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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 25, 1982)
Portland Observer, March 25, 1982 Page 5 Washington Hotline ?ou OVERPAY by Congressman Ron Wyden YOUR Q. Saturday, the A dm inistration backed down fro m earlier proposals to weaken health and safety regula tions f o r A m erica’s nursing homes. H o w do y o u fe e l a b out this deci sion? A. I ’ m very pleased. As 1 outlined in a press conference Friday, 1 had been very concerned about what the proposed changed could mean fo r America’ s elderly. A m ong the d ra ft proposals, fo r exam ple, were those which w ould have e lim in a te d the requirem ent that homes receiving Medicare pay ments provide staff training in areas such as fire safety, the problems o f the aged and ill, and c o n tro l o f infectious diseases. The d ra ft proposals also w ould have: •allowed homes to avoid comply ing w ith federal hygiene and sani tary standards unless there arc not staste requirements at a ll—even if those requirements are minimal; •elim inated the requirement that homes have a m edical d ire c to r on s ts ff, and that personal physicians visit patients at least once a month, and; •elim inated the requirement that homes have activity centers. I ’ m pleased the A d m in is tra tio n now has switched gears and declared that nursing home patients deserve federal p ro te ctio n . But we should not start celebrating quite yet. For one thing, the Adm inistration is not backing o f f o f its proposed social service budget cuts, many o f which would seriously impact nurs ing home patients. In addition, although the A dm in istration has had a change o f heart on the m ajority o f the proposed reg ulatory changes, Health and Human Services Secretary Richard Schweik- er has said he still intends to pursue changes in the nursing home inspec tion program that would reduce the num ber o f inspections fo r homes that meet federal standards, while increasing those fo r substandard homes. A lth o u g h I agree w ith Secretary Schweiker that substandard homes should be inspected more o fte n , I seriously question the advisability o f reducing the number o f inspections fo r homes that meet the standards. Regular inspections are designed not only to ensure that homes meet ba sic standards, but also to ensure that they m a in ta in them. T o do o th e r wise, w o u ld be to je o p a rd ize the quality o f care fo r one o f the most vulnerable groups in our society. Q. L a st week, yo u and o th e r m embers o f the House O versight and Investigatio ns Subcom m ittee fin a lly g o t to view the docum ents that Secretary H a lt has been w ith holding under an executive privilege claim. A fte r seeing the documents, W A S H IN G T O N , D . C . — T im C oulter, a part-Indian lawyer with the Indian Law Resource Center in Washington, had never gotten a call before fro m the State Department offering support for his fight for In dia n rig h ts . So he was surprised when the Reagan A dm inistration's Human Rights Bureau called him to ask i f he would protest to Nicaragua about th a t gove rn m e n t’ s c o n flic t with the M iskito Indians. The first call was over a year ago. Several m ore have been received since then, all about the Miskitos. N e xt, a re tire d U .S. A rm y co lo n e l, Sam D ickens, fro m the conservative A m erican S ecurity Council, issued a press release to say the Council was sponsoring a visit to W ashington by a M iskito Indian to denounce what he called the Nicara guan government’ s "p o licy o f geno cide against the M iskitos.” Secretary o f State Alexander Haig and President Reagan soon joined the chorus o f p u b lic protests over N icaragua’ s "g e n o c id a l actions’ ’ against the Miskitos. Such unanimous o ffic ia l concern fo r Indian rights would have been— in another era— the equivalent o f turning the U.S. cavalry against the settlers fo r encroaching on Indian hunting ground. N ic a ra g u a ’ s M is k ito s , about 10,000 o f whom live on the Atlantic Coast pro vin ce o f Zelaya, are locked in a struggle with the revolu tionary Sandinist government over land claims, preservatin o f their cul ture and self-determination. The in dignation from the Reagan A d m in istration was occasioned by the San d in is t a rm y ’ s forced relocation o f 10,000 M iskitos from their