FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 30, 1998
CONTACT: Christopher M. Changery
(202) 224-2251

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Senate Indian Affairs Chairman Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) today introduced a bill to improve economic conditions on Indian reservations by facilitating business development.

"When the Europeans came here, Indians had a long tradition of trade," Campbell said. "They traded pelts and furs, baskets, blankets, arts and crafts, weapons, and a variety of Native grown and gathered foods. Over the last 200 years this tradition has been replaced by rules and regulations that continue to stifle Indian entrepreneurship and instead promise cradle-to-grave "security" based on federal payments. The results of this federal domination are predictable: lifeless reservation economies, poverty and no jobs.

"There are a few tribes with success stories but the unemployment rate on reservations nationwide is 50 percent. With this bill, I intend to unshackle Indian entrepreneurship to provide jobs and revenues for reservation economies."

Under Campbell's bill the Native American Business Development Office in the Commerce Department would coordinate existing programs, including those for international business and tourism, aimed at development on Indian lands. This bill does not create any new programs and prohibits assistance under the act from being used for gaming on Indian lands.

It also directs the Secretary to create a task force on regulatory reform and business development to analyze existing laws and regulations that are restraining business and economic development on Indian lands.

"Big government jobs programs just don't work," Campbell said. "We need to get government out of the way, encourage private investment and help tribes attract businesses."