Myron Lizer, vice president of the Navajo Nation, said on Tuesday at the Republican National Committee’s 2020 convention that, until President Donald Trump was elected, Native Americans were ignored by Washington.
“Many of our ancestral leaders sought to govern and lead a nation within a nation,” Lizer said. “They sought to lead their people into the promises of a better way of life for their children’s children.”
“It is also where they have not been as successful as the rest of America,” Lizer said. “Our first nation’s people — the host people of the land — we are still here. Our creator placed us here and he knew that for such a time as this we would have the opportunity for an appeal to heaven.”
“You see our people have never been invited into the America Dream,” Lizer said. “We for years fought past battles with congressmen and senators that were part of a broken system that ignored us. That is until President Trump took office.”
Lizer went on to list the things that Trump has done for the Native American community, including $8 billion dollars in the CARES Act funding to help the Native American community that was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
He blamed the devastation on “health disparities that previous administrations failed to improve.”
Lizer also cited “$273 million to improve public safety and support victims of crime in the Native American community.”
He further noted Trump re-activated the White House Council on Native American Affairs “to promote economic development and rural prosperity in Indian Country.”
And he praised Trump’s decision to set up a task force to investigate the scores of Native American women who have been killed or gone missing, as Breitbart News reported.
“President Trump is committed to addressing systemic challenges in Indian Country, and this task force will develop and implement an aggressive, government-wide strategy to combat the crisis of missing and murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives,” Department of the Interior David Bernhardt said when the announcement was made. “By working together and listening to impacted citizens and tribal communities, we intend to tackle these complex issues.”
The task force, dubbed Operation Lady Justice, will “review Indian Country cold cases, to strengthen law enforcement protocols, and work with tribes to improve investigations, information sharing and a more seamless response to missing persons investigations.”
Lizer said Trump had made a direct effort to reach out to Native Americans.
“Whenever we meet with President Trump he always made it a priority to repair our relationship with our federal family,” Lizer said.
Lizer concluded: “I’m excited to endorse President Trump’s reelection. Mr. President we look forward to hosting you very soon.”