Rep. Deb Haaland nominated for Interior Secretary
Today President-elect Joe Biden nominated New Mexico's U.S. Congresswoman Deb Haaland to serve as Secretary of the Interior. If confirmed, Ms. Haaland would be the first Native American Interior Secretary, and even the first Native American cabinet member. The Department of the Interior oversees the country’s public lands and natural resources. And, as the Washington Post reports (see Update, below): "In addition to being a steward over Indian Country, Haaland would oversee the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a division of Interior." Rep. Haaland is also one of the two first ever Native American women elected to the U.S. Congress. She has championed and campaigned for the Radiation Compensation Exposure Act and received the 2020 Nuclear Free Future Award in the Special Recognition category. She has also spoken out against the highly radioactive irradiated nuclear fuel Consolidated Interim Storage Facility targeted at southeastern New Mexico by Holtec International. Her home Pueblo, Laguna, has the misfortune of "hosting" the largest open pit uranium mine on Earth.
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