Dear Tribal Members,
On November 5th, I attended the President's Tribal Nations Conference
at the White House. THIS WAS TRULY A HISTORIC EVENT FOR TRIBAL LEADERS
AND A HONOR FOR THE LIPAN APACHE TRIBE OF TEXAS TO
BE AN INVITED ATTENDEE.
The following is a summary of my trip to Washington DC to meet with President Obama,
many of his Cabinet Members, US Senators and US Congressman in an action packed 3 days.
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I traveled to our Nation's Capitol as a representative of our Chairman Bernard Barcena
and the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas. I carried a letter from Chairman Barcena and presented
it to Chanel Johnson ( White House Staffer) as introduction to the President's White House
Tribal Nations Conference. I was admitted to the President's Tribal Nations Conference as
a duly recognized representative of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas. The President's
Conference was held on Nov. 5, 2009 at the Department of Interior, Sidney R. Yates Auditorium.
In attendance were over 400 Tribal Nations Leaders. The session ran from 7 AM until the
closing session at 5:20 PM.
This is the FIRST time that a meeting between the President of the United States and all
the Tribal Leaders from the US has ever been held. Tribal Leaders came from the Lower 48
States, Alaska and Hawaii.
I arrived in Washington DC on Nov. 3, 2009 and returned to Sacramento, Ca. on Friday
Nov. 5, 2009 in the evening. The following is a listing of my many meetings held on behalf of
our Chairman Barcena and the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas.
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| Nov. 3- | | | |
I arrived in Wash DC and met with the Honorable Don Loudner, National Commander
of the National American Indian Veterans Inc. Mr. Loudner is an international known
Tribal Elder and Leader. Mr. Loudner is a member of the Crow Creek Sioux, former Chairman
and BIA Superintendent. Mr. Loudner has appointed me as his National Director for Governmental Affairs.
This appointment provides us great access to Tribal Leaders from throughout the United States.
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| Nov. 4- | | | |
| | a. | I attended the USDA's Secretary's briefing for Tribal Leaders. Secretary Tom Vilsack
addressed the Tribal Leaders and had his Executive Staff in attendance. This included his Deputy
Secretary Kathleen Merrigan and 11 of his top Under Secretaries, Deputy Under Secretaries,
Assistant Secretaries, and many of their Assistants. This meeting was very informative and ran
from 8:00 AM until 11 AM. We established a follow-up contact person with Deputy Director Oscar Gonzalez.
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| | b. | I attended a meeting with Senator Tom Udall's (New Mexico) Indian Affairs Lead, Mr. Pablo Duran.
It was a very productive meeting and Mr. Duran offered us an open door to Sen. Udall.
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| | c. | I attended a meeting with Sen. Dorgan's Indian Affairs Committee Deputy Policy Chief (Mr. Eamon Walsh).
Sen. Dorgan (North Dakota) is the Chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. This was also a very
key meeting for our future Federal Recognition process.
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| | d. | I attended a meeting with Congressman Ben Lujan Jr (New Mex.). Cong. Lujan represents the
Northern half of New Mexico and has a strong sensitivity to Tribal needs (he represents 19
Tribes within his Congressional District. As a side note, I had the opportunity to meet with
3 astronauts that had just returned from Space. One of the 3 astronauts is a Hispanic/Indian (Mr. Jose Hernandez).
The NASA photographer took a picture of me and Mr. Loudner with the 3 astronauts
(I will donate a copy of this autographed photo to the Museum and Cultural Center.)
Mr. Hernandez then invited me to attend a Private Party for the astronauts with Congressional
Leaders in the Rayburn Building. It was a real treat to represent our Tribe at this Private Party.
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| | e. | I met with Congressman Joe Baca (Calif) and his Chief of Staff, Ms. Linda Macias.
Cong. Baca expressed support for our efforts.
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| | f. | I met with Congressman Ciro Rodriguez (Texas) and introduced myself as a representative of
the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas.
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| | g. | I met with Congressman Doc Hasting (Washington) and his Legislative Director. Cong. Hastings
is supportive of American Indian efforts and American Indian Veterans.
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| | h. | I met with Congresswoman Grace Napolitano's Chief of Staff, Mr. Daniel Chou. Congresswoman Napolitano
is a very key person regarding Tribal business. She is a member of the Congressional Natural
Resources Committee (they host the Congressional Office of Indian Affairs) and is the Chair of the
very powerful Sub-Committee on Water and Power. Congresswoman Napolitano is very supportive of
American Indian efforts.
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| | i. | I met with Congressman Solomon Ortiz's (Texas- Corpus Christi is part of his Congressional District)
Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr. Mac King. Mr. King was very interested in learning about the Lipan Apache
Tribe of Texas and offered me an open door to Congressman Ortiz. This contact is very vital to our future
in the Federal Recognition process.
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| | j. | I attended Senator Drogan's Indian Affairs Hearing on the Federal Recognition Process and
the need to "fix" the process. It was a very informative Hearing. A representative from the
Department of Interior and Mr. Lee Fleming presented testimony.
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| | k. | I attended the Senate Veterans Affair Committee Hearing on medical services to American Indian Veterans.
Senator Akaka (Hawaii) is the Chair and he was very strong in his support for increasing services to our
American Indian Veterans. I presented Mr. Loudner's written statement in support of American Indian Veterans to the Committee.
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Certainly, my 3 days in Washington DC were action packed with tremendous access to key Congressional
and Administration Leaders that will be of benefit to the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas as we move forward in
our Federal Recognition Process. We need to thank Chair Bernard Barcena for his vision in sending me
with his letter of introduction to Washington DC as his representative.
Respectfully,
Frank Ramirez
Special Advisor to Chairman Bernard Barcena
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