A resolution relating to the death of the Alan R. Parker, former Staff Director and Chief Counsel of the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate.

Bill: 117-sres-867
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI]
Introduced: 2022-12-08
Policy area: Native Americans
Subjects: Congressional committees

Congressional tributes

Senate
Latest action: action_date: 2022-12-09
text: Message on Senate action sent to the House.

Summaries:
action_date: 2022-12-08
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p>This resolution declares that the Senate has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the announcement of the death of Alan R. Parker, former Staff Director and Chief Counsel of the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate.</p>

action_date: 2022-12-08
action_desc: Passed Senate
text: <p>This resolution declares that the Senate has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the announcement of the death of Alan R. Parker, former Staff Director and Chief Counsel of the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate.</p>

tv_txt: III 117th CONGRESS 2d Session S. RES. 867 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES December 8, 2022 Mr. Schatz (for himself and Ms. Murkowski ) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to RESOLUTION Relating to the death of the Alan R. Parker, former Staff Director and Chief Counsel of the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate.

Whereas Alan R. Parker was born on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in Fort Yates, North Dakota; Whereas Alan R. Parker was a proud citizen of the Chippewa Cree Nation; Whereas Alan R. Parker grew up on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation in Montana, and considered the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation as his home; Whereas Alan R. Parker was drafted into the United States Army in 1965, achieved the rank of 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army Signal Corps, deployed to Vietnam in 1967, and was awarded a Bronze Star for meritorious service under combat conditions; Whereas, in 1972, Alan R. Parker graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and worked for the Office of the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C.; Whereas, in 1974, Alan R. Parker joined the Indian Law Center at the University of New Mexico as a staff attorney; Whereas, in 1975, Alan R. Parker was appointed to the Tribal Government Task Force of the American Indian Policy Review Commission; Whereas, in 1977, Alan R. Parker was appointed by Senator James Abourezk as the first Native American Chief Counsel of the newly established Temporary Select Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate; Whereas Alan R. Parker served as the President of the American Indian National Bank during the period of 1982 to 1987; Whereas, in 1987, Alan R. Parker was appointed by Senator Daniel K. Inouye to serve as Staff Director of the permanent Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate ; Whereas Alan R. Parker worked to secure passage of the— (1) Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 ( 25 U.S.C. 1901 et seq. ); (2) Public Law 95–341 (commonly known as the American Indian Religious Freedom Act ) ( 42 U.S.C. 1996 ); (3) Indian Gaming Regulatory Act ( 25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq. ); (4) Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act ( 25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq. ); (5) Tribal Self-Governance Act of 1994 ( 25 U.S.C. 5361 et seq. ); and (6) numerous Tribal land and water claims settlement Acts; Whereas, in 1991, Alan R. Parker established the National Indian Policy Center at George Washington University; Whereas, in 1997, Alan R. Parker joined the faculty of the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, and established the Northwest Indian Applied Research Institute, the first graduate program in Tribal governance; Whereas, in 2007, Alan R. Parker was appointed as the co-chair of the National Congress of American Indians’ Special Committee on Indigenous Nation Relations and coordinated treaty negotiations to establish the United League of Indigenous Nations; Whereas, in 2014, Alan R. Parker served as an adjunct faculty member at the Maori Indigenous University, Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi in New Zealand and focused on the advancement of Indigenous Nations across the Western World; Whereas Alan R. Parker authored Pathways to Indigenous Nation Sovereignty in the 21st Century and American Indian Identity: Citizenship, Membership and Blood with Jessie Young and Se-ah-dom Edmo; Whereas Alan R. Parker was— (1) a loving husband to his wife of 53 years, Sharon Parker; (2) a loving father to his children Christina Parker and James Alan Parker; and (3) a loving grandfather to his grandchildren, Shahndiin Parker, Siale Edmo Parker, Imasees Alan Little Bear Parker, and Miyosiwin Elizabeth Parker; Whereas Alan R. Parker is survived by 4 sisters, 1 brother, and many beloved cousins, nieces, and nephews; and Whereas Alan R. Parker was a life-long advocate for Native communities and contributed to the design and development of some of the most important laws affirming Tribal sovereignty and the Federal trust responsibility of the United States: Now, therefore, be it

That— (1) the Senate has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the announcement of the death of Alan R. Parker, former Staff Director and Chief Counsel of the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate ; and (2) the Senate respectfully requests that the Secretary of the Senate— (A) communicate this resolution to the House of Representatives; and (B) transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to the family of Alan R. Parker.