On the Human Rights of the Gwich'in
Kucinich gave the following speech in Congress on November 16, 2005:
Mr. Speaker, I sent the attached statement of support for the Gwich'in tribe on November 4, 2005.
Congress of the United States,
Washington, DC.
Statement of support for
A MORAL CHOICE FOR THE UNITED STATES: THE HUMAN RIGHTS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE GWICH'IN PEOPLE OF DRILLING IN THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
"The undersigned Members of Congress express their strong support for the Gwich'in people in their long-running battle to protect their culture and way of life by preventing oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The report issued today by the Gwich'in Steering Committee, The Episcopal Church, and Professor Richard J. Wilson, Director of the Human Rights Law Clinic at American University, amply demonstrates that opening the Coastal Plain to drilling would violate the internationally recognized human rights of the Gwich'in to subsistence, to culture, to health, and to religion. The United States has a duty to safeguard these fundamental rights by protecting the Coastal Plain and its prime calving and post-calving grounds for the Porcupine Caribou Herd. The Porcupine Caribou Herd is central to the Gwich'in people's subsistence, culture, and entire way of life, and has been since time immemorial.
"The report released today describes the nature of the close relationship between the Porcupine Caribou Herd and the Gwich'in people. According to Gwich'in elder, Jonathan Solomon, 'It is our belief that the future of the Gwich'in and the future of the Caribou are the same.' The report also draws from the body of scientific research to show that opening the Coastal Plain to oil drilling would displace calving caribou from the prime calving grounds of the Coastal Plain, inexorably driving down calf survival and the population of the herd. Finally, the report shows that the continuing decline of the herd's population or a major change in its migration pattern could make subsistence hunting more difficult for the Gwich'in people or force them to curtail their annual caribou harvest. By damaging the ability of the Gwich'in to rely on the Porcupine Caribou Herd for their physical and cultural needs as they have done for millennia, a decision to open the Coastal Plain to oil exploration and development would violate the human right of the Gwich'in under internationally recognized norms.
"In light of the findings of this report and our moral obligation to protect the Gwich'in way of life, we urge our colleagues to reject any proposal to open the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration and development. "
Dennis. J. Kucinich, Edward J. Markey, Barbara Lee, Raul M. Grijalva, Dale E. Kildee, Donald M. Payne, Maurice D. Hinchey, James P. McGovern, Peter A. DeFazio, Lynn C. Woolsey, Bernie Sanders, Janice D. Schakowsky, Danny K. Davis, Jim McDermott, Sam Farr, John Conyers, Jr., Diane E. Watson, William Lacy Clay, Betty McCollum
Subscribe to this blog's feed