1. United States
2. Ill.
3. Letter

Please support H.R. 9076 when it reaches the house floor. Native families deserve support from the federal government, especially when it comes to keeping Native children with Native families. This bill includes critical provisions for tribes that receive funding under the Title IV-B child welfare programs, such as: - Increasing funding for tribal agencies and courts. - Reducing administrative burdens. - Enhancing data collection on Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) cases in states. We in Illinois often think of native issues as not being "our problem" because the genocide of indigenous people in our state was near total. The low native population in Illinois does not absolve our state of responsibility but in fact increases it. We are responsible for making reparations to the people who should be here in our communities today. Those rightful stewards are not dead and gone. They are working hard to keep their nations alive in Oklahoma, Kansas, and other places out west. The Prairie Band Potawatomi are beginning to come home. These are our neighbors, wherever they may be. I hope you will attend to their interests with the same care you would give your voting constituents.