Hopi council members meet with Arizona congressional delegation

<i>Courtesy photo</i><br>
Pictured from left to right: Phillip R Quochytewa Sr., U.S. Senator John McCain, Dale Sinquah and Mike Puhuyesva.

<i>Courtesy photo</i><br> Pictured from left to right: Phillip R Quochytewa Sr., U.S. Senator John McCain, Dale Sinquah and Mike Puhuyesva.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Members of the Hopi Tribal Council met with members of the Arizona Congressional delegation as well as other key members of Congress the week of March 22. Several high priority Hopi issues were discussed.

Phillip R. Quochytewa Sr., Mike Puhuyesva and Dale Sinquah met on a variety of issues including repeal of the Bennett Freeze legislation, Third Mesa School legislation, law enforcement, health care, transportation and federal monies available to tribes through stimulus legislation.

The council members joined other Arizona tribal leaders for the annual Congressional week, coordinated by the Intertribal Council of Arizona.

"Our meetings with members of Congress, staff and federal officials provided Hopi with valuable insight on stimulus funding opportunities available to the tribe on a number of important projects," said Quochytewa. "It is critical that Hopi receives its fair share of stimulus funds as a boost to our local Hopi economy."

The Hopi delegation met with Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) and Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-CD1, Arizona) to discuss a bill to repeal the Bennett Freeze legislation that has been in place since 1974. Hopi agreed to support the repeal as part of the Navajo-Hopi Intergovernmental compact of 2006, which resolved all remaining land litigation between the two tribes.

During the week, Rep. Kirkpatrick introduced Bennett Freeze repeal legislation in the House. Similar legislation was passed in the Senate on March 12 as sponsored by Senator McCain. Passage of the House legislation will fulfill an important Hopi commitment in the 2006 Compact and symbolically mark the end of more than 30 years of litigation between the Hopi and Navajo tribes over lands within the 1934 Act Reservation.

Expressing his gratitude, Councilman Sinquah commented, "We are grateful for the leadership of Senator McCain in getting Senate approval of S. 39. Further, Rep. Kirkpatrick's recent introduction of Bennett Freeze repeal legislation sets the stage for quick House approval, thus fulfilling a key provision of the Compact and closing the books on more than 30 years of dispute and litigation between our two tribes."

The Hopi delegates also met with Congressman Trent Franks (R-CD2, Arizona), thanking him for introducing HR 1122, a bill to fund a new school at Third Mesa.

Congressman Raul Grijalva, Congressman Ed Pastor and Congressman Harry Mitchell co-sponsored the legislation. Meetings to thank them for their sponsorship were held with each of the representatives.

The Hopi delegates also met with Senator Jon Kyl (R-Arizona) to discuss several Hopi issues and to thank him for his leadership in water settlement negotiations.

In addition, a variety of meetings with Bureau of Indian Affairs officials were held, leading to productive discussions on the proposed use of stimulus funding.

Puhuyesva commented, "We are encouraged by our various meetings on Capitol Hill and were successful in notifying these key decision makers about issues important to Hopi."

(Editor's note: A minor correction was made to this article in the statement regarding HR 1122. The new school to be funded by this bill is at Third Mesa, not Second Mesa. We apologize for this error.)

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