THE NATIONAL CONGRESS OF AMERICAN INDIANS
RESOLUTION #PSC-99-067

Title:  Calling for a "State of Emergency" to be Declared by the Congress of the United States to Insure Supplemental Funding for AIDS Drugs for Tribal, Urban, IHS-operated, and Native Hawaiian Health Systems

WHEREAS, we, the members of the National Congress of American Indians of the United States, invoking the divine blessing of the Creator upon our efforts and purposes, in order to preserve for ourselves and our descendants the inherent sovereign rights of our Indian nations, rights secured under Indian treaties and agreements with the United States, and all other rights and benefits to which we are entitled under the laws and Constitution of the United States to enlighten the public toward a better understanding of the Indian people, to preserve Indian cultural values, and otherwise promote the welfare of the Indian people, do hereby establish and submit the following resolution: and

WHEREAS, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is the oldest and largest national organization established in 1944 and comprised of representatives of and advocates for national, regional, and local Tribal concerns; and

WHEREAS, the health, safety, welfare, education, economic and employment opportunity, and preservation of cultural and natural resources are primary goals and objectives of NCAI; and

WHEREAS, the present estimated cost of new and life-saving AIDS drug therapy is approximately $10,000 per individual per year; and

WHEREAS, the Congress of the United States has recognized that this cost represents a significant burden upon the states, and has, as a result, enacted the AIDS Drug Assistance (ADAP) under the Ryan White CARE Act to underwrite the cost of these drugs for the states; and

WHEREAS, the tribal, urban Indian, IHS-operated, and Native Hawaiian health care systems are not addressed in the ADAP program; and

WHEREAS, the tribal, urban Indian, IHS-operated, and Native Hawaiian health care systems are even less able to absorb the cost of these critical drugs.  

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that NCAI does hereby demand that the Congress of the United States declare a "State of Emergency" in order to provide funding for tribal, urban Indian, IHS-operated, and Native Hawaiian health care systems to underwrite the cost of AIDS drugs under the ADAP Program, and to insure that qualified American Indian, Alaska Native, and native Hawaiian persons living with HIV/AIDS receive the drugs they need no matter what their domicile; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that NCAI does hereby request that the Congress of the United States ask the General Accounting Office for a study of the scope of unmet needs for AIDS drugs in the tribal, urban Indian, IHS-operated, and Native Hawaiian health care systems.

CERTIFICATION

The foregoing resolution was adopted at the 1999 Annual Session of the National Congress of American Indians, held at the Palm Springs Convention Center, in Palm Springs, California on October 3-8, 1999 with a quorum present.

Signed:  Susan Masten, President

ATTEST:  Juana Majel, Recording Secretary

Adopted by the General Assembly during the 1999 Annual Session of the National Congress of American Indians, held at the Palm Springs Convention Center, in Palm Springs, California on October 3-8, 1999.