The U.S. Dept. of Treasury will claw back hundreds of millions of dollars in unspent Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF) from the Navajo Nation and other U.S. tribal nations if Congress does not extend the December 30, 2020 CRF expenditure deadline. 

Since Congress has been unable to pass another COVID-19 pandemic relief package, the legislative vehicle most able to carry such an authorization to passage is likely the Continuing Resolution that Congress must pass by September 30, 2020 or else let the Federal government shut down.

On September 15, 2020, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer sent letters to Congress urging House and Senate leadership to include within a Continuing Resolution language from H.R. 7557 and S. 4232, which Congressman Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ) and Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) introduced in July to extend the coverage of CRF payments to Tribal Governments until December 30, 2022.

In a bi-partisan letter sent on September 16, 2020 to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board Jerome Powell, the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs urged the Trump Administration to increase access to lending programs created under the CARES Act for Tribal governments as they face increasing economic strain from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Tribes and Tribally-owned businesses from across Indian Country have been severely impacted by the economic strains brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. These businesses, from hotels, conference centers, restaurants, and entertainment venues to gas stations and shopping malls, are some of the biggest employers and income generators for Tribal and nearby non-Tribal communities. Unlike other governments, Tribes do not have a traditional tax base to generate government revenue; instead, Tribes rely on their businesses to generate revenue for government operations and essential services, such as health care, public safety, and social services, for their communities,” wrote Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Chairman John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Vice Chairman Tom Udall (D-N.M.), and Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Chairman Mike Crap (R-Idaho) and Ranking Member Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

“Title IV of CARES Act and Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act provide authority for the Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board to address the many economic issues faced by Tribes and their enterprises during these challenging times. Two programs created under that authority, the Main Street Lending Program (MSLP) for corporations and the Municipal Liquidity Facility (MLF) for governments, provide relief for these entities by providing or facilitating loans,” continued the senators. “Further, by expressly including Indian Tribes in the definition of ‘States,’ Congress gave Treasury broad authority to account for the unique financing needs of Tribal governments and their enterprises.”

The Senators concluded, “Due to the unique nature of Tribal governments and Tribal enterprise debts, Tribes and their businesses are unable to fully utilize the MSLP and the MLF. Accordingly, we encourage you to provide Tribes and Tribally-owned businesses greater access to the MSLP and MLF.”

On September 16, 2020, the Trump Administration announced its strategy to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine once it is developed, identifying four tasks necessary for the COVID-19 vaccine program: public engagement, emergency distribution, safe administration, and outcomes monitoring. The strategy is detailed in an 11-page overview and a 57-page playbook. 

CDC Director Robert Redfield testified at a September 16, 2020 Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee hearing that a vaccine could be ready as early as November or December. This very limited vaccine supply would be prioritized for frontline health care workers, followed by other essential workers and those at high risk for illness, such as the elderly. Director Redfield told Committee Members, “If you are asking me when is it going to be generally available to the American public so we can begin to take advantage of vaccine to get back to our regular life I think we are probably looking at third--late second quarter, third quarter 2021.”

At a White House press conference just hours later, President Trump contradicted Director Redfield, stating that the vaccine would be available in weeks and go, ““to the general public immediately.”

Contradictory messaging from the Administration has caused some states to make the unprecedented decision to independently validate vaccines before distributing them. Arizona plans to accept Federal recommendations and rely upon the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), an independent group of medical and public health experts that review clinical trial results and advise CDC on vaccines approved by the FDA. 

Once available, for most potential vaccines, people will get two doses 21 or 28 days apart. Monitoring them is expected to be a key challenge. For example, The Pfizer vaccine currently being tested in clinical trials on the Navajo Nation would not be interchangeable with a different vaccine from another manufacturer.

“We have to be able to tell the person that we vaccinated when it is time to come back in for the second shot, the second vaccination,” Paul A. Ostrowski, the deputy chief of supply, production and distribution for the administration's vaccine and therapeutics effort known as Operation Warp Speed said. “We also have to make sure they have the right vaccination injected on the second dose.”

This Federally coordinated effort to research, develop, approve, and distribute a COVID-19 vaccine is called Operation Warp Speed. It’s a partnership between components of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense engaged with private sector firms and other Federal agencies.

On September 14, 2020, U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, and U.S. Representatives Ben Ray Luján, Deb Haaland, and Xochitl Torres Small sent a letter to U.S. Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham to voice concerns about the Census Bureau’s ongoing operational challenges and sudden reversal of previous plans to extend its operations in light of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The U.S. Census Bureau now intends to end census data collection on September 30, 2020—one month earlier than the previous deadline of October 31. 

“The Bureau must take immediate action to revise current operations and increase transparency with congressional and state partners,” the delegation wrote.  “As of September 9, 2020, 18.5 percent of New Mexicans have not been counted, and 17 counties and 13 Tribes in New Mexico have Self- Response rates of less than 40 percent. At the current rate, we greatly doubt the Bureau's ability to fulfil its constitutional responsibility to deliver an accurate count by the statutory deadline.” 

Earlier this month, Congressman Tom O’Halleran (AZ-01) sent a letter to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce Wilbur Ross to similarly flag concerns about the census count in Arizona. “COVID-19 has presented significant challenges and complicated our 2020 Census operations greatly; in Arizona, entire communities, including many tribal communities, remain undercounted or even uncounted because of this pandemic,” said O’Halleran. “I am demanding swift answers from Secretary Ross as to why these cuts to operations were made and what is being done to ensure that all Americans are represented in this decade’s census.” 

