URGENT CIRCLE SANCTUARY GREEN FAITH CIRCLE ACTION ALERT: During Native American Heritage Month, Congress Is Moving to Silence Tribal Nations & Gut Environmental Protections!
Right now, in the middle of Native American Heritage Month, the U.S. Senate is advancing S. 5653—ironically named the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act. While its title promises affordability, this nearly 500-page bill enriches wealthy extraction and data-center corporations while forcing everyday communities and Tribal Nations to bear the cost of polluted water, lost sacred sites, and taxpayer bailouts for polluters. A final vote could happen as early as next week!
Honoring Native heritage means defending Tribal sovereignty and sacred lands—not stripping away Indigenous voices to fast-track oil, gas, coal, mineral, and uranium extraction with impunity. If passed, S. 5653 will:
Betray Native American Heritage Month: Evicerates NEPA reviews, diminishing and eliminating Tribal consultation and public input on major industrial projects.
Gut the National Historic Preservation Act: Strips away vital historic and cultural reviews, putting sacred sites, ancestral lands, burial grounds, and irreplaceable cultural traditions at risk of irreversible destruction.
Threaten Clean Water: Weakens the Clean Water Act, doubles water pollution permits from 5 to 10 years without safety updates, and limits EPA wetland protections.
Harm Wildlife & Block Justice: Weakens the Endangered Species Act, blocks judges from halting illegal projects, and forces taxpayers to pay developers up to 100% of construction costs if a permit is modified.
TAKE 2 MINUTES TO ACT TODAY (From Any State!):
Say or Write:"Hi, I'm a constituent from [Town/City, State] and a member of Green Faith Circle. It is unacceptable to advance S. 5653 (BAAJA) during Native American Heritage Month. This bill silences Tribal Nations, guts the National Historic Preservation Act, threatens sacred sites, renews oil, coal, mineral, and uranium extraction threats, and weakens the Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts. Please vote NO on S. 5653."
NEWS UPDATES
Tribal Organizations warn Revised Federal Permitting Bill Still Threatens Sacred Sites and Tribal Sovereignty (The Circle News, November 11, 2026, report by Victoria Fox, enrolled member of Ho-Chunk Nation):
