UltraViolet Backs Rep. Deb Haaland of New Mexico for Interior Secretary Urges Biden to Appoint Haaland as First Indigenous Leader to Position
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, December 09, 2020
CONTACT: Anna Zuccaro | anna@unbendablemedia.com
UltraViolet Backs Rep. Deb Haaland of New Mexico for Interior Secretary Urges Biden to Appoint Haaland as First Indigenous Leader to Position
Statement from Bridget Todd, communications director of UltraViolet, a leading national women’s organization:
“We stand with Indigenous women and communities in urging President-elect Joe Biden to select Representative Deb Haaland of New Mexico as our country’s next Secretary of the Interior. Appointing Rep. Haaland would be more than just historic, but a sign of a new path forward for Tribal Nations and indigenous communities across the United States regarding the trajectory and priorities of our government.
“Rep. Deb Haaland is an accomplished and effective leader with deep ties to grassroots groups and climate justice organizations. Her perspective would help the United States cut carbon emissions that we are contributing to the global climate change crisis and curb our dependence on fossil fuels.
“Rep. Haaland’s political experience as a Congressional representative and chair of the Democratic Party in New Mexico conveys her deep dedication to public service. Her championship of public land conservation is one example among many of her tireless work to protect and maintain America’s national parks, forests and natural resources.”
If selected, Rep. Haaland would be the first Indigenous leader to serve as Secretary of Interior, a monumental first step toward empowering Native people and repairing the historic harms forced on Native communities throughout American history.
In 2019, more than 15,000 UltraViolet members joined Rep. Haaland and supported the Not Invisible Act to hold accountable the perpetrators of sexual violence against Native women and girls on tribal land. This key piece of legislation by Rep. Haaland and her colleagues, Representatives Tom Cole (Chickasaw Nation), Sharice Davids (Ho-Chunk Nation), and Markwayne Mullin (Cherokee Nation), is now law.
Already, more than 120 Indigenous tribal leaders and tens of thousands of Americans have voiced their support of Rep. Haaland’s nomination.
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