villages along the Honduran border after a series o f arm ed incu rsio n s in the area by groups seeking the o v e r throw of the Sandinistas. T o the A m e rica n and in te rn a tio n a l human rights organizations that have been m onitoring the situa tio n and su p p o rtin g the M is k ito s , the problem there is o f a piece w ith that o f long-standing violations o f hum an rig h ts in B ra zil. Paraguay and Chile. The difference— a perplexing d if ference to Indian rights advocates— is that N icaragua’ s M iskito s have been caught in the swirl o f an inter n a tio n a l g e o p o litic a l h u rrica n e , where side-taking becomes wrapped up w ith ideology and the alignment o f tra d itio n a l Indian allies and en emies is skewed almost beyond rec ognition. T raditionally, Indian groups have lo o ke d fo r su p p o rt fo r In d ia n causes in Latin Am erica to the left side o f the political spectrum, and in b o th L a tin A m e rica n and N o rth American matters they have viewed the U.S. government as a m ajor ad versary. On the issue o f the M iskitos, left ists have lined up behind the Sandin istas, rightists and government o ffi cials have rediscovered In d ia n rights, and Indian rights groups are divided—and bewildered. The stakes in the M iskito Indian a ffa ir are high. For the Reagan A d m inistration, the issue is Nicaragua and its leftist government, whose re moval is a top foreign policy p rio r ity. For the Sandinistas and the La tin A m e rica le ftis t m ovem ents in general, the handling o f the M iskito c o n flic t could determ ine whether other In d ia n pop u la tio n s jo in the wave o f revolt in Central Am erica— or re tu rn to the sidelines in a lo o f distrust. O f five U.S.-based Indian advo cacy organizations questioned, two criticized the Sandinist Indian policy and condemned the relocation, two defended the Sandinist action, and one said it was reserving judgment. A ll five, however, were critical o f the role o f the Reagan A d m in istra tion. Kenneth Taylor, Latin-A m eri ca co-director o f S urvival In te rn a tional, said his organization has de clined to take a position on the relo cation except to call fo r additional fa c t-fin d in g and n e g o tia tio n . The U .S . g o v e rn m e n t’ s expression o f concern, he said, was "com pletelyh unprecedented. When we have ar gued (in international organizations such as the U N. H um an Rights C om m ission) the vio la tio n s o f hu man rights o f Indians by ‘ frie n d ly a u th o rita ria n regim es’ there has never been any pro-Indian comment fro m the State D e p a rtm e n t,” Taylor said. In eight years o f In d ia n rig h ts w ork, he added, he had never even heard o f the A m e rica n S ecurity Council. C o lte r, o f the In d ia n Law Re source Center, has a M iskito Indian, A rm stro n g W iggins, on his s ta ff. W ith the Center’ s backing, Wiggins presented a form al testimony March 2 to the In te r-A m e ric a n H um an Rights Commission o f the O rgani za tio n o f A m e rica n States, de nouncing the N icaraguan govern ment’ s action as a "gross violation” o f Indian rights. But Colter is uncom fortable with the attention the problem is getting fro m the Reagan A d m in is tra tio n . The M iskitos’ conflict with the San dinistas, he said, is being used by the State Department fo r ulterior p o liti cal motives which, he said, "debases human rights and undermines In d i an rights.” W iggins said he agreed: " W e know the U.S. government is not in terested in Indian people, they are only interested in overthrow ing the Sandinist government.” Two organizations, the American Indian Movement and the Interna tio n a l Indian Treaty C ouncil, sent representatives to the Atlantic Coast area last last year and called for In dian support o f the Sandinist gov ernment. The groups accept the N i caraguan government’s explanation that the relocation o f the M iskitos was a m ilita ry necessity because o f the threat o f anti-government rebel attacks in the area. The Sandinistas say up to 60 persons were killed in such attacks last December. In a letter to another Indian rights group, Roxanne Dunbar, an Indian a n th ro p o lo g is t w o rk in g w ith the Treaty Council, called for an " a lli ance” between the Sandinist revolu tio n and the Black and In d ia n m inorities o f Nicaragua’ s A tla n