“Help Us Help You” A Request For Information From CTER

CTER NEEDS EXAMPLES OF FEDERAL AGENCIES’ FAILURES TO ENFORCE 7(b) OF THE INDIAN SELF-DETERMINATION ACT

At a January meeting with President Obama’s White House Indian policy advisors to discuss job creation on Indian reservations, CTER told the advisors that one important step the Administration could take would be to appoint a lead agency for enforcement of Section 7(b) of the Indian Self-Determination Act. CTER recommended the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs in DOL be given this role since it already has oversight over all Federal agencies to monitor their compliance with Executive Order 11246.

Section 7(b) requires Indian preference in employment, contracting and subcontracting on all grants and contracts that are for the benefit of Indians. These preference requirements apply to every agency that awards grants or contracts for the benefit of Indians, including Indian programs at the Departments of Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Education, HHS, Transportation, Justice, HUD, Labor and the Army Corps of Engineers. However, Section 7(b) did not name a lead agency to make sure all of the agencies comply with this requirement. As a result, many agencies have ignored their responsibilities under Section 7(b) and some have actively opposed application of TERO requirements to their grants and contracts. As a result, CTER and the TEROs have had to fight each of these agencies, one by one, to try to get them to meet their statutorily mandated responsibilities.

 By contrast, if the White House designated a lead agency, that  agency would have far greater resources than CTER and the TEROs do and would be able to bring the authority of the President behind its demand that a Department comply with Section 7(b). Given the close relationship CTER has with OFCCP, it is also likely that OFCCP would enter into various cooperative arrangements with TEROs to enlist their assistance in enforcing 7(b).

The response of the White House staff to CTER’s recommendation was to ask CTER to demonstrate that agencies are not complying with Section 7(b) by providing the White House with real-life examples of situations in which an agency did nothing to enforce 7(b) or actually resisted Indian preference on a project that was for the benefit of Indians. This is not a commitment from the White House to proceed on CTER’s recommendation, but rather an appropriate first step – fact-finding – before deciding on a new policy.

CTER therefore requests that the TEROs provide CTER with examples of cases in which agencies have failed or refused to enforce Section 7(b) or have actively opposed TERO efforts to apply TERO Indian preference requirements on projects that were subject to Section 7(b). They can be present problems or ones that arose in the past. Please send emails with this information to Conrad Edwards, CTER president, (cedwards_CTER@Comcast.net) with copies to Dan Press, CTER general counsel, (DSP@VNF.com). Please contact either of these persons if you have questions about what is being requested.

Thank you for your cooperation.