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Franken discusses American Indian needs

Brad Swenson
Bemidji Pioneer - 08/16/2008

American Indians comprise an important Minnesota constituency with special
needs, says U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken.

"I want to be on the Indian Affairs Committee because I do think there is
such as thing as cultural trauma that American Indians have suffered, and
that there is a responsibility that we have as a society to address that
which hasn’t been addressed," Franken, the DFL-endorsed candidate, said
Friday evening in an interview.

He spoke of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs, which
provides a nation-to-nation relationship between the federal Congress and
the sovereign Indian tribes.

Franken was interviewed in Bemidji while en route to the Red Lake Band of
Chippewa’s annual fair, which opened Friday night with a powwow. Today, a
parade will be held in Red Lake at which U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, DFL-7th
District, is slated to participate.

Franken, as part of his campaigning, has met several times with tribal
officials at Red Lake, Leech Lake and White Earth.

He’s found that Indian communities have health care, education and economic
development issues. An energy policy Franken was taking around northwest
Minnesota this week "can be very helpful to Indians in this state" in terms
of economic development.

On health care, Franken said much discussion is focused on insurance and
how to pay for health care. He favors universal health care, which most
industrialized nations provide. Such a system can cut down health costs and
ensure that people have access without going bankrupt.

"But we don’t talk about the socio-economic determinants of health, which
is such a big part of it," he said. "You see in this country the increase
in the gaps of wealth and income, and the affect that has on health care.

"In the American Indian community … when an American Indian doesn’t have
diabetes, he or she says I don’t have diabetes yet," he said. "That talks
about a certain kind of hopelessness or resignation."

That needs to be addressed, Franken said.

Health care, education and economic development are the three big issues
"that anyone who talks with the Indian community will know," he said.

Franken said he found it ironic that Minnesota’s former U.S. Attorney Tom
Heffelfinger was on the cutting block by the Bush administration for
spending too much time on American Indian issues. He resigned his post, but
later found out he probably would have been fired.

"Imagine that," Franken said. "That was why the Bush administration wanted
to get rid of Tom Heffelfinger because he was paying too much attention to
American Indians. What does that tell you? That with American Indians,
everything’s fine?"