Native Americans need help from Congress: Your Say

Letter to the editor:

Paste BN’s article “Navajo housing agency under fire again from feds” does a disservice to the Navajo Housing Authority (NHA).

NHA and other Indian housing authorities report only the housing units completed within a given year, per Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations. As a result, any projects in other stages of development are not reported.

In addition, our own reports to HUD cite the 2016 average unit modernization cost as roughly $210,000, not the $1.1 million quoted in the article.

However, there is a housing crisis in Indian Country. Congress must reauthorize the tribes’ primary source for housing funds, the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act, so we can continue to provide much-needed housing services for our communities.

Aneva Yazzie, Navajo Housing Authority; Window Rock, Ariz.

Facebook comments are edited for clarity and grammar:

I’m tired of all the tax dollars used to support these Native American tribes.

They are so corrupt. It’s sad to see the leadership steal from its own people.

— Kimball Romney

I think the American taxpayers have paid more than their fair share to Native Americans.

Native Americans need to take personal responsibility for their lives and lifestyle.

— Rich Cardone

I think it’s time to pull the plug on this program. Hope it’s on President Trump’s list, but probably not.

— Bill Clements

Such is the intrinsic and inherent nature of the welfare state. Dependency on the state provides nothing but deeper dependency.

— Anthony Cieszkiewicz

They’re free to join the rest of us. No one said they have to stay on the reservations.

— Mike Joseph