CHEROKEE NATION CHIEF CHUCK HOSKIN JR

Indigenous person's case. Why because Native people's are disproportionately subject to violent crimes, sexual assaults, cases that go unsolved. I mean, the statistics are pretty jarring. That's one reason. The second reason is that there are jurisdictional challenges when it comes to those cases. As we've talked about before, there's a layer of federal law, there's a layer of tribal law,

there's a layer of state law. Getting everybody to work together means we can work quickly, we can work cooperatively. Made perfect sense. That's why I signed it. Twenty twenty one gets a little bit in the weeds here, Tom, But the technical amendment was to take away a requirement of federal funding. Now, I'm all for bringing in federal funds, and I don't think the governor's much as the span of federal fund at least I didn't think he was.

But there were no federal funds for this particular program, and there weren't going to be any federal funds, And so almost unanimous legislatures said, hey, strike that amendment. We've already budgeted this in the OSBI. The USBI was already staffing this position at my top. This just housekeeping measure comes across his desk on MMIP awareness Day and he vetoes it and he detos it because he says, well,

we shouldn't have a different set of resources for different races. That's, in my opinion, a tired old argument that's designed to confuse and divide. So he and I aren't getting along on that. Lots of other issues though, but that's an important one because it's worked, it's cooperation, and so here I think more reasonable folks will prevail. I think the legislature will override his detail.

had over centuries to do the right thing. I think we've been in an aeron which they're trying to do the right thing. But the other reason is when you get a new batch of federal appointees, you got to educate them on the basis of Indian country. And that's not to diminish them. Tom, look at the dense topic. Tribes are a fraction of the entire population of the country. A lot of folks irrespect of a party, aren't well

versed in muse isus. So there's a baseline reason why I would be in DC anyway at the start of a new administration. This administration, I think if you just if you say all you know is what you're reading the papers. Hey, this administration is definitely different in terms of its approach, the speed with which change is happening. And then some things that are really concerning to me, which is proposed cuts the things I care about that will hurt people I care about, and I'm talking about

things that involve public safety. I'm talking about things that involve healthcare. I'm real concerned about that. Cuts that have already happened, grants that have been shut down. I'm not saying we're in free fall at the cherry condition, because we're not. I'm not saying that all of our grants have been cut because they have not, but there's been enough grants cut, Tom that I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't go up there and make the reasonable case for why these cuts are harmful. And so

that's what I've done. I met with the AHHS Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Junior. I met with I never thought I'd be saying, Hey, I had a meeting with doctor Oz about government policy, but I did. And that's the reason it is because he's in charge of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Now that sounds like a long, really boring name, Tom, but it's one of the most

consequential sub agencies around. If you ever want to be on Medicare, and I think we all probably hope we get there if you ever need Medicaid, and many of us hope we don't need it, but we know a lot of people need it. And so those two issues can my attention. And then Cash Patil, the director of the FBI, met with us along with the Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgram. He's a former governor, talking about a lot of issues, not the least of which is

public safety. And I'd say these have been productive meetings. Tom. I mean, look, I'm never going to agree with every person who holds these appointed offices. I don't care what their background. These particular pointies have come out with some pretty frankly harsh rhetoric on a lot of things. But look, my job is to Tom, come with a level head, make the case that the Cherokee Nations the not only a sovereign government. Frankly, I got to make the case

that one of the best governments in the country. And I think I can make that case strongly, and that every dollar the United States sends to the Cherokee Nation is a dollar well spent. We're efficient, We're effective, and cutting those dollars hurts people I care about and hurts communities I care about. So that's what I've been doing, Tom, and I'll keep doing it all right.

food security program. Here's what it does one hundred and twenty dollars to really low income kids every summer, get them through months in which school's out that summer, or that lunch program is gone, the lunch lady's gone home for the summer, the kids are home, and they're in households that just don't have a lot of money, you know, Tom, Look, I've been paying attention to what's going on in the country over the past few years. There's something called inflation.

We're all dealing with it. Grocery prices continue to be high. I've heard about it. I heard a lot of people talking about it. But what are we going to do about it? Well, if you want to do something for the people who are hurt the most, and look, the cot of eggs is a problem to you and I, if you and I are low low income, Tom, it's a big problem. And you could get every example in

the grocery store and show why that's a problem. If we can put one hundred and twenty dollars into the pockets of a low income family in your listening area, for example, where are they going to spend it at the local grocery store. That's going to put money in the pockets of the people that work there. They're going to spend it in the community. It's an economic stimulus and it's also a hedge against inflation for families that

are desperately needing it. That's why we're doing it. People can go to Cherokee publica dot org and find out how to apply. A lot of kids are applying through their schools or a lot of their families are. And when I say everybody, notice I didn't say just Cherokees, Tom, It's for everybody, everybody that qualifies low income. We're going to keep doing it. We think it's the right thing to do.

so we can move nimbly. What we don't want to do is be hung up in governmental red tape when it's time to act so we're still evaluating the market. We don't just buy land willy nilly, but we also buy land ahead of the curve, and so we want to be in a position to do something. So nothing to report right now in terms of any kind of groundbreaking, any kind of of a rendering of a new casino, but there has been a milestone in terms of land

and trust. No matter what we do, I think we've proven we're good neighbors and we'll keep doing that.

we need to take that thing over. We can run circles around the federal government when it comes to healthcare. Let's do it at clam Will. I toured that place, Tom. It proved what I already knew, which is that there's great people working there at the facility. The United States has just not taken good enough care of It's not right. It's not right by the staff, not right by the patients. When we take it over, we'll have some big decisions to make, Tom, And eventually we know we'll have to

replace that. We know we'll have to replace it. In the meantime, it's going to need a lot of tender love and care. So all I can report there is we're on track to take that thing over, have the keys turned over October first. But we got a lot of work to do. We're still negotiating agreements and looking at what we need to do to make that facility what it ought to be.