November is Native American Heritage month, and a good time to honor the legacy of our ancestors, but every day we should stop to think about our country's beginning and that the United States would not exist if not for a great deal of sacrifice, blood, and tears by Indian Tribes across the country.
Deb Haaland
Everything depends on our ability to sustainably inhabit this earth, and true sustainability will require us all to change our way of thinking on how we take from the earth and how we give back.
Offshore drilling is not the solution to U.S. energy independence, and I am against opening parts of the Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic oceans to oil and natural gas production.
Immigrants and Native Americans have made our country what it is today, and if we've learned anything through these hundreds of years - it should be that we can accomplish more when we work together.
I will fight special interests in Washington who exploit Native, rural, and low income communities for the purpose of fracking and drilling that pollutes our environment. No short or long term gain is worth polluting our water. Water is life.
If anyone can say 'go back,' it's Native Americans. My Pueblo ancestors, despite being targeted at every juncture - despite facing famine and drought - still inhabit this country today. But indigenous people aren't asking anyone to go back to where they came from.
In spite of our agonizing history, Native American people find much to celebrate. The songs, the dances, the culture and traditions surrounding planting and harvests, the prayers that are sent upward for healing and peace, and the welcoming of children into our families, are all reasons for us to keep moving forward with optimism.
Our country has a trust responsibility to Indian tribes, and it seems like their voice has been lacking in so many conversations that we've had in this country. And so, I'd like to make sure that tribal leaders have that seat at the table.
The tenets of my cultural teachings are rooted in our commitment to lift up every community member so that no one is left behind. Work and food were shared equally. Through our commitment to community, we care about children, even when they aren't ours, and we want our old folks, and yours, to live their last days in dignity and comfort.
If we're not protecting our women and we're not protecting our girls and we're not protecting the most vulnerable people in this society, who are we as a country?
While the Pilgrims landed on 'Plymouth Rock' in 1620, the Spanish had already settled in to the Southwest beginning in the late 1500s, and with the coming of Europeans, some tribes suffered massive declines in populations due to disease and violence. Some Tribes were wiped out by 90 percent, while others were completely decimated.
If we don't have a planet, we don't have anything.
We are not strangers to poverty in New Mexico.
In New Mexico, we're very lucky that we have laws in place that really help ensure that Native Americans' right to vote is unencumbered.
I believe Native Americans, women, and all of us deserve representation, and that we all need to fight with everything we have to make it so.
I'm concerned that if we don't do more to protect our open spaces and reduce climate change, there will be devastating and lasting impacts on us and future generations.
SNAP benefits help local economies because the benefits are spent at local grocery stores - with locally grown and locally-made products. I remember many years ago, while on food stamps, I advocated for the benefits to be spent at local farmers markets - a move that has helped local economies even more.
We must shift our thinking away from short-term gain toward long-term investment and sustainability, and always have the next generations in mind with every decision we make.
Whenever the Republicans have an opportunity, they've tried to make New Mexico into a right-to-work state, and so I've been on the front lines fighting that for a long time.
We don't have time to play politics with people's lives or the planet's future.
As someone who has dealt with economic hardship, I am committed to making the changes necessary for our country to become more equitable. And to do so, I believe we need to think big.
We only have one earth. Let's take care of it.
Over-dependence on finite resources, like oil, ignores the ability of our great minds to develop alternative energy for the masses, and in doing so ignores climate change and sets up our students and workforce for failure by not educating them about the needs of our future.
We - our children need a quality public education.
Too many American families go bankrupt from healthcare expenses, and low wage workers have to hold two or three jobs just to make ends meet, which leaves many young children without any hope of having a pre-K education - the most important start to a good education and a path out of poverty.
Loss of natural areas threatens our water supply, national security, farms, and health.
I think it's important to always have diversity, in our Congress or anywhere, but you also need diversity not just for women of color who are most underrepresented, but diversity in different walks of life.
I learned from my parents to revere nature. Their way of teaching my siblings and I to respect the environment was to be in it, and so we spent a great deal of time outdoors.
We have to move toward renewable energy in a big way here in America.
In 1881, my dad's grandparents, who were Norwegian farmers, immigrated to the United States - the same year my great grandfather from Laguna Pueblo was put on a train to Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania.
In Congress, I will fight for an education system that bridges the opportunity gap in order to help close the achievement gap, and prioritize models that sustain and enrich whole people and communities.
The majority of America wants action on climate change. The majority of America thinks we should regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant. And the majority of America thinks we should prioritize solar and wind infrastructure over fossil fuels. Those are impressive majorities, ones that every office seeker and office holder should heed.
It would be nice if every state were like New Mexico and cared about the Indian vote.
The promise of American opportunity and prosperity means something different to each of us. What we each envision varies in terms of wants and needs, and aspirations can change over time. But we all want to see our children have more opportunities than we had.
I spent my 20s earning minimum wage decorating cakes for a living. But one day, I looked in the mirror and realized I wanted more, for me and my people. I saw too many Native Americans struggling, and I realized we should have a voice in who our elected officials are.
I want to double down on our commitment to clean energy into New Mexico - that way we'll create good paying jobs by harnessing the power of our natural resources.
I wasn't raised to make history. In high school and family, no one around me was politically involved, and few of my friends planned to attend college or even thought about it.
Native American activists have been present as long as the Europeans have been working to colonize us.
It's taken over 240 years for there to be a Native American woman elected to congress, so it's definitely significant that we were able to accomplish that.
My dad was a 30-year career Marine. He was stationed in Quantico Va., and another military base.
Even after being diagnosed with Covid-19, Bolsonaro fails to take this virus seriously and is directly targeting vulnerable indigenous communities by failing to provide them with adequate funding to address this pandemic. It's an attack on human rights.
My mother was an extremely strong Pueblo woman. My grandmother was the same. I had strong women in my life. My aunties who were there for me every step of the way.
I will continue to be at the forefront, participating in rallies, marches, letter-writing campaigns, and fighting for federal funding for Planned Parenthood. And, I will always oppose the nomination of any anti-choice U.S. Supreme Court Justice.
The GOP wants to cut funding for birth control, place undue burdens on clinics that serve low income women and families, and defund Planned Parenthood.
When the sun is sending more energy to earth in one hour than the entire world consumes in a year, any political play to undermine our ability to harness this energy effectively and efficiently is clearly not economical but it's also unethical.
Fairness is not just about getting equal pay for equal work (though it is that too!) - it's about taking bold and challenging steps to raise incomes and protect those with little or no economic power.
A free and open Internet is crucial for innovation and the exchange of information and ideas. It allows grassroots communities to organize and mobilize against injustice across our nation and the globe. It's good for business, consumers, and our entire economy.
It's always really great when your hard work pays off.
I think it's important that we have different perspectives. We need more diversity in Congress.
As an organizer in the most underrepresented communities in my state, I have felt the frustration that so many voters must feel when other states limit polling locations, require photo IDs, and put unnecessary barriers in front of voters.
