COVID-19 in Indian Country
Urban Indian frontline health workers will now have the same coverage as their other health system counterparts.
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The COVID-19 Testing, Reaching, And Contacting Everyone (TRACE) Act would establish a grant program to allow stakeholders to fully mobilize testing and contact tracing efforts.
Deb Haaland

Rep. Deb Haaland (D-New Mexico) has signed onto the Personal Protective Equipment for Safe Schools Act, a bill that would help keep schools safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez met with Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-Arizona) to discuss ongoing CARES Act projects and the pending December 30, 2020, deadline to expend COVID-19 relief funds.

"This was a shameful failure of federal relations with Indian Country," said Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Arizona), chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources.

Sen. Martha McSally (R-Arizona) and Sen. Steve Daines (R-Montana) are urging the Trump administration to give tribes more time to use the coronavirus relief fund.

“As vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, I’m compelled to speak out to urge immediate, bipartisan action to provide more targeted relief for Native communities,” said Sen. Tom Udall (D-New Mexico).

Sen. Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) took part in a panel at the National Tribal Health Conference with tribal leaders and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York).

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) announced he tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, on October 2, 2020.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) announced he tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, in a post on social media on October 2, 2020.

Rep. Greg Stanton continues to push for COVID-related relief for the Navajo Nation, speaking in favor of the FEMA Assistance Relief Act, legislation he’s co-sponsored to increase the federal cost share of FEMA public assistance funding for COVID-related declarations.

Sen. Martha McSally (R-Arizona) announced that tribes will not lose future Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) funding as a result of the CARES Act funding they received.

'Tribes and Tribally-owned businesses from across Indian Country have been severely impacted by the economic strains brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic,' a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators told the Trump administration.

The Tribal Health Data Improvement Act ensure that tribes have access to the same public health data as states and local governments, addressing an obstacle that has arisen amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rep. Deb Haaland (D-New Mexico) and Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico) led a bicameral group of lawmakers in calling out the Federal Communications Commission for shortchanging Tribes on the Tribal broadband application deadline.

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), Sen. Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) and 18 Senate colleagues are urging the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Census Bureau to ensure an accurate count for Indian Country and the Native Hawaiian community.

Rep. Deb Haaland (D-New Mexico) discussed the impact of emergency small business loans and the Paycheck Protection Program on Community Development Financial Institutions in New Mexico during a virtual forum.

Sen. Martha McSally (R-Arizona) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) are introducing legislation to authorize a one-time $89 million infusion of funds to provide electricity to homes on the Navajo Nation.

Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico), the U.S. House Assistant Speaker, participated in a conversation about the importance of increasing access to broadband in Tribal communities.

'It is unacceptable that the coronavirus relief package put forward by Senate Republicans sidelines the needs of Tribal governments and Native communities,' two leading Democrats said.