09.20.16

Reps. Grijalva, Ruiz Holding Forum Thursday on Protecting Native Land and Resources, Rejecting North Dakota Pipeline

Washington, D.C. – Led by Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), House Natural Resources Committee Democrats will host a forum on Thursday, Sept. 22, at 1:30 p.m. in Washington, D.C., on the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline project (DAPL). The event is open to media and the public.

If constructed, the nearly 1,200-mile pipeline would go through sacred burial grounds located on ancestral Treaty lands and could endanger the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s main water source. Earlier this month Grijalva and Ruiz traveled to North Dakota to stand in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux and other DAPL opponents and to talk to community leaders about federal policies that would stop such incidents from happening in the future.

The forum will examine the federal trust responsibility to tribes, tribal sovereignty, and treaty obligations; the moral and legal obligations to protect sacred sites and Native American cultural resources; environmental justice; and access to safe drinking water on Standing Rock tribal land. Democratic lawmakers will hear remarks from Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman David Archambault, tribal leaders, youth, and respected elders on their efforts to protect the rights, health, safety and culture of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other Lakota nations in North Dakota.

On Sept. 13, Reps. Grijalva and Ruiz sent a letter to Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) and Chairman of the Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs Subcommittee Don Young (R-Alaska) requesting an oversight hearing on whether federal agencies followed policies regarding the preservation of sacred sites and meaningful tribal consultation for development on or near tribal land. House Republicans have repeatedly ignored Democratic requests to update federal policies and ensure tribes are consulted before construction on sacred land begins.

Event Details

WHAT: House Natural Resources Committee Democrats Forum on the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline titled Taking a Stand: Protecting Water and Native American Sacred Sites and Cultural Resources at Standing Rock

WHEN: Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (EST)

WHERE: 210 Cannon House Office Building in Washington, D.C. or tune in for the livestream, http://bit.ly/2ddJTOs

WHO:

  • Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee
  • Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs
  • Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee
  • Congresswoman Norma Torres (D-Calif.), Member of the House Natural Resources Committee
  • Congressman Jared Polis (D-Colo.), Member of the House Natural Resources Committee
  • The Honorable Dave Archambault II, Chairman, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
  • The Honorable Harold Frazier, Chairman, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
  • The Honorable Faith Spotted Eagle, Ihanktonwan Oyate Spiritual Leader and Elder
  • The Honorable Wendsler Nosie, Councilman, Apache Stronghold
  • The Honorable Gracey Claymore, Member, Standing Rock Youth Council 

Please contact Diane Padilla at diane.padilla@mail.house.gov to RSVP to the forum.

Press Contact

Diane Padilla

(202) 225-6065 or 202-306-1333