Ann Kirkpatrick’s Record of Serving Our Tribal Communities
Ann Kirkpatrick was born on Tribal Lands, and she is honored to have the opportunity to make the voices of our Native Communities heard in Washington. Making Congress keep its promises to the Tribes has been one of her top priorities. She knows that she serves more native Americans than any other member of Congress, and she has fought hard and won major victories for the eleven tribes in Greater Arizona.
Improving Access to Quality Health Care
• Secured the reauthorization and improvement of the Indian Health Service, which had been stalled for more than a decade, in the new health reform law [Section 10221 of
H.R. 3590 passed on
Roll Call 165, March 21, 2024]. Cosponsored the legislation as a stand-alone measure, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act [
H.R. 2708].
• Urged the Appropriations Committee to include funding for construction, expansion, and improvement to Indian Health Service facilities in Greater Arizona.
• Secured emergency funding for critical repairs to the Tuba City Hospital that kept the facility safe and open for patients.
• Co-sponsored legislation banning uranium mining in the Grand Canyon [
H.R. 644].
• Co-sponsored the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) Amendments Act to expand compensation for those on Tribal Lands hurt by uranium mining and nuclear testing [
H.R. 5119].
Keeping Our Promises to Native American Veterans• Introduced the Rural American Indian Veterans Health Care Improvement Act, which improves access to health care for Native American Veterans [
H.R. 2879].
• Passed into law her Indian Veterans’ Housing Opportunity Act, which ensures that Native American Veterans and their families are not denied housing assistance because of their military service [
H.R. 3553].
• Pushed the Bureau of Indian Affairs to correct a similar problem with the Housing Improvement Program that is also putting Native American Veterans at a disadvantage [
link].
• Brought U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki to the Navajo Nation to discuss the unique challenges that Navajo Veterans face [
link].
• Honored the legacy of Navajo code talkers with speeches on the House floor.
• Actively supporting efforts to establish a museum on the Navajo Nation telling the story of the Code Talkers.
Improving Education and Children’s Services• Successfully amended the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act to double funding for repairing and improving tribal schools [
H.R. 2187 passed on
Roll Call 259, May 15, 2024].
• Urged Congress to include funding for critical Impact Aid and school facilities construction in a larger appropriations bill.
• Requested reauthorization of the Indian School Bus Route Maintenance Program to ensure necessary upkeep of rural bus routes as part of a the long-term transportation bill and authored a bill to reauthorize the program for five additional years [
H.R. 3645].
• Secured federal support for health career workforce development programs at the San Carlos campus of Gila Community College [
link].
Encouraging Economic Development
• Secured repeal of the Bennett Freeze law so that the federal government will no longer be able to stop economic development in Greater Arizona—her bill was the first introduced by a freshman lawmaker in this Congress to be signed into law. [H.R. 1762, passed as S. 39 on voice vote and signed into law on May 8, 2024].
• Introduced legislation to create grants* that will help Native Americans start and expand businesses [H.R. 1834 passed on Roll Call 910, November 19, 2024. Also passed as part of H.R. 2352 on Roll Call 281, May 20, 2024].
• Urged action to extend and improve tax incentives that encourage investment in job-creating projects on Tribal Lands.
• Urged Congressional action to approve and fund the Cobell v. Salazar settlement to resolve the claims of thousands of Native Americans whose trust accounts were mismanaged by the federal government.
• Introduced and passed through the House legislation necessary to resolve the White Mountain Apache Tribe's dispute with the federal government and guarantee access to drinking water resources [H.R. 1065 on Roll Call 14, January 21, 2024].
• Pushed for federal recognition and support for projects that would expand telecommunications infrastructure to connect thousands of households and businesses to the Internet on tribal lands [link].
Keeping Our Communities Safe
• Cosponsored and helped pass into law the Tribal Law and Order Act (H.R. 1924), which will help tribal law enforcement get new resources to crack down on crime [Passed as part of H.R. 725, the Indian Arts and Crafts Amendments Act, on Roll Call 455, July 21, 2024].
• Secured funding to hire at least 24 new assistant U.S. Attorneys to prosecute crimes on Tribal Lands [H.R. 3288 on Roll Call 637, July 23, 2024].
• Introduced a bill to that would include all Arizona Tribal Lands in the highly successful HIDTA anti-drug trafficking program [H.R. 1871] and successfully secured the inclusion of Navajo County in the program.
