Rokita's Legislation To Protect Tribal Sovereignty Moves Out Of Committee

Statement

Rep. Rokita (IN-04) released the following statement after the House Committee on Education and the Workforce approved H.R. 511, the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act of 2015, a bill he sponsored that will prevent the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from exerting jurisdiction over tribal businesses operated on tribal lands.

"H.R. 511 is important because it protects the principle that Native American tribal governments are sovereign governments. This bill allows tribes to carry out government functions and determine their own labor ordinances without the interference of the NLRB. Similar to the states and other local governments, these tribes should be exempt from the National Labor Relations Act and not be subject to NLRB jurisdiction.

"The NLRB asserting jurisdiction over enterprises owned and operated by these tribes violates their sovereignty. This bill makes it very clear that tribal businesses on tribal lands are free to operate with the same autonomy provided to any other sovereign body. I thank my colleagues for supporting this bipartisan, commonsense legislation and look forward to continuing this effort in upcoming weeks," said Representative Todd Rokita.

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