Over the past several years, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has released several reports highlighting the “quiet crisis” facing Native Americans. These reports collectively document how the federal government has failed to meet its trust responsibility to tribes and has repeatedly failed to fund tribal programs and services at their level of need. To Senator Murray, these reports have only confirmed what tribal leaders have been telling her and what she has witnessed first-hand for many years.
As a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committees, she has consistently worked to increase funding for treaty-guaranteed services, such as education and health care, ensure tribes have equal access to federal grant programs and other services, and promote economic development in tribal communities.