those two provisions, as the navajo nation in its brief and many others explained at the supreme court, really had the effect, after a long history of discrimination against minority voters in arizona, of blocking many, many minority voters. yes, yesterday's decision is a really deep blow to the right to vote in our country. therefore, to the foundations of our democracy. but it could have been a lot worse. i think that's the main takeaway. >> talk to me about that. it could have been a lot worse? >> the petitioners in the case, including the attorney general of arizona, wanted to gut section 2. the story actually goes back a lot farther than that. in 2013, the supreme court did away with section 5 of the voting rights act. in shelby county, the court said all of the civil rights era cases and laws that congress enacted to get rid of jim crow restrictions that required preclearance by the justice department or by federal court for changes to voting procedures in historically discriminatory jurisdictions, those -- that law, section 5, was no longer constitutional. after 2013, we saw a n

cooley is of the navajo nation. derek holly is the president of reaching america, a nonprofit with a focus on the african-american outreach. mr. holly has over 25 years of experiencing in advertising and marketing. dr. park is assistant professor of public policy at ucla's lufkin school. and it's labor economics and public finance. his research focuses on how climate change has economic outcomes and in particular, studies the labor and human capital impact of climate change and the prospects for long run climate adaptation and environmental determinenates of economic ability. without objection, the witness's written statements will be made part of the record. with that, ms. flowers, you're now recognized to give five minute presentation of your testimony, welcome. >> thank you. thank you, chair caster and for the opportunities to testify. again, my name is katherine coleman flowers and i'm the development manager for the justice initiative and the founder director for rural enterprise and environmental justice in mo

i'm from the navajo nation. i reside in flagstaff where i comanage the tribe and climate change program housed under the institute for tribal and environmental professionals. a recent effort was to convene the development of nonrural status of tribes in climate change reports. it has not been published. i will highlight three of the 12 chapters including key messages and recommendations. on the navajo nation, we are seeing a drastic impact of the extreme effect of our land. my people have to haul water for their families, livestock, and crops. that's getting harder due to low water levels. our nation has had to implement water rations, forcing families to make the decision to decrease or sell their livestock which is devastating to those who depend on them for money and food. our relatives on the coastline in alaska are experiencing the consequences of coastal erosion and rising sea levels, forcing them to plan for relocation. in recent years, wildfires and winter storms have caused power outages, impacting thos

the navajo nation filed and the case brief concluding how this ruling would despairingly impact nativeability to exercise their right to vote with one 3rd of the nation living in rural poverty. >> that was allison harris reporting tonight georgia is another state that pass restrictive voting laws the justice department is suing the state of georgia to stop what it calls racially discriminatory provisions attorney general merrick garland has said that he will use every legal tool available to protect the right to vote today. the u.s. supreme court also ordered california to stop collecting the names and addresses of top charity donors. the state had been requiring all charities which get money from people living in california to collect the information so that the state irs can identify the largest contributors. but the u.s. supreme court sided with 2 conservative nonprofit groups in a 6 to 3 vote saying that california's policy violates the first amendment adding that none of the information collected should be disclosed to the public. >> the trump organization and its longtime chief f

black and brown to produce an older communities and in labor camps camps and order tumors and navajo nation, die in record numbers and people in suburban areas and more well-to-do areas being basically i wouldn't say untouched because that wouldn't be true, but touched to lesser degree, and the feeling when the population starts to feel relatively safe, when a lot of population doesn't, is one of the things to talk about and to look at. but countries that have a more egalitarian structure and is more of a common good in the society, have much, much lower death rates. germany is quite the middle country. it's got a lot of characteristics of the u.s., it's a complex country, increasingly diverse. it has some experience in public health crises but not a lot and have some experience and it has slightly more egalitarian but not to the extreme, and their per capita death rate was about 20% of the u.s. again it's all theoretical. it's in some part theoretical but it does say why shouldn't we do better? why shouldn't we have the same kind of death rate, particularly an island nation, we've got big

navajo nation is where a lot of fossil fuels has been mined and removed from, but is barely electrifiedf as a community. lack of water resources in low-income communities and communities of color. so sort of basic health issues are really important to take into account. for so long, the human infrastructure piece has been left out of the conversation. and so now that we're looking at it as one big piece, it's -- it's progress. and it really does scary me when we've -- there's discussion about separating it. because that funding and that conversation, you know, there's potential that we lose that. and we haven't invested in our infrastructure, we haven't invested in our people. >> let's talk about the fact that we haven't invested in our infrastructure for decades, in a meaningful way, and that is threatening american competitiveness. because infrastructure supports jobs, research, education, supports so many things. if we don't invest, we'll continue to be less competitive. this is not a package about just investing infrastructure. this is a package about recovery. >> the hard part is t

for example, they're more than 500 abandoned uranium lines on the navajo nation. behalf of the tribal leaders and commitments from federal leaders who work to clean up these sites, only four sites, only four out of 500 are currently undergoing remediation in large part because for many sites it is been impossible to locate a responsible party to pay. can you expand upon your testimony so why the existing process used by epa for prioritizing superfund cleanup sites may put tribes at a disadvantage? >> in terms of the super fund programs for contaminated cleanup. we have to work directly that native village or the community to receive those funds. we can do a partnership with the government. the reason why we are not getting what we need is priorities a set by the epa rarities set by regulation that seems to be the time we get a drop in the bucket. like the valley of 10,000 barrels, someone gets hurt they were able to clean up in a period of four years and seasons. or when we applied for funds for funding we did not qualify because we were not a tribe. they are infe

there's a 16-year-old little girl from new mexico, her name is helene arletta that lives on the navajo nationhe was my special guest for president biden's joint address to the congress earlier this year. because we did it remotely, she couldn't watch it because her and her mom can't afford an unlimited plan. she can barely do her homework and you give me the example if by being wireless is the answer, there can't be data caps on the families. that's like long distance calling. people shouldn't be charged for long distance calling anymore, i believe. if you have a wireless phone in your house, i do this with my mom all the time when she calls a family member and calling somebody out of state, picks up the land line, wait a minute, mom, you're going to get charged for that. oh, yes. and pulls out her wireless. and that's not a responsible way for us to look at lines and modernize there. i just want to make sure when we're making the investments, and i completely agree with the goal to find ways to reduce emissions in america. the biggest cities, yes. precision farming, those tack tractors are g

she lives on the navajo nation. she was my special guest for president biden's join address to the congress earlier this year. because we did it remotely, she couldn't watch it. because her and her mom can't afford an unplimtded plan. she can barely do her homework. -- can't afford an unlimited plan. she can barely do her homework. if 5g is the plan here, there can't be caps on the policies. that's old technology. people shun be charged for long distance calling -- because if you have a wireless phone in her house -- i have to tell my mom all the time, wait a minute, mom, you are going to pay from that one. oh, yes, yes. we talk about funding usf. that's not a responsible way for us to be looking at funding lifeline or usf. we have got to modernize. i wonder when we are making these investments. i agree with the goals here to fine ways to make investments that we are going to reduce emissions in america. and the biggest cities, yes. precision farming? if those tractors are going to work, they communicate both ways,