Rounds’ RESPECT Act Legislation Passes Indian Affairs Committee Unanimously

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) today made the following statement after his Repealing Existing Substandard Provisions Encouraging Conciliation with Tribes (RESPECT) Act passed out of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee with unanimous support:

“I thank Chairman John Hoeven and the members of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee for unanimously passing the RESPECT Act today,” said Rounds. “The RESPECT Act would repeal a number of outdated federal laws that are discriminatory toward Native Americans. It is long past time to remove these offensive laws from our books. Now that it has passed out of committee, I’m hopeful it will pass the full Senate soon.”

The RESPECT Act was first introduced during the 114th Congress, where it passed out of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee unanimously. Due to time constraints on the Senate Calendar, it was not able to be voted on by the full Senate in 2016. Rounds reintroduced it last month. The RESPECT Act is supported by the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association and is cosponsored by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.).  

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