Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., long has used American Indian issues to further her own political goals—from controversially proclaiming herself to be of American Indian ancestry to enhance her academic career to today, when she exploits sensitive American Indian issues as part of her own racially divisive political ploys.
As an example, look no further than Warren’s primary sponsorship of a bill designated as S. 1723. This legislation would “establish a Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States,” imbue it with wide-ranging subpoena powers, and provide ample opportunities for Warren and other left-leaning politicians to reward ideological allies with plum positions on the panel and its “other necessary advisory committees and subcommittees,” which would control an annual slush fund of $15 million.
Appointees to this commission would be entitled to up to a half-month’s compensation at the six-figure rate of a GS-14 government employee, be reimbursed for potentially extensive travel expenses, and could have government employees detailed to them without it being charged back to their budget.
And on top of that, most of the commissioners’ records and communications would be exempted from public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, more commonly known by its acronym of FOIA.
It’s a prime perch from which to abuse power.
But why this issue? And why now?
To understand, it’s important to take a step back and look at what has happened north of our border. Canada established its own Truth and Reconciliation Commission to address “the legacy of [Canada’s] Indian Residential Schools system.”
The issue of tribal boarding schools and the conduct of the entities that ran them—primarily religious organizations such as the Catholic Church—has stoked dangerous divisions among Canadians. This has resulted in financial and physical attacks on religious individuals and entities.
The furor started in mid-2021 with the discovery of what appeared to be a mass grave at the site of a former residential boarding school. It may not be a mass grave at all, since experts found no human remains after two years of excavation and research.
Yet the damage had been done. Since the initial “discovery” in 2021, at least 85 Catholic churches in Canada have been torched or vandalized in some way. And Canadian Catholics have paid out millions in settlement sums.
Other Christian denominations in Canada have suffered too.
Back in the Lower 48, there’s already a perception, if not a reality, that religious institutions are under attack.
The Biden-Harris Justice Department has zealously prosecuted Americans who pray outside abortion clinics, but has not-so-shockingly failed to aggressively pursue those who threaten or damage churches and pro-life pregnancy resources centers.
Consider then that Warren’s so-called Truth and Healing Commission would give its members almost unfettered subpoena power for up to six years (the life of the commission if it doesn’t finish its work sooner) to obtain “records, papers, correspondence memoranda, documents, books, videos, oral histories, recordings, or any other paper or electronic material, as the commission may determine necessary to accomplish the purposes” of the legislation that established it.
The U.S. attorney general could block the proposed Truth and Healing Commission from issuing a subpoena, but only because of a “procedural or substantive defect” and only “after the commission has [had] a reasonable opportunity to cure” that defect.
After that, the attorney general would have to “submit to Congress a report detailing the reasons for that prohibition.”
What’s the likelihood that any subpoena a Truth and Healing Commission issues would be quashed by the AG? Almost none. It’s an illusory check on the commission’s subpoena power.
Warren’s proposed legislation makes clear throughout that any reports, research, or documents from religious institutions may specifically be sought by the commission or those working on its behalf.
But step back again and consider more generally that there’s an ongoing, concerted effort by the Left to categorize everyone by race and to view most aspects of modern American life through a racial lens.
Warren has claimed that “America has an ugly history of racism.” As a result, the Massachusetts Democrat has explicitly endorsed reparations for American Indians.
Along with then-Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Warren also endorsed reparations for black Americans, although myriad moral and practical problems are associated with implementing such a plan.
In the wake of the summer 2020 riots after George Floyd’s death while in the custody of Minneapolis police, some called for the United States to establish a broad-based racial truth and reconciliation commission. That didn’t gain much traction.
But now Warren has slyly set the stage to accomplish many of the same goals with her more narrowly focused Truth and Healing Commission.
This idea primarily is a project of the Democratic Party, but some Republicans have supported it too, perhaps for crass political purposes or perhaps because they don’t understand the powers such a commission would exercise and the precedents it would establish.
Regardless, we should all fear a Truth and Healing Commission imbued with this level of unaccountable power.
If it’s established, this commission would be only the first step toward a radical, race-based redistribution scheme that, in the end, harms everyone by stoking racial strife and demeaning us all in the process.
[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]
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