogee%20Creek-Testimony.pdf