It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped. ~Hubert H. Humphrey
Tadd Johnson quotes Hubert Humphrey when he's asked about the effect of the government shutdown on Indian Country. Johnson spent five years with the U.S. House of Representatives and became staff director and counsel to the Subcommittee on Native American Affairs.
"The tribes get hit particularly hard because of the unique responsibilities the United States has to the tribes as a result of the 'big real estate transaction' from the 19th century," he says. "And those are ongoing promises by the United States to the Indian people. There've been numerous times when they haven't been fulfilled and one of them is right now."