Senator Krysten Sinema forewarned Director Dillingham about these concerns at a July 16, 2020 Senate hearing, saying “In 2010, this population (American Indians and Alaska Natives) suffered an undercount of 4.88% according to the GAO, so in 2016 there were to be 2 tests in Indian Country in preparation for the Census. These tests were to measure proposed tribal enrollment question and (quoting from census materials) ‘Test the integration of systems for the update enumerate operation where census field staff visits households to update the list of addresses and count the people at the address. This operation typically occurs in areas where we have low likelihood of mail delivery.’ These tests were cancelled, and the question abandoned due to budgetary uncertainty. What were the impacts of instituting the update enumerate program in Indian Country without previous testing?” 

Director Dillingham responded by describing his visit to the Navajo Nation in New Mexico with Vice President Lizer. “I went down some of those dirt roads and some of those very rural areas where there is no plumbing and sometimes no electricity and sometimes not accessible by vehicle… and so I have seen these challenges.” 

Nevertheless, Director Dillingham denied that tribes were disadvantaged by the cancellation of update enumerate operation systems test that was meant to improve their count in the 2020 Census, and insisted that his Bureau has dedicated plenty of dedicated enumerators throughout the Navajo Nation, one even walking miles through the desert to collect accurate tribal census data.

Dr. Anthony Fauci will speak with Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer about COVID-19 at the Navajo Nation's Virtual Town Hall this Monday morning,  September 21, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. Mountain Time, 11:00 a.m.

This very special Town Hall, which was initiated and has been organized by Navajo Nation Washington Exectutive Director Santee Lewis, will be transmitted live both on the Navajo Nation Office of President and Vice President's Facebook site and KTNN Radio. 

Dr. Fauci, who has been the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disesases at the CDC since 1984, will discuss with Nez and Lizer a wide range of COVID-19 issues, including Dr. Fauci's forecast about the future of the pandemic.

Dr. Jill Jim, Executive Director of the Navajo Department of Health, and Dr. Laura Hammitt, Director of Infectious Disease Prevention Programs at the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, will lead the discussion about the COVID-19 vaccination trial on the Navajo Nation.

On September 23, 2020, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA) will hold a hearing to receive testimony on five bills, including three that are of urgent concern to the Navajo Nation:

•    S. 3126, A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a special behavioral health program for Indians.            
•    S. 3264, A bill to expedite and streamline the deployment of affordable broadband service on Tribal land, and for other purposes.
•    S. 3937, A bill to amend section 330C of the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize special programs for Indians for providing services for the prevention and treatment of diabetes, and for other purposes.  

On May 25, 2020, President Nez and Vice-President Lizer sent a letter to Senate leadership imploring Congress to reauthorize the Special Diabetes Program for Indians before it expires November 30, 2020. Nez and Lizer told Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, “There is significant bipartisan support for the SDPI. Last year, 87% of members in the House of Representatives, and nearly 70% of Senators signed a letter to congressional leadership supporting long-term renewal of SDPI, but Congress has yet to finish the job. Since September 2019, Congress has renewed SDPI four different times in short increments of several weeks, or several months. Right now, SDPI is set to expire on November 30, 2020.”  

“That is completely unacceptable. These short-term extensions have caused significant distress for our programs and have created undue challenges for our patients and community members.” 

On June 10, 2020, Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ) introduced S.3937, the Special Diabetes Program for Indians Reauthorization Act of 2020 that would reauthorize the program through 2025.

Senators Tom Udall (D-NM), Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) introduced S.3264, Bridging the Tribal Digital Divide Act of 2020 earlier this year to bridge the digital divide in Indian Country by accelerating the deployment of broadband services to Native communities. The bill would expedite the deployment of affordable broadband service on Tribal lands by coordinating and improving the effectiveness of Federal resources.

“Reliable Internet access is fundamental to economic success in the twenty-first century,” Udall said. “It is unacceptable that Americans living on Tribal lands, in addition to Tribal governments, face so many barriers to accessing reliable broadband. Our legislation focuses on connecting Tribal communities with broadband funding and eliminating bureaucratic hurdles so that we can bridge this Tribal digital divide. This is fundamental to the effort to ensure that the federal government is upholding its trust and treaty responsibility to Native communities.”

This summer President Jonathan Nez testified in the House of Representatives about the urgent need of broadband connectivity on the Navajo Nation, which has become a public health imperative during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nez testified, “This digital divide deepens institutional inequities in many crucial areas across the Navajo Nation by: (1) putting disadvantaged children further behind in their education; (2) hindering an efficient and decisive government; (3) preventing the provision of critical public health announcements; and (4) limiting the Navajo Nation’s emergency health care, law enforcement, and emergency command operation responses. Indeed, COVID-19 highlights the importance of access to high- speed fiber-based telecommunications services for every resident of the Navajo Nation.”

The Bridging the Tribal Digital Divide Act of 2020 would: 

- Establish the Tribal Broadband Interagency Working Group to improve coordination across Federal broadband programs and reduce deployment barriers;
- Require that technical assistance be provided to interested, underserved Native communities to develop a broadband deployment plan;
- Streamline the application process for Federal grants to support the deployment of broadband services on Tribal lands;
- Establish a Tribal Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee;
- Sets aside FCC and USDA funds for the benefit of broadband deployment on Tribal lands; and
- Establish the Tribal Broadband Right-of-Way Pilot Program.
“Access to high-speed internet is increasingly essential to daily life and brings unprecedented economic opportunities for users, especially for people living in rural areas,” said Heinrich.

“Unfortunately, too many Tribal communities in New Mexico lack access to broadband internet, which means less access to educational, health, and career-related resources. Connecting more tribes will strengthen broadband across rural New Mexico and improve education, boost the economy, and increase public safety and civic engagement.”