tic Coast. Dunbar was addressing the editor o f Akwesasne Notes, a n a tio n a lly distributed Am erican Indian news paper, which had published a long interview w ith Wiggins last year at tacking the Sandinist Indian policy. Akwesasne Notes has tried to walk a thin editorial line critical o f Nicara guan Indian policy but supportive o f the Sandinist revolution as super io r to rightist Latin Am erican gov ernments. N icaragua, noted e d ito r John Mohawk in an editorial, is the first test o f a le ftis t re volutiona ry gov ernment in a country with a substan tial Indian population. It is thus un der close observation by Indian pop ulations in other countries. " I f the S andinist governm ent continues w ith an In d ia n p o licy which gives no more than lip service to the rights o f M iskitos to a con tin u e d c u ltu ra l existence, it w ill build a wall between leftist national lib e ra tio n struggles and Indians in C entral Am erica which no amount * / GOLD & D IA M O N D EXCHANGE FINE JEWELRY & WATCHES SALE 40% OFF ,WE BUY GOLD, SILVER ¡SILVER & DIAMONDS 539 S.W. 3rd & Aider 225-0696 THIS TEAR? do you fe e l the claim o f executive p rivile g e was warranted? H o w do you fe e l about the process in gener al? A. No, I do not believe the claim o f executive p rivilege was w a r ranted. A lth o u g h the docum ents were relevant to the issue the sub com m ittee is considering (Canadi- an-U.S. reciprocity with regards to m ineral rig h ts), they certainly did not represent the kind o f national security matters fo r which the claim o f executive privilege is usually re served. I am most concerned that this procedure not establish a precedent fo r how such m atters w ill be handled in the future. Congress and the A d m in is tra tio n should— and m ust— w o rk together in a more open and o rd e rly fashion. We should reserve C onstitutional con frontations fo r matters o f Constitu tional importance. Indians look at Meskitos' fate by John Dinges Pacific News Service INCOME TAXES o f rh e to ric a bout re v o lu tio n can penetrate,” said M ohaw k. " A n d w ith o u t the support and in v o lv e ment o f Indians, liberation struggles in Latin America are an impossibil ity .” An early casualty o f the political furor over the M iskito situation was the possibility o f objective accounts o f what a c tu a lly happened in the m onth o f January along the Coco River border, between Nicaragua and Honduras. The S andinist arm y adm itted evacuating about 10,000 Indians from more than 20 villages, trans porting them to settlements 50 miles from the border, then razing the vil lages, burning the Indians’ thatch houses and k illin g any rem aining livestock. That is as fa r as the undisputed facts o f the case go. The Sandinistas contend that no one was injured in the relocation, although part o f the operation included the arrest o f over 100 Miskitos suspected o f collabora tion with Honduran-based rebels. The Sandinist version is backed up by John W ilson, the Bishop o f the M oravian church to which the m ajority o f M iskito Indians belong. W ilson and a Baptist church w o rk er, S ixto U llo a , the d ire c to r o f a P rotestant social assistance o r ga n iza tio n active in the A tla n tic Coast area, came to W ashington last week as part o f a Nicaraguan delegation. "W e are not Sandinistas,” U lloa said. “ I f we had any reason to think there had been killings or brutality, we w ouldn’ t have lent our presence to this trip .” T o counter the massacre charges leveled by Secretary Haig, the San dinist government has form ally in vite d the In te r-A m e ric a n H um an Rights Commission to make an on- sight, fact-finding trip. Commission officials said the invitation would be accepted. ) Pacific News Service, 1982 Look for other convenient locations in the Yellow Pages Sears HOURS: Monday through Thursday 9 to 9_< Friday, Saturday A Sunday 9 to 6 H&R BLOCK THE INCOME TAX PEOPLE LICENSED TAX CONSULTANT WRITTEN ESTIMATES GLADLY A 2-inch garden hose will carry 4 times more water than a 1-inch hose. O ttaw a, the capital of Canada, was orig inally named Bytown. Raccoons are unique among w ild animals in that they wash their food before eating it. • Puzzler: How can you take 1 away from 19 and have 20? Answer: The Roman numeral for 19 is XIX. 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