STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY
H.R. 511 – Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act of 2015
(Rep. Rokita, R-IN, and 54 cosponsors)
The
Administration is deeply committed to respecting tribal sovereignty and
maintaining government-to-government relationships with Indian tribes
as well as to protecting American workers and enforcing Federal labor
laws. The Administration cannot support H.R. 511, the Tribal Labor
Sovereignty Act of 2015, as currently drafted, because it does not
include the provisions as explained below.
The
President's commitment to tribal sovereignty has taken many forms—from
establishing the White House Council on Native American Affairs, to
reaffirming tribal authority to prosecute non-Indians under the Violence
Against Women Act, and to promoting tribal self-determination by
signing into law the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal
Homeownership (HEARTH) Act so that tribes may lease their lands without
the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.
At
the same time, the President is firmly dedicated to protecting American
workers. The Administration vigorously enforces Federal labor laws and
has repeatedly emphasized the importance of strengthening workers'
rights to collective bargaining.
The
Administration is encouraged by the efforts of some tribal governments
to balance these important interests and find common ground when
formulating compacts to operate casinos on tribal land under the Federal
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. In several of these compacts, tribes
have agreed to establish their own labor relations policies. Though
these compacts differ on minor details, what they have in common is that
they generally protect tribal self-governance while also ensuring that
most casino workers retain important and effective labor rights.
It
is thus possible to protect both tribal sovereignty and workers'
rights, and the Administration can only support approaches that
accomplish that result. Therefore, the Administration can support a
bill which recognizes tribal sovereignty in formulating labor relations
law and exempts tribes from the jurisdiction of the National Labor
Relations Board only if the tribes adopt labor standards and procedures
applicable to tribally-owned and operated commercial enterprises
reasonably equivalent to those in the National Labor Relations Act.
Amended legislation would also need to include an authorization for
funding to support the development and implementation of tribal labor
laws and regulations.
S.J.Res. 24 – Disapproving EPA Rule on Carbon Pollution Emission Guidelines for Existing Electric Utility Generating Units
(Sen. Capito, R-WV, and 48 cosponsors)
The
Administration strongly opposes S.J.Res. 24, which would undermine the
public health protections of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and stop critical
U.S. efforts to reduce dangerous carbon pollution from power plants. In
2007, the Supreme Court ruled that the CAA gives the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) the authority to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG)
pollution. In 2009, EPA determined that GHG pollution threatens
Americans' health and welfare by leading to long-lasting changes to the
climate that can, and are already, having a range of negative effects on
human health and the environment. This finding is consistent with
conclusions of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and numerous other national
and international scientific bodies. Power plants account for roughly
one-third of all domestic GHG emissions. While the United States limits
dangerous emissions of arsenic, mercury, lead, particulate matter, and
ozone precursor pollution from power plants, the Clean Power Plan and
the Carbon Pollution Standards put into place the first national limits
on power plant carbon pollution. The Clean Power Plan empowers States
to cost-effectively reduce emissions from existing sources and provides
States and power plants a great deal of flexibility in meeting the
requirements. EPA expects that under the Clean Power Plan, by 2030,
carbon pollution from power plants will be reduced by 32 percent from
2005 levels.
By
nullifying the Clean Power Plan, S.J.Res. 24 seeks to block progress
towards cleaner energy, eliminating public health and other benefits of
up to $54 billion per year by 2030, including thousands fewer premature
deaths from air pollution and tens of thousands of fewer childhood
asthma attacks each year. Most importantly, the resolution would impede
efforts to reduce carbon pollution from existing power plants – the
largest source of carbon pollution in the country – when the need to
act, and to act quickly, to mitigate climate change impacts on American
communities has never been more clear.
Since
it was enacted in 1970, and amended in 1977 and 1990, each time with
strong bipartisan support, the CAA has improved the Nation's air quality
and protected public health. Over that same period of time, the
economy has tripled in size while emissions of key pollutants have
decreased by more than 70 percent. Forty-five years of clean air regulation have shown that a strong economy and strong environmental and public health protection go hand-in-hand.
Because S.J.Res. 24
threatens the health and economic welfare of future generations by
blocking important standards to reduce carbon pollution from the power
sector that take a flexible, common sense approach to addressing carbon
pollution, if the President were presented with S.J.Res. 24, he would
veto the bill.
Source: The Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget
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