WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) spoke the at the Federal Communications Commission today to highlight efforts to improve engagement with tribes and tackle the digital divide in Indian Country. Udall has worked closely with the FCC to expand their outreach and address the lack of basic telecommunications services for Native American communities.
The meeting coincided with the release of the Office of Native Affairs and Policy (ONAP) 2012 report, which details the Commission's engagement with more than 400 Tribal Nations and travel to 42 federal Indian Reservations since the Office's inception in the summer of 2010.
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"Today's report exemplifies how the FCC is making strides to expand communications services for Native Americans to harness new technologies and improve economic development, education and access to health care," said Udall, a member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. "I want to thank Chairman Genachowski, the Commission and Geoff Blackwell for their commitment to ensuring the first Americans receive the services their communities desperately need and I look forward to working together to continue building on these important efforts."
"Tribal Nations have not always had a seat at the table. But thanks to our efforts, the full involvement of Tribal Nations is now recognized as key to unlocking the digital divide on their lands," said Chairman Genachowski. "Senator Udall is one of the reasons ONAP exists, and I am honored that he was here today to celebrate all the work the Commission has been able to do since ONAP's founding. The work is not done, and I look forward to working in concert both with Tribal Nations and the industry to create greater opportunities and incentives for Native communities."
At the agency's regular open meeting, Geoffrey C. Blackwell, Chief of ONAP, outlined several Commission accomplishments with respect to Tribal Nations in a presentation to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and the other Commissioners. Blackwell spoke of the important exercise of the government-to-government relationship that the Commission shares with Tribal Nations through agency consultation and coordination on the ground with Tribal leaders in Indian Country. His presentation summarized highlights from ONAP's 2012 Annual Report, as well as several case studies of Tribal Nations with whom the Commission is working. The ONAP 2012 Report is available at http://www.fcc.gov/topic/native-nations.
The ONAP report discusses the progress that the Commission has made in closing the digital divide in Indian Country, and spells out how that progress will continue in the years to come, through the consultation efforts of the entire agency and the involvement and contributions of staff and managers of the Bureaus and Offices across the Commission.
In October 2009, Udall sent a letter to Chairman Genachowski urging him to address lack of basic telecommunications services on Indian lands. ONAP was created by unanimous Commission vote in July 2010 in response a recommendation in the FCC's National Broadband Plan, which recognized that the lack of basic and advanced communications services on Tribal lands leaves Tribal members with less access to telecommunications services than any other segment of the population.
ONAP's work with Tribes is focused on bringing modern communications infrastructure and the resulting benefits to Tribal Nations and Native communities throughout the United States. ONAP is responsible for developing and driving a Commission-wide Tribal agenda and ensuring Tribal voices are taken into account in Commission proceedings.
