Keith Harper

The Senate is set to vote on yet another historic nomination for Indian Country.

Keith Harper, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, has been nominated to serve as the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council. If confirmed, he will be the first member of a federally-recognized tribe to serve in an ambassador-rank post.

"Keith has outstanding academic and professional credentials, having spent many years representing Indian tribes across the country," Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana), the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said on the Senate floor on May 12.

"Keith’s nomination was first sent up here in June 2013," Tester added. "What message do we send to Indian Country – and to the world – when we allow endless delay on the nomination of the man who will be the first Native American to hold the title of Ambassador?"

The Senate will be sending a message soon enough. According to the Senate floor schedule, Harper's nomination is due to considered at 5:30pm on June 2.

Harper will first need to survive a cloture vote, which requires at least 51 votes, before he gets to a final vote. The process is similar to the one that Diane Humetewa, a member of the Hopi Tribe, went through before she was confirmed as a federal judge in Arizona last week.

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