Nine 2020 candidates are participating in the first presidential forum on Native American issues in Sioux City, Iowa this week. On Monday, Senator Elizabeth Warren issued an apology to Native American communities.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren: “I know that I have made mistakes. I am sorry for harm I have caused. I have listened, and I have learned a lot. And I am grateful for the many conversations that we have had together. It is a great honor to be able to partner with Indian Country, and that’s what I’ve tried to do as a senator, and that’s what I promise I will do as president of the United States of America.”
Elizabeth Warren came under fire last year after she released the results of a DNA test as evidence of her Native American ancestry.
Ahead of this week’s Iowa forum, Warren unveiled her “Honoring and Empowering Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples” plan. The plan includes expanding affordable housing and locally administered healthcare in indigenous communities, expanding broadband access, strengthening voting rights, restoring tribal jurisdiction over crimes committed on Native land, and a pledge to revoke the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipeline permits.
More 2020 candidates, including Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and Julián Castro — who last month introduced his own plan to bolster indigenous rights — are appearing at the forum today.