The
beginning of a fresh, new year is always a great time to reflect on our
achievements and develop resolutions that can be accomplished in the upcoming
months. In 2013, we achieved many dreams for the Cherokee Nation.
The
hardworking staff of the Nation worked diligently to fulfill the hallmark of my
administration: Homes ~ Health ~ Hope. More than 100 Cherokee families
celebrated Christmas in new homes built by our housing department, and every
month more Cherokee families are moving into their brand-new homes. We made a
record $100 million investment to provide better health care for Cherokee citizens.
This includes new and expanded clinics, which will make it easier to provide
essential health services. We also are increasing hope by investing more funds
in educational opportunities. At Cherokee Nation Businesses we saw
record-breaking growth as we continue to expand our business portfolio. We
built a state-of-the-art Veterans Center at the Cherokee Nation so that our
military men and women will always have a place of their own at our tribal headquarters.
In 2014, I will
continue to focus on what truly makes a difference in Cherokee people’s daily
lives: Homes, Health and Hope. As a tribal government, we are stronger when our
people are healthy and secure and optimism abounds.
Additionally,
we will continue our focus on new job creation. My goal is to eventually arrive
at a place where every Cherokee citizen who wants to work in a Cherokee-related
job has that opportunity. We will continue to partner with the state and local
entities to attract new companies and help others expand. Recently, the
Cherokee Nation partnered with the governor’s office and the State Department
of Commerce to secure a new Macy’s distribution center in northeast Oklahoma.
This effort will create 1,500 new jobs, and many of those will be filled by
Cherokee citizens.
I want to streamline
the citizenship process for our people. Our new tribal photo ID card effort has
been successful, but we can be better in our methodology to verify and grant
citizenship. I pledge to you that we will make the process easier and faster.
It should not take years to confirm citizenship.
At the
state level, we will continue our productive relationship with the governor’s office.
In the past year we signed two new compacts: we were the first tribe to expand
car tags statewide, and we signed a new tobacco compact with the state, which
our tribal smoke shop owners are happy with. Another dream is for a hunting and
fishing compact, where Cherokees can hunt or fish with their blue card as their
license. We could be the first tribe in Oklahoma to secure this historic
compact.
We must
make sure we are mindful of the next seven generations, and that’s why I am
committed to making Cherokee Nation greener and expanding access to recycling
at Cherokee Nation tribal buildings and CNB. We have a responsibility to
protect our natural resources and establish a policy of sustainability.
A good
government makes life better for its people and for future generations. That is
what we are striving for at the Cherokee Nation, and that is what we deliver
every day. I am proud of what we have done and enthusiastic about what we will
accomplish in the upcoming year.
Happy New
Year to you and your family!