Elizabeth Warren Speaks at Native-American Conference Following Apology to Cherokee Nation

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who officially announced her presidential bid on Saturday, spoke to the National Indian Women’s “Supporting Each Other” luncheon on Tuesday, urging congressional action on a set of issues affecting the community.

According to prepared remarks provided to The Daily Beast, Warren was introduced and praised by Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM), one of the two first Native-American women to serve in Congress. In her speech, the senator listed a number of legislative priorities related to the Native-American community. “The alarming number of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls continues to grow,” she said in the speech, which was first reported by HuffPost. “But Congress failed to pass legislation to address this epidemic.” Warren also urged action on rising suicide rates among Native people, as well as housing, health-care, and drug-addiction issues. She called for “enforcing our federal government’s trust and treaty responsibilities to beating back the assault on the Indian Child Welfare Act.”

Warren’s address came after she apologized to the Cherokee Nation for releasing a DNA test attempting to prove her Native American ancestry and for a Washington Post report that found she identified her race as “American Indian” on a Texas state bar form in 1